Thank you for your ongoing support of the Gifts of Grace program.
The grants to rostered ministers for educational loan reduction, retirement readiness, and medical expenses you have supported through your gifts have made a tremendous impact on the lives of rostered ministers in the Southwestern Minnesota Synod.
As this recipient of an educational loan reduction relates, the value of the grants is so more than the dollar amount awarded:
“Seyward and I are from Minnesota but took the first chance we had to escape the frigid temperatures, moving to Georgia for our first calls after seminary. When we had the opportunity to return after seven years of ministry in Atlanta, we hesitated. We weren’t so sure about the winters. After years of jacketless Decembers, the fond childhood memories of building snowmen and tossing snowballs had faded, leaving mostly the thought of bitter cold. Still, we decided to brave the cold and answer calls to wonderful congregations in southwestern Minnesota. The cold weather, the ice, the snowballs—all came as expected. What we didn’t expect was how quickly another kind of snowball would begin to form—not of ice and snow, but of generosity and support.
Even though we had been in ministry for several years, we were still carrying the weight of seminary debt. The Gifts of Grace education loan reduction grant gave us the help we needed to pay it off quickly. That initial act of support set something in motion, giving us freedom, encouragement, and energy for ministry in ways we couldn’t have anticipated. A little help from others can grow into something much bigger than itself. That’s exactly what this grant has been for us: not just a financial gift, but a reminder of the power of generosity to multiply, to sustain, and to bless far beyond its starting point. We remain deeply grateful for the way this synod has invested in us—and for the freedom it has given us to invest more fully in ministry and in others.”
Thank you for your generous support that helped to set off this snowball effect in this rostered minister’s life!
Would you like to support this kind of care for our synod’s leaders?
Help us to continue forming snowballs of generosity and support for rostered ministers in the SW MN Synod with a gift. Click here to give online or send a check payable to the SW MN Synod with “Gifts of Grace” in the memo line to:
SW MN Synod
175 E Bridge St
PO Box 499
Redwood Falls, MN 56283