![\"St.](\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/05\/St-Paul_s-First-Bldg-1.jpg\")
\u201cWe will see where this takes us,\u201d Gardner said. \u201cWe hope that Zion will be a partner, perhaps even a \u2018hub,\u2019 to build fuller relationships with other local congregations as we work together to make Jesus known. We need to explore how Jesus makes a difference in our lives and how He can do the same for those who don\u2019t yet know Him. It\u2019s an opportunity for new life and joy in what the Spirit has in store for our community and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n
Throughout the process of closing, St. Paul, Calvary and other congregations have sought guidance and inspiration from Faith+Lead, Luther Seminary\u2019s digital ecosystem of theological resources. Faith+Lead offers training, community, and coaching for today\u2019s church leaders through its new membership, free podcasts and blogs, low-cost on-demand digital courses, one-on-one and group coaching, workshops, and a private social network.<\/p>\n
\u201cClearly, Luther Seminary is helping to set the pace for envisioning and building for the future of our Lord\u2019s church,\u201d Gardner said. \u201cBecause of this, St. Paul offered a gesture of thanksgiving and a demonstration of confidence and support with a legacy gift to Luther Seminary to further innovation through its Faith+Lead program.\u201d<\/p>\n
St. Paul\u2019s gift was among the first directed toward Faith+Lead from the sale of a building, according to Alicia Granholm<\/strong>, senior director of Faith+Lead. Calvary\u2019s investment soon followed.<\/p>\n \u201cTheir gifts mean we can continue to invest in creating more resources so that all God\u2019s people are equipped to love and lead in the way of Jesus today,\u201d Granholm said. \u201cWe are primarily funded through grants and donations, so donations allow us to provide on-demand theological education that is accessible, affordable, and transformative in a way that is sustainable for us.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a scattering of seeds that is a blessing to countless churches and leaders beyond the reach of any one church because of the nature of Faith+Lead\u2019s global impact.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cB<\/em>ut the building is not the church. The church is us, and we wanted our legacy to live out our commitment to faith and community.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u2014 Shelly Little, Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church member<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Longtime Calvary member Shelly Little said one of the blessings during the process was feeling part of the broader church. In fall 2023, Calvary invested a substantial legacy gift in Faith+Lead, with additional gifts to the seminary to support student scholarships, the Musician in Residence program, and emergency funds for students. Through a transfer of the Calvary Endowment Trust, the church also established an emergency endowment fund for students. A letter accompanying the gift noted how much the congregation valued the seminary\u2019s work in meeting changes in the wider church as well as the education it offers to new pastors and church leaders.<\/p>\n \u201cI have been a member of Calvary since my folks moved to the Twin Cities in 1973, with wonderful memories of our worship services, youth retreats to the wilderness, making music, and Lutefisk suppers,\u201d said Little, who led the Calvary Legacy Team. \u201cWe tried many, many different things over the years to keep it alive, but we got to a point when we needed to say \u2018goodbye\u2019 to the building we loved. But the building is not the church. The church is us, and we wanted our legacy to live out our commitment to faith and community.\u201d<\/p>\n Both congregations worked with Lisa Cohen<\/strong>, a philanthropic adviser for the seminary.<\/p>\n \u201cIn each case, when I began talking with these congregations about closing, we started with the idea of an investment for the future of the church. For St. Paul, the goal was to make an investment in growing God\u2019s kingdom. For Calvary, the goal was to extend their legacy of \u2018Welcome, Worship, and Witness\u2019 in Jesus\u2019 name,\u201d Cohen said. \u201cIt\u2019s an honor to help these congregations live out their legacy in a way that honors their mission and vision.\u201d<\/p>\n Working toward his master\u2019s in the history of Christianity, current student Caleb Rollins <\/strong>studies how churches can make just and faithful decisions about the future of their properties.<\/p>\n \u201cSeveral of my professional work positions have been funded by the sale of church property, so it\u2019s a really big part of my life,\u201d said Rollins, who also serves as an office administrator for Christ Church Lutheran in Minneapolis. \u201cI am beyond grateful that these congregations see the opportunity for new life in their closings.\u201d<\/p>\n For the past two years, Rollins has worked with the Lake Institute on Faith and Giving at Indiana University to research examples of sustainable, faithful use of property and endowments as part of the Faithful Generosity Story Shelf. The searchable database offers stories about selling, donating, and sharing property as well as information about investing for impact and innovative giving.<\/p>\n \u201cStories on the Story Shelf shine light on congregations and other religious organizations that have sought to use their resources in creative\u2014and sometimes surprising\u2014ways,\u201d he said. \u201cEach story is an expression of faithful and innovative generosity, but these vignettes are not how-to manuals. They won\u2019t tell you exactly what to do in your own time and place, but they can spark conversation and imagination about what might be possible.\u201d<\/p>\n In that work, Rollins learned about the Good Friday Collaborative, which is a group of closed or merged congregations that accompany communities in discernment and faithful action. He learned about Partners for Sacred Spaces, which works to maintain America\u2019s older and historic houses of worship, and Rooted Good, which equips churches and leaders with resources to become something \u201cnew, imaginative, and good for the world.\u201d<\/p>\n These groups, Rollins said, help faith-based organizations align money and mission, reclaim their relevance in a changing world, and be the church the world needs today.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a good number of organizations that now walk alongside congregations as they navigate these tricky waters to realize how the gospel can live on in different iterations, as it has throughout history.\u201d<\/p>\n The idea that \u201cinvesting in church is an investment in community\u201d is a central theme that spans history, denominations, and worship styles, added Granholm. Calvary and St. Paul are in lockstep with that mindset.<\/p>\n In addition to its generous gift to Faith+Lead, Calvary allocated nearly 60% of its funds to regional efforts, including the Minneapolis Area Synod of ELCA\u2019s New Mission Start Congregations and Ministry Imagination Grants. The church also made gifts to Tapestry Lutheran Church, a new mission church that worships bilingually and teaches English to Spanish speakers, and to the collaborative youth ministry Richfield Area Lutheran Youth.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Legacy Team continues to meet to complete our distribution to area churches and organizations, like Meals on Wheels, Bundles of Love, and VEAP, which provides access to healthy foods, social services, and financial assistance to our neighbors,\u201d Little said. \u201cMany of Calvary\u2019s members are deeply involved with these organizations, so we are glad to see our money support these vital efforts that mean so much to our congregation.\u201d<\/p>\n St. Paul\u2019s Legacy Team created a donor-advised fund through the Erie County Community Foundation to allocate money to area organizations and projects that advance outreach in the Lord\u2019s name.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will continue to review ways to invest in organizations that want to grow God\u2019s kingdom here and abroad,\u201d said Larry Riedy, a member of St. Paul for 45 years and the former president of its church council. \u201cWe are considering help for our county\u2019s health department to convert a Lutheran-related former nursing home into an adult daycare facility. And, we\u2019re looking at support for a partnership between a local church and laundromat to pay for laundry services for those in need.\u201d<\/p>\n Wade Wacholz \u201917 M.Div<\/strong>., who served Calvary as a part-time pastor through its closing, said the church navigated this process well because of open, honest, and regular communication.<\/p>\n \u201cYou must continually ask, \u2019What and who are we here for?\u2019 and if the answer is, \u2018We\u2019re just here for ourselves,\u2019 that\u2019s not a very faithful answer. Churches have always existed primarily for our neighbors, but it\u2019s easy to get focused inward. So, you must keep talking about and answering that question because that\u2019s where you get led into faithful places.\u201d<\/p>\n He stressed the importance of resources like Faith+Lead and books like \u201cCanoeing the Mountains: Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory\u201d by Tod Bolsinger. \u201cExplore all you can do to reinvigorate,\u201d he urged other congregations, \u201cbut be honest with yourself, as we were, when we realized that our church\u2019s resurrection was not a resurrection in place, but a resurrection of our ministry. Our final gift as a congregation was an enduring legacy of faithful stewardship.\u201d<\/p>\n Little said it was important to her and many other Calvary members to honor the items and records of the church. Each person in the congregation took home a hymnal, and they donated children\u2019s musical instruments and other items to other churches, schools, and scout troops. They worked with the synod to archive documents and a series of colorful Hmong tapestries, gifted by refugees the church helped to resettle in Minnesota after the Vietnam War.<\/p>\n Paul Daniels<\/strong> is a part-time archivist for the nine synods of ELCA Region 3 (covering the states of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota) and the part-time archivist for Luther Seminary, where both archival collections are housed. He worked with Calvary to capture its history within the largest collection of the regional archives network throughout the United States.<\/p>\n \u201cThe archival process seems to offer many people a sense of healing, knowing that their records and artifacts will be a conveyor of story and memory and what God was up to through their community and work,\u201d said Daniels, who also serves as curator of the seminary\u2019s sizable art collection. \u201cOur materials date back to the 1840s, and so many people\u2014historians and seminarians, in particular\u2014use them to make sense of our world.\u201d<\/p>\n Daniels said churches preparing to close should contact the ELCA regional archivist early to ensure proper and complete care of congregational records. Congregations can also visit the ELCA Archive Resources for a brief guide about the process.<\/p>\n Archives often include constitutions, bylaws, and articles of incorporation as well as pastoral records of baptisms, confirmations, marriages, and funerals. Annual meeting materials, a sampling of newsletters and bulletins, and items like Sunday school pins and Calvary\u2019s Hmong tapestries help tell the unique story of each congregation.<\/p>\n Members of St. Paul and Calvary have archived, taken home, or given away the physical remnants of their churches. What lingers, Gardner said, is a spirit of faith-filled hope. He shared an evening prayer from the Lutheran Book of Worship that he and others have turned to throughout this journey.<\/p>\n \u201cGod, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.\u201d<\/p>\n Contact Seminary Relations at <\/em>semrel@luthersem.edu<\/strong><\/a> to discuss ways to invest in the future of the church. Your gifts equip future leaders and support innovation in a rapidly changing world.<\/em><\/p>\n Closing churches \u2018die a good death\u2019 through investments in community and the future of the church.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7868,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7865","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"issue-summer-2024","9":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNew, imaginative good for the world<\/h2>\n
![\"Calvary](\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/05\/Tapestry.jpg\")
\u2018Investing in church is an investment in community\u2019<\/h2>\n
Capturing history, honoring legacy<\/h2>\n
![\"St.](\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/story\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/05\/PHOTO-PLACEHOLDER112.jpg\")
Read more from Summer 2024<\/h2>\n
\n