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In This Issue
ELCA Presiding Bishop's 2010 Easter Message
Spouses Count Too...
Career Crossroads
All-GA Youth Gathering
2010 Southeastern Synod Assembly
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times
Around The Synod
Upcoming Events
Assembly 2010
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Issue: # 214
March 2010
ELCA Presiding Bishop's 2010 Easter Message

Bishop HansonThe last enemy to be destroyed is death. ~ 1 Corinthians 15:26

For a brief time, while the crucified Jesus lay in a borrowed tomb, it seemed as if death had triumphed once again.  Threatened by a messenger of God's expansive, steadfast love, yet another human mob succumbed to death's seduction. They chose its brutal, silencing power and trusted its empty finality.  Death's murderous rebellion against the Creator of life seemed unstoppable.

Click here for entire message.
Spouses Count Too

Health Risk AssessmentDoes your spouse have coverage under your ELCA health benefits? Ask her or him to complete the Mayo Clinic Health Assessment. He/she will also earn 150 personal wellness dollars for your family, and help us to the 65% participation we all need to receive our synod-wide 2% discount on health contributions.

Access the assessment today at https://www.elcaforwellness.org.

Learn more about the health assessment at https://www.elcabop.org/UnderstandMyBenefits/Health/ELCAPrimary/HealthAssessment/WhatsNew.aspx
Career Crossroads

Career Crossroads
April 30th - May 2nd, 2010
Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary
 
Are you or is someone you know going though a career crisis?  Many people are unhappy in their vocation and aren't sure which steps to take to find work that fits their gifts and mission in life.  Career Crossroads is a spiritual retreat that can help with these difficult decisions.   
 
For questions, please contact the Region 9 office at 803-461-3203 or email [email protected]. The deadline for registrations is April 1st. 

All-GA Youth Gathering

All-GA 2010 afterELCA Southeastern Synod Youth have been meeting together now for over 15 years for a weekend retreat, and once again over 200 youth and adults from all across the state of Georgia attended the All-GA Youth Gathering at the FFA-FCCLA in Covington, GA this month.  Many said it was the best weekend ever and will be hard to top! David Sherer, also known as Agape, shared his music and the message for the weekend. The theme was "Keep it Tov". (We learned that "Tov" in Greek means "Wow, that was Good!") He led us in four different sessions using youth to help him dance, sing, and share his message.  You can check out his ministry at www.hiphopoutreach.org.  The Praise Band from Trinity Lutheran Church led us in music throughout the weekend and worship on Sunday morning! Thank you to the 2010 Planning Team: Robby Johnson (St. John's Atlanta); John Parsons (Trinity Lilburn); Crystal Rowe (Resurrection Marietta); Vickie Davis (Christ the Lord Lawrenceville); and Alex Hoffner (Christ the King Evans). All-Georgia 2011 will be March 11-13 at the Ebenezer Retreat Center near Savannah, Georgia. Jerusalem , Zion h, and other churches in the Savannah area are already thinking about next year's All-GA Youth Gathering.  See you there!
Into All the World

Assembly Logo 2010The 2010 Southeastern Synod Assembly will be held June 4-6, 2010 at the Chattanooga Convention Center in Chattanooga, TN. Join the voting members and visitors to the Southeastern Synod Assembly as we examine the Church - within the congregation, the community, and around the world.

Keynote speaker
John Arthur Nunes will be our keynote speaker.  He is the President and CEO of Lutheran World Relief-an organization that acts to end poverty and uphold human dignity by empowering the world's most impoverished communities to bring about the transformation they need in order to live healthy, safe and secure lives. 

 A prominent Lutheran leader, thinker and speaker, Nunes is known for his compelling voice applying theological insight to matters ranging from global issues to urban affairs. He joined LWR in July 2007. Prior to that, he has served as a college professor, management consultant, church musician, community organizer and pastor.

Nunes states: "My call to LWR really gives me a prodigious opportunity to serve in the power of the Spirit, since, as Luther reminds us, 'we should allow no one to suffer harm but show every kindness and love' (The Large Catechism)."
Nunes holds advanced academic degrees from schools affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS). He is currently a PhD candidate at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.

Click here for more information or to register for the 2010 Southeastern Synod Assembly.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times
This quotation from Charles Dickens' A TALE OF TWO CITIES came into my thoughts the other day.  (Who says 9th grade English teachers don't make an impact?)  I was thinking of the passionate divisions in our country over the healthcare bill.  And of course, the divisions in our church were not too far from my thoughts either.  I was also mindful of Holy Week and Easter bearing down upon us. 

Some of my most memorable and significant experiences have occurred when "it was the best of times and the worst of times".  The preparations in the Lenten season leading up to Easter in the parish are often demanding and stressful.  But I cherish the memory of Lenten dramas and the joy of having eleven baptisms at an Easter Vigil service in a mission congregation.  We make jokes about the C and E people showing up on Christmas and Easter, but what a joy to have filled churches and extraordinary proclaiming celebrations.  It doesn't get much better than the opening procession on Easter morning!

With this Dickens' quotation in my head, I looked up the words to that beginning quotation set in the developing unrest leading up to the French Revolution. 
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times;  it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness;  it was the epoch of incredulity;  it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair;  we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going directly to heaven, we were all going the other way."

One of the blessings of age and experience is the opportunity to be able to reflect on more "times".  I recall being on the front lines of the Wounded Knee trials in my first parish in South Dakota.  I remember temporarily "losing" a 15 year old girl on a mission trip while changing trains in Mexico.  I remember being called out at night to a bad part of town to relate to a family crisis. (What was I doing there!) 

I also remember the times of being included in the personal times of ministry, the family times of birth, of death, of reconciliation, of illness.  Many of us can remember hateful times, the discriminations, the ugliness, the disrespect, the indifference.

In my present role in the ministry, I seem to feel a more present sense that...it's about God, it's not about me.  Whatever circumstances I may be confronted with, the joys, the sorrows, the angst...the ministry is about God's great and loving presence.  What is God seeking to do in this place?  What is my role as a disciple?  In the best and the worst of times, our unity moving forward is in Christ Jesus, who has come to bring hope and salvation to the whole world.  It is a privilege to serve in Christ's church.

Pastor Darrel Peterson, Assistant to the Bishop

AROUND THE SYNOD

AROUND THE SYNOD
You are invited!
 
Epiphany Lutheran Church in Conyers, GA is hosting a gala honoring Karen Olson, founder of Family Promise.  The event will be on Friday, April 16 at Epiphany Lutheran Church, 2375 GA Highway 20 SE, Conyers, GA  30013.  The festivities will get underway at 6PM and are slated to last until 8PM. If you plan on attending or need more information, please contact Pastor Nathan Hilkert at 770-483-6222.
Upcoming Events
April
14-16  Project Connect Annual Gathering
20       Formula of Agreement Luncheon
22-24  Candidacy Meeting

For more information on these and other events visit our synod calendar.
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