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 Issue #439                                                         March 24, 2015
            WE ARE CHURCH                  
ELCA's comprehensive campaign celebrates first year with nearly $45 million raised  

CHICAGO (ELCA) - The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA) first comprehensive campaign, Always Being Made New: The Campaign for the ELCA, is celebrating the completion of its first year with nearly $45 million raised, representing 23 percent of the five-year, $198 million Jan. 31, 2019, goal. In addition, the campaign has received another $3.4 million in current gift commitments and $10.8 million in planned gifts commitments to the priorities of the campaign.  (Continue.)  Stay current with ELCA news via the Southeastern Synod website at the bottom of the page.

A First For Nativity, Bethlehem, GA

Nativity Lutheran Church will be worshiping in its new space at 1079 Bethlehem Church Road, Bethlehem, GA on Palm Sunday, March 29th at 3:00 p.m.  All are welcome!

In the article Pray Without Ceasing, published in the February 2015 synod supplement of The Lutheran magazine, Pastor Patti Axel talks about Nativity's prayer journey to their new home. Click here to read their story.
Lenten Services and Fish Fry
Lutheran Church of the Atonement
1875 Joseph E. Boone Blvd
Atlanta, GA

Friday, March 27, 2015
Fish Fry and Skit
4:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m

Living Last Supper Reenactment
6:30 p.m.
                              
June 5 - 7, 2015 
Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex
2100 Richard Arrington Jr Blvd N
Birmingham, AL 35203 

Information and links to Assembly Registration, Hotel Reservations, Speakers, Elections and more may be found through the Guidebook Assembly site. 
You can also download the 2015 Southeastern Assembly app for your mobile device by: 
1) searching for the event in the Guidebook app you used last year;
2) downloading the Guidebook app from the Apple App      Store or Android Play Store and search for the event;
3) visiting http://guidebook.com/getit  and download the Guidebook app and search for the event

Online registration extends through May 1st; however, there is a cost savings for registrations made prior to April 1st.

Nominations Sought for 2015 Assembly Elections

Bio Forms Due March 31

 

The Southeastern Synod Nominating Committee is currently seeking potential nominees for several positions to be elected at the 2015 Synod Assembly. Positions for which nominees are needed include:

 

2016 Churchwide Assembly Voting Member

Members of the Consultation Committee 

Members of the Discipline Committee

Synod Council Members

Job descriptions and specific requirements may be found here under the Elections TAB. 

 

The Nominating Committee's goal is to nominate two to four persons for each position. The Committee will consider individual skills and qualifications, as well as the Synod's inclusivity goals. These goals address the balance between lay persons and pastors, gender, status as a youth or young adult, and racial/ethnic background. Achieving some geographical diversity of nominees will also be a factor in the Nominating Committee's decisions.


DEADLINE for submission of biographical forms to be considered by the Nominating Committee: March 31, 2015.
It's That Time of Year Again!
Portico Health Assessment: Not only does this program remind us of the need to be good stewards of our health for the sake of our ministries, but ELCA employers (congregations, seminaries, other organizations) earn a 2% discount on their health contribution payments if 65% (112 for the Southeastern Synod) or more of the ELCA-primary plan members and eligible spouses take the online Mayo Clinic Health Assessment between January 1 and April 30, 2015.  

Thank you to the those of you who have completed your assessments.  As of February 28th, 43 members (25.15%) have completed their assessments. We need 69 more to meet our goal of 65% and earn approximately $38,000.

If you have already completed your assessment, THANK YOU!  If not, it only takes 10-20 minutes. You will receive $150 in wellness dollars just for taking the assessment!  Plus, if you complete the follow-up activities, you can earn an additional $350 more in wellness dollars!  Click "Take It Now."

Southeastern Synod Wellness/Sabbatical Grant Applications:  Thanks to our synod's participation in the Portico Health Assessment the last two years, we have been able to award grants to rostered leaders for sabbaticals and wellness initiatives. The next deadline for grant applications is April 15.  Learn more and find an application at the bottom of the page, here.

Professor Ian McFarland Appointed Regius Professor of Divinity  


 

Professor Ian McFarland, member of St. John's Lutheran Church in Atlanta, GA, has been appointed Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge, UK. Dr. McFarland is the first non-Englishman to be elected to this position since King Henry VIII founded the Cambridge chair in the Middle Ages.  


 
Professor McFarland is currently Associate Dean of Faculty and Academic Affairs and Bishop Mack B. and Rose Stokes Professor of Theology at Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA.  He is an active member at St. John's and has been professor to many of our Southeastern Synod seminarians.  We thank him for his contributions to our students and synod, and wish him well in his new role.

                              WE ARE LUTHERAN                   
Reformation Preparation

The Institute for Ecumenical Research in Strasbourg, a close affiliate of the Lutheran World Federation, has just launched the Luther Reading Challenge.

It's an online community for reading and discussing Luther's theological writings as a preparation for the Reformation anniversary. From now until October 2017, a wide range of Luther's works will be made available online. Anyone can sign up for a free account to join the conversation. We hope in time to add other languages, a blog, and even gamification elements.  Click here for information and to sign up.

   www.ELCA500.org 

 

  The ELCA Reformation Anniversary Observance website is live at  www.ELCA500.org. In addition, the ELCA Reformation 500 Facebook page is also up and running!  We hope that each synod will use these new online spaces to share any synod observances as well as find other events to share with your synods, congregations and observance planning teams.

 

The site will host news, events, resources and connections to other partners and networks in this Reformation Observance. Planners and communicators may share events and resources on the website under the "Post It!" tab, on the Facebook page or by sending them along to [email protected].  Sharing with others will not only create community around observances across the ELCA but also facilitate ideas and information for planners and observers on any scale.

 

 ELCA National Youth Gathering

July 15 -19,2015

Detroit, MI 

Click here to read the latest edition of gNews.

 

To order Southeastern Synod T-Shirts for the Gathering, click here.

 

Visit the Gathering website.

 Lutheran Campus Ministry needs you...NOW!  


 

By the Rev. Matthew Simpkins (pictured below right)

Lutheran Campus Ministries in Atlanta 


 
At Lutheran Campus Ministries in Atlanta the center of our life together is our Tuesday night gatherings, where dozens of students from Georgia Tech 

and Georgia State gather for fellowship, dinner, and worship.  But actually, we do life together all week long, including fun events like our recent ski trip, servant projects like our participation in the Martin Luther King Day of Service, and learning events like our regular Stump the Pastor conversations. Continue.

News from LTSS...

 

Wednesday, March 25, 9:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. - Conversation with Rev. Kevin Strickland, Director of Worship and Liturgical Resources for the ELCA in Alumni Hall on the campus.

 

Thursday, March 26, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. - Lecture by Scott Bader-Saye "Guns, Violence, and Fear: A Theological Response to the Idolatry of Security" Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, SC.

 

Alumni Day 2015 - Friday, April 17 - Click here for information and registration. 

 

Click here for details of these and other upcoming LTSS events.

 

News from NovusWay Ministries

 

Unplug at Lutherock - Kara and Jacob Ridenhour, Lutherock Program Directors, invite you to to experience fun family gatherings.  Click here for details.

 

Luther Springs Now a Part of NovusWay  - In November 2009, the Lutheran Outdoor Ministries of Florida (LOMF) and NovusWay (then known as Lutheridge+Lutherock Ministries) boards signed an eight-step agreement to guide the relationship of the two ministries. The purpose was to find a way to enable more Floridians to benefit from sharing in camp programs and to bring stability to Luther Springs. The eight steps have been largely accomplished, which led to formal consolidation when the two boards conducted a joint retreat at Luther Springs on February 27-28, 2015.  See photo at right that depicts the Rev. Joe Glymph, left (NovusWay president, Largo, FL) and the Rev. Nathan Swenson-Reinhold, right (LOMF president, Longwood, FL). (Continue.)

                         WE ARE CHURCH TOGETHER                  
Mississippi Religious Leadership Conference   - 
Discerning God's call for peace, love and justice!

By the Rev. James Carstensen, retired

President, Mississippi Religious Leadership Conference  

Member of Ascension Lutheran Church, Jackson, MS 


 
In the 1960's, a group of pastors, rabbis and lay members of several congregations in Mississippi gathered together to speak in opposition to forced segregation.  This group called themselves the Mississippi Religious Leadership Conference (MRLC).    

Many years have passed since the 60's. Certainly, problems have been addressed and resolutions have occurred.  All races may eat at the same restaurants and drink from the same water fountains.  Segregation on public buses has been eliminated. (Continued)

When I met Dr. King  

Originally published in the March edition of the Lutheran  Magazine, this article is written by John Alan Boryk, a retired United Methodist minister, Our Saviour Lutheran Church in Arlington Heights, IL.

On Sunday, March 14, 1965, during my senior year at what is now Aurora (Ill.) University, I heard Martin Luther King Jr. speak a the Chicago Sunday Evening Club at Orchestra Hall.  (Continue.)
Community Conversation & Concert
St. John's Lutheran Church
1410 Ponce de Leon Avenue, NE
Atlanta, GA 30307

On April 11 and 18, St. John's will host their first Community Conversations.  The guest on April 11 will be Ms. Aimee Maxwell, Executive Director of the Georgia Innocence Project.  Its first exoneree, Mr. Clarence Harrison, (pictured left), will be the guest on April 18. Click the dates above for details. For information on the Georgia Innocence Project, click here.

 

Ecumenical Advocacy Days is an annual gathering focused on educating and mobilizing the Christian community to advocate for issues that bear witness to justice, peace, and integrity of creation. This year's theme, "Breaking the Chains: Mass Incarceration and Systems of Exploitation," will focus on incarceration and forced labor both domestically and globally.  

 

Click HERE to register for Ecumenical Advocacy Days!

 

The March 17th article continues the focus on  Stewardship of Creation. Use the pull down tab to locate the article.  While you are on the Center for Stewardship Leaders site, take time to meet the new director introduced in today's article.
          WE ARE CHURCH FOR THE SAKE OF THE WORLD
Earth Day and Creation's Water Supply

After Randy and Barbara Moser moved to Clarksville, GA, they became involved in the development of a home owners association with a primary purpose to protect the local trout streams from the increase in private landowner development.  In their efforts, they realized the entire watershed was being threatened.  Randy and Barbara engaged in detailed research to identify the local property owners.  Letters were sent inviting home owners to a meeting to discuss the issue.  Forty land owners met.  From that initial meeting a 501(c)3 organization, Soque River Watershed Association (SRWA), was formed.  Randy became a board member and is now a board member, emeritus.  There are now four hundred members.  The mission statement includes a declaration to restore and protect the river and the watershed.  Randy is the author of this week's article, Earth Day and Creation's Water Supply.
Apply for Energy Saving Tool for Churches and Camps

Click here for information.
                                     SYNOD CALENDAR                
                                 

March 27, 2015:  Lenten Services and Fish Fry, Lutheran Church of the Atonement, Atlanta, GA
April 11, 2015: Community Conversation, St. John's Lutheran Church, Atlanta, GA
April 18, 2015: Community Conversation, St. John's Lutheran Church, Atlanta, GA
June 5 - 7, 2015:  2015 Southeastern Synod Assembly, Birmingham, AL
June 14 - 19, 2015:  AFFIRM, Berry College, Mt. Berry, GA 
July 15 - 19, 2015:  ELCA Youth Gathering, Detroit, MI
July 19 - 23, 2015: Called to be a Living Voice, Worship Jubilee of the ELCA & the Biennial Conference of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, Atlanta, GA

July 30 - August 2, 2015: Association of Liberian Lutherans in America (ALLIA) and African Descent Lutheran Association (ADLA) Joint Conference, Baltimore, MD

September 13, 2015:  "God's Work. Our Hands." Sunday

September 15 - 17, 2015:  Southeastern Synod Leadership Convocation, Lutheridge, Arden, NC

September 18 - 20, 2015: Southeastern Synod Women of the ELCA annual convention, St. Simons Island, GA

July 13 - 17, 2017:  Tenth Triennial for Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Minneapolis, MN

                        SYNOD VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES                    
Volunteers are crucial to the mission of the Southeastern Synod. Click here to find ways you can serve.  Thank you for your generosity!
                   EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES                      
Descriptions and application instructions for the following open positions and others are listed on our website:  

Full-Time Director for Congregational Support
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Chicago, IL

Full-Time Development Director
NovusWay Ministries, Arden NC

Part-Time Music Director/Accompanist
Nativity Lutheran Church, Bethlehem, GA

Part-Time Social Media/Publications Specialist
NovusWay Ministries, Arden, NC 

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ELCA Southeastern Synod
100 Edgewood Ave. NE, Suite 1600
Atlanta, GA 30303
404-589-1977