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Letter of Intent for Third Learning Community is Open!

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The Riverside Innovation Hub (RIH) will be launching its third congregational learning community in September of 2023. This opportunity is part of the Thriving Congregations project, through the Lilly Endowment. This work is also made possible through the support of individual donors and congregational sponsors.

Congregations interested in pursuing the application process with the RIH project are asked to have their senior pastor submit a letter of intent to apply, via this google form. Letters of intent will be accepted on a rolling basis starting January 24th, 2023.

Submission of your letter of intent will:

1) Allow congregations to indicate why the are considering to join the project.

2) Help 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.

3) Help your congregational leaders move through the application process in a timely and thoughtful way.

The application and more detailed information will be made available FEBRUARY 15, 2023 and the application deadline is APRIL 20th, 2023.

Facilitator Geoffrey Gill having a conversation standing with 4 others.
Participants gathered  at our RIH Learning Event in Summer 2022.

Project Overview

RIH 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.

APPLICATION PROCESS

  • Letter of Intent Opens: January 24th, 2023.
  • Application Opens: February 15th, 2023.
  • Application Closes: April 20th, 2023.
  • Invitations sent out to accepted congregations: Week of May 16th, 2023
  • Congregations accept invitations: June 8th, 2023.
  • Community starts: September 2023

Congregations who are a part of this learning community will develop and deepen the knowledge, skills, habits, and values to engage in this work of place-based vocational discernment in the public square for the common good through a method we call the Public Church Framework. Continue reading “Letter of Intent for Third Learning Community is Open!” →

Steve Peacock is Leading Augsburg into the Public Square for the Sake of our Neighbors

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Written by Jeremy Myers

This blog post is the first of many that will showcase the various ways we see vocation lived out on a daily basis in the lives and work of our Augsburg colleagues and our neighbors in the Cedar-Riverside and Seward neighborhoods.

By vocation we mean the ways we are compelled, empowered, challenged, freed, and responsible to show up (individually and collectively) in ways that help our neighbors and neighborhoods thrive. We believe every individual and every institution experiences a vocational tug.

Augsburg University – as an institution – is committed to being an engaged neighbor with the Cedar-Riverside, Seward, and Phillips neighborhoods. Many would say this has always been central to Augsburg’s mission and identity, but our practices and frameworks for showing up as a compassionate and helpful neighbor have changed over time. This change is a necessity if one is truly committed to working towards the common good with their neighbors.

This is a story about how Augsburg does the work of becoming and being an engaged neighbor.

Headshot of Steve PeacockSteve Peacock joined Augsburg University in 2008 as the University’s Community Relations Director. Steve had spent the previous 17 years working for the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) helping people and neighborhoods thrive by creating partnerships to “close systemic gaps in health, wealth, and opportunity.” Steve feels a strong call to do work that supports people at the neighborhood level. He has formal training in urban planning through the Humphrey School of Public Affairs and the University of Minnesota. 

This call, though, was shaped early on as the son of a campus pastor in central Illinois. Steve saw his father consistently working at the intersections of the university, the church, and the neighborhood. He learned first-hand about the positive impact local institutions can have on the lives of the people who share their neighborhood. Steve’s own personal call to do this bridging work has helped Augsburg University live more fully into our own call to be an engaged neighbor.

 

Augsburg University president, Paul Pribbenow, claims Augsburg’s identity as an anchor institution in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood and we now play a key role in convening the Central Corridor Anchor Partnership. “Anchor institutions are enduring organizations that are rooted in their localities. It is difficult for them to leave their surroundings even in the midst of substantial capital flight.” (Marga, Inc). Augsburg is deeply committed to the location and neighborhood where we find ourselves and we believe we have a responsibility to function in a certain way as an institution so that our neighbors and our neighborhood might thrive. Steve’s work puts this commitment into practice.

 

Through this work, Steve convenes the Cedar-Riverside Neighborhood Leadership Forum which is a community of business owners and leaders from the neighborhood who meet regularly to learn about one another’s work, discuss shared hopes and concerns, and create opportunities for collaboration. Steve sees his primary work as convener. These are gifts and committed leaders who don’t need Steve or Augsburg to lead for them, but they do need someone who is willing and able to convene other potential stakeholders and partners.

  Continue reading “Steve Peacock is Leading Augsburg into the Public Square for the Sake of our Neighbors” →

Public Leader Scholars Program Applications Open!

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Headshots of all 9 Christensen Scholars in small circles with text "Christensen Scholars 2022-23" on top left.Our Christensen Scholars initiative is part of the Public Leader Scholars programs which offer students a unique opportunity to explore how their worldview/faith(s) shapes them as leaders, as well as build their leadership skills.

There are two Public Leader Scholars opportunities being offered this coming academic year: Christensen Scholars and Interfaith Scholars that students can apply for!

Christensen Scholars BENEFITS:

  • Unique opportunities to explore Christian theology & vocation more deeply as a cohort
  • Earn upper division credit (4 credits) in religion
  • Seminar setting that is small and supportive
  • $2,000 scholarship, $1,500 stipend
  • Opportunities to develop skills related to theological reflection & vocational discernment

Interfaith Scholars BENEFITS:

  • Unique opportunities to explore interfaith study and learn about diverse religious/spiritual/worldview identities as a cohort
  • Earn upper division credit (4 credits) in religion
  • Seminar setting that is small and supportive
  • $2,000 scholarship
  • Opportunities to formally develop interfaith leadership skills

If you will be a sophomore, junior, or senior in 2023-2024 you are eligible to apply.

Application are due: FRIDAY FEBRUARY 17TH

If you have questions about the Christensen Scholars program, email Jeremy: myers@augsburg.edu

If you have questions about the Interfaith Scholars program, email Jane: ulringj@augsburg.edu

End of 2022: Our Key Insights and What We Are Leaving Behind

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A circle of the CCV staff's feet. Some have shoes on and some just have socks. It has been a year full of laughter, sorrow, change, hope, pain and so much more. We are grateful we are in this work together alongside such a wonderful staff and partners inside and outside of the Augsburg community. We asked our CCV staff to reflect on this last year asking what key insights are you carrying with you into 2023 and what are you leaving behind.

 

 

CCV Staff in the office before the Christensen SymposiumAdrienne

KEY INSIGHTS

Oh so many insights. One particularly is that boundaries help ground me and show people where I stand. They are actually a gift rather than a limitation. 

 

LEAVING BEHIND

Unrealistic expectations of people, relationships, communities. 

 

 

Amanda and Ellen outdoors on a bridge.Amanda

KEY INSIGHTS

This year I tried some new things, from sports to needle crafts. I learned that it’s important to keep practicing being a novice and it’s perfectly fine to be bad at things. 

LEAVING BEHIND

I am leaving behind the pressure of “should” and instead continuing to cultivate practices of patience and grace for myself. 

 

Ellen

KEY INSIGHTS

Boundaries, boundaries, boundaries. This year has been a year of returning back to my roots and what grounds me. What has allowed me to show up more fully and embodied has been setting and keeping boundaries. 

LEAVING BEHIND

I am leaving behind the pressure to say yes to more. If it isn’t a hell yes, then it’s a no for me right now. 

Continue reading “End of 2022: Our Key Insights and What We Are Leaving Behind” →

The Story Remembered: Advent Vespers Reflection

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Saturday, December 17th

Advent Vespers Reflection by Kristina Frugé

Isaiah 7:13-15

Then Isaiah said: ‘Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good.

Isaiah’s words are to King Ahaz in Jerusalem. Ahaz is a ruler who neglects God and makes idolatrous choices that gravely endanger his people. Isaiah utters these words to him from within the context of an unstable time – the powerful take as they desire, the poor become pawns of the wealthy, threats of violence persist from outside nations, there is a loss of faith in God and distrust of one another, injustice rules the day. Sound familiar?

Despite the dire circumstances…the seed of God’s promise is given. In our Christian story this seed is fulfilled in the birth of Jesus. Immanuel. God With Us. It is a bold promise to speak into corrupt and oppressive realities. Jesus’ time, like Isaiah’s, and like ours, was deeply troubled. Yet none of this deters the promise of God from entering the world. Not in Isaiah’s time, not in Jesus’ time, and not in ours either.

The promise is for Immanuel. God with us. All of us.

May this seed take root in our bodies, our neighborhoods and all of creation.

May we embrace and participate in the new life this promise offers.

 

 

The Story Remembered: Advent Vespers

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Thursday, December 15

Advent Vespers Reflection by Sarah Runck ’24

Romans 15:3-6 [MSG]

Jesus didn’t make it easy for himself by avoiding people’s troubles, but waded right in and helped out. “I took on the troubles of the troubled,” is the way Scripture puts it. Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be sure it’s written for us. God wants the combination of his steady, constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture to come to characterize us, keeping us alert for whatever he will do next. May our dependably steady and warmly personal God develop maturity in you so that you get along with each other as well as Jesus gets along with us all. Then we’ll be a choir—not our voices only, but our very lives singing in harmony in a stunning anthem to the God and Father of our Master Jesus!

This translation of Romans comes from the Message bible. I love how it dives into a deeper explanation of this text. It prompted me to reflect on things in my life that correspond with this verse.

First – the therapeutic nature of music. I am a third year music therapy major which means that I am building my life around the virtue of placing myself near the troubles of others. My profession is built around caring for others more than myself, in a healthy manner. With that being said I will “take on the troubles of the troubled.”

Second – the calling and the waiting. We never know what God is going to do next, but all we can do is have hope. Hope has always had a very special meaning to me. Whenever I hear that word, it reminds me of something I once read: “H.O.P.E. Hold On, Pain Ends.” No matter how long we wait, everything will be okay in the end.

Regardless of what God calls us to do, we will sing in harmony with not only our voices but our lives as well. Our song can be one of hope because God promises to be with us in our professions, our joys and our troubles.

The Story Remembered: Advent Vespers Reflection

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Wednesday, December 14

Advent Vespers Reflection by Adrienne Eldridge

Isaiah 35:5-7

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp, the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

In God there is hope.

Isaiah 35:5-7 My favorite season is spring. Why? Because so much has happened in the wintertime; under the ground life is hibernating, transitioning, and getting ready to spring forward. Even before signs of spring are all around, there is a sense of excitement, possibility, hope. Soon there will be little signs of life popping up through the dark and wet ground, reaching for the sky and new life.

The book of Isaiah is full of both caution and promise. In Isaiah 35:5-7 the prophet foretells the possibility of what happens when the promises of God are revealed. As humans, we forget and do not always believe it, we are caught up in the hurt and pain that keeps our eyes covered and our ears closed. Yet – there is a breakthrough from winter to spring, a possibility that brings hope to the dry deserts and sight to those who have lost their way. We are reminded of the miracles of God, and there are so many metaphors for our lives in the present day. In God there is hope.

Adrienne Eldridge

The Story Remembered: Advent Vespers Reflection

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Tuesday, December 13

Advent Vespers Reflection by Ellen Weber

Isaiah 35:3-4

Strengthen the weak hands,

and make firm the feeble knees.

Say to those who are of a fearful heart,

‘Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God.

God will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense.

God will come and save you.’

A few years ago, when I was playing defense during my soccer game, I twisted and heard something in my knee. I knew something was wrong and I hobbled off the field. Luckily it wasn’t a tear and was a cyst, but I did need to take time off. With that time off of soccer, I learned more about how to strengthen my knee and the muscles around it, how to listen to my body about what I could do or what needed to wait. I found a new connection with my body that was deeply embodied.

God has given us this beautiful, holy body that so many of us are fearful of. We are taught to be fearful of our own body or certain kinds of bodies or ways to be in our bodies. Advent is a time to notice and listen to our own bodies as God chose to show up with us and among us in a human body through Jesus. By connecting with our bodies we can be reminded who we are and whose we are. With that reminder, we can show up for each other in ways that are rooted and with open hands and hearts for each other. Ellen Weber

The Story Remembered: Advent Vespers Reflection by Jeremy Myers

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Saturday, December 10

Advent Vespers Reflection by Jeremy Myers

Colossians 1:15-20

[Christ Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the f irstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

Environmental degradation is evident all around us. We are on course to increase the planet’s temperature by almost 2°F by 2030 which will have devastating results. Our lives are fragile and dependent upon the wellbeing of the planet. During Advent, we not only wait for our own redemption, we also long for the redemption of the entire cosmos. In the fragile, dependent, weak, and defenseless infant Jesus, we come to see the invisible God in God’s entire fullness. This is miraculous! But, not only do we find God in the infant Jesus, we also find all things on heaven and on earth. In this infant Jesus, the invisible God is united with the visible and invisible creation. This newborn baby embodies both the divine and the cosmos. In Jesus, that which is considered “not God” is drawn into one body with God. This is a season for telling this story Jesus. But Jesus is not the reason for this season. The redemption of our entire cosmos is the reason for this season. Jeremy Myers

The Story Remembered: Advent Vespers

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Thursday, December 8

Advent Vespers Reflection by Geoffrey Gill

Isaiah 11:1-5

A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins.

In Hebrew, Jesse means “God’s gift” or “God exists.” This passage revealed to me that God is inside me and God is growing. That his spirit has roots that are growing deep and branches that are stretching out of me. That as God grows within me so does God’s wisdom, knowledge and understanding naturally flow more potently through me. I feel a presence of deep adoration, a humbleness, and awe. As my relationship with God grows- how I see and hear the world emerges through this relationship. God exists and is emerging in everyone around me; I just need to have the eyes to see. This is sometimes challenging, especially when we live in a chaotic and despondent world.

I pray that we remember “God works best in chaos’’ (Walter Brueggemann) and that we daily surrender to that which already lives inside of us. God exists! – That within our relationship with God we grow roots so deep we will be unshakable, branches so wide that we can touch others and they will be empowered, and that we provide shade for those in need of faith and rest.