Elisabeth Margaret Kunkel (née Bergbusch) January 19, 1932 – November 4, 2025 Elisabeth Margaret Kunkel was born in New Sarepta, Alberta, the third of ten children of Rev. Dr. Julius and Maria Bergbusch. Raised in a close Lutheran family of first- and second-generation German immigrants to Canada, she learned responsibility early and developed a lifelong love of reading, music, and learning. She educated as a registered nurse at St. Paul’s Hospital in Saskatoon, graduating in 1953, and married Rev. Johann Kunkel the same year. Together they served Lutheran parishes across the Prairies (Meadow Lake, SK; Golden Spike, AB; Rosenfeld, MB). From [...]

submitted by Martin Kruse, Synod Council member On September 19 to 21, the MNO Synod Council were at Luther Village for our fall retreat. For the last number of years, almost all of council’s meetings have been online. Given that our two most distant members live almost 1000 kilometres apart, gathering online is a very efficient way to run a business meeting. Unfortunately, online meetings are an inefficient way to build relationships and community. To try and remedy this situation, it was decided following convention that Council would meet in-person twice a year, and hold the rest of our meetings online. [...]

The 2025 ELCIC National Convention was held in Winnipeg July 10-13 at the University of Manitoba campus. The convention, under the theme “Rejoicing in Hope,” gathered voting delegates and guests from across Canada for full days of conversations, important elections and other church business. The convention was a result of many national staff and volunteers putting in hours of work getting ready for delegates, visitors, and guests. A special thank you to all the volunteers from throughout the MNO Synod who served as volunteers at the convention--especially Faye and John Schultz (Sherwood Park Lutheran, Winnipeg) who served as co-chairs of the [...]

Pr. Ken Kuhn, Pr. Zsófi Schmiedge, Pr. Paul Gehrs, Pr. Tyler Gingrich and Pr. Ron Long were among those gathered contributed by Pr. Zsófi Schmiedge MNO was well represented among those who were invited to the Government House for a roundtable conversation with other religious and secular thought leaders and teachers to discuss the opening prayer read at each Legislative Assembly. The group from MNO included Pr. Ken Kuhn, Pr. Tyler Gingrich, Pr. Paul Gehrs, and Pr. Ron Long. The group was invited to talk with each other about whether to change it or get rid of it, whether [...]

In response to the ongoing violence in Israel and the Gaza Strip, Bishop Jason Zinko (MNO Synod) and Bishop Geoff Woodcroft (Diocese of Rupert's Land) issued a joint letter calling for an end to hostilities. The full letter can be read here: Joint Letter re: Israel-Palestine

“Stories of Discipleship” is a way to lift up stories of faith and discipleship from members throughout MNO Synod.  These stories come out of the synod’s ministry priority of “Empowered Discipleship” and the invitation to discipleship received in and through baptism.  We want to share how faith impacts and guides the life of our members, and how we can see God acting through the lives of others. We hope this will inspire us to look for where God is present for us, encourage us to grow in our own discipleship, and reassure us that we are not alone in living out [...]