We asked the Luther Seminary community how congregations they’re involved with have tried something new or creative that led to new insights for ministry. Here are some of their photos and responses.
The Hearth, Orlando, Florida
Hearth Church is a “church outside of church.” It is a missional congregation focused on reaching individuals who have experienced religious trauma. We meet in bars and breweries in order to bring church to the people, particularly people who feel uncomfortable in a traditional church space. We have two community partners—a brewery and a small dive bar—where we hold services twice a week. These partnerships allow us to use the space for free. In turn, we support these local businesses and partner with them on community fellowship and ministry-fundraising events.
—Kaylee Vance ’27 M.Div.
Pilgrim Lutheran Church, St. Paul, Minnesota
Congregations are utilizing new technologies for the hearing impaired to enhance the worship experience. Worship participants receive assistance with downloading phone apps, logging into Wi-Fi, and accessing bluetooth links—all of which make it possible to hear everything and participate more fully in worship. Congregations that have Wi-Fi and livestream their services already have some of the needed infrastructure. Anyone with a newer hearing device and a smartphone can access the signal and have sound delivered directly to them. Hearing assistance plays a tremendous role in the life of the worshiping community. Our congregation is exploring this, as the new technology seems to be significantly more effective than what has previously been available for the hearing impaired.
—Russell Myers ’85 M.Div., ’03 D.Min.
Saint Andrew Lutheran Church, Eden Prairie, Minnesota
Wiggle and Worship is for families with little kids, and it addressed concerns we had with overcrowded holiday services—Christmas Eve, Ash Wednesday, and Easter. We asked parents of young children what might help their children participate and then collaborated with a movement artist to learn more about best practices for doing movement with kids in meaningful, purposeful ways. We were able to craft a worship experience with three key insights taken from these conversations:
- The physical space has to look and feel like families with kids are truly welcome—wide spacing between chairs or pews to fit car seats and diaper bags, open front area with room for lots of kids near the musicians, comfortable space with quilts on the floor and low tables set with art supplies, youth volunteers to help keep kids safe and engaged (so parents can relax).
- Clear communication of welcome, purpose, and message—share that movement and noise are expected and encouraged, repeat the service theme (e.g., “Jesus was born and the world turned upside down”) and center all content on the theme.
- Shepherd the energy and movement of dozens of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers—hard to define but meet kids where they are and lead them through the worship experience without shushing them. Sometimes energy is really high and other times more quiet, engaging music can help signal permission to dance, clap, jump, slow down, breathe, and sit.
—Arlene Flancher, children, youth, and family program coordinator and student advisor and Matthew Fleming ’14 M.Div.
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Madison, Wisconsin
Holy Cow ministry at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Madison, Wisconsin, is a church on wheels—a fully-licensed food truck that visits parks and community events throughout the area. The truck is staffed fully by volunteers, and folks pay what they can. We get to know our neighbors through the food truck, and our volunteers have countless stories of how the ministry has changed them, the church, and the community. One of our regular volunteers, Deni Naumann, shared that “volunteering with Holy Cow is a holy experience. The opportunity to show God’s love through serving a meal and being welcoming to all in the community is a blessing. I’ve learned so much about God’s gift of outreach and what it means to love your neighbor.”
—Sheryl Erickson ’87 M.Div., Ryan Panzer ’19 M.A., Dara Schuller-Hanson, and Rick Thomas
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Rochester, Minnesota
Our “play church” in the narthex is a mini replica of the altar, ambo, and baptismal font in the sanctuary. Children use the replica and their imaginations to pretend and play church. This spring the play church will be used for Sunday school lessons to teach students about the elements of worship. Sunday school students will then have an opportunity to use what they’ve learned and volunteer to assist with a worship service. Our Sunday school group has also been brainstorming and visioning future ministry ideas. The class voted on which idea they would like to implement, selecting a Faith and Lemonade Stand. The stand was designed and built by a church member and painted by the Sunday school class. Each month, Sunday school student volunteers host a free lemonade stand after worship, passing out lemonade and cookies. They think of a conversation question for people to discuss while enjoying the refreshments and lead the congregation in singing to those celebrating a birthday that month.
—Amy Mohr ’25 M.A
First Lutheran Church, Columbia Heights, Minnesota
We are a 100+ year-old, mostly white, suburban congregation in the Twin Cities. Ten years ago we were struggling to connect with young families in a changing neighborhood demographic, so we started a racially diverse after-school program. The program has helped us grow our youth group programs and camp participation and has improved our connection to the community.
—Nathan Roberts ’12 M.Div.
Read more from Summer 2024
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- ‘Wonderful, delightful, complicated, surprising’
- A faithful legacy
- Shaping the global communion
- Faculty and staff notes
- Alumni news
- How is your congregation innovating?
- Annual lecture series return to campus
- Explore your next faithful step with Faith+Lead Membership
- Discernment retreat creates space for questions
- New admissions website makes referrals easier