Southeastern Synod
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
God's work. Our hands. E-News Weekly |
|
Issue: #293 |
November 4, 2011 | |
|
|
|
| Old Books | |
by the Rev. Dr. Delmer Chilton
Assistant to the Bishop
ELCA Southeastern Synod
Recently a young man emailed and asked, "Can you recommend a good book to read to understand Augustinian theology?" I wrote back "Why don't you try reading something St. Augustine wrote, like The City of God or On Christian Doctrine."
His reply? "Gee, I never thought of that!"
 That little episode reminded me of an essay by C.S. Lewis called "On the Reading of Old Books" (God In the Dock, p. 200 ff.). Lewis' point in that essay is simple: the old books he refers to are the enduring classics, and they are classics because they are written better than other books...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Talking Together as Christians Cross-Culturally | | |
Setting the Table II
Join others from around our synod November 18-19, 2011 at Christ Lutheran Church in Nashville, TN for an evening and morning of conversation, cross-culturally, as Christians. This meeting is the next step in working toward our synod goal of a Missional Work Plan focused on welcoming people in each congregation. We are on a journey together as we look to find effective ways to connect with our communities and to share, learn, and proclaim God's oneness among people of every racial, ethnic and class background.
This gathering is a time for listening and learning. Participants will hear from one another and share helping resources available through the synod and churchwide organization.
To know more about the specific schedule and to register for the event, please go to http://www.settingthetable2nashville.eventbrite.com. |
|
Redeemer, Atlanta, GA Hosts World Aids Day Service
and welcomes ELCA Presiding Bishop The Reverend Mark S. Hanson | | |
Thursday, December 1, 2011
 The Reverend Mark Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, invites our community to gather for worship and prayer as we continue to raise awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection. The epicenter of the pandemic is in Africa with 22 million of the world's 34 million people infected with HIV. Every day, nearly 1,000 babies in sub-Saharan Africa are infected with HIV through mother-to-child transmission. Without treatment, about half of these infants die before their second birthday.*
Bishop Hanson states, "We are called to witness God's encompassing and transforming love. We are called to lead by example by standing together against stigma and discrimination, striving for comprehensive access to treatment and care, and working tirelessly on methods of prevention that will help restore health and wholeness to all of God's people." Please check www.redeemer.org for the time of the service and other details.
*according to UNICEFUSA.org
|
|
Book of Faith Brief | | |
Did you sing any of these words in hymns during worship services this past Sunday, Reformation Sunday?
"God's word is our great heritage"
"Lord, keep us steadfast in your word"
"Lord, let my heart be good soil, open to the seed of your word"
"As rain from the clouds will your word come to earth"
It's even more likely that you sang these words by Martin Luther, "God's Word forever shall abide, no thanks to foes, who fear it."
Among the things that we remember about the beginnings of the Lutheran church when we celebrate Reformation Day are these:
1) it was a movement born out of the study of-and submission to-the Scriptures;
2) one of its greatest successes was that it put the Bible into the hands of lay people; and 3) the lay people were hungry for God's word and welcomed it enthusiastically.
It might be argued that those strengths of the sixteenth century church have become the most glaring weaknesses of the twenty-first century version. The Book of Faith Initiative is our church's commitment to addressing those weaknesses by putting the Bible back into the hands of its members and helping them appreciate the value of this gift.
*******************************************************************
You are Invited!
Join your friends and neighbors in the Southeastern Synod as we gather for a Bible study of the book of Ruth led by Dr. Diane Jacobson, ELCA Book of Faith Initiative
Director. This education activity is sponsored by the Lutheran Theological Center in Atlanta in partnership with the Southeastern Synod Book of Faith Initiative.
Two opportunities:
Saturday, December 3, 10:00 am, Shepherd of the Hills in Birmingham, AL
RSVP 205-995-9673
Sunday, December 4, 3:00 pm at Good Shepherd in Woodstock, GA
RSVP to 770-924-7286
Dr. Jacobson is Professor Emeritus of Old Testament at Luther Seminary and Director of the ELCA Book of Faith Initiative. She will lead an interactive discussion on the book of Ruth. We are excited to have her with us in the Southeastern Synod and invite all members of our congregations to attend. Invite a neighbor or friend along!
Click here to download a flyer abut this event. |
|
Mark Your Calendar | | |
Andrew Young to speak at Festival of Homiletics!
Peachtree Road UMC/Ebenezer Baptist Church/Buckhead Theater
Atlanta, GA
May 14-18, 2012
Guest speakers include Andrew Young, Anna Carter Florence, Walter Brueggemann, David Lose, Lillian Daniel, Tom Long, Will Willimon, John Bell, Adam Hamilton, Sam Wells, Grace Imathiu, Craig Barnes, Karoline Lewis and many more!
Registration now open! See GoodPreacher.com.
|
| Diaconal Minister Sandra Braasch visits Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary as 2011-2012 Greninger Scholar in resident | | |
Diaconal Minister Sandra Braasch spent October 23 through October 29, 2011 in residency at the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, SC as the 2011-2012 Greninger Scholar. The Greninger Scholar Award at the seminary recognizes a rostered leader within the six synods of Region 9 of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) who exhibits excellence in ministry and expresses a desire for further theological study related to special projects or publications in ministry.
Braasch said, "During that week, I attended chapel, hiked in the Congaree National Park, read, met with seminary faculty and Region 9 Archives, Master of Religion (MAR) students, and attended Dr.  Susan McArver's class, 'Women in Ministry.'" She continued, "During my time with the MAR students, I shared my journey serving with several Social Ministry Organizations in disaster preparedness and response, work as the Southeastern Synod Disaster Support and Development Coordinator, and shared disaster resources with students."
Later in the week, one of the MAR students shared with Braasch that he had called his home congregational pastor and asked if they had a disaster preparedness plan. He let her know, "I WILL be using the disaster resource material you shared with us."
|
|
Youth Ministry News | | |
Check out the latest Youth Ministry News at http://www.elca-ses.org/Youth-Ministry-News.html. Here are some highlights:
Attending All-TN Youth Gathering? You're late for registering! It was due Oct 30, but email Neelie to see if there is room--neelie.crooke@gmail.com
Atlanta Area Youthworkers will meet at Cross and Crown Lutheran Church Friday, November 11 at 10:00 am.
Free Youth Ministry Training at Lutheridge. Nov 28-30. RSVP to Mike Ward at mward@llmi.org. Yes--it's FREE except for your transportation!
Affirm Staff Applications can be downloaded at https://sites.google.com/site/sesynodyouth/. Applications are due in the Synod Office on January 15, 2012.
 Over 27,000 youth and adults have already signed up for the Gathering in New Orleans! 339 are from the Southeastern Synod! Don't delay, get registered! For Gathering Details contact Noel Reagan at aimnoel@faithloves.org and for FREE YOUTH MINISTRY TRAINING created by the ELCA for your Congregation or Conference contact Allison Ward at allisonward@comcast.net.
Also, check out the Free Youth Ministry Webinars including how to be a small group leader, Lutheran theology, planning an event, and much more! Go to http://www.elcaymnet.org/ELCATraining.
|
| Around the Synod | | |
Eat the Meat to Meet the Need
 Peace Lutheran Church, Spring Hill, TN recently hosted "Eat the Meat to Meet the Need" disaster response fund raiser. Many participated in the BBQ and food contests, while others gather to consume the delicious results of the barbecue, baked bean, sides and desserts contests. People from several Middle Tennessee churches provided musical entertainment. Lutheran Services of Tennessee sponsored the kid's zone. Jack Ficken of Thrivent provided mule drawn wagon rides. Over $1500 was raised.
Story by Pastor Ann Bassett
*************************************************************
Appalachian Helping Hands
The Appalachian Helping Hands (AHH) ministry in Greene County, TN is located across from St. James Lutheran Church, Greeneville, TN. Recently, AHH purchased $2,000 of cleaning supplies, toiletries & diapers for tornado recovery. The funding for these items was provided through the Southeastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America from the Disaster Relief Fund.
Story by Pastor Michael Jannett
Photo: AHH Volunteers with items purchased for tornado recovery.
*************************************************************
Conference Reformation Worship
Area Lutherans in the mountains of eastern Tennessee gathered together for an afternoon of worship, music and fellowship for a combined early celebration of Reformation Sunday on October 23, 2011. There were no thesis tacked to any doors, but as the photo (left) illustrates, it was a blazing celebration of red albs, a sight rarely witnessed these days! All the pastors of the Holston Conference gathered at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Blountville, Tennessee to jointly celebrate Reformation.
Immanuel Lutheran Church (Bountville, TN) founded in 1793, is the states' oldest Lutheran church and one of the state's oldest churches. The state of Tennessee was founded in 1796, making the church three years OLDER than the state itself. Pastor Jenny Venable serves as the congregation's first female pastor. Immanuel is the smallest church in the conference, but holds the record for contributing the largest amount of relief kits through Lutheran World Relief each year.
This year all the pastors, along with a number of their parishioners, came together for a special combined 4:00 p.m. Worship Service, which featured musical accompaniment by organist Michael Frazier, Musical Director for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church and three of the local area Lutheran church choirs. Each church pastor took turns discussing a portion of Martin Luther's readings as it related to the service. Communion was shared and an offering was collected for a local community project.
Upon adjournment, members gathered in Immanuel's Education Building and did what Lutherans love to do; they drank coffee and shared comfort food! A good time was had by all as members of area Lutheran churches gathered for an annual celebration of Reformation Sunday.
Story by Penny Arvidson Richards, Immanuel, Blountville, TN
*****************************************************************
Fling Wide the Doors
 | |
Dr Everett Flanigan and the Rev Sherman Hicks |
On October 29, 2011,Trinity Lutheran Church in Lilburn, GA hosted Fling Wide the Doors, the fourth Metro Atlanta conversation about congregational mission planning for the future. These discussions have been going on since June 2010; in June and September, the first two of the three events, called "Setting the Table", were hosted by Christ the King in Norcross with the third event being held at Lutheran Theological Center.
Over 50 people from 14 churches were in attendance, along with Susan Engh and Sherman Hicks from the ELCA Churchwide office.
Story by Hilton Austin, All Saints, Lilburn, GA
*****************************************************************
Five volunteers to serve as synod Volunteer Disaster Response Coordinators
Friday, September 30 through Sunday, October 2, 2011 in Nashville, Tennessee, five volunteers attended a 2 1/2 training event and were commissioned to serve as Southeastern synod Volunteer Disaster Response Coordinators.
These volunteers are:
Mary Brunso, serving Atlanta GA area;
Christopher Sellers serving middle AL;
the Rev David Hendrix serving Savannah, GA area;
Jon Biggs; MS Gulf Coast area; and
Rev. James Korzun serving AL Gulf Coast area.
These volunteers will assist congregations with preparedness planning and in response within their local communities. The training included building congregational resiliency, an overview of disaster ministry and disaster ministry congregational tools, and spiritual and emotional care. Disaster resources were handed out along with a list internet of preparedness and response disaster sites.
The training team included the Rev. Morgan Gordy, Disaster Response Task Force chair, Kathy Thoreson, CEO-Lutheran Services in Tennessee, Suzie Harvey, Director of Camp Victor, and Diaconal Minister Sandra Braasch, Synod Disaster Support and Development Coordinator. This training was made possible by an ELCA Diaconal Ministry grant and in-kind support from the Southeastern Synod and the Lutheran Services in Tennessee. Plans are being made for the next synod Volunteer Disaster Response Coordinators training early 2012. Please contact Sandra at sbraasch07@gmail.com if you are interested in serving as a synod Volunteer Disaster Response Coordinator.
*****************************************************************
Up Coming
Rededication of Labyrinth
 St. Timothy Lutheran Church in Hendersonville, TN will be rededicating their labyrinth on Sunday, November 6. Their labyrinth is built in the Chartres style by Rev. Paul Meier as a project during his last year at Vanderbilt Divinity School. In the picture, the rostered leaders of the Middle Tennessee cluster are walking the labyrinth as part of the opening devotions for their monthly meeting.
Celebrating 50 years of Ministry
Holiday Jazz Vespers Service, Sunday, December 11
A community Holiday Jazz Vespers service will be held Sunday, December 11th, at 5:30 pm, at Rock of Ages Lutheran Church in Stone Mountain, GA. The hour long service features internationally renowned jazz pianist Gary Motley and vocalist Veronica Motley, along with Justin Chesarek, drums, Moffett Morris, bass, Randy Hunter, saxophone, and Gordon Vernick, trumpet. There is no charge for the service (a free will offering will be received) and a reception will follow the service. A new CD by Gary and Veronica Motley will be available for purchase after the service. Rock of Ages is located at 5135 Memorial Drive, Stone Mountain, 30083.
|
| Synod Calendar Highlights | | |
November 10-12
Candidacy Committee meeting, Synod Office
November 12
All Tennessee Youth Gathering
November 18
Talking Together Cross Culturally, Nashville, TN
November 24, 25
Synod office closed, Thanksgiving holiday
December 1
World Aids Day Event, Redeemer, Atlanta, GA
View the entire Synod Calendar |
Share this e-news with a friend Do you know someone who might enjoy receiving news from the Southeastern Synod? Please forward a copy of this E-News and invite them to join the group!
ELCA-Southeastern Synod
100 Edgewood Ave. NE, Suite 1600
Atlanta, GA 30303
404-589-1977
|
|
|
