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The CCV Blog

Thriving Congregations: Learning Partnership Application Process

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The Minneapolis Area Synod and Augsburg University’s Christensen Center for Vocation were both awarded a Thriving Congregations grant through the Lilly Endowment to support work with area congregations. These individual projects share a commitment to accompanying  congregations as they discern their call to BE neighbor, rooted in their faith and opened to the neighborhood.

Our two organizations are partnering to support each other in this work. While the particular experiences of congregations who participate in either project will differ in some key ways, our mutual efforts and curiosities are in sync with each other. This opens room to collaborate and learn together over the life of this initiative.

Our collaboration begins in offering a joint application process for congregations interested in either (or both) of these projects. Whether you are interested in MAS’s “Faith Practices and Neighboring Practices” learning community or Augsburg’s “Riverside Innovation Hub” learning community, we are providing a single application process. Our staff members are partnering closely to offer congregations a straightforward and thoughtful experience as you discern the exciting opportunities that our Thriving Congregation’s Grants are making available.

For brief project descriptions, distinctions, and eligibility for each project you can see this PDF document.  

Project Descriptions & Eligibility

Riverside Innovation HubRiverside Hub Logo

The Riverside Innovation Hub, stewarded by the Christensen Center for Vocation at Augsburg University, will learn and experiment with the Public Church Framework as a method for place based vocational discernment in the public square for the common good. This new opportunity is an invitation to congregations interested in pursuing or deepening this same orientation in their particular place, in relationship with the neighbor and neighborhood, leaning into God’s promises and challenges that meet us there. This project is open to all Christian congregations within an hour of the Twin Cities Metro Area. Congregations outside this geographic area may apply but should know their experience in the project may differ slightly. Participation in the learning community will include bringing teams to Augsburg’s campus 3-4 times a year (as COVID-19 allows.)
Learn More about Riverside Innovation Hub

 

Neighboring Practices and Faith PracticesMinneapolis area synod logo

Neighboring Practices and Faith Practices, stewarded by the Minneapolis Area Synod, will focus on faith practices and neighboring practices, because congregations connect best with their neighborhood when they practice their faith and they see with new eyes that God is already at work in their neighborhood. The Minneapolis Area Synod project is open to all Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) congregations within the geographic boundaries of the Minneapolis Area Synod and African Methodist Episcopal (AME) congregations within Minnesota.

Learn More about Faith Practices and Neighboring Practices

 

Application Process

Step 1: Learn more:

colorful pens atop a blank notebook bag with open laptop in the backgroundCo-hosted informational sessions were offered in February. Each project is hosting one additional opportunity specific to their project.

For Minneapolis Synod congregations, watch for a workshop at the MAS Toolkit event on Saturday, March 13th.

For congregations interested in the Riverside Innovation Hub, RSVP at the link below for an info session on Tuesday, Mar 16th from 10:30-11:30am.

Note: RIH is open to any Christian denomination in the metro area or surrounding cities. MAS is open to ELCA Minneapolis Area Synod churches and Minnesota AME churches.

RSVP to RIH Info Session

 

Step 2: Submit Letter of Intent

Accepted on a rolling basis

Congregations interested in pursuing the application process with either the MAS or RIH projects are asked to have their senior pastor submit a letter of intent to apply, via a google form. Letters of intent will be accepted on a rolling basis, until the end of the application period.

Submission of your letter of intent will:

  • Allow congregations to indicate which project they are considering and why. And if you are considering both projects, why.
  • Help MAS and RIH staff streamline communications as the application process moves forward by adding you to direct mailings about the process and being available to you for further conversation.
  • Help your congregational leaders move through the application process in a timely and thoughtful way.

Form to Submit a Letter of Intent

 

Step 3: Submit Application

Submit on or before April 15, 2021

The Riverside Innovation Hub and Minneapolis Area Synod are collaborating on a joint application. The application Google form will include a “Primary Application” and supplemental questions for each project. Eligible congregations are welcome to apply for both opportunities, however if selected, you’ll only be invited to participate in one.

PDF Copy of the Application

Official Google Form to Submit Applications

 

Step 4: Invitation Process

clipart of calendar with checkmark at the end of the month over the top of a teal circleRIH and MAS will review applications together and extend invitations to selected congregations (12 RIH) and (15 MAS) on May 15th. Congregations will have until May 28th to accept the invitation.

 Augsburg’s learning community begins July 2021 and runs through July 2023. 

The Minneapolis Area synod learning community begins September 2021 and runs through September 2023.

 

 

Contact us:

Additional questions? You can reach out to Amanda Vetsch with RIH (vetsch@augsburg.edu), Kristina Fruge with RIH (frugek@augsburg.edu), or Nick Tangen with MAS (n.tangen@mpls-synod.org).

Thriving Congregations: Collaboration and Project Descriptions

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Collaboration

The Minneapolis Area Synod (MAS) and Augsburg University’s Riverside Innovation Hub are both launching opportunities for congregations to be a part of a two-year learning community. These opportunities are both funded by the Lilly Endowment’s Thriving Congregations grant. 

Lilly Endowment Inc logo with organization name belowThe two initiatives will work in parallel for the five years of the grant. The hope is to learn with, beside, and from each other during the two, two-year cycles with distinct cohorts of congregational leaders. Both opportunities are for congregations interested in pursuing or deepening an orientation in their particular place, in relationship with the neighbor and neighborhood, leaning into God’s promises and challenges and that meet us there. The promotion and application processes are collaborative, through co-hosting information sessions and a shared application for congregations. More details on information sessions and the application will be released soon. 

Each learning community will have two, two-year cycles of learning cohorts, composed of multiple congregations. The cohorts will be coached or facilitated by a staff member at each respective organization. Both learning communities will learn from and with each other, with shared learning Summits in the second year of each cycle of learning cohorts.  

PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS

RIVERSIDE INNOVATION HUB (RIH)

graphic design of three wavy lines followed by the word riverside. below are the words innovation hub in black.The Riverside Innovation Hub, stewarded by the Christensen Center for Vocation at Augsburg University, will learn and experiment with the Public Church Framework as a method for place based vocational discernment in the public square for the common good. This new opportunity is an invitation to congregations interested in pursuing or deepening this same orientation in their particular place, in relationship with the neighbor and neighborhood, leaning into God’s promises and challenges that meet us there.  The first learning community runs July 2021 – July 2023 and the second learning community runs September 2023 – September 2025.

This project is open to all Christian denominations within an hour of the Twin Cities Metro Area. Congregations outside this geographic area may apply but should know their experience in the project may differ slightly.  Participation in the learning community will include bringing teams to Augsburg’s campus 3-4 times a year (as COVID-19 allows.)

MINNEAPOLIS AREA SYNOD (MAS)

logo - five colored circle above the words Minneapolis area synod of the ELCANeighboring Practices and Faith Practices, stewarded by the Minneapolis Area Synod, will focus on faith practices and neighboring practices, because congregations connect best with their neighborhood when they practice their faith and they see with new eyes that God is already at work in their neighborhood. The first learning community runs September 2021 – 2023 and the second learning community runs September 2023 – September 2025.

The MAS project is open to all Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) within the geographic boundaries of the Minneapolis Area Synod and African Methodist Episcopal (AME) congregations within Minnesota.

 

Thriving Congregations: PDF Handout 

Application Timeline

  1. There is a joint application process for both projects that will be released on Feb. 3, 2021.
  2. A letter of intent from the senior pastor is requested beginning March 1, 2021.
  3. The deadline for submitting the completed joint application is April 15, 2021.
  4. Selected congregations will be notified on May 15, 2021 and have until May 28, 2021 to accept the invitation.
  5. The first RIH learning community runs from July 2021 – July 2023. The  first MAS learning community runs from September 2021 – September 2023.

Stay tuned for more details on the information session and application process. If you have any additional questions, you can reach out to Amanda Vetsch with RIH (vetsch@augsburg.edu), Kristina Fruge with RIH (frugek@augsburg.edu), or John Hulden with MAS (j.hulden@mpls-synod.org)

Transformed by the Public Church Framework – St. Luke’s and James

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Today’s post comes from Stephen Richards at St. Luke’s and James Episcopal Church in Minneapolis. He shares the story of the learnings and transformation their community has experienced by being a learning partner in the Riverside Innovation Hub. Steve has previously shared some of the story of their journey through a video on our blog.

This blog marks the beginning 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. 

peace craft logo with name of the organization belowI’ve been asked to respond to the question, How has your faith community experienced transformation as a partner in the Riverside Innovation Hub? I feel that any response to this question requires a two-part answer. Prior to the COVID pandemic, the work at St Luke’s was building momentum. We had a clear plan and goals for how we were continuing and expanding our work and partnership with RIH. PeaceCraft, the initiative that evolved from this, was very integrated into our faith community. The public church framework was becoming our lingua franca, or common language. Then COVID hit and it felt like everything came to a screeching halt.

At first, there was a felt sense of grief and lament. We’d lost so much and initially struggled to find our way to next-steps. However, the public church framework of listening, discerning, and applying what we had learned helped us rise up from the ashes.

Despite not being able to enter a physical building during the time of COVID, it feels we have been spiritually resourced by RIH to find ways to connect with God and others outside of it. In fact, it has become very natural to turn our attention out and towards others. For example, when a homeless encampment appeared around Lake Nokomis in summer 2020, some members of our community supported and worked with local groups who were providing food and resources for families. They felt that this work and our mission values inter-connected. I immediately recognized the public church framework playing out. This work was also immediately validated by our church as an expression of authentic Christian faith.

people gather to chat outside
Members of St. Luke’s gathered outside on their “front porch.” [Photo taking before the Covid pandemic]
Elsewhere in 2020, we were approached by the community of St James on the Parkway with an invitation to consolidate. I felt this process was also facilitated by the open and inquisitive work we had done with RIH. For instance, rather than focus on differences we looked for points of connection; in line with the public church framework. This work of consolidation eventually led to the creation of a new faith community of St Luke’s and St James. It is noteworthy that one of the reasons the St James community was initially drawn to consolidate with us, was because they were excited by the work we had been doing with RIH.

Finally, and as we look to COVID restrictions being lifted, we feel our new community is once again being drawn into the work of accompaniment, interpretation, and discernment. We’ve become curious. We are wrestling with the tension of programming vs innovation. Where it seems we have become too focused on programming, there is a restlessness and desire to turn our attention outside. We are finding ourselves existing in the thin-space between balancing the needs of the faith community and those of the neighborhood. We are also willing to ask why we are doing things. We are not rubber-stamping the old ways. In one sense, our partnership with RIH has led us to the idea that the work we do is never truly done, and also not necessarily measured by definite outcomes. Instead, we celebrate what has gone before and remain open to new movements of the Spirit amongst us.

Announcing the 2021 AYTI Theme and Instructor

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2021 AYTI BannerAND IT WAS VERY GOOD: Affirming and Advocating for Gender and sexual diversity in God’s Creation

Sunday, June 20th – Friday, June 25th, 2021

What is the rightful place for LGBTQ people in God’s creation? After decades of fights over human sexuality, LGBTQ people, gender, and gender roles, the church is moving to a place of acceptance, and even advocacy. This year at the institute we are going to look at the role of LGBTQ people in scripture, in our church history, and the faithful advocacy to allow LGBTQ people to be full members of society. We are looking at the events of the past several years through a theological lens, asking what God is doing, and where our discernment can lead us.

We are excited to go on this journey of learning with our 2021 instructor, Ross Murray. Ross is the founding director of The Naming Project, a faith-based youth ministry and summer camp for LGBTQ youth and their allies. He has worked with youth and families in a variety of settings, and presented LGBTQ youth ministry around the country. Ross holds a BA from Augsburg in 2000, an MA from Luther Seminary in 2003, and an MBA from Augsburg in 2009.

Headshot of Ross Murray, the 2021 AYTI Instructor
Ross Murray, 2021 AYTI Instructor

In his day job, Ross is the Senior Director of Education & Training at The GLAAD Media Institute, providing activist, spokesperson, and media engagement training and education for the LGBTQ community members, corporations, the media industry and advocacy organizations desiring to accelerate acceptance for the LGBTQ community. Ross has secured national media interest in stories that bring examples of LGBTQ equality across diverse communities in America, with a specialty in the relationship between religion and LGBTQ people.

Ross is a consecrated Deacon in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, with a specific calling to advocate for LGBTQ people and to bridge the LGBTQ and faith communities. He is a producer for the “Yass, Jesus!” podcast, a faith and sexuality affirming podcast that believes you don’t have to pick between gay and God. In 2014, he was named one of Mashable’s “10 LGBT-Rights Activists to Follow on Twitter.”

We invite you to follow the AYTI Facebook page for updates about the theme, instructor, applications, and more. We are planning a live stream interview with Ross, so look out for that!

Also, if you are a pastor, youth leader, or mentor who would like to nominate a young person for AYTI, the nomination forms are open. Youth who are interested in attending the 2021 institute can apply now. Nominations and applications will be due April 30th, 2021 on our website here. We are excited for what this year will bring, won’t you consider joining us?

 

AN INVITATION TO BE PUBLIC CHURCH

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Plans are underway to launch a new congregational learning opportunity through the Riverside Innovation Hub, an initiative of CCV. Congregations selected to participate in this new Public Church Learning Community will be a part of a community of 12 churches moving through a 2-year partnership together. The first learning community runs July 2021 – July 2023 and the second learning community runs September 2023 – September 2025. You can read more about this learning community experience on our previous blog post. 

 

This work is funded through the Lilly Endowment’s Thriving Congregations initiative. We are fortunate to have a local partner, the Minneapolis Area Synod, who is also a recipient of this grant and planning to offer a similar opportunity to congregations in their synod. Our projects are unique but aligned in many ways and we are grateful to be able to collaborate with them in this important work.  

 

This will include offering a shared application process which will go live in February 2021 so that churches considering either (or both) projects can have a streamlined process for applying and discerning the best fit for their congregation. Our CCV blog and Riverside Innovation Hub facebook page will continue to post regular updates about the application and upcoming informational sessions hosted by the Minneapolis Area Synod project and Augsburg’s CCV project. 

 

Congregations who are a part of Augsburg’s learning communities will develop and deepen the knowledge, skills, habits, and values to engage in the work of place-based vocational discernment in the public square for the common good through a method we call the Public Church Framework. This blog post offers a more in depth description of the framework and how we intend it to support the ongoing ministry of local congregations committed to the work of being/becoming a public church. 

 

The Public Church Framework

 

The Public Church Framework consists of four movements that guide us into more intentional relationships with our neighbor, scripture, our core beliefs, and God’s spirit as we seek to discern how our faith community is called to be and proclaim good news with and for our neighbors. It combines threads the church has historically kept separate – discipleship, outreach, relationships, justice, worship, biblical study, theological reflection, and prayer. The common denominator is the neighbor. We do these things for the sake of our neighbors.

 

 

Accompaniment

icon people gathered around heart

Our learning process will help congregations develop a deeper understanding of their contexts – who and how people live and work there, and their community’s institutions, power structures, assets, challenges, etc. We will do this through the movement of accompaniment. Through accompaniment participants will explore and deepen their understanding of social and cultural trends that affect them and learn about their immediate neighborhoods, towns, cities, regions and/or broader areas of concern.

 

A note to predominantly white congregations: We have learned that congregations must address the complexities of racism and white supremacy explicitly if they wish to be able to engage their neighbors in mutually life-giving ways. Without challenging the blinders of whiteness and white supremacy, we will do more harm than good. Lament and confession must be a part of, if not pre-requisite to, accompaniment. The necessary work of confronting white supremacy will be woven into accompaniment early on.

Interpretation

icon white star on yellow background

Congregations will also learn to leverage their core theological commitments and the biblical narrative as an interpretive lens for understanding their neighbors’ lived realities. We will do this through the movement of interpretation. Through interpretation they will gain clarity about their values and mission in light of their changing contexts. They will also deepen their understanding of their ecclesial traditions and denominational relationships and how they shape and expand their ministry opportunities.

Discernment

white arrows going outward on green background

Congregations will develop Christian contemplative practices that will aid in their discernment of how they are being called by God to engage with their neighbors in specific ways that proclaim good news into their lives.

Proclamation

smiley face, white on blue background

Lastly, our learning community will develop competency in organizing and empowering their congregations to become actively engaged in the particular proclamation of the good news they have discerned. Through this work of proclamation, they will learn to navigate change and partnerships with organizations and individuals in their locations, as part of their transformation into a public church.

Throughout this learning process, congregations will integrate historical Christian practices  – accompaniment, theological reflection, prayer, and discernment – as a way of bringing coherence to their congregation’s life of pastoral care, worship, Christian education, and outreach. Involving the entire congregation in this work – rather than leaving it to the paid staff – will build a sense of community among the members of these congregations. The knowledge, skills, and values needed to thrive in this way will be taught through a multi-layered approach including readings, case studies, small and large group processes, experimentation, visits from experts external to our learning community, communal worship and prayer, and cross-pollination within the learning community.

Augsburg’s Christensen Center for Vocation Launches New Congregational Partnership in 2021

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A new year and new opportunity for churches

 

The new year brings a new partnership opportunity for congregations through Augsburg University’s Christensen Center for Vocation (CCV), supported by a new $1,000,000 grant Augsburg has been awarded through the Lilly Endowment’s Thriving Congregations Initiative. 

The Riverside Innovation Hub, an initiative of CCV,  will continue helping congregations live into placed-based vocational discernment in the public square for the common good through two-year learning communities of twelve congregations. The first learning community runs July 2021 – July 2023 and the second learning community runs September 2023 – September 2025.

Our congregational application will become available early February 2021 along with dates for  informational sessions and more details for congregations interested in considering this opportunity. Our CCV blog and Riverside Innovation Hub facebook page will continue to post regular updates. 

 

Place-based vocational discernment in the public square for the common good

 

The Christensen Center for Vocation orients its work towards place-based vocational discernment in the public square for the common good. This new opportunity is an invitation to congregations interested in pursuing or deepening this same orientation in their particular place, in relationship with the neighbor and neighborhood, leaning into God’s promises and challenges and that meet us there. 

 

PLACE-BASED: A claim that vocational discernment is always located in a particular place and the discernment process must take place in, with, and for that location. The particular matters.

VOCATIONAL DISCERNMENT: A way of moving through the world that allows us to be listening to God’s promises, the demands our neighbors’ stories place on us, and wondering how we are being called to respond.

PUBLIC SQUARE: Vocational discernment in the public square is done out in the open and outside our comfort zones in conversations with our neighbors, seeking to bring all perspectives to the table.

COMMON GOOD: This approach claims an orientation towards becoming neighbor and giving ourselves away to the common good of one’s community, not to maintaining our congregations or institutions.

 

The learning community structure

 

Congregations who partner with us in this endeavor will be joining a learning community. This is not a training, nor is it a train-the-trainer. The Riverside Innovation Hub sees itself as a convener, not a consultant. We gather as equals – curious and faithful communities desiring to learn and share new ways to be good news in our neighborhoods.

  1. Twelve congregations will be selected for each learning community. 
  2. Congregations will recruit a leadership team of five members to steward this work for two years.
  3. Each congregational leadership team will be in a cohort with three other congregational teams.
  4. Each cohort of four congregations will have a part-time facilitator who will be a paid staff member of the Christensen Center for Vocation.
  5. Each cohort will also have a mentor congregation who was part of the first five-year project with the Riverside Innovation Hub.
  6. The faculty, staff, and students at Augsburg University also become assets available to help partner congregations with their place-based vocational discernment.
  7. Every other month, these teams will either gather in cohorts or the entire learning community.
    1. Seven learning events for the entire learning community over the course of the two years. In-person if possible (otherwise they will happen virtually). At these events, congregational leadership teams will deepen and develop the knowledge base, skill set, and attitudes necessary to lead congregations towards becoming public churches.
    2. Congregational leadership teams will also gather every other month with their cohorts on-line or in person with their facilitator and mentor congregation for support and reflection on their learning and implementation.
  8. During the alternate months, congregational leadership teams will be expected to gather for regular leadership team meetings on their own to plan and work on integrating the Public Church Framework in their congregation.

 

Stay tuned for more information via our CCV website and Riverside Innovation Hub facebook page!

Harking Up the Wrong Tree

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Abraham Bloemaert (Manner of) – Announcement to the shepherds c.1600

Angels sing “Hark!”, or at least the herald ones do. The church’s problem is that we’re singing Hark! in all the wrong places. We’re harking up the wrong tree. And Christmas is the best time for Dad Jokes.

8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’ 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

14 ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favours!’ (Luke 2:8-20)

These shepherds living in the fields were considered too unclean for worship in the temple. They were considered lowly peasants for sure, but their profession was also part of the problem. The religious structures of the time made it impossible for them enter God’s house.

So, it’s a pretty big deal when these lowly, dirty shepherds are the first to hear the announcement of Christ’s birth. These angels are harking up the RIGHT tree. When God makes Godself public and moves into the neighborhood, God wants the shepherds to be the first to know. The shepherds – the ones not allowed in the temple – are the first ones invited to God’s new home.

The distance between the temple and those living in the fields is only getting greater. The chasm between the church and those who are systemically cast out is only getting wider. The pandemics of COVID, systemic racism, and economic strife are felt intensely by so many right now. There are multitudes living in the fields this winter in our communities. God crosses the threshold into the lives of these who are living in the fields. The angels’ Hark! is for those living in the fields.

The good news for those of us hanging out at the temple harking up the wrong tree is that this good news of great joy is for all people (verse 10). It’s as if God knows the privileged ones will hoard the good news of great joy for themselves if they receive it first. And it will never find its way to the fields. But, this good news of great joy will truly be for ALL people if it is the lowly ones receive it first.

The Christmas story is a story of God becoming public, becoming incarnate, moving into the neighborhood. It is a story of this good news of great joy being made known publicly. We no longer need to hark up the wrong tree. The journey into to the fields with our neighbor is a journey to which we are called. When you arrive you will encounter your neighbor and the good news of great joy they share with you will leave you speechless. Your only word will be Hark!

May the incarnate Christ meet you where you are this Advent and Christmas – in the fields or in the temple – and draw you into that good news of great joy that offers the kind of hope that turns our world upside down.

 

Minneapolis Encampment. Photo by David Joles, Star Tribune

Rev. Dr. Robert Franklin – Augsburg’s Christensen Symposium 2020

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head shot of Dr. Robert FranklinRev. Dr. Robert Michael Franklin of the Candler School of Theology was our speaker at the Christensen Symposium on October 1, 2020. He spoke on his recent book, Moral Leadership: Integrity, Courage, Imagination. This book addresses much of how the Christensen Center for Vocation attempts to implement our various initiatives with congregations, students and our Augsburg colleagues. A video of his talk is shared below.

Dr. Franklin wrote this book because he believes “(1) democracy requires virtue, (2) we are now in a state of steady moral decline, (3) moral decline can be contagious, and (4) the contagion can be deadly.” Dr. Franklin claims, “When there is a lack of moral leadership in an organization, it can emerge from unlikely places and people, often from the young.”

He is calling us to look to the margins for leadership right now – to those “whom society has sought to relegate to the sidelines, but who nevertheless struggle to rise above discouraging circumstances and lift others as they climb.”

Moral leaders are those who
  1. CENTER DOWN on our most deeply held values
  2. STEP FORWARD to act in an impactful way, and
  3. DREAM UP where and how we can transcend the status quo.

The challenges our congregations face today – anti-racism work, environmental rejuvenation, interfaith cooperation and the ongoing work of reformation will require moral leadership. Look to the margins for those who are poised to lead us faithfully into this work.

How are you making space for those new leaders to emerge who will lift you up as they climb?

Meet Your Mentor-Morgan

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Morgan Baumbach, He, Him, His

Junior, 2021

BA: Theology and Public Leadership

BA: Theatrical Design and Technology

Minor: Youth StudiesMorgan smiling in front of blue ocean background

 

Anything about your hometown or where you’re from that you want to share: Farmington, MN. Yes there are farms and the high school football team plays for the Tractor Trophy every year. 

 

What you are most excited about for AYTI: I am super excited to find new ways to dive into theology virtually and also make meaningful intentional connections virtually. It will be hard work but I am so excited for it. 

 

Favorite place you’ve been: Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

 

Favorite Bible verse: Genesis 1:31

Meet Your Mentor-Ian

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Hi! My name is Ian Heseltine, I use he, him, his pronouns. I’m a third year at Augsburg graduating in the spring of 2021. I’m a double major in Religion and Ian smiling in front of a green background with waterfall in the distanceMusic Business. My hometown is Alexandria, MN, two hours west of the metro area. This will be my third summer as a mentor for AYTI and I can’t wait to connect with all the students this summer, especially in this strange time we’re living through. AYTI is always a highlight of my summer because I get to connect with highschoolers and also show them how great Augsburg is. Over winter break I went on an Augsburg Study Abroad trip to London, England & Edinburgh, Scotland. That trip has been my all time favorite, and was the first time I had ever been overseas. We spent a large amount of time talking about Harry Potter which is one of my favorites so the trip made a lasting impact on me!