The Rev. Dr.  Robyn Provis has been called as pastor at Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church in north Minneapolis, MN. Robyn served at All God’s Children Metropolitan Community Church in Minneapolis and completed a one-year appointment as Interim Senior Pastor for MCC Austin in Austin, Texas. Robyn was received on to the ELCA roster in 2011. She lives in Richfield with her partner, Kathy Luebbe. Robyn is a member of Proclaim, the professional community for publicly-identified LGBTQ Lutheran rostered leaders and seminarians.

“I am forever grateful to the public ministries and activism of so many. To go from a fear that I would never see full inclusion in my lifetime, to being called to a heritage church that isn’t yet RIC, I am reminded that God has a vast capacity for joyful surprise!”

Proclaim member the Rev. Bradley Schmeling has accepted a call to lead St. Paul’s largest ELCA congregation. On March 25th, the congregation of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church has voted overwhelmingly to call Pastor Bradley Schmeling as its new senior pastor. He will join the Gloria Dei pastoral staff in mid June. Bradley made national headlines for being put on trial by the Lutheran Church for being in a relationship with his partner Darin Easler, also a Lutheran minister. Bradley and Darin are both members of Proclaim.

Bradley shared these words about his new call,  “I always knew that God would lead the church to change the policy and open ministry to everyone with a heart to serve.  I’m just not sure I imagined that a move to Minnesota would be part of God’s plan, too.  While I’m very sad about leaving St. John’s, I’m excited about ministry at Gloria Dei.  It’s a great church with a love of tradition and a heart for social justice. ”

Gloria Dei Lutheran Church has about 2,300 members, making it the largest ELCA congregation in St. Paul. Raja David, Gloria Dei’s call committee chair said that, “The people of Gloria Dei told the committee what type of pastor we needed, and Pastor Bradley aligns with those needs in every way. We are honored by his acceptance of our congregation’s call.” The press release Gloria Dei wrote can be found here.