Nurses on Strike: Support Heidi & Renee

The Renew Church family has had the wonderful opportunity of getting to know two amazing families, the Stinski’s and Skutevik’s, both families work for the church, Jesse as our Associate / worship pastor and Christian as the youth / kid’s pastor.

As many of you know, working in ministry requires many sacrifices and rarely does it pay well, and such is the case with Jesse Stinski and Christian Skutevik working at Renew. Their wives have sacrificed a lot to allow their husbands to serve the Lord, the church and others. Both; Jesse’s wife Heidi, and Christian’s wife, Renee, work as nurses and provided the primary source of income for their families. Sadly, the unions they belong to were forced to strike. As we know nurses selflessly serve others, often on the front lines risking health and welfare for the betterment of others.

Whether working for the church or serving and caring for the community as a nurse these families have been blessing to so many others, now we have an opportunity to give back. Currently they don’t know the length of the strike and opportunities to supplement their income had been sparse at best, would you be willing to prayerfully consider helping them bridge the gap to cover bills and some basic life necessities?

Nurses in Duluth, Minnesota, began a strike on July 8, 2025, demanding fair negotiations and better working conditions amid stalled contract talks with Essentia Health and Aspirus Health.

Reason for Strike: The Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) is advocating for fair negotiations, enforceable staffing levels, and protections against workplace violence. The strike is classified as an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike, which is related to employers' violations of labor laws rather than just pay disputes.

Union has filed numerous charges against Essentia Health, citing issues like bad faith bargaining and denial of access to union representatives.