On January 23, Associate in Ministry Michelle Angalet shared reflections from the January Synod Coucil meeting.   Click here to read the reflections.

The Rev George E Doebler, who is in specialized ministry at the University of Tennesee Memorial Research Center and Hospital, emailed Michelle with some thoughts.  That email and Michelle's response are available here.

by Lee Smith, Synod Treasurer

The Southeastern Synod recently closed the books on its 2011-12 fiscal year. Some observations are:

• Unrestricted mission support giving by congregations continued to be the major funding source for synodical ministries. During the past year, 94 percent of expenditures under the synod's Ministry Funding Plan were paid by mission support contributions.
• Mission support gifts totaled $2,133,534 last year, which was 1.6% more than the $2.1 million approved for the Level 1 budget, though slightly lower (1.8%) than the total given the prior year.
• The fiscal year that just ended was the second in a two-year plan for transitioning to a lower overall spending level. Most of the temporary subsidies approved by the Synod Council for 2010 were not available in 2011, resulting in about $187,000 less of total available funding.
• The synod faithfully remitted 50% of all mission support gifts to the ELCA churchwide organization for the support of churchwide ministries. The total transmitted last year for this purpose was $1,066,767.
• Within the Southeastern Synod, those entrusted with spending authority were extremely careful in their stewardship of this responsibility. For example, all committees and task forces underspent their approved budgets by at least 14 percent. Under-spending of at least 15 percent was achieved for synod office expenses and staff travel. The expenses for the 2011 Synod Assembly were 22 percent under budget.
• Significant under-spending was also achieved by the Synod Council, due to its decision to hold two of its three yearly meetings in local congregations rather than in hotels. Because members of Cross of Life (Roswell, GA) and Messiah (Montgomery, AL) provided meals and housing for Council members last year, the Synod Council was able to spend only half of its approved budget for meeting expenses.
• The under spending in many categories, combined with mission support gifts that exceeded the Level 1 budget, allowed the Synod Council to authorize almost $106,000 in year-end allocations consistent with the Level 2 plan. This additional support was provided for:

Seminaries ($26,455)

Synod Staff ($26,455)

Synod's Planting New Congregations Fund ($15,873)

Campus Ministry Programs ($14,524)

Lutheridge/Lutherock ($11,931)

Escrow for Future Lutheran Volunteer Corps Staffer ($10,582)

The complete set of year-end financial reports are available online at www.elca-ses.org/Financial-Reports.html. The full audited report will be available for the 2012 Synod Assembly.

Lutheran Day at Georgia Tech Basketball  

February 25, 2012 at 2:30 p.m.
Georgia Tech vs. University of Maryland
Philips Arena

For the first time ever, Lutheran Services of Georgia is sponsoring Lutheran Day at Georgia Tech basketball on Saturday, February 25 at 2:30 p.m. This ACC game, featuring Tech and the University of Maryland's men's teams playing at Philips Arena, will include a special visit by Buzz to the Lutheran section. This mischievous Yellow Jacket is one of the top college mascots in the country. Watch him write a ticket to the refs for making a bad call.  
 
Lutherans will sit together and be publicly recognized during the game too. Tickets are $30 with proceeds benefiting the ministries of Lutheran Services of Georgia. To purchase tickets, contact Bob Gibeling bgibeling@lsga.org)  for an order form.  Seats are reserved.

 Hunger Walk 2012 

The annual Hunger Walk/Run brings together people of diverse faiths, socio-economic statuses, ages and activity levels to raise funds and awareness for those struggling with hunger. As a benefiting partner, LSG uses the funds raised from the walk to provide food and other services to families and individuals in the Atlanta area.
 
This year's Hunger Walk/Run (HWR) will take place Sunday, March 11, 2012, at Turner Field from noon to 4 p.m.  HWR is an excellent opportunity for us to come together as Lutherans and live out Jesus' message of providing food, help, and hope to the hungry. Last year over 500 individuals participated in the walk on behalf of Lutheran Services of Georgia, helping raise a record-breaking $79,587. We want to make this year another one for the books, and we hope you'll join us!
 
To learn more about how to participate in this year's Hunger Walk/Run, go to http://hwr2012.org and click on Lutheran Services of Georgia.  You can also call Jim Deadwyler, LSG's Hunger Walk coordinator, at 678-686-9602 for more information. 

The ELCA Disability Ministry is pleased to announce the Accessibility Award for 2012. This award has a twofold intention: one, to reward ELCA congregations who make significant improvements in their worship settings to especially accommodate people with disabilities  and two, to encourage all congregations of the ELCA to work towards making the worship experience enriching for all people, especially people with disabilities  

Congregations are encouraged to access and complete the award application by going to www.elca.org/disability. 

ELCA Disability Ministry is grateful to their partners, the Mission Investment Fund of the ELCA,  the Poverty and Justice Team, and the Worship Team, both of the Congregational and Synodical Mission unit, ELCA who helped to make this program possible.