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Southeastern Synod E-News |
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Submit short items to mhope@elca-ses.org.
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Mobley Hope
Director of Communications
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22nd Annual Synod Assembly
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June 5, 6 & 7, 2009
Renaissance Waverly Hotel
Atlanta, GA
All of the pre-assembly materials can be found on the synod website (click here). Do not worry about printing the materials; they will be given to you at registration along with a notebook.
Below are a few quick facts
- Registration opens Friday at 9:00 AM
- Opening worship will start at 12 noon in the Grand Ballroom. Everyone is invited to come and worship-it is not necessary to be registered for the assembly to attend worship.
- Registration will be closed for opening worship (11:45 AM - 1:30 PM)
- All attendees are invited to a Fellowship Reception in the Garden Court following the last plenary session on Friday
- Recognitions of Rostered Persons' Ordination Anniversaries (five-year increments) will occur during the Friday afternoon plenary session. Family and friends who would like to be present in the plenary
hall during the recognitions need not be registered for the entire assembly. Please speak to one of the volunteers at the doors of the plenary hall before entering to view the recognitions.
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Lutheran Night at the Braves
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 Wednesday, July 22, 2009 7:00 pm Turner Field Atlanta, GA Reserve your seat now! Visit www.atlantalutherans.net. Field Level - $37 Terrace Pavilion - $17 - Register to sing the National Anthem with the Team Lutheran Singers
- Nominate someone to throw out the first pitch
- Children (and their adult friends) are invited to parade on Turner Field before the game
Go to www.atlantalutherans.net to register for these events. When you purchase a ticket, you are supporting the work of Lutheran Services of Georgia. |
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Reuniting Immigrant Families
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ELCA synod bishop, U.S. senator focus
on reuniting immigrant families
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service, Chicago
The Rev. H. Julian Gordy, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Southeastern Synod, Atlanta, is supporting the Reuniting Families Act, a bill being reintroduced to Congress by Senators Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Charles E. Schumer
(D-N.Y.). Gordy said the bill is an "important piece of legislation
(that) advances the common good by enabling family members to reunite
with their loved ones more quickly and by reducing hardship faced by
families at risk of being separated and those who are separated."
Gordy and Menendez spoke during a May 20 telephone briefing hosted by
the Asian American Justice Center, Washington, D.C. Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) issued a statement that day featuring Gordy's comments. LIRS is a cooperative agency of the ELCA, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
and the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It is the
national agency established by these churches to "carry out their
ministry with uprooted people."
"As Lutheran leaders in the United States who recognize the
importance of the family in building strong communities, we are deeply
concerned that the U.S. immigration system keeps families apart for
years and sometimes decades," Gordy said. "We see the strain of this
separation on American families and communities, particularly during
tough economic times." Gordy said the current family-based immigration
system requires adult siblings of U.S. citizens to wait 10 and up to 20
years to reunite. "As faith leaders who provide ministry and service
to families world- and nationwide, we see no benefit to anyone when
families are separated for this long," he said.
At the briefing, Menendez said he strongly supports the Reuniting
Families Act because "family unity is a cornerstone of our society and
something that all Americans equally value." He said the bill is about
legal immigrants reuniting with their families, focusing "on making
sure that we reform America's family-based immigration systems to end
lengthy separation of love ones and to promote family stability and
foster economic growth that immigrant families have provided throughout
our history as a country." The current system has not been updated in
20 years, Menendez said. The bill would work to "build strong
communities," he said. "Legal immigrants who have the support of strong
families are more likely to work hard, pay taxes, (and) start
businesses that create jobs." Menendez added that the bill would also
protect children, widows and widowers, protecting "people who have
already applied for a family visa from losing their place in line after
the death of a relative." "I just think that on all of the core values
that we as Americans share, this legislation (hits) squarely on all of
those values, and I'm looking forward to its success this year."
For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog
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Pastors To Publish Hymn Book
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Debra
von Fischer Samuelson and Rusty Edwards had discovered abundant common ground,
during their conversations about preaching, theology, and life. It seemed
only natural that these two colleagues/friends, both writers,
should begin writing hymns together. They will publish a
collection of hymns in 2011 for Wayne Leupold Editions, Inc. with the
working title, EVERYWHERE YOU STEP. Debra and Rusty met at Luther Seminary during
the early 80's.
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Lenoir-Rhyne Honors the Rev. Dr. Gerald Troutman
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By Winston Skinner, The Times-Herald (Newnan, GA)
Dr. Gerald S. Troutman, local pastor and civic leader, has been recognized by
his alma mater, Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, N.C.
Troutman, 75, was presented with the Clarence L. Pugh Distinguished Alumnus
Award in ceremonies on the Lenoir-Rhyne campus on April 4. Margaret Allen,
assistant director of marketing and communications at Lenoir-Rhye, said the
award is presented annually to the alumnus or alumna who has demonstrated great
prominence in his or her career field while adhering to the principles of
education and Christian character upon which Lenoir-Rhyne was founded.
The award is the highest given by the LRU Alumni Association. "I was
deeply honored," Troutman said.
Troutman is a 1956 graduate of the North Carolina School. He received his master
of divinity degree from Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia,
S.C. and a doctor of ministry degree from Candler School of Theology at Emory
University. Troutman earned clinical pastoral education certification
from Georgia Baptist Medical Center of Atlanta.
Other honors received by Troutman include LTSS's Dr. J. Luther Mauney Leadership Award. He was listed in
Who's Who in Atlanta and Who's Who in America. He was also the baccalaureate speaker
at Lenoir-Rhyne in 2008.
Troutman has served as pastor of congregations in Greeneville, Tenn., and in
Atlanta. In addition, he has served as secretary, president and first bishop of the
Southeastern Synod of the Lutheran Church in America. He has served on the Division for Ministry and Synodical
Relations of the ELCA, director of
development for Lutheran Ministries of Georgia and transition
pastor of seven congregations. Currently, he is serving as transition pastor of
St. Timothy Lutheran Church in Forest Park, GA.
For several years, Troutman has been the resource associate for the ELCA's Fund
for Leaders in Mission, a scholarship program for seminary students. "I've
been raising money for seminary students," he said. "Too many
of our students come out of seminary with more debt than they can handle,"
Troutman said.
Troutman is married to Marihope and has three children and six grandchildren.
Read the full story online at http://www.times-herald.com/Local/Lenoir-Rhyne-honors-Troutman-726011 |
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Louis Tillman Receives Volunteer Excellence Award
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Louis Tillman of Lawrenceville, GA, has been awarded the
Volunteer Excellence Award in the youth-young adult category for Thrivent
Financial for Lutherans' Southeast Region.
Thrivent
Financial selected Tillman for this honor because of his dedication to helping
others through volunteerism and service using Thrivent Financial programs in
2008. Over the the year, he participated in many chapter projects, including
assembling Thanksgiving baskets for the needy and traveling to Mexico to
install cabinets at a mission church. He is very involved in the fight against
poverty and expresses his desire to educate other youth regarding poverty
issues. Louis is a dedicated member of his chapter and his community.
"Thrivent
Financial for Lutherans is delighted to recognize Louis for his outstanding
leadership in volunteer service," said Ginny Hultquist, manager of
Lutheran community services for the Thrivent Financial Southeast Region.
"Louis has generously given his time and energy to assist others in the
community through Thrivent Financial programs and activities, and we celebrate
his efforts."
Thrivent Financial provided $250 in Tillman's name to the
Georgia African American Lutheran Association, the charitable organization of
his choice. As a regional winner, Tillman was automatically included as a
nominee for Thrivent Financial's national Volunteer Excellence Award.
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Pastor Katherine Pasch Receives Honor
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By
MATTHEW W. QUINN
The
pastor of a local Lutheran church will be going to Columbia, S.C., for a week
of learning and teaching at the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary.
"It's called the Reinartz Scholar's Program," said the Rev. Katherine
Pasch. "It's basically to provide pastors some time away, sort of
continuing education."
That is just the first part of it. The second part of it is to give seminarians
the opportunity to talk to a parish pastor. Pasch
explained that sometime during the 2009-2010 academic year, she will travel to
Columbia for a week, all expenses paid.
"I'm going to be studying, too, and I haven't quite determined what my
study will be," she said.
In addition to studying, Pasch will teach classes, do reading and writing of
her own and talk to professors. She will also preach in the seminary chapel and
be available to seminarians who have questions.
"There
is a course (for) senior seminarians that would be sort of a parish ministry
course," she said. "They might ask me to come and teach about my
experiences serving in a congregation."
Pasch described how she was nominated by Bishop H. Julian Gordy. The board of
directors reviewed all candidates nominated by bishops before choosing her.
"It really is an honor," she said. "Out of 174 pastors our
bishop could have selected, it really is a great honor."
She
is looking forward to traveling to the seminary because she enjoys working in a
congregation and serving in a church, and welcomes the opportunity to talk to
seminarians about what ministry is like.
"I think that Pastor Pasch is a remarkable pastor," Gordy said when
asked why he nominated her. "Young people who are studying for the parish
ministry could learn a lot from her."
He said she has served extraordinarily well in the synod for many years, particularly as dean of the Peach Conference.
"She's
done a very fine job as dean for a number of years," Gordy said when in commenting on her role as the Bishop's representative to clergy and congregations in the area.
Pastor Pasch also serves on the synod's candidacy committee, which shepherds future rostered leaders through the educational process.
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