September 1, 2022
SPAS Care of Creation Excited about Partnership
Don Schuld
Stillwater, MN
Saint Paul Area Synod
Care of Creation Work Group
The St Paul Area Synod (SPAS) Care of Creation Work Group has, over the past couple years, had a fruitful, spirit-filled relationship with the Northeast Synod Eco-Faith Leadership Team. Through our bi-synodical members, Diane and Paul Jacobson, joint work on two Eco-Faith Summits and the Called to Arise – Standing at the Intersection of Racism, Inequality and the Environment webinar and contributing newsletter articles, we have discovered that in many areas, we can be stronger by combining and sharing our ideas and efforts. As a result, the SPAS Care of Creation Work Group is making a more formal commitment to our partnership by purchasing a share of the Northeast Synod Eco-Faith Leadership Team’s Communication Coordinator’s time and becoming a co-sponsor of the Green Blades Rising Newsletter. This position that will be filled by the young and talented Rachel Wyffels.
This sharing of the Communications Coordinator, in addition to facilitating the monthly newsletter production, will assist us in planning and preparations for joint events such as EcoFaith summits and retreats as well as assisting in the receipt and maintenance of databases relevant to the work of the St. Paul Area Synod’s Care of Creation Work Group.
We expect we will need to review and adjust this arrangement going forward. We also hope that this might serve as a model as we begin for working with other synods across Minnesota and in nearby states as well.
Don Schuld
Care of Creation Work Group
Stillwater, MN
Saint Paul Area Synod
Always a big fan of water, forests, mountains and plains, that passion was sidelined by 40 years in education; ten years as a school psychologist followed by 30 years as a public-school administrator of birth – age 21 special services (special education, health services and alternative programs). Semi-retirement in 2016 and full retirement in 2020, allowed for the investment of time and energy in his passion for the environment, second only to family. Volunteering for civic organizations such as Sustainable Stillwater was a first step. In 2018 he was afforded the opportunity to lead the St Paul Area Synod Care of Creation Work Group. Combining a passion for the environment with God’s call to care for and nurture the gifts of our Earth, makes for a powerful message. Since 2019 Don has chaired and co-chaired the Care of Creation Team for Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Stillwater. In addition, he is a past chair of the Climate/Environmental Action Team for Stillwater Sunrise Rotary and is currently the treasurer of Lutheran Advocacy Minnesota Policy Board.
Don has been married for 52 years to Charlotte, a former art and music teacher who is currently a landscape artist, painting God’s creation in hopes others will look at it and care for it. They have been residents of Stillwater, MN for the past 25 years and prior to that time, spent 20 years in the Fairmont and Blue Earth areas of southern Minnesota. Both grew up in North Dakota. Together they have two children and four grandchildren. Their future, and the future of all people, is a constant motivator.