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The Southeastern Minnesota Synod is pleased to share that the Synod Council voted to approve the Facility Task Force recommendation to move the synod office to Northfield, Minnesota, inside St. Peter’s Lutheran Church. The Facility Task Force presented the recommendation after a diligent process of research, input collection from staff, applications from congregations, ranking, and site visits.

Eight different criteria were used to carefully rank the sites, with greater weight given to location and cost. Matt Huggenvik, Synod Council and Facility Task Force member, shared details about that process. “After we established that rubric for evaluation, our task force went through each application one at a time, and each of the four members of the task force agreed on what the numerical value for each category would be.” The two sites that ranked highest were then visited. (A video message from Huggenvik can be found on YouTube.)

The move from Rochester to Northfield comes after 36 years in Assisi Heights. The synod office has resided in the same space since the very beginning. On December 19, 1987, the first bishop of the Southeastern Minnesota Synod, Rev. Dr. Glenn Nycklemoe, moved in. The ELCA officially formed on January 1, 1988. In early 2023, Assisi Heights staff notified all tenants that their leases would end effective April 2024.

The synod move will take place in January of 2024. Please continue to use the current Rochester mailing address until further notice is given. Once settled, an open house will be scheduled to celebrate and welcome all to the new office space.

Additional announcements will be shared in the coming months. Stay tuned to the website and social media, and subscribe to the RC Weekly newsletter for the latest.