Planting Hope

The Planting Hope Campaign expresses our confidence that God is at work in the 107 congregations and mission starts of the Saint Paul Area Synod and God is at work in the East Metro of the Twin Cities, the territory served by our synod. To date, we have raised more than $1.4 million that supports these four activity areas:

  1. Invite neighbors into life in Christ
  2. Renew the congregations of the synod
  3. Raise up the next generations of leaders
  4. Invest in a transformative project on the East Side of St. Paul

Thanks to the generosity of congregations and major donors, we rejoice in the successful completion of that fourth item…the transformative project on St. Paul’s East Side. At the 2023 Synod Assembly, we presented a $1 million check to Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota. Those funds were designated for the renovation of Grace Lutheran Church in St. Paul to house LSS’ Families Together Eastside Preschool. This therapeutic preschool will be a life-changing resource for children and their families on the East Side of St. Paul when it opens in the fall of 2024.

As of early 2024, we are now moving into the “Planting MORE Hope” phase of the campaign as we focus on two of the other initiatives:

Raise Up the Next Generation of Leaders

This synod invests in the future of the church by investing in  young adults who will serve as future leaders of the church, both as rostered ministers as well as engaged lay leaders. The campaign is currently seeking funding that will:

Continue a paid summer internship program for a third year in 2025. This program allows young adults to immerse themselves in work at a congregation, ministry partner or nonprofit while meeting weekly with other interns to reflect on faith and vocation. This program is already fully funded for Summer 2024.

Offer global travel opportunities to young adults in cooperation with our companion synods in Tanzania and Guatemala. We know global travel experiences make a difference in people’s lives and their faith formation. The Planting Hope Campaign seeks to make those experiences possible for young adults in our synod.

 

Renew the Congregations of the Synod

The birth of new congregations and continued vitality of established congregations requires hard work and endurance as well as the financial and spiritual support of the synod and fellow congregations. Another aspect of Planting More Hope is to continue strong mission support vitality and stewardship support for our congregations. That means anything from helping to pay a mission developer minister’s salary to subsidizing registration fees for programs such as spiritual gifts retreat, tools for the church programming and other congregational vitality support.

How to Invest in Planting More Hope

Congregations of the synod are the primary funding mechanism for the Planting More Hope Campaign. Individual donors are encouraged to pass their contributions through their congregation. If so some reason that isn’t possible, individual donations are welcome.

If your congregation has already contributed to Planting Hope, thank you. Whether you had a stand-alone funding drive, rolled Planting Hope into your own capital campaign, you simply designated mission funds or had another process for gathering contributions, we are so grateful. Now we ask: is it possible for you to give more? Contact the synod office at 651-224-4313 to discuss what resources will help you this time.

If your congregation has not yet contributed to Planting Hope, it’s not too late to invest in the common work in the synod. We look forward to another year of added support for congregational vitality and increased investment in the lives of young adults. Contact the synod office at 651-224-4313 to get started. A variety of updated marketing collateral will be available soon.