As a result of planning for Bishop Elect Susan Johnson's Ordination service the location has been changed from Faith Lutheran Church, 1311 Dakota St, to Lutheran Church of the Cross,
560 Arlington St.
Please, kindly reserve this date on your calendar.
Details:

The colour for vesting will be red. You are welcome to join in the procession for the ordination. If you plan on vesting and processing, please be at Lutheran Church of the Cross for 2:00 p.m. the day of the ordination.

The University year is nearly upon us. With the strong desire to be in contact and partner with you in ministering to your/our MNO students on our university campuses in the Synod, I want to tell you about the exciting Peer Ministry program that is being launched this fall on our University campuses. Peer Ministers have been identified by the Mission Committee for three of our campuses, U of Manitoba, U of Winnipeg, and Brandon University (we are still working on Lakehead University). Peer Ministers are students who are primarily in their third, fourth, or fifth year of University, who are being trained and will in turn, plan some programming on each campus and will be available to students for conversations around issues of faith and life. On September 8, the Peer Ministers are being brought together for an initial training/orientation session, with a further training event to take place on January 11-13, 2008.

Who and where are the students?- That's where you come in
In order to give our Peer Ministers the lists of your students in first, second, third and ? years on September 8, we DESPERATELY need your assistance. In CROSSWORD, I had invited you some months back to identify your students, realizing that some students may not have made final decisions until August. Well, now it's time to produce the list. A couple of congregations have sent this information to me (thank you), but most of you haven't. Please do your best in this next week, even if the list is somewhat incomplete. (by September 4 to lulrich@elcic.ca)

What to include on the list from your congregation
1) Name of student
2) Telephone Number and email address while on campus
3) University institution that they are attending
4) Which year of studies they are in (if possible to identify)? ( It is particularly important to know if they are in first year)
Students attending institutions not in MNO

Please submit this information as well. I will then attempt to pass on this information to the Lutheran Campus Ministries where they are attending.

Thanking you in advance for your partnership in this ministry on our campuses. Please include the Peer Campus Ministry Program in your congregational prayers.

PRAIRIE FIRE WELCOMES TWO NEW MEMBERS
From the auditions that took place last May, Alyssa Graff has been chosen for the position of vocalist and Kate Langrell has been chosen for the position of keyboardist. Alyssa is a Grade 12 student at Kelvin High School in Winnipeg, a member of St. Mark's Lutheran, and is presently rehearsing to perform in the musical "In the Beginning." Alyssa enjoys singing, playing flute, and when asked to reflect on why she would like to part of Prairie Fire, said, "God has given me the gift of music, and I see this as part of faithfully using my gift." Kate will be entering University 1 at the U of M, is also a member at St. Mark's Lutheran, is a Junior Leader of the youth group at her church, and of course, loves to play keyboard and sing. In reflecting on her faith journey, Kate said, "I reconnected with the church because of confirmation and youth group, and I am excited to pass on the joy that I feel to other young people in this Synod."

Prairie Fire has begun practicing for the fall season. Thanks to Epiphany Lutheran Church for making practice space and equipment storage space available to Prairie Fire on a weekly basis. Youth and youth leaders, mark your calendars for the monthly services which are the third Sunday evening of the month as follows:
October 21,
November 18,
December 16,
January 20,
February 17 at Advent, Thompson (in conjunction with the pre-Gathering weekend that will take place on February 16-18),
March 16,
April 20.

PRAYER NEEDS TO BE ONE OF THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES for every congregation in mission, said Dave Daubert at the Mission Developer's Conference in Chicago. Dave has been involved in re-missioning a congregation in Illinois. The process in re-missioning is similar to a new mission start.

"Instead of the leadership team dealing with the "nuts and bolts" of day to day ministry, free up the leadership team for a six month period to devote themselves to Bible Study and prayer, as together you discern what new things God is calling you to do in mission," said Daubert.

"Resist starting too fast on the good new ideas that surface, and pray. When you are ready to start implementing something of your new vision, pray. Prayer is humbling, prayer reminds us that the ministry is not ours, prayer hooks us into the power and enthusiasm for mission that we can't muster on our own."

Luther Village Chalet Lounge is no more!
The excitement is building as we are under construction and again making changes around the Village! The chalet lounge, comprised of three Atco trailers brought in in the early 1970's as a temporary structure to fulfill the need of winter kitchen and eating/meeting space, is gone. With our plans of a new youth games/multipurpose room which will be called, Wolf Ridge, underway, the space has been cleared for the construction to begin Sept 7/07. Check out the link below to see the progression of the big move. Many thanks to Bruce Brunger from Teulon, MB, who orchestrated and did this huge job for us! If interested in volunteering some time to help in the build, contact the camp office. Sept 7 - 16 is the build time we have set aside for this fall, with a dedication service on Sept 16. Thanks be to God!

Just a reminder to all that we're in gearing up for a great workshop on Saturday Sept 22, 2007 from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. - "Playing Through the Seasons: Christmas & Easter Play Ideas"

We'll spend the morning learning new ideas for using music in your Sunday School, and the afternoon hearing about ideas for Christmas & Easter plays. Plan to be inspired!

More info to follow - watch for it!

COMPANION FOR WORSHIP ARTS

The COMPANION OF THE WORSHIP ARTS is an honour that may be conferred in recognition of significant contribution to the national worship life of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.

Nominations are being received for Companion of the Worship Arts to be conferred at the 2008 National Worship Conference in Montreal, Order and Chaos, June 25 – 29, 2008.

Nominations with supporting documentation may be sent to The Rev. Don Engel, 302-393 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R3B 3H6. Deadline for submissions is December 31, 2007.

The Lutheran Urban Ministry Corporation (LUM) is a corporation of the MNO Synod designed to respond to the critical needs of the people in the inner city.

The first general meeting of LUM will be held on:

Sunday, September 23, 2007 – 3:00 pm
441 Sherbrook Street, Winnipeg
following worship at 2:15 to which you are also welcome!

We urge all congregations, particularly those within one hour of Winnipeg, to send a delegate to this meeting.  Congregations over 300 members are encouraged to send an additional delegate.

The one hour meeting will allow your delegate to  

• meet and hear the report of the new Ministry Manager, Denise Warren
• get a taste of the program envisioned for the corporation
• hear the exciting news about the new property acquired at 605 Notre Dame Avenue - we will try to arrange a quick tour

- refreshments to follow.

Register your delegate by email at bobandvi@shaw.ca, or by phone at 334-4747.  Please provide their name, address, telephone, email and congregation.  A registration fee of $10.00 (cash or cheque) per delegate will be payable at the door.

Sincere wishes for a great Partnership in the Good News of Sharing Jesus with others!