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2014 Commemoration Weekend for the
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Congregations in metro Atlanta and surrounding areas will gather to commemorate the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at events from Saturday, January 18, through Monday, January 20. The theme "Beyond Tolerance" will be highlighted as follows:
Saturday, January 18, 2014 - Emmanuel Lutheran Church
3050 Cascade Road, Atlanta, GA 30311
An interactive panel discussion will be held beginning at 1:00 p.m. to explore issues of tolerance and acceptance when there are perceived differences in your congregation or community. A breakout session on bullying will also be held for youth ages 11 -15. Click here for details.Sunday, January 19, 2014 - Christ Our Hope Lutheran Church
2165 Hwy 138, SW, Riverdale, GA, 30296
A Commemorative Worship Service will be held at 3:00 p.m. preceded by Praise Music which starts at 2:30 p.m. The preacher for the service is the Rev. Dr. Keven Dudley, pastor of the Church at Point, Columbus, OH. Click here to read more about the theme and Rev. Dr. Dudley.
Monday, January 20, 2014 - Rock of Ages Lutheran Church
5135 Memorial Drive, Stone Mountain, GA 30083.
MLK 2014 - Lutheran Day of Service offers three volunteer opportunities: "Rice for Refugees", "Children Book Reading and Sharing", and "Disaster Relief Kits". Click here to register your participation.
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Always Being Made New:The Campaign for the ELCA
 -Conversation with Clergy: Rich Duncan (Director of Mission Funding) and Andrew Steele (Manager of Donor Relations) wish to share in conversation with clergy from the Atlanta area over lunch at Redeemer Lutheran Church (noon) on Thursday, January 16 to discuss Always Being Made New: The Campaign for the ELCA, among other ministry related topics. Rich and Andrew will give a presentation on the Campaign and field questions from those in attendance. In addition, if time allows, they will be able to answer questions regarding other Churchwide initiatives. There will also be time to discuss possible engagement plans for congregations to become supporters of the Campaign. In addition, Christine Post-Duncan, the Regional Gift Planner for the Southeastern Synod, will also be in attendance to offer information on planned giving for congregations.
-Conversation with the Community: Rich Duncan (Director of Mission Funding) and Andrew Steele (Manager of Donor Relations) wish to share in conversation with members from the Atlanta community at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 16 at Redeemer Lutheran Church, 731 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, to discuss Always Being Made New: The Campaign for the ELCA, among other ministry related topics. Rich and Andrew will give a presentation on the Campaign and field questions from those in attendance. In addition, if time allows, they will be able to answer questions regarding other Churchwide initiatives. Rich and Andrew also wish to hear feedback from people who support the ELCA, or learn of ways to improve engagement through the ELCA's Three Expressions. The setting of this event will be forum/town-hall style, with questions from the community highly desired. In addition, Christine Post-Duncan, the Regional Gift Planner for the Southeastern Synod, will also be in attendance to offer information on planned giving for individuals. Click here for campaign information.
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St. Olaf Choir Tours the Southeast
The world renowned St. Olaf Choir launches its 2014 national tour in the
Southeast United States on Saturday, February 1, and will perform 15 concerts under
the direction of Conductor Anton Armstrong in Alabama, Florida, Georgia,
South Carolina,and Tennessee. Click here for dates and locations near you!
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2014 Bishops' School at LTSS
 Think of one or two exceptional high school youth in your congregation - the ones who ask the hard questions, stood out in confirmation classes, and exhibit a yearning to deepen faith and explore their relationship with God in more depth. If you have a young person currently in the 11th or 12th grade, please nominate him or her for Bishops' School at LTSS in 2014.
The 2014 Bishops' School will be held the week of June 22-28 on the campus of Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, SC. Youth from all over the southeast will come together to study with seminary professors, worship in Christ Chapel and witness the way God is working in the world and in their own lives. They'll also learn what it means to think theologically!
Attached is a brochure with additional information. Please note, nominations are due by April 1st, 2014. You are welcome to nominate more than one youth from your congregation.
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Epiphany
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The Rev. Paul Summer, Assistant to the Bishop
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The Name of Jesus, a festival celebrated on January 1, 2014, more commonly known as New Year's Day, I had the privilege of being present when my new grandson, Michael Eli, was born. Being the Christmas Season, his birth was a reminder that God still smiles upon creation. The presence of a newborn child during the Christmas Season gives special meaning to the birth of Jesus. God's word became flesh and lived among us. That flesh and life is real. Life as a gift is powerfully realized when a newborn infant is held in wonder and joy. Those who gathered with Mary and Joseph surely would have experienced this as we still do today. Click here to continue.
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Green Team Offers March Creation Care Retreat
 The Green Team of the Southeastern Synod has scheduled a Creation Retreat to focus on caring for God's creation to be held at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 1208 Rose Creek Road, Woodstock, GA. The retreat will be held March 6 -8. Registration/check-in begins on the evening of Thursday, March 6. The retreat begins Friday morning at 8:30 a.m. and ends on Saturday, March 8 at 3:00 p.m. Members of Good Shepherd will provide some host housing. In addition, the Green Team has secured both single and double rooms at the Microtel Hotel at the rate of $57.50 for a single and 68.50 for a double.
The retreat is designed for those who are interested in learning more about what it means to be co-workers with God. It will help participants become aware of God's call to us as stewards of creation and will help participants identify ways we can become better stewards of creation. We believe that God has provided creation for us out of his grace, mercy and love. The Green Team also prays that participants will be inspired to take ideas for individual and congregational creation care back to their own congregations.
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LSG Spotlight - Expressions of Hope
 Lutheran Services of Georgia is calling for artwork submissions for Expressions for Hope, an upcoming art exhibit and auction to support those in need in the Savannah area. Click here for submission information.
Expressions for Hope will display the work of local artistsfrom February 7 through February 20, 2014 at the Starland Café (11 E. 41st Street, Savannah). Also at the Starland Café, Expression for Hope will feature a reception and silent auction on February 20th from 6-8 p.m. Proceeds from the silent auction will benefit Lutheran Services of Georgia's social service programs, including adoption, foster care, refugee resettlement, immigration services, family intervention services, and programs for individuals with developmental disabilities.
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 Mark Allan Powell, author of Giving to God: The Bible's Good News About Living a Generous Life, is the Robert and Phyllis Leatherman, Professor of New Testament at Trinity Lutheran Seminary. With permission from Dr. Powell, his thought provoking insights into what stewardship means and how to embrace stewardship as a duty and delight will be offered in this newsletter. This is the fifth of seven articles. Click here to read the series.
"The good news of stewardship is we can be free of consumerism which allows financial concerns to rule our lives. When Jesus says, "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also," he is stating flat out what will happen whether or not we are careful to keep our heart with God and not with our treasure. Our heart will always follow our treasure. Stewardship is a special spiritual discipline, because it is the most directly connected to the status and condition of our hearts. As Christians, we want to be pure in heart, but how do we get there and change within? How we spend our money determines what sort of people we become, not what sort of people we are. Jesus says what we do with our treasures affects our hearts and determines who we are inside. We can control our hearts by directing them toward that we want to care about. The Bible says God loves a cheerful giver meaning stewardship should always be tied to feelings and be proactive, not reactive, willingly and not on a whim. Give where you want your heart to be and let your heart catch up. Decide the amount by how much you want to care. God promises to reward financial giving tangibly and spiritually by one's heart increasingly drawn to God's wondrous love. Giving up something as an act of devotion to Christ binds one's heart to Him and helps love Him more as one is more spiritually transformed within."
Powell says, "Give where you want your heart to be and let your heart catch up."
Does this idea change your thinking about stewardship and faithful giving?
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Southeastern Synod Mission Support Update
 Thank you to all of our congregations who have shared their mission support dollars with the Southeastern Synod. Thanks, especially, to those who have responded to our call to "catch-up" in their giving or give over and above what they have pledged. Thanks also to those who are giving even in the midst of lean budgets and decreased giving. Since our last report on mission support in the enews before Christmas, we can now report that, through December 2013, mission support to our Southeastern Synod is up from 3.3% behind where we were this time last year to 2.5% where we were this time last year. December's mission support results are available here. To be sure, we are still behind where we budgeted to be at this point in the fiscal year. In order to reach the Level 1 mission support goal for the current fiscal year, we will have to receive $277,367 in January. That will be a challenge, but we have received more than that in Januaries in the past. Thanks to your faithful ministry partnership, we look forward to closing that gap in the coming weeks.
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Messiah Supports Hunger Walk/Run 2014
 Lutheran Church of the Messiah, Decatur, GA will host two events in support of Hunger Walk 2014. Join us! Your participation is greatly appreciated.
Sunday, January 26, 2014: Spaghetti Luncheon to benefit Hunger Walk/Run 2014. Team Messiah will be hosting a homemade spaghetti lunch immediately after worship service. Suggested donation of $5 per plate.
February 14, 2014: Date Night! Let your children join us for an evening of fun and games while you celebrate Valentine's Day with your loved one! Contact the office at Messiah to reserve your space office@messiahdecatur.org. Suggested donation of $10 per child or $20 per family. Money raised will be donated to the Hunger Walk/Run 2014.
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Stewardship Symposium: Stewardship for Adults Under 40
 A Stewardship Symposium, led by Chick Lane and Grace Duddy of the Center for Stewardship Leaders at Luther Seminary, Columbia, SC, is scheduled for January 31, 2014. Details and registration information are available here.
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10 Great Health Foods for Eating Well
Resolve to eat these often in 2014!
If you are in need of a New Year's resolution here is an option that could
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Connie Pearson, Chairperson, Health Ministries Task Force
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potentially help you to become healthier if you are not already taking advantage of these wonderful sources of nutrition. These 10 foods are some of the healthiest because they meet at least three of the following criteria:
- Excellent source of fiber, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients
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ELCA Global Church Sponsorship
 Celebrate a growing global community of light during Epiphany. Because ELCA missionaries have helped establish churches throughout the world, we are now part of a much larger story - a global community of more than 70 million Lutherans in 79 countries. Now we are building up God's global church together. To find out how you can be engaged in this global church, see www.ELCA.org/globalchurch.
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Resources, Retreats, Learning Opportunities
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Back to Basics
 Join Susan Nienaber at the Alban Institute to learn the basics of dealing with the inevitable conflict in your congregation in healthy transformative ways. This event is a part of an Alban Event Cluster.Click here for information on this and other events in the cluster.
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"Spiritual Gifts Made Our Congregation Grow"
You are invited to attend a webinar designed to help your congregation grow in the coming months and years.
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2014 - A New Year for Immigration Reform
The Immigration Task Force was established by the 2006 Synod Assembly  expressly to "...study the effects and implications of immigration reform and ways to educate and inform members of Southeastern Synod congregations of the issues..." To that end, chairperson the Rev. Justin Ask, Associate Pastor, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Woodstock, GA, will provide monthly articles in this newsletter. Pastor Ask will also, in a subsequent edition, provide an introduction to the members of the task force. Click here to read this month's article.
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Installations & Ordinations
 January 12, 2014
The Rev. Nancy Christensen will be installed as pastor at St. John's Lutheran Church, 1410 Ponce de Leon Avenue NE, Atlanta, GA 30307, at 3:00 pm.
Rostered leaders are invited to vest and process. The color of the day is white.
January 18, 2014
The Rev. Harry Tedrow will be installed as pastor at Celebration of Grace Lutheran Church, 411 Scott Mill Road, Canton, GA 30114, at 4:00 pm. Rostered leaders are invited to vest and process. The color of the day is white.
January 19, 2014
Mr. Stephen Hilgeman will be ordained to the Ministry of Word and Sacrament in the Southern Ohio Synod at St. John Lutheran Church, 380 Keny Boulevard, London, OH 43140. Mr. Hilgeman has accepted a call as pastor with Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, 51 Wilmington Island Road, Savannah, GA 31410. He will be installed as pastor of Lutheran Church of the Redeemer on February 23, 2014. Details coming soon!
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Coming Up!
January 17 - 18, 2014: Synod Council Meeting 
January 18 - 20, 2014: MLK Celebrations
January 31 - February 3, 2014: ELCA Youthworkers Extravaganza
February 13 - 15, 2014: LTCA Anniversary
February 21 - 23,2014: SESLYO Assembly
March 1 - 2, 2014: Alassippi Youth Gathering
View the entire synod calendar here.
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Save the Dates
 February 3 - 5: Two Bubbas and a Bible - Lent 2014
Hinton Rural Life Center, 2330 Hinton Center Road, Hayesville, NC 28904. Click here for information.
March 9: Atlanta Community Food Bank's Annual Hunger Walk
March 15: Lutheranch Roundup - Watch for details!
May 30 - June 1: Synod Assembly, Chattanooga, TN
Details will be provided in upcoming issues.
September 7: God's Work. Our Hands. Sunday 2014
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Click here to view descriptions and application instructions for the following open positions:
Full-Time Director of Music Ministry:
Clairmont Presbyterian in Decatur, GA
Assistant Director of Development and Director of Alumni Relations: Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, SC
Full-Time Director of Youth and Education:
Messiah Lutheran Church in Madison, AL
Full-Time Director of Youth and Family Ministries:
St. John's Lutheran Church in Springfield, IL
If you'd like to see your employment opportunity listed on our website, please submit your position title, description, contact information, application instructions, and other relevant information to Carolyn Davis.
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ELCA Southeastern Synod
100 Edgewood Ave. NE, Suite 1600
Atlanta, GA 30303
404-589-1977
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