Vol. 81 • No. 5 OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2019 a publication of Kingo Lutheran Church

in • no • va • tion1. the introduction of something new

February2019

WE SAID YES!Melissa McCorkleJonathon Gideon

Kathy Jeans GlaserDanette Braun

Pastor Carolyntheological advisor

Rob Buettner,Martin Luther Church

coach

RECRUITINGINNOVATORS

Pastor Carolyn invited4 of us — or at least thatwas how many saidyes! — to meet withother congregations inour synod to explorenew ways to connectwith our communities.

AN INTRIGUING EMAIL

Rev. Matt Short of the Greater Milwaukee Synod (GMS) sent anintriguing email to me (Pastor Carolyn) last February. The Synodwas in the early stages of launching a process called FaithfulInnovation. Pastor Matt was hopeful that Kingo would take part.

Faithful Innovation “is a process, not a program, in which agroup of congregations form an intentional ‘learning community.’Together those congregations commit to one another in a nine-month learning experience. Through prayer, skill-building, actionand reflection they address the pressing questions about thefuture of God’s church.” (GMS Faithful Innovation guidelines)

The Kingo Council and I had just been discussing the changingnature of the church and the importance of connecting with thegreater community. Might Faithful Innovation be what Kingoneeded? I told Pastor Matt that Kingo would give it a go.

Forming Kingo’s Faithful Innovation learning community provedto be difficult because it’s a process, not a program. It’s aboutbeing out in the community, not remaining inside our building.It’s about relating with our neighbors, not expecting our neighborsto be like us. One by one, Kingo’s Faithful Innovation learningcommunity grew.

We were ready to:1) trace God’s movements in our lives and neighborhoods;2) try little experiments that would help us discover God in

the community; and3) share our learning through reflection and further

experiments.

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May 4-172019

Mar 32019

Training #1:TRACING GOD’S MOVEMENT IN OUR LIVES & NEIGHBORHOODS

We went to the first cohort training at VelobahnCoffee & Cycle with open minds but few details. Weparticipated in a few exercises to mull how we mighthone our listening skills, creatively gather other’sopinions on needs and strengths in our community,and how Kingo could be more engaged in what Godis already doing in our neighborhood. We left themeeting with seeds of thought germinating on identi-fying needs around us.

Apr 14-212019

OBSERVATIONS FROM MINDFUL WALKS / WELLNESS WALKS

Data Collection:MINDFUL WALKS / WELLNESS WALKS

During Holy Week, the congrega-tion was asked to take walks inKingo’s neighborhood. Cards wereprovided that included questionsfor each walker to ponder whilewalking the neighborhood. At theShorewood Connects Spring CleanUp, community members werealso invited to take neighborhoodwalks. The Faithful Innovation teamthen followed up with each of thetwelve Kingo members and neigh-bors who responded to the requestto record their observations. Theseobservations were used in craftingthe next steps to be taken.

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May 62019

May 262019

Training #2:USING ACTION LEARNING TO DISCOVER GOD’S LEADING

At the second training churches shared and reflected on the experience of neigh-borhood walks and Dwelling in the Word. Teams were feeling varying levels offrustration at attempts to behave into new ways of thinking. We reviewed theoperating assumptions of Faithful Innovation:

1. God is active in the world.2. The Church’s renewal is tied up with joining God in the world.3. God begins with us where we are.4. Where we are is where we need to be.5. We have much to learn.

Faithful Innovation is a process of listening, trying, reflecting, and sharing. Likethe disciples in Acts 16:6-15, we only take one step of the journey at a time,trusting the Holy Spirit to provide direction along the way. At times the HolySpirit “forbids” us from going where we want to go and redirects us where weneed to go.

Take a deep breath and take the next step…

DWELLING IN THE WORD

The goal of Faithful Innovation is simple (or is it?)…listening to God in our local contexts. We practiced thisthrough Dwelling in the Word, an ancient method of readingscripture that allows the Holy Spirit to speak to us. The methodconsists of listening to scripture and responding to three questions:

1. What caught your attention?2. What do you want to ask?3. How is the Holy Spirit speaking to us?

There’s no right or wrong response, and responses mayvary greatly.

We dwelled on Acts 16:6-15 and the Holy Spirit spoke to usloudly; but we didn’t just dwell on Acts 16:6-15 that one after-noon; we dwelled on that same scripture every time we met.Amazingly, the Holy Spirit spoke to us in new ways everytime! One Sunday in worship the Kingo worshipping communitydwelled on that passage together. It might not have been entirelycomfortable for everyone but that didn’t keep that Holy Spiritfrom speaking. The Kingo Council is now dwelling on thatsame passage at the beginning of each Council meeting.Thanks be to God for dwelling with us and speaking words ofhope and life!

* Bishop Paul EricksonGreater MKE Synod ELCA

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Pastor Visits

Jul-Aug2019

June 22019

Cross+Talk:WHAT IS FAITHFUL INNOVATION?You know what FaithfulInnovation is when youexperience it, but it’s noteasy to explain. Our teamwas beginning to grabhold of the wisdom of theprocess, but we were prettysure the congregationdidn’t “get it” yet. Weused Cross+Talk time toshare a little about whatFaithful Innovation IS andIS NOT.

Experiment #1:MEETING NEIGHBORS ON THE TRAIL

The Oak Leaf Trail is a well-used resource whose large new accesspoint perfectly frames Kingo as viewed from the trail. Many of ourmindful walkers had noticed that people in our neighborhood are anactive bunch. Many congregation members also enjoy the Oak LeafTrail. What a perfect location to go out and meet our neighbors! Aninvitation was printed in the announcements asking for memberswilling to spend an hour on the trail meeting neighbors. Wereceived a number of responses. Congregation members were pairedwith team members for trail sitting. These dynamic duos met bikers,walkers, and runners and asked them, “where are you from andwhere are you going?” The responses were tallied on a a simplesignboard titled Meet the Neighbors. The sheer numbers werestriking – over 140 people each hour! – as were the people that werecurious and stopped to talk, to learn more about what we were doingand simply to connect. What a privilege to hear people’s stories.This got our minds thinking about all the ways we could partner onwellness with our neighbors!

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Aug 182019

WORDS FOR WELLNESS

An announcement was made in worshipby the Faithful Innovation Task Forcethat a new experiment would be underway.Because of what we had learned whilewalking in the neighborhood and spendingtime on the Oak Leaf Trail, our teamdecided to make signs to “cheer on”individuals who choose wellness byrunning, walking, and biking on thetrail. The response from the congrega-tion was overwhelming! Worshippersenthusiastically created beautiful signstogether, and made the pledge to comeback the following week to hit the trailand cheer!

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Experiment #2:BACK TO THE TRAIL

The Oak Leaf Trail “Cheering Squad” gatheredat the entrance to the trail across from Kingowith the signs made from the previous week.With messages of You Got This! to You ChoseWellness! and You Can Do It! - about 12 in-dividuals from Kingo cheered on delighted(and some confused) active community mem-bers. Many questioned our presence on the trail,to which we responded with our only mission—to bring positivity and encouragement. We metmany individuals on the trail and engaged inmeaningful conversations, most notably with ascout troop hiking 25 miles for a merit badge!

Aug 252019

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Oct 62019

Training #3:INTENTIONAL REFLECTION ON OUR ACTIONS

Action learning requires intentional reflection so wecan see what God might be teaching us. Our thirdtraining will focus on learning to share what we’velearned from the action learning experiments we did.

GOD IS ACTIVE in the world!

GOD IS RENEWING God’s Church, inviting us to join God in the world.

GOD BEGINS with us where we are.

WHERE WE ARE is where we need to be.

We have MUCH TO LEARN.

Sept 82019

GOD’S WORK. OUR HANDS.This fall we experiencedour greatest participationon God’s Work Our HandsSunday. As many as 20Kingo members went intothe community, deliveringcookies to neighborhoodorganizations and picking uptrash along Capitol Drive.

KINGOLUTHERANCHURCH

1225 E. OLIVESTREET

SHOREWOOD, WI 53211

address label

(fold here)

Church Council 2019-2020Aleta Chossek, PresidentTim Schoewe, President-ElectKarina Ward, SecretaryMembers-at-Large:

Steve Jacobi Jackie DavitJaime Jacoby Jeanne Larsen

Interim Financial CoordinatorRandy Hoth

Church StaffPastor Carolyn Sellers RizzoJonathon Gideon, Minister of MusicMaria Koester, OrganistDanette Braun, Parish AdministratorJim Hooten, Maintenance Technician

Kingo Lutheran Church1225 E. Olive Street

Shorewood, WI 53211

Mission: Kingo Lutheran Churchis a community centered in theGood News of Jesus Christ and ledby the Spirit to walk joyfully withour diverse world in living outGod's life-giving inclusive love.

Sunday Worship 10 AMOffice Hours 9 -2, M-Th | 9-noon, FPhone 414.964.2620Email kingo@kingo.orgWebsite kingo.org

Committee / Ministry ContactAltar Guild Jeanne LarsenBook Club Dennis LarsenCapital Fund Appeal Randy HothEnding Hunger Walt ChossekMt. Meru Coffee Kathy HothGracious Spaces vacantKingo Garden Mary Lou ZuegeLGBT Welcoming Sara Kruschke BishopLittle Free Library Mary BehrendtLuther Manor Aux. Viki OlsenPrayer Chain Ellen GreeverQuilting Evelyn BurdickSanctuary Arts Pr. Carolyn Sellers-RizzoStewardship365 Pr. Carolyn Sellers-RizzoUshers Dan MartinsonWorship Planning Pr. Carolyn Sellers-RizzoPa

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