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The CCV Blog

Lord In Your Mercy, Hear Our Prayer

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Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

We invite you to pause. Gently hold space for the hurt and pain at work in our lives and that of our neighbors, including the news of another tragedy that another young black man’s life has been cut short at the hand of a police officer in Brooklyn Center, MN. Kristina Fruge, Managing Director of the Christensen Center for Vocation, preaches the gospel in the midst of the bad news. Preaching is a call to proclaim the gospel, good news. And Kristina shares in community struggle to begin to imagine what word of good news can be offered in the midst of bad news.

Continue reading “Lord In Your Mercy, Hear Our Prayer” →

Introducing Danielle

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headshot of Danielle Tucker

Danielle Tucker joined the CCV staff in late March 2021 as the Program Coordinator for Augsburg Youth Theology Institute (AYTI). She was born in Minneapolis and has spent most of her life here. In 2014, she graduated from Augsburg University with a degree in Educational Studies. She also holds an Associate of Liberal Arts from Minneapolis Community & Technical College. “I love Jesus and engaging with youth and young adults for his purposes on this side of heaven. I am an active member of my home church, New Salem Missionary Baptist Church where I serve as a Youth Bible Study teacher and for Lead our Youth/Young Adult Mentorship Initiative. I believe we were created to live relationally and hold sacred the relationships I have been blessed to experience in my youth servant leader role both in the church and in my community as well as where they intersect. When I am not with my family or serving Gods’ people, I enjoy crafting, curating, creating for my business “Created to Create” and listening to audio books.”

 

2020-2021 Christensen Scholars

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Branwen Jorenby ’23

Major: Biology, Minor: Psychology
Hometown: Prior Lake, MN

branwen smiling in field

 

Being a Christensen Scholar is an amazing experience! As someone who is not religious but grew up in a Lutheran setting, participating in this program has challenged me to fully dive into questioning my own spiritual beliefs in multiple thought-provoking readings and conversations with my peers. Engaging in Augsburg Health Commons as a volunteer through this program has allowed me to see health and humanity in a new light that I will bring into the care plans of my future patients.

Tofunmi Oteju ’21

Major: Biology
Hometown: Lagos, Nigeria

tofunmi smilingI have always been fascinated with Interfaith work and how our various beliefs intersect, with the sole purpose of maintaining some sort or unity between our different faith and non-faith traditions. I was able to explore my curiosity by being part of the 2019-2020 Interfaith Cohort. There I explored the religious diversity at Augsburg and the wider Twin Cities but also put on events that explore this diversity as it relates to various facets of our everyday lives (e.g. Faith and Science, Faith and Death). A revelation I had being an Interfaith Scholar, was that there is still so much work that has to be done within our various faith traditions. Currently, there is still not enough unity and understanding between different Christian denominations. Being an international student from Nigeria, I was not as exposed to the various protestant denominations till I started school at Augsburg. I was not even aware we had a wide variety of denominations within Protestantism. I was only familiar with mainly Catholicism and Pentecostalism (which I practice). Coming to a school built on the values of Lutheranism forced me to explore more denominations.
Being in the Christensen Scholars program has been a great way to cumulate my learning of the various ways of being a Christian.

Erik Garcia Gonzaga

Major: Communication Studies
Hometown: Minneapolis, MN

erik leaning against rockMy name is Erik Garcia Gonzaga, born in Morelos, Mexico and raised here in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I am a student at Augsburg University studying Communication Studies. What I want to do with that major is to be in places where I can inspire and motivate teens and young adults to follow their career and educational goals.

 

Continue reading “2020-2021 Christensen Scholars” →

Transformed by the Public Church Framework: Trinity Lutheran Congregation

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Today’s post comes from Pastor Liesl Spitz. She served as Intern Pastor at Trinity Lutheran Congregation from 2017 to 2019 and is currently one of the pastors at St. Timothy Lutheran Church in St. Paul. 

This blog is one in a of a series of stories of transformation from our congregational learning partners, which illustrate the larger story of our project and learning partnerships as we begin to promote another learning partnership opportunity. 

overhead image of cheese pizzaI stop by Domino’s on my way to church. It’s Friday night at 9pm. When I get there I meet one of our young adults, and we walk to the corner of Cedar and Riverside. A plastic table is already set up with a kettle of tea and a warming bag to hold the pizzas. Just cheese, no meat, Abdi told us when we offered to bring them. It’s what the guys prefer.

Abdi Mukhtar is the founder of Daryeel Youth. Daryeel means “care” in Somali. Each Friday night, even in the coldest winter, Abdi shares chai tea and pizza with young men in our neighborhood who are most vulnerable to drug use and violence. Weekend nights at the corner of Cedar and Riverside is where Abdi had seen the most harm. So weekend nights at that corner is where he sets up.

Continue reading “Transformed by the Public Church Framework: Trinity Lutheran Congregation” →

The Art of Public Ministry

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This video is the second of two introducing you to the work of the Riverside Innovation Hub which is an initiative of Augsburg University’s Christensen Center for Vocation. You can see the first video and blog post here.

At Augsburg University, we are convening learning communities of congregations and ministry leaders to explore new ways of being engaged in their contexts that create opportunities for the mutual sharing of good news with our neighbors.

Continue reading “The Art of Public Ministry” →

Introducing the CCV and AYTI Student Workers

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Renee Christensen

She/Her/Her’s

Renee smiling against wallHi! My name is Renee Christensen, and I am from Shafer, MN. My pronouns are she/her/hers. I am a second year double majoring in Clinical Psychology and Theology and Public Leadership. I was an AYTI participant in 2018 and fell in love with Augsburg! Outside of my work with AYTI, I work closely with the Campus Ministry staff and serve as the Augsburg University Student Ministries Secretary. When I’m home, you’ll usually find me curled up with a good book, being outdoors, or snuggling with my cats.

 

Grace Porter

She/Her/Her’s

Grace walking outsideI am Grace Porter, she/her/hers, from Eden Prairie. I will be graduating in Fall 2021 with a Theology and Public Leadership major, concentration in youth studies, and Music minor. As someone who wants to work in the church, and change what that looks like (especially for youth), Augsburg was the no-brainer school to go to. I knew I could get an education that emphasized God’s love for everyone and God’s wish for God’s people to work for justice in the world! And now, as I am entering my fourth year, I know that is exactly what I have gotten. Through Christensen Scholars, the Augsburg Youth Theology Institute, Campus Ministries, and so much more, Augsburg has been a wonderful home and learning community for me.

 

Erica nondi

She/Her/Her’s

erica smiling selfieHabari! (Hello!). My name is Erica Nondi and I am in my senior year of my Business Management degree, and I have worked as the CCV student worker for 2 years. I was born and raised in Mombasa, Kenya, and I started my undergrad at a small music school in St Paul, but eventually found my passion for business studies at Augsburg University. I have gained communication and organizational skills while working on administrative tasks to help the CCV team with various projects, and it has been a wonderful experience. My hobbies include singing, cooking traditional Kenyan food, swimming and snowmobiling.

The Foundations for a Public Church

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This video introduces you to the work of the Riverside Innovation Hub which is an initiative of Augsburg University’s Christensen Center for Vocation. The video is about 60 minutes long. It is the first video of a two part series. This video covers the foundations upon which our work is built. The second video explains the process we use to do this work. This blog will give you some context for the video.

At Augsburg University, we are very committed to the theological concept of vocation in which Christ frees and empowers each person to be co-creators with God in the work of healing creation. Or, in a nutshell, Christ frees us to participate in our neighbors thriving.

Continue reading “The Foundations for a Public Church” →

Q & A Sessions for AYTI

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ARE YOU INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE ABOUT AYTI?

  • Do you have questions about the 2021 AYTI theme?
  • Are you curious about what worship and devotions are like?
  • Do you wonder what youth might be a good fit to participate?
  • Are you wondering how participants will engage thoughtfully in the virtual platform?

We invite you to join one of the two upcoming virtual Q&A sessions on Zoom that will give you a chance to hear from staff and college mentors about the 2021 AYTI experience. This is your chance to ask questions on the general information about the institute, celebrate the  possibilities of the virtual platform, and learn more about theme content so that you can nominate students who will thrive at this year’s Institute!

These sessions will be held on Friday, March 5th, from 10-11am CST; and Tuesday, March 9th from 4-5pm CST. Please sign up using this form to receive the zoom link!

 

 

Transformed by the Public Church Framework: Church of All Nations

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Today’s blog post comes from Marie Page at Church of All Nations in Columbia Heights. She shares the story of the learnings and transformation their community has experienced by being a learning partner in the Riverside Innovation Hub.

This blog is the second in a series of stories of transformation from our congregational learning partners. We hope these stories illustrate the larger story of our project as we promote another learning partnership opportunity. 

church of all nations logo with white dove over multicolored cross

When we first started conversations with Riverside Innovation Hub, we could hardly have imagined the depth and variety of challenges that would face our congregation and our society in these past few years; but the insights and collaborative support we received through our partnership could not have come at a better time.

In the initial stages of the process, the public church framework offered clarity and a healthy challenge as we discerned where the Spirit was calling us. Their early enthusiasm was additional confirmation that our desire for a regenerative reset of our relationship with the land itself was an idea that could catch imagination and spark passion with many. Church “as we’ve always done it,” we sensed, was increasingly failing to satisfy the hunger of our members and community. With the support of our RIH partners, we began our multi-year permaculture project.

Continue reading “Transformed by the Public Church Framework: Church of All Nations” →

Rooted and Open

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Grounding your community in core beliefs, branching out into the unknown

This post is intended to share resources with those who participated in our workshop on February 5, 2021 at the ELCA Youth Ministry Network’s Extravaganza. In this post you will find:

  1. Notes taken during our workshop on 02/05/2021
  2. The video played at the beginning of our workshop
  3. A lesson plan to use in your home congregation
  4. The videos containing our partner congregations’ stories

Black and white sketch of tree and tree roots

Workshop Description

Core theological convictions should not be walls that prevent engagement with our neighbors. Instead, they can provide a blueprint for change and engagement across differences. This workshop helps participants identify core theological convictions and imagine they can be held loosely to allow for creative change in a shifting context. Case studies from congregations involved in Augsburg University’s Riverside Innovation Hub will help us see how this can be done.

It is important to acknowledge the title of this workshop is inspired by a document that has become very important to our work. “Rooted and Open: The Common Calling of ELCA Colleges and Universities” lays out a vision for the ELCA colleges and universities as institutions rooted in the Lutheran tradition and boldly open to a changing world. We think it’s worth the read and can serve as another case study of how to hold tradition loosely in a way that generates innovation for the sake of the world.

Key Take-away

Clarity on what your core theological convictions are and ideas for how these convictions can help them think theologically about ministry and creative change in a shifting context.

Continue reading “Rooted and Open” →