We asked the team at Immanuel to reflect on their experience of the weekend. One of their team members, Ruth Rinard wrote the following piece about her experience.

“There’s the Surface and then there’s the Depth”

Written by Ruth Rinard, Immanuel Lutheran Church Team member

We didn’t know you, but you came.
Curiosity lead to questions.
We began to feel a connection.
Then there was a “squirrel” moment.
And we plunged deeper.
You held space for vulnerability.
We felt a tingling of the Spirit.
Unlikely conversations happened.
We were all the richer for them.
We learned we could go as deep with others
As we go deep in ourselves.

Thank you for coming!

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Brenna’s Reflection

As we journey together through our season of accompaniment, our teams are learning a lot about their neighbors and what it means to be a public church. In our March cohort meeting we heard stories of engaging with schools, local police, members in our congregations, and local pastors from other churches. Our teams have begun to explore their neighborhoods on prayer walks and they’ve been meeting in local coffee shops and restaurants to listen and learn. They’ve engaged in public forums and local events and even attended Iftar dinners with their Muslim neighbors. Their curiosity and love for their neighbors is growing and it culminated in an exciting moment at our March cohort meeting where one of our team members interrupted the sharing time with an epiphany, “I have been trying to figure out this whole time what out project would be at the end of this, but I’m realizing…Relationships Are The Project”. They’re starting to catch it, knowing and loving your neighbor is the whole goal.

Geoffrey’s Reflection

Many teams are slowly and steadily unfolding how to express the purpose of this work. In a meaningful conversation, Pastor Andrea, from Diamond Lake Lutheran, one of our mentor congregations, asked team member Kurt, why does this work matter? Remembering what Jeremy Myers said, at the accompaniment learning event, Kurt emphasized that our mission aligns with the biblical narrative of accompaniment—God is a relational God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This insight compels us to genuinely live out our faith, walking with and being in trustworthy relationships with our neighbors just as Christ did.

A thread that underlies every team is embracing change, everybody is moving at their own pace but all reimagining their role as the church in today’s world. This shift has been deeply emotional, bringing up forgotten and unforgiven threads that were swept under the rug. Walking through this shift, we are carefully tending and deadheading our spiritual gardens, and we are encountering a mix of grief and opportunity. Clearing the debris; composting and making space for new growth and blooming.

Alas, all this work brings up feelings of loss and hope. Grieving has been a recurring theme and an integral part of our conversations, it reminds me of a kind of enduring, like a mother pregnant with new life and physically going through a transformation to welcome and raise a new being into the world. This process as we learn or more accepting requires us to slow down and break the agenda, to pause and deeply reflect, making space for both lamenting what was and anticipating what will be.

As we adapt, it’s clear that many teams are ready to step into this new path and some of us are struggling forward into a new possibility of a deeper and more profound relationship with God, church, and neighbor.

The post Faith in Action: Reflecting God’s Relational Essence appeared first on Riverside Innovation Hub.

Accompaniment is the first artform of the Public Church Framework. It is the movement out into the neighborhood to hear the neighbors’ stories. In this movement, we learn to engage and listen to the neighbor for the neighbor’s sake. We’ve simplified and categorized accompaniment into four different practices that help us hear our neighbors’ stories. This blog post dives into the third layer accompaniment, engaging listening posts.��

You can also read more about the other three layers – Understanding Demographic Data and Prayer Walks in the Neighborhood.��

Listening Posts

Written by Kristina Fruge

Listening posts might just be my favorite element of accompaniment. As someone who is an introvert at heart, but who also prefers to spend the energy I do have on relationships, listening posts offer a soft landing for accompaniment to begin. Listening posts provide an invitation to be fully present and curious about new surroundings while also creating the potential of connections with neighbors in big and small ways.��

A listening post is the term we use to describe the locations that people naturally convene or gather in a neighborhood. This might include the local coffee shop, the ball fields during the summer, a local YMCA, neighborhood association meetings, the local community garden, the town grocery store, the dog park, or even a neighborhood gas station. Your particular context likely has other types of listening posts not on this list, but the common thread is that they function as a sort of hub for people who live, work, worship, pass through or play in that neighborhood to gather and connect. AND, they are great places for listening. Listening posts blend together opportunities for noticing desolation and consolation, as we do in the prayer walks, but also can open doors for one-to-one conversations with neighbors.��

Here is some advice to help you explore the listening posts in your neighborhood. that you can print out to share! 

Identify local listening posts.��

Your prayer walk will help you identify possible listening posts! You can read all about prayer walks in our other blog here. Not only can a prayer walk help you locate possible listening posts, but based on your other observations as you pay close attention to desolation and consolation in the neighborhood, you may discover things that you want to learn more about. That curiosity could lead you to a more focused approach in your search for listening posts.��

You also can ask local leaders, business owners or other neighbors who live in the community where they gather. The local librarian may also be a good resource to talk to. One RIH congregation discovered that another community group was facilitating something called Circle Groups in their neighborhood. These circle groups were gatherings where leaders intentionally invited people from different backgrounds into vulnerable conversations about the things that mattered most to them in the neighborhood. The team members from this congregation were invited to participate and were amazed and humbled to be in a place with neighbors sharing from the heart and in a safe place.��

Finally, feel free to use our list as a jumping off point to imagine possible listening posts in your neighborhood.��

Prepare to visit the listening posts and to be a good guest.

Accompaniment in our neighborhoods is an invitation to flip the script on radical hospitality. A young leader we worked with was a part of an RIH congregation that highly valued offering radical hospitality in their space. He wisely challenged his team to explore this question – What does it mean to extend radical hospitality when we are the guest? They took this imagination with them out into their neighborhood, attempting to apply their core value of radical hospitality from the position of guest, rather than host. And we invite your congregation to do likewise as you visit the listening posts of your neighborhood.��

What does it mean to extend radical hospitality when you are the guest in the listening posts of your neighborhood? The answer to this question will vary depending on your particular context and the particular listening post you are visiting. However, humility, curiosity and compassion again become important values to hold on to. The importance of these values was explored in an earlier post on prayer walks which we encourage you to read, especially since participating in prayer walks in the neighborhood will help you discover the neighborhoods’ listening posts! 

However, the summarized explanation is that in all of our efforts to become vital neighbors, we will find ourselves encountering people and places we don’t know or don’t know very well. We will encounter differences between ourselves and others – whether it be racially, religiously, socio-economically, generationally, or across so many other distinctions. We also expect to experience connection as we discover similarities – love of the same local business, or our pets, or our children, or perhaps share similar fears or longings for ourselves and our neighborhoods. Our differences and our similarities are beautiful gifts – they are what makes up a community and can contribute to the mutual flourishing of its members. However, when ignored, dismissed, threatened or undervalued, these similarities and differences can contribute to harm and heartache in our neighborhoods.��

Imagine a time when you have been a guest in someone else’s home or in a context different than your own. How did humility, curiosity and compassion factor into your efforts to be a good guest in those places? Spend time with others in your congregation wondering about how these values help us be radically hospitable guests as you prepare to visit some of the listening posts in your neighborhood.��

Bring some good questions and a goal.

Listening posts are great places to observe and take a pulse on the neighborhood. But hopefully, an opportunity to interact with neighbors as well. If you’re an extrovert, this may be a fun challenge to meet new people but you’ll want to have some questions in your back pocket to help you be a good listener. We’ve shared some of our favorites below, but get creative.��

• What’s your history with this neighborhood (or this listening post?) 
• What do you love about this neighborhood? What concerns do you have about this neighborhood?
• What’s your favorite place in this neighborhood?
• If I wanted to get to know more about this neighborhood, who would you suggest I talk to? 
• What is one wish you have for this neighborhood? 

And if you’re an introvert, you may want to consider setting a goal for yourself. Here are some examples:

• I want to meet three new people, learn their names and one thing they like about this neighborhood.��
• I want to learn about the history of this listening post.
• I want to find one person who I can invite for coffee for a one-to-one conversation at a later time.��

One RIH congregation spent several afternoons at a local park that was a listening post near their church. They set up a table with some simple kids games and prizes and had a sign up that simply said, “What are your hopes for this community?” They were truly surprised how many people stopped and visited their table, many sharing their thoughts on this question. And a small number of their interactions went from small talk to strangers sharing stories and opening up about some of their heartaches. The church members reflected afterward about how real the presence of God’s love was in these interactions, despite no talk of God, Jesus or church. It left them wondering about the countless stories they didn’t yet hear in the lives of their neighbors.��

Share, reflect and identify next steps as a team after your visits.��

Finally, after you’ve made some visits with other members of your congregation to local listening posts, plan a time to share about your experiences together. Compare your experiences. Listen for any common themes or surprises that come up across your different experiences. Discuss how these encounters are shaping your next steps, especially as you make plans to do one-to-one conversations with neighbors.��

We often talk about “pulling the thread” in this work, which is a way of talking about how we follow the energy and curiosity this exploration of our neighborhoods sparks. As you think about next steps, specifically potential one-to-one conversations you may want to have, reflect on the threads that are starting to poke through. Maybe it was a surprising encounter or discovery in the neighborhood. Maybe it was a theme you noticed. Maybe someone suggested an organization or local leader to connect with. Allow your reflections as a team to surface the threads you want to pull on as you develop your plans for deeper, one-to-one conversations with neighbors.��

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In late January we hosted our learning event focused on the Artform of Accompaniment. Brenna and Geoffrey reflect below on lessons and learnings from that event.��

Trust the Process: A Journey of Connection and Transformation

This past January, a gathering took place at Augsburg University, marking the beginning of an extraordinary journey for our congregations. We embarked on a path to explore and embody the art of accompaniment, a journey aimed at not just knowing about the neighbor, actually knowing the neighbor, and unraveling a new way of being church in the world.

The Essence of Accompaniment

Accompaniment, the first of four art forms we dive into, challenges us to not just know about our neighbors but to actually really know them—to see their essence. This deep understanding is fundamental, setting the stage for the upcoming art forms of interpretation, discernment, and proclamation. Our learning event was more than an educational endeavor; it was an invitation to transform how we interact and perceive the people around us.

The Power of Practice

A pivotal aspect of our gathering was the emphasis on practicing accompaniment through one-to-ones. That’s when I really saw the importance of cultivating these connections and practice among ourselves.

During a lunchtime exercise, participants paired up with someone from a different congregation, someone they didn’t know, and then embark on a journey of discovering the essence of each other. The simple act of asking questions and just listening unveiled the profound impact of hearing and sharing stories. Returning from the exercise, the air was filled with laughter, smiles, and a sense of connection. This practice, as many reflected, was the highlight of the day, underscoring the simplicity and inspiration found in truly meeting someone new and authentically connecting.

Creating a New World Together

This event was not just about learning; it was about preparing to build a new world together. The question, “when my world and your world collide, what happens now?” captures the essence of our mission. We are preparing to step out of our comfort zones, to listen and share stories, to connect our narratives with those of our neighbors. This is the groundwork for a new world—a world as intended by God.

The overarching vision of our journey is rooted in the belief that we are created for connection. It’s our stories with those of our neighbors that we find the blueprint for this new world. Through connecting, listening, and truly hearing, we step into a realm of mutual understanding and empathy. This connection goes beyond mere interaction; it’s about engaging with stories on a deeper, heart level, being with and allowing the stories to move and transform us from within.

A Transformed Perspective

The learning event taught us that true connection involves more than just knowing each other’s stories; it’s about letting those stories resonate within us, altering our worldview, our thinking, and how we engage with the world. This process of connection with others, leaning into their story, and allowing it to transform our mind and heart is what prepares us to embrace a new perspective, living in a world that we’ve collectively reimagined.

As we continue on this journey, we continue leaning into the knowledge that our shared stories and connections are not just pathways to understanding but the very fabric of the new world we seek to create together

The post Accompaniment Event Reflection appeared first on Riverside Innovation Hub.

Saturday, June 3rd, 2023 9:00am – 3:00pm at Augsburg University 

Co-hosted by Riverside Innovation Hub and MAS Faith Practices & Neighboring Practices

Over the past two years Minneapolis Area Synod’s and Augsburg University’s Riverside Innovation Hub have shared a commitment to accompanying congregations as they discern their call to BE neighbor, rooted in their faith and open to the neighborhood. As the first learning cycle comes to an end and a new one begins, we are coming together to celebrate and learn from this groundswell of people engaged in what it means to be neighbor in the world. We’ll be joined by both congregations and individuals who are doing the work in neighborhoods all over Minnesota.��

On June 3rd, we will gather for a day to hear stories from near and far in a variety of mediums, participate in skill-centered interactive workshops for all types of leaders, and practice deep community building. We will be gathering folks that have a growing heart for their neighbor, are curious about who God is and what God is doing in the world and find themselves around people who are shedding some of their fears about taking risks and not afraid to fail.��

We invite you to join us as we continue to support and learn from each other on how we are called to be the public church in our neighborhoods! 

will open on March 24th and will close on May 5th.

Childcare and Interpretation will be available upon request if indicated on registration form.��

Community Stories

In preparation for our learning summit, we have been gathering stories about this experience from our learning congregations. Below you will hear from two of our learning partners.��

RIH Reflections from Yvette Hewitt at Church of the Epiphany: 

What is something you want to be sure to carry forward when the learning community wraps up?  I want to continue being in dialogue with our neighbors and excited for engaging in future relationships utilizing the four public church art forms. The phase “Trust the process” will be very valuable as we begin to implement our learning experience with the greater congregation.��

Discernment was a new concept for me. I plan to implement it more in my decision-making. I cherish the new friendships developed within our team, cohort group, RIH leadership, and other congregations during this learning opportunity.

Why does it matter that you are a part of this learning and experimentation?

Personally, professionally, and as a follower of Christ, this learning experience has changed the way I view and understand who is my neighbor. I want to be more awake and present in my daily interactions.

Where have you seen God at work over the learning community’s time together?

Our team has faced tremendous obstacles but God had another plan for us. The text from Ezekiel 47:1-12 imagines a river full of vitality and fruitfulness. God is replenishing our team with resilience, energy and vision to complete this work.�� I have seen areas of desolation beginning to emerge into places of new birth and opportunities to develop authentic relationships within our community.

RIH Reflections by Felecia Schmidt at Diamond Lake Lutheran Church 

In our fast-paced, goal-oriented culture it’s difficult, sometimes nearing impossible, to slow down. To see past our own bubble. To not get caught up in our daily grid and bogged down by the big picture.�� The experience with Riverside Innovation Hub (RIH) and this learning community has offered an opportunity to step off that path, pick our heads up and look around at the neighbors around us in a way we hadn’t fully realized. To feel the warmth of empathy and the refreshment of listening without an agenda.��

In the beginning, the artforms felt abstract. At times it was a challenge to understand them and how they fit into our lives, our church and the connection with our neighbors. Throughout the learning experience with RIH the artforms were not only understood, but they also became essential tools for deeper understanding of ourselves, our church and its role in our neighborhood. One of the greatest and most surprising outcomes for me was the weaving of the artforms into my personal life. Imagine the ripple effects when it is nurtured and blossoms within our own hearts.��

From this experience I want to carry forth the artforms.�� It’s the place I’ve felt God at work the most. Concepts that have always been present but this learning experience has brought clarity and intentionality to them.�� Understanding them has meant operating with grace and patience. It has meant taking the time to discern, even when there is a sense of urgency. It’s meant honoring every person’s story. It has meant being humbled and facing hard truths and faithful responses.��

With stirred spirits, renewed curiosity and a deeply-realized need to be connected to our neighbors, we step out into our neighborhood with fresh eyes and God’s grace.��

We can’t wait to share more stories with you all at the Groundswell! We hope to see you there! If you have any questions, please reach out to Ellen Weber at weber3@augsburg.edu or Kristina Frugé at frugek@augsburg.edu.

FPNP Reflections by Rachel Carmichael of Salem Evangelical: 

What is something you want to be sure to carry forward when the learning community wraps up?

I want to continue to check in with what we’re doing as a congregation and faith community. I want to be intentional about the work that we’re doing and at the same time I also want to remember the flexibility and openness that the learning community embodied, especially through the leaders of the learning community. I want to continue to check in with other faith communities because I think that support, connection and environment is key.

Why does it matter that you are a part of this learning and experimentation?

This is really important work. Part of my time with this learning community has been spent remembering this. Our work is changing, always, but it is still relevant and vital. Sometimes its hard to name that, amidst the busy-ness, but it’s important to remember the value in work that we’re all doing at whatever level you’re involved. It matters to me to be apart of a big movements of growth. What an incredible program! I’m truly sad it’s coming to an end but hope that this can provide a momentum towards other incredible learning communities. Thank you for allowing me to be apart of this wholesome goodness!

Where have you seen God at work over the learning community’s time together?

This is going to sound really general- but God has been apart of this process the entire time which is how I feel life works. Even in the hardest, most challenging spaces – God is there! God is pushing me to my limits and continually encouraging me to leap towards growth- mostly uncomfortable but absolutely necessary. And that has been happening during my time with this learning community, almost continually. The learning community gave me a space to be intentional about my involvement with my faith community. Selfishly, I really enjoyed finally developing a faith practice routine and I think that was an important way to begin our time together because it provided a strong foundation for the other elements we covered. It helped to remind me that God is present in my personal life- and I started there, so it opened my eyes to see other places God is working.��

FPNP Reflections by Pastor Ali Tranvik of Cross of Glory: 

When we began the Faith Practices & Neighboring Practices journey nearly two years ago, I remember the leaders sharing a lesser-known translation of John 1:14–the verse often cited as “the Word became flesh and dwelled among us.” This translation put it in slightly different terms: “the Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood” (MSG). It was shared as a reminder of a truth we’ve had the gift of witnessing more and more deeply over the course of these two years together: Jesus is already alive and at work in our neighborhoods (in Brooklyn Center, in south Minneapolis, in East Bethel, in Crystal, etc.), and is present in the physical, flesh-and-blood bodies of those who live within them. And with that confession came a question: what would it look like for the churches located in these neighborhoods to take part in the work that Jesus is already up to there? 

That question has compelled the FPNP faith communities into a variety of practices (both faith and neighboring–which turns out, are one in the same) these past two years. For us at Cross of Glory, our practices included a new rhythm of shared meals with neighbors old and new, where God has shown up in bread broken and in conversation shared. We look forward to continuing to gather with neighbors at tables–and to encounter the Jesus who lives in our neighborhood at them.��

The post You are invited to Groundswell: A Learning Summit appeared first on Riverside Innovation Hub.

Churches who become a learning partner will journey together with 10-12 congregations over two years shaped by these characteristics. This time will include gathering for large group learning events 3-4 times a year, gathering with cohorts of several congregations and an RIH facilitator to support and share wisdom with one another, work done individually by congregational teams supported by an RIH facilitator, and opportunities for team leaders from congregations to connect around leading this work in our congregations.

Project Description & Eligibility

Riverside Innovation Hub

Augsburg University’s Riverside Innovation Hub is an incubator for people and communities exploring the public church in the neighborhood. These congregations learn a process for discerning how God is inviting them to become more engaged in their neighborhoods.

Learn More about Riverside Innovation Hub

Application Process

Step 1: Submit Letter of Intent

Accepted on a rolling basis

Congregations interested in pursuing the application process are asked to have their senior pastor submit a letter of intent to apply, via a google form. Letters of intent will be accepted on a rolling basis, until the end of the application period.

Submission of your letter of intent will:

• Allow congregations to indicate why they are applying for the project.
• Help RIH staff streamline communications as the application process moves forward by adding you to direct mailings about the process and being available to you for further conversation.
• Help your congregational leaders move through the application process in a timely and thoughtful way.

Step 2: Learn more: Informational Sessions

Step 3: Submit Application

Submit on or before April 20, 2023

The application is a google form, but please see the questions in a pdf below.

Recruit your senior pastor and one lay leader to complete the application and involve others from your congregation in the process as relevant for your context (ie council leadership, staff, lay leaders). You are welcome to complete the application sections as a group or have one person submit it all after your group has worked on it.

Step 4: Invitation Process

RIH will review applications and extend invitations to selected congregations  the week of May 16th. Congregations will have until June 8th to accept the invitation.

Augsburg’s learning community begins September 2023 and runs through September 2025.��

Contact us:

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