Beginning this coming Saturday, February 26th, the "Doing What Matters" Faciliteam invites you and your congregation on a journey of discovery with other congregations from your Mission Area. Together, we will engage in a Spirit-filled, creative process of listening and discernment that will help to articulate a sense of God's purpose for us as a Synod. We will clarify the principles that will guide us in our mission. And we will learn about working in "renewable" and sustainable ways within our congregations and in our communities by looking at who we are and what we have through the lens of abundance. 

 

From Caribou, ME to Bridgeport, CT, God is up to something in every corner of New England! How are we being called to help? For dates and locations of Mission Area Assemblies near you, please click here.  

 

Coming this Saturday, February 26th, from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm:

"Northwest" Gathering, Trinity Lutheran, Brattleboro, VT

&

"South Central" Mission Area Assembly

Concordia Lutheran, Manchester, CT

 

Bishop Margaret G. Payne will be among those attending an important workshop for clergy and lay leaders, "Immigration, the Church and the Bible," Friday, March 11, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Wesley United Methodist Church, 114 Main St., Worcester, Mass.  Keynote is M. Daniel Carroll R. (Rodas), distinguished professor of Old Testament at Denver (Colo.) Seminary and author of "Christians at the Border: Immigration, the Church and the Bible." Carroll writes, "If Christians want to address the problems of immigration ... and contribute to possible solutions, then they should do so consciously as Christians and more specifically as biblically informed Christians."

 

Bishop Payne enthusiastically supports this event. "I hope that you will join me at 'Immigration, the Church and the Bible' March 11 at Wesley United Methodist Church to hear Danny Carroll, who is one of the most engaging and powerful speakers that I have heard," she said. "Immigration reform is an issue that is particularly relevant to Lutherans: we are an immigrant church. Both political parties and most people agree that our country desperately needs  reform. But how can we advocate, and what is the best course of action? Come and become part of the answer to the difficulties and human concerns in this challenging and important issue."

 

Registration is $20, which includes lunch and a copy of "Strangers in the Land," the six-week devotional guide on immigration from the editors of Sojourners, a network of Christians in the United States focused on the biblical call to social justice.  Cost for a pastor and one layperson from the same congregation is $30.

 

For a registration brochure and more information click here. 

or contact: council@masscouncilofchurches.org    

Phone: 617-523-2771 

 

The Lombard Mennonite Peace Center will again offer its one-week Mediation Skills Training Institute for New England. 

This workshop will be held May 2-6 Gethsemane Lutheran Church, Manchester, N.H. For more Information, visit  http://www.lmpeacecenter.org/. 

 

Looking for resources during Lent? Select Learning, a program of continuing theological education designed for small groups,  is offering several DVDs, including "Down and Out," whichprovides a more in-depth but personal look into our calling as the priesthood of all believers (faith in practice). Two other resources, "Opening Prayer" and "Meeting God in Prayer," take a look at the devotional side of our faith walk. These programs are for rostered leaders, as well as for laity. Online programs for spring and summer also are available. Select is a program of the Vocation and Education Unit of the ELCA, working in cooperation with Lutheran seminaries. Learn about courses at www.selectlearning.org

 

A Lenten workshop, "Creating Soul Dolls: Praying with Our Hands," will be held Saturday, March 5, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at All Saints Church, 10 Irving St., Worcester, Mass., sponsored by the Kairos Spiritual Life Center of All Saints Church.  Lynn Penney will lead participants through a day of poems, silence and sharing as they create unique soul dolls. The soul dolls will bring to light parts of our spiritual life which need dialogue with our Holy Creator. Registration for this retreat is $40, including lunch and supplies; limited scholarship aid available. For more information, contact the Kairos Center at kairoscenter@allsaintsw.org or 508-752-3766, ext.19. Register by Feb. 23.