Rev. Dean Nadasdy, senior pastor of Woodbury Lutheran Church, Woodbury, MN, wrapped up the general sessions of the LSA 2011 Annual Conference with a talk on “A Picture of Possibilities.” He offered a distinction between HOPE - the sure and certain promises of God - and POSSIBILITIES - which involve uncertainty, risk and courage. And, he reminded us, “God delivers in ways beyond what we could imagine.” He suggested that “A theology of hope needs to be indigenous to your mission.” Rev. Nadasdy said the driver of hope is faith: “True hope sinks itself into the promises of God, into the relationship we have with God.” He also said that hope years to see. “Hope sees the future coming into the present, to see the promises of God in the present.”

David Tiede on “Discerning Organizational Vocation”: “Lutheran DNA has deep distinctive ‘genetic markers’ that identify its embodied tradition and show up in the practices of Lutheran organizations.” Practical consequences of five “genetic markers” of Lutheran DNA:

1. Lutherans are realistic about people because we are forgiven sinners.
2. Lutherans trust the Bible as God’s word because it bears Christ to us.
3. Lutherans believe the “world God so loved” (John 3:16) is God’s.
4. Lutherans believe they are freed by God for love of the neighbor.
5. Lutherans honor civil authorities unless they are demonic or idolatrous.

Frances Kunreuther on “How Nonprofits Can Transform Communities”: “The transformation process begins with learning. People cannot participate unless they have information.” The transformation process: Learning … Awareness … Vision … Strategy … Action … Reflection. And, “Vision is essential. A vision statement is a statement of how you want the world to be. A mission statement is a problem to be solved.”

Al Krueger of HDC/Comet on keys to managing reputation through social media:

• Be authentic.
• Be consistent, commit time to it.
• Listen and respond — it’s a two-way conversation.
• Add value in relevant ways and eliminate hurdles for people to connect with you.
• Share stories and pictures.
• Be patient — it takes time to build an online reputation.

We’ll be live blogging from Milwaukee this week, the site of the LSA Annual Conference and associated events. LSA staff members will post throughout the week, providing highlights, links and resources.

Last night the LSA Disability Network conference, “One God, One Call,” kicked off with a dinner and keynote address by LSA President and CEO Jill Schumann.

Jill addressed the LSA-DN theme using three ideas:

She spent time exploring the idea of mutual care. “I think about how hard each of us resists ‘being a burden,’ ‘needing someone else,’ ‘being dependent on another person for anything.’ We fight that so hard. What, then, are we saying about what it means to be the receiver of another’s assistance or efforts? That somehow it is a demeaning role? A role that is less valued? A role that subjects us to the whims of others and denies our selfhood? A role that robs us of our pride? Does it have to be that way? We really do need one another – whether it is for a jump when our car battery is dead or to be dressed and toileted when we are too frail to do that for ourselves,” she said.

She continued, “We see self-reliance as a virtue, but place no virtue on mutual reliance (as distinct from freeloading or inappropriate dependence). If we really are to cultivate a culture that takes mutual care seriously, and again, I remind you that no one can live a life without depending on others, then we need to be willing to elevate the role of care receiver and to learn to be gracious in that role ourselves. What would it take for that to happen? Would we have to deal with our finitude and our utter reliance on God? How can we practice that regularly? I’d love to see us have a serious conversation about this.

“God’s call is into community – a community of generosity, justice, inclusion and mutual care.”

Jill closed with encouragement: “So, let’s pledge to encourage one another; to learn about mutual care – especially how to be gracious receivers; and let’s keep speaking up and out. And, most of all, let’s remember that God is with us on this journey and when God calls us, God provides what we need to respond.”

Allison Fine, social media guru, blogger and author of The Networked Nonprofit and Momentum, will open the LSA Annual Conference on Wednesday, May 4, with insight on and practical applications for social media in social ministry organizations.

If you can’t attend the Conference or simply would like more background on social networking you can catch keynote speaker Allison Fine’s co-author of The Networked Nonprofit during a Guidestar Webinar on April 27. The free Webinar, “A Conversation with Beth Kanter: Networked Nonprofits and Social Media,” is scheduled for April 27 at 1 pm ET. More information is here.