Public Ministry

As Scripture teaches, faith is active in love and love calls for justice in the relationships and structures of society.

Our grateful response to God’s love and grace motivates us to live lives that demonstrate our responsibility for the well-being of society and our communities. At Nativity our ministry of Social Justice and Advocacy for Children, Youth, and Families stands firmly in the call to be a Beloved Community. We are working to engage Nativity families and staff in building, resourcing, supporting, and empowering advocacy through themes of social justice which serve our neighbors and the world.

To do the work effectively, support is needed from everyone, children and youth to their families and our community in order to deploy our imaginations in service of furthering the gospel, encouraging growth in faith, and strengthening Christian service within our communities.

Coping With Gun Violence Resources

Hunger Awareness Resources

African Descent Resources (African American, Afro Caribbean, African National)

Arab and Middle Eastern Resources

Latino Resources

American Indian/Alaska Native Resources

 Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Resources

Digital Wellbeing Resources

News

  • Recording for Sen. John Marty’s Address on Christian Nationalism
    Thank you to all who joined us Sunday, December 3rd, for Senator John Marty’s presentation on the work he and other Minnesota legislators are doing to counter the rise of Christian Nationalism in Minnesota. We had a great turnout with nearly 100 people! The caucus Senator Marty co-chairs opposes religious discrimination and works to uphold ...
  • Be There for Youth Experiencing Homelessness
    November 1-19 LSS Circle is once again coordinating the effort to support youth experiencing homelessness who are served by Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota. As we have the last three years, we are asking for financial gifts only for this outreach fundraiser. Initially chosen as a safety measure during the pandemic, this approach has been very helpful ...
  • Beacon Interfaith Housing Celebration!
    Nativity members were present at rallies and met with legislators in the spring 2023 to show support for Beacon’s rent support program: Bring it Home Minnesota, which passed in the 2023 legislative session. Nativity has committed to supporting Beacon’s Gladstone Crossing in Maplewood, a low-income housing building for 40 young families. Nativity members, along with over ...
  • Results and Resources from 3-Part Series: Standing Against Christian Nationalism
    Recap: With growing concern over the Christian Nationalist movement, a mix of local clergy and lay leaders gathered to learn and envision opportunities for collective action. Below, find recordings of all three sessions and additional online resources. For more information or to connect about finding your place in ongoing advocacy and collective action, please email Grace ...
  • Responding to the Violence in Israel and Gaza
    The recent news out of the Middle East has been deeply distressing, and we struggle to understand the unimaginable violence, loss, and suffering impacting so many. With the help of NPR’s guidance, Nativity’s Director of Public Ministry Dr. Kelly Sherman-Conroy shares some ways to learn more about the ongoing crisis in Israel and Gaza as ...
  • “Our Prayers Heard ‘Round the World” Worship & Panel
    October 23, 5:00-6:30 pm | Nativity For this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the World Council of Churches asked the Minnesota Council of Churches to create the 2023 theme and materials to give Christian communities across the world an opportunity to contemplate ways they may be complicit in racial injustice and to move churches ...
  • In the Commons: Letter Writing for Hunger
    October 14-15, Around Weekend Worship Hours This weekend Hunger Outreach and Global Outreach Ministries will host an in-person letter writing event in observance of World Food Day on Monday. It’s a chance to advocate for the hungry here and abroad by writing letters to our elected officials. Congress is currently negotiating language in the Farm Bill, which ...
  • Check Out Nativity’s New Advocacy Library!
    Nativity’s Resource Library (located in Room 215) has been a source of spiritual deepening to many in the congregation over the last decades, as well as a testament to our community’s commitment to lifelong learning and faith formation. This weekend we celebrate the unveiling of a NEW COLLECTION—an Advocacy Library organized by Nativity’s Director of Public ...
  • Honoring the Emmanuel Nine: Lessons on Grief and Anti-Racism
    As members of the Nativity Lutheran Church community, we stand in solidarity with Mother Emanuel AME Church and the families of the victims of the tragic shooting that took place in Charleston, South Carolina on June 17th, 2015. On this eighth anniversary of the massacre that took the lives of Clementa C. Pinckney, Cynthia Marie ...
  • Juneteenth: A Christian Celebration of Freedom
    Juneteenth is a holiday that celebrates the end of slavery in the United States. It is also a time to reflect on the legacy of slavery and the ongoing fight for racial justice. As Christians, we have a special responsibility to remember and honor the victims of slavery, and to work for a more just ...

ADVOCACY AT HOME

Braiding Sweetgrass: Weekly Guides, Discussion, and Community Meal & Vigil

Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass teaches us that the exhaustion of ecological resources isn’t an issue to be compartmentalized or deferred to some distant group of scientists. It’s a […]

Activities and Collection for “God’s Work. Our Hands.” Weekend

September 9-10 around all worship hours “God’s Work. Our Hands.” Weekend is a time to celebrate who we are as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America—one church, freed in Christ […]

Check Out Nativity’s New Advocacy Library!

Nativity’s Resource Library (located in Room 215) has been a source of spiritual deepening to many in the congregation over the last decades, as well as a testament to our […]