Synod Staff Receive Awards

Synod Delegation Returns from Guatemala

 

The Southeastern Synod welcomes back our delegation from a week-long visit to the Iglesia Luterana Agustina de Guatemala (ILAG), our companion synod in Guatemala. The following individuals from around our synod participated in this trip: Melissa Moody, Lutheran Church of the Messiah, Decatur, GA; Cathy Crimi, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Nashville, TN; Bill Emerson (delegation leader), Messiah Lutheran Church, Madison, AL; Marcie Emerson and Chris Berry, Messiah Lutheran Church, Madison, AL; and Diaconal Minister and Southeastern Synod Director for Evangelical Mission Rebecca Kolowe.

Click here to see photos.  A reflection on the delegation's trip is coming soon. 

Submit a Short Video for this Summer's ELCA Churchwide Assembly 

• In a rapidly changing culture, where is God leading and calling us as the ELCA?
• Where are we "showing up" as a church in your community?

Baumgartner Receives LTSS Bedenbaugh Award 

The Rev. Dr. Paul W. Baumgartner was recently named the 2013 Recipient of the John Benjamin Bedenbaugh Award for Distinguished Pastoral Leadership. The award is granted by the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary (LTSS). Baumgartner is a 1981 graduate of LTSS.

Pastor Paul Baumgartner has served as Senior Pastor of Good Shepherd in Woodstock, Georgia since January 2004. Prior to that, he served congregations in Wilmington Island, GA, Chattanooga, TN, and Georgetown, SC.  He was ordained in 1981 after earning a master of divinity degree from Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary. He earned the doctor of ministry degree from The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia in 2001. As a missional leader, Pr. Baumgartner serves as the chief administrator and staff supervisor of the congregation so that it might fulfill its mission and purpose as the body of Christ. His service to the Southeastern Synod includes service as secretary, conference chair and dean. He twice represented the Synod as a voting member of the ELCA Churchwide Assembly. He currently serves on the Southeastern Synod Candidacy Committee. 

In his letter of nomination, Bishop H. Julian Gordy wrote, "Under [Pr. Baumgartner's] leadership, congregations have grown in numbers, discipleship, and understanding of Christ's Church's mission in the world."

The Bedenbaugh Award is given annually to a distinguished graduate of Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary who has encouraged bold congregational witness and has offered exemplary service to the church at large. The award bears the name of the late Rev. Dr. John Benjamin Bedenbaugh, who was a professor and alumnus of the seminary. In recognition of this award, Pr. Baumgartner was presented with the Bedenbaugh honorary stole, given each year to the award's recipient, and a certificate commemorating the award. 

A Mighty Fortress

Tim Thompson Plays "A Mighty Fortress"

The Rev. Bud Onstad, former Assistant to the Bishop in the Southeastern Synod, recently participated in a guitar workshop and shared this wonderful guitar rendition of "A Mighty Fortress" played by one of the workshop leaders.  Tim Thompson and his son, Myles, live in Nashville, TN.  They are an award-winning Americana-jazz duo who have performed around the United States as well as in Canada and Europe. Enjoy!

Click here for more information about the artist.

 "A Place At The Table" - TONIGHT

A Place At The Table - Official Trailer [HD]

Looking for something to do this evening?  St. John's Lutheran Church (1410 Ponce de Leon Ave, NE, Atlanta, GA) invites you to join them on Wednesday, June 26, from 7-9 pm for a screening and discussion of A Place at the Table, a film about hunger in America. 

After the film, we'll have a discussion about addressing hunger on a national and a local level. Bread for the World is a collective Christian voice urging our nation's decision makers to end hunger at home and abroad. Attendees will have the opportunity to contribute to BFTW's Offering of Letters, an annual campaign to write congressional representatives asking them to support food and farm policies to end hunger in the United States and abroad. 

This event is FREE and open to the public. Please consider bringing a contribution of peanut butter/jelly or pasta/pasta sauce to benefit the Intown Food Pantry, a weekly pantry which serves the food insecure in the 30306 or 30307 zip codes.

This event is sponsored by St. John's Lutheran Church, Mercy Community Church, and Intown Collaborative Ministries. For more information: aschmidt@bellsouth.net. 

Everywhere Fun Fair at St. Andrew, Franklin, TN

St Andrew's (Franklin, TN) 2013 Vacation Bible School was great fun for everyone! This year's theme was "Everywhere Fun Fair, where God's world comes together." We purchased the curriculum through Cokesbury and incorporated the lessons to fit our needs. We learned how God's love is for everyone, and how God wants us to love and care for our neighbors everywhere!

We met from 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 noon on Monday through Thursday. On Monday, we traveled to Zimbabwe and discovered that neighbors are giving, and that God loves a cheerful giver. On Tuesday, we traveled to the United Kingdom and learned that neighbors are bold. We studied Matthew 25:35. On Wednesday, our travels brought us to Australia, where we realized that neighbors are forgiving. In Mexico, our final destination, we learned that God welcomes everyone from everywhere.

On Thursday evening, we ended the VBS week with a cookout celebration for the students and their families. The kids shared their experiences and sang some of the songs. Together, we viewed an I-Movie presentation of photos that were taken during the week. 

Each day, the students participated in bible story, crafts, games, music, discovery time, and snacks. We also incorporated two mission projects into the week for neighbors near and far. The Fun Fair was a great time, and God's love was shared everywhere. 

Share Your VBS Photos!

Funding Requests Now Being Accepted

Deadline: September 30

The Southeastern Synod's Budget and Finance Committee is now accepting proposals for funding in the 2015-16 Ministry Funding Plan. Agencies, institutions, and other groups who wish to request synodical funding are invited to submit their requests online using the following link: 2015-16 Funding Request.

Funding for committees and task forces is approved on a different cycle and requires a different form. The most recent Synod Assembly approved lump sum funding for committees and task forces during the 2014-15 fiscal year. The Synod Council will allocate the approved total among the different groups, based on recommendations from the Budget and Finance Committee. Committee and Task Force chairpersons should submit their funding request from the 2014-15 fiscal year, using the online form located at: Committee/TF Funding for 2014-15.

The deadline for submission of funding requests is Monday, September 30, 2013. Anyone unable to submit a funding request electronically may obtain a paper copy of the necessary forms by contacting the Synod Office (404-589-1977). 

A Bishop and a Bubba: 2013 Lectionary Preaching Workshop

Presenters:  

• The Rev. H. Julian Gordy, Bishop of the Southeastern Synod of the ELCA (pictured on left)
• The Rev. Dr. Delmer L. Chilton, Lectionary Blogger for Living Lutheran, co-creator and writer for The Lectionary Lab, aka "Two Bubbas and a Bible" (pictured on right)

Time: Thursday, July 23 (all day) and Wednesday July 24 (until Noon)

Place: Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 525 Sneed Road, Nashville, TN 37221

• Why Lectionary Preaching Matters - Bishop Gordy
• Personal Story and the Proclamation of the Gospel: Narrative and the Sermon - Delmer Chilton
• The texts for Pentecost 13 (Proper 15) August 18, 2013 and the texts for Pentecost 14 (Proper 16) August 25, 2013
• Worship using creative resources for those days

Cost: $50

Click here for a registration form. 

Interim Ministry for Today's Church

August 5-7, 2013

Trinity Lutheran Church,

Hixson, TN

This training will be led by Dr. Les Robinson, Vice President of The Center for Congregational Health at Wake Forest University. 

Click here for more information and a registration form. 

Registration deadline is July 30.

This event is sponsored by the Southeastern Synod.

It fulfills the synod's minimal requirements for interim ministry and earns participants 1.7 CEUs.

Prophetic Renewal: A Conference on Starting or Renewing Your Church is the theme for the annual New Church Leadership Institute (NCLI) to be held August 6-9, 2013 and co-sposored by the UCC and PCUSA. Created seven years ago, NCLI features world-class church planting and renewal experts within the progressive church and is one of the main programs of the Center for Progressive Renewal (CPR). The conference will be held at the Courtyard by Marriott Conference Center; 130 Clairmont Road; Decatur, GA 30030.

 

Dozens of speakers will participate in NCLI, the only conference of its kind in the United States. Presenters will include Carol Howard Merritt (PCUSA), Johnathan Wilson-Hartgrove (Neo-Monsatic), Bruce Reyes Chow (PCUSA), Yvette Flunder (UCC and MCC), Lisa Allen (AME), Ruban Duran (ELCA), Violet Little (ELCA), Cameron Trimble (UCC), Jim Antal (UCC) and Michael Piazza (UCC). 

 

Prophetic Renewal will focus on six major themes including global trends that are reshaping what it means to be church in this time; how leaders can "retool" themselves to lead churches into a new age; and how to build sustainable ministries for the present and future. 

 

For those who desire to spend more concentrated time on specific issues, a one-day pre-conference intensive will be held in seven specific areas including "Pre-Launch Church Planting", "Digital Discipleship: Social Media in Ministry", "Post-Launch Church Planting", "Youth Ministry in the 21st Century", and "Social Justice: Community Organizing Training for Your Church Leaders."

 

Bring a team from your church and come to the conference. You don't want to miss this!

 

Click for more information and a flyer to share. 

Domestic Hunger Grants Available

The 2014 Domestic Hunger Grants application and criteria can be obtained online at the ELCA website, along with stories of previous grant recipients. Please contact Joe Young via email or Ms. Johnnie Thompson at 800-638-3522 ext. 2693 with any questions concerning the Domestic Hunger Grant process. 

Stewardship Resources

Some congregations create their own program each year. Most congregations use a program that someone else has created. Click here and select "6/18/2013 - Plan Your Annual Response Program" from the drop-down menu to discover three simple, straightforward, and effective stewardship response programs for use in your congregation. 

Stewardship with Adults Under 40

- Possibilities Abound: July 29-31, 2013 at Luther Seminary. Click Here. 

 

Music Clinics with Augsburg Fortress

Augsburg Fortress Publishers will hold free summer music clinics in the months of July and August in cities across the US which will be open to church musicians of all denominations. One clinic will be held on July 19-20 at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Columbia, South Carolina. The featured clinicians will be Zebulon Highben, Director of Choral Activities and Assistant Professor of Music at Muskingum University in New Concord, Ohio, and Jeffrey Brillhart, Director of Music and Fine Arts at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, Bryn Mawr, PA and Lecturer in Organ Improvisation at Yale University.

Each clinic features a variety of choral, organ, and piano reading sessions to help plan for the coming season, as well as developmental sessions on choral, keyboard, and handbell topics. Our expert clinicians offer valuable insights and ideas to help participants explore ways to revitalize and refresh worship in their local settings. 

Attendees will receive a 15% discount on all featured Augsburg Fortress music ordered or purchased during the event. Click here for more details and to register. 

Power in the Spirit Conference

Challenges of the Reformation Jubilee 2017 Podcast Now Available

Listen to the podcast of Reformation Jubilee Envoy Margot Kässman's June 5 talk at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago here. Dr. Kässman outlines the decade-long 500th anniversary celebration underway around the world. You may also listen to the responses to her talk by:

• Dr. Anna Case-Winters, professor of theology, McCormick Theological Seminary and co-chair of the International Committee on Lutheran-Reformed Relations
• The Rev. Wayne Miller, bishop of the ELCA's Metropolitan Chicago Synod
• Dr. Vitor Westhelle, professor of systematic theology, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago

 

ELCA Advocacy Ministries: There are three advocacy ministries of the ELCA: ELCA Washington Office, State Public Policy Offices, and Lutheran Office for World Community. Each ministry advocates for just, sound and compassionate public social policies based upon the officially adopted social justice policy positions of the ELCA. Click here to learn more about advocacy ministries.