April 17, 2026
Dear Church,
In just about a month, the congregations and ministries of the St. Paul Area Synod will be gathering for our annual Synod Assembly. This event is similar to Grace’s Annual Meeting in that there is worship, there are celebrations of ministry and time for sharing what’s going well and what’s challenging, and there are discussions and elections. It’s a little different than our Annual Meeting because it’s two full days!
This year is an especially important one in our synod as we are electing a new Bishop! Bishop Lull has served for two terms (12 years), and we are grateful for her care and service. As part of the bishop election process, some candidates have been pre-identified to give them time to discern this possibility of call, and for the members of the synod to get to know them a little better. I’ve linked the synod page that has the biographies, video introductions, and a candidate forum where they share more about themselves and their vision for synodical ministry.
Synod Assembly connects us to the wider Church – congregations we are doing ministry alongside, representatives from the national body of the ELCA, and many friends and connections. We are church, together!
And as a church within the synod, we are sending voting delegates to Synod Assembly. There are still three slots available for congregation members to join Pr. Sarah and I on May 15th and 16th – these will be long days (Friday is 9-8, Saturday is 9-3), but with meals provided (lunch and dinner on Friday, lunch on Saturday), and some downtime and flexibility built in. We would love to fill all of our delegate spots – please reach out to Lisa Wolf if you’re interested in attending or learning more! We need to complete registrations by the end of April.
In the meantime, hold the St. Paul Area Synod in your prayers as we discern together this next phase of ministry and being church together!
In Christ,
Pastor Reed
Every Friday, we send an email to the congregation and any others who would like to learn more about the Grace community. The last four Friday emails are posted below.