Four Work Groups on the Bishop’s Committee for Public Witness

The Saint Paul Area Synod is pleased to announce four new work groups under the Bishop’s Committee for Public Witness. These work groups include: ENGAGE; Anti-Racism and Multiculturalism Work Group; Cherish All Children Ministry Team; and Weaving Together an End to Hunger Work Group.

The mission of ENGAGE is to meditate on, educate about, and advocate for gun violence prevention in the nonviolent Spirit of Jesus Christ. In Minnesota, there are about 90 homicides and 350 gun suicides each year. Nationally, there are about 12,000 gun homicides and 20,000 gun suicides annually. The United States has the highest rate of gun deaths among all Western nations. Sadly, two shooters, Dylan Klebold at Columbine in Colorado, and Dylann Roof at Mother Immanuel Church in Charleston, were ELCA youth. The ELCA has “skin in this gun violence game.”

ENGAGE seeks to lessen gun violence in our homes, schools, places of work and worship. The team will provide for conversation on Sunday mornings, weekday evenings, or at other times. The content is Biblical, musical, factual, and action oriented. If interested or have questions, contact The Rev. Ron Letnes at ronletnes@hotmail.com or 763-291-4003.

The Anti-Racism & Multiculturalism Work Group continues the work on Becoming a Multicultural Church as outlined in resolution 2010-1 and 2012-5, affirming the commitment to address anti-racism with intentional strategies by people of faith, whereas the Church cannot become multicultural without also becoming anti-racist. The work group exists to curate tools for raising awareness of racial injustice, convene a cohort of congregational leaders ready to confront racism and dig deeper on the issues, and to encourage Saint Paul Area Synod congregations to move beyond awareness into advocacy and activism. For more information, contact Lynette Zika at lynettezika@gmail.com.

Cherish All Children Ministry Team works to educate and engage congregations in action to prevent child sexual exploitation. They are currently hosting screenings of the documentary “The Mask You Live In” and are available for adult forums. More about Cherish All Children can be found at www.cherishallchildren.org. Contact Mike Banks of St. Paul Reformation at dad5519@gmail.com or 651.644.5974 to learn more about engaging with Cherish All Children.

Weaving Together an End to Hunger works to alleviate hunger in all of God’s world by prompting congregations and their members to practice generosity and to advocate for a just sharing of the world’s abundance. Through education and resources, Weaving Together an End to Hunger will work to keep hunger work prevalent in the mission of the synod and our many congregations. To learn more about ending hunger, contact Vernita Kennen at dvkennen@aol.com.