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Assembly Cheers Hanson, Elects New Vice President
 Over 600 persons participated in the 2011 NW MN Synod Assembly, May 14-15 at Concordia College. Voting members and visitors gave standing ovations to ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson, ELCA churchwide representative and preacher for the opening worship service, who was accompanied to Moorhead by his wife Ione.
Speaking to a packed house at Trinity Lutheran Church, Moorhead for a Town Hall meeting the night before the assembly, Hanson challenged his hearers to engage in Three Great Listenings: listening to God's Word, listening to the gifts God has give to our churches, and listening to the voices of the community-our mission field.
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New VP Allen Westby and former VP Becky Cusey
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In one of the most surprising actions of the assembly, it took two ballots to elect a synod vice president-even though there were only two nominees! Saturday's paper ballot resulted in an exact tie vote, 240 to 240 for nominees Becky Cusey (the incumbent, from Moorhead) and Allen Westby of Pelican Rapids (the elections committee counted the ballots four times!). A second paper ballot on Sunday resulted in the election of Westby, who received 205 votes, to 202 votes for Cusey. Westby is a long-time member of Central Lutheran Church, rural Pelican Rapids. He was a dairy farmer for some 25 years before beginning his current position as director of youth ministries and pastoral assistant at Hope Lutheran Church of Fergus Falls. The assembly expressed gratitude to Ms. Cusey for eight years (two terms) of faithful service as synod vice president.
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Susan Briehl speaking at the 2011 Synod Assembly
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Worship filled the assembly, with services of Holy Communion on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, and a contemplative service Prayers Around the Cross Saturday evening. Addressing the assembly theme, Awe-Filled Worship: Doing Acts 2, keynoter Pr. Susan Briehl spoke about the "100,000 Sundays" that have come and gone since Christ's resurrection. She linked awe-filled worship to the lives of Christians in God's world:
"We practice confessing our sin and being reconciled to God and one another on Sunday morning so that we can live out that reconciliation in the world. At this Table (the altar), we practice a way of breaking bread in the world."
The assembly addressed other items of business including:
- Passing resolutions on congregational support for Lutheran campus ministries in Bemidji and Moorhead, proclaiming July 10th as King James Bible Sunday in the synod (celebrating the 400thanniversary of the King James Version), "Directions for Mission 2011," support for border congregations and other mission partners, and speaking and acting to prevent bullying. Four other resolutions received extensive discussion but failed to pass.
- Approving a revised synod budget of $1, 743,678 (in expenditures) for 2011 and a fiscal proposal of $1,746,038 (in expenditures) for 2012.
- Approving the proposed Synod Compensation Guidelines for 2012.
- Electing six members to the synod council, five members to the discipline committee, two members to the consultation committee, and two nominees (Pastor Loren Mellum of Moorhead and Pastor Laurie Skow-Anderson of Pelican Rapids) for the ELCA Church Council. One of these nominees will be elected at the Churchwide Assembly in August in Orlando, FL.
Over $9290 in offerings were received for the NW MN Synod Seminarian Scholarship Fund (50%) and the ELCA's HIV/AiDs and Malaria Initiatives (50%)
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Session 1 
Enjoy delicious food, camp worship, crafts, games, bonfires and s'mores, silent auction, and meet the 2011 Pathways Summer Team!
