Assembly has begun!
Agenda
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Lodging
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Voting Member Information
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Speakers
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Workshops
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Resolutions
In 2025, the Western North Dakota Synod Assembly will gather under the theme “Rooted and Grounded in Love” based upon the Apostle Paul’s prayer to those who would read his letter to the church in Ephesus.
“I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.” (Ephesians 3:16-17)
What does it mean, for people of faith who call the western North Dakota prairies their home, to be rooted and grounded in love?
God’s mission for our synod is “to encourage and equip the ministries” of our synod, “so that the Good News of Jesus Christ is proclaimed, and all God’s children feel welcomed and included in the ministries to which God calls us.” Each year, Synod Assembly gives us a chance to give God thanks for this mission and ministry and celebrate the many ways we are living this out together across our synod and around the world. Encouraging, equipping, proclaiming, welcoming, and including one another every step along the way. Rooted and grounded in Christ’s love across the 160 congregations who make up the Western North Dakota Synod.
The Synod Assembly is the annual gathering of all 160 congregations of the Western North Dakota Synod. We gather together for worship, education, celebration, and to do the business of this synod. The 2025 Synod Assembly will be held in Minot, ND. The newly renovated Grand Oasis Hotel will be our host.
Each congregation elects lay voting members based on their baptized membership numbers (see Voting Member Information for ratio). Rostered ministers (pastors and ELCA deacons) who hold a letter of call from a congregation or synod council, as well as retired ministers also have voice and vote in the assembly plenary sessions. Attendance at the assembly is expected of all rostered ministers under call. Anyone is welcome to attend the Synod Assembly by registering as a visitor and paying the visitor fee. Visitors do not have voice or vote at the Assembly.
2025 Synod Assembly Daily Agenda
FRIDAY, MAY 30
10:00 am - 12:00 pm
12:30 pm – 6:00 pm
Registration Check-in – The Grand Oasis Hotel
1:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Pre-Assembly Workshop – Reading Luke Backwards with Eric Barreto (Main Assembly Hall)
5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Dinner on your own
6:30 pm
Opening Worship – First Lutheran Church (120 5th Ave NW)
8:15 pm
Opening Reception -
SATURDAY, JUNE 1
7:30 am
Assembly Registration (Grand Oasis Lobby)
8:00 am
8:30 am - 10:00 am Plenary #1 (Arena)
10:00 am
Coffee Break
10:30 am - 12:00 pm Plenary #2
12:00 pm
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Lunch
1:15 pm – 2:15 pm Conference Caucuses
Western Prairie –
Heart River –
East Missouri –
Upper Missouri –
Lonetree –
Badlands –
Turtle Mountain –
2:30 – 3:45 pm Plenary #3
3:00 pm
Deadline for Nominations
3:45 pm -4:15 pm
4:15 pm – 5:00 pm
Workshop #1 (information in Assembly packet)
5:15 pm – 6:00 pm
Workshop #2 (information in Assembly packet)
6:30 pm
Dinner with Bible Camp Staff
SUNDAY, JUNE 2
8:00 am
8:30 - 10:00 am Plenary #4
10:00 am
Coffee Break
10:30 - 11:45 am Plenary #5
11:45 am
Reset for Worship
12:00 pm
Closing Worship
1:00 pm
Closing of the Assembly
Lodging Information
We are blessed to have the Grand Oasis Hotel partnering with us for the 2025 WND Synod Assembly! Request the Western North Dakota Synod Assembly block of rooms by the date listed below.
The Grand Oasis Hotel
1505 N. Broadway, Minot
701.852.3161
Room block until April 30
Who Can Serve as a Voting Member?
Rostered Ministers:
All ELCA Rostered Ministers (pastors and deacons) under call by a congregation of the Western North Dakota Synod or Western North Dakota Synod Council who register and attend.
All retired ELCA Rostered Ministers (pastors and deacons) who are on the retired roster of the Western North Dakota Synod who register and attend.
Further guidance for Rostered Ministers serving as voting members of the Synod Assembly is found in the WND Synod Constitution and related Synod Council Continuing Resolutions.
Lay Voting Members:
The number of lay voting members allotted per congregation is based on the congregations’ baptized membership. Refer to the chart at the right to determine the number of lay voting members your congregation may bring.
Furthermore, the WND Synod Constitution guides voting membership of a Synod Assembly.
Baptized Membership = Lay Voting Members
2 - 500 = 2
501 - 1000 = 3
1001 - 1500 = 4
1501 - 2000 = 5
2001 - 2500 = 6
2501 - 3000 = 7
3001 - 3500 = 8
3501 - 4000 = 9
4001 - 4500 = 10
4501 - 5000 = 11
Featured Assembly Speakers
Keynote Speaker -
Assembly Chaplain -
ELCA Churchwide Representative -
Descriptions of Assembly Workshops
Pre-Assembly Workshop - Reading Luke Backwards
Location:
Eric D. Barreto, Weyerhaeuser Associate Professor of New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary
Pre-Assembly is Friday, May 30th at 12:30 PM
Some stories are not meant to be read once and in order. Some stories are meant for us to revisit over and over again. The Gospel of Luke is such a story. Luke’s Gospel can help us learn the story of Jesus’s cross and resurrection anew, afresh, and perhaps from a different vantage point. Thus, the invitation to read Luke backwards. In a world turned upside down, how might we approach this narrative if we start at the foot of the cross, at the threshold of the empty tomb? And what if we end the story where it starts, in the arms of Mary? From the end to the beginning, Luke narrates a good news that transforms a ruptured world.
Resolutions for Assembly Consideration
Guidelines for the consideration of resolutions during the 2025 Synod Assembly
2025 Resolution Submission Worksheet
(no registrations or refunds will be accepted after this date)
Western ND Synod Office
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