SEPANews Update / Dec. 11, 2014

Thanks To You Thousands Have Christmas

Thank you! About 65 congregations collected donations for vulnerable people in the SEPA Synod 2014 Christmas Ingathering on Dec. 7. Items valued at more than $95,000 will benefit children through Lutheran Children and Family Service, women and children at risk through Lutheran Settlement House, seafarers, and people throughout the world. Read more at: http://ministrylink.org/article/thanks-to-you-thousands-have-christmas/ 
 

Serve at LCFS on Martin Luther King Day

Save the date! On the King service day January 19, 9 am to 4 pm, volunteers are needed to help paint the interior office space of Lutheran Children and Family Service in Roslyn. Along with volunteers, congregations and foster parents, LCFS serves children, refugees and at risk young people throughout Eastern PA. Online registration coming in January at http://www.Libertylutheran.org.


From Fear to Flourishing After Ferguson

The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia will hold a Black Lives Matter Teach-in on Tuesday, Dec. 16 from 7 to 9 pm in Hagan Hall Amphitheater on the campus. For a poster and more information visit http://ltsp.edu/BlackLivesMatter 


 

Did you know?

Following Election Day the number of Lutherans in Congress grew, from 23 members to 28, according to ELCA Advocacy.

 

Hunger, Education Top LAMPA Agenda

You told us what you feel God is calling us to act on together as public church in 2015, and our bishops and policy council spent a morning of discussion and prayerful discernment to set our agenda for the coming year. Improving access to healthy food and to better learning outcomes for Pennsylvania students top the list. See the complete agenda at http://www.lutheranadvocacypa.org/2015-16-policy-agenda/ 

 

Congregational Leadership as Spiritual Practice

"Congregational leadership involves seeing the holy in the congregation's members...and trying to bring that holiness out in partnership with God and others," Bruce Epperly writes at Alban.org. "The challenge of congregational leadership is to see the angels in the boulders with which we work and enable our congregants to see the holiness in themselves and one another." Read more at http://bit.ly/1IvWG64    

 

Lutherans Help With Central American Drought

A drought impacting 2.5 million people across El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua is causing concerns for food security and livelihoods. Lutheran Disaster Response and the Lutheran World Federation are assisting in early recovery though the installation of farm plots and irrigation systems. Learn more at http://bit.ly/1yz7JmF 

 

 



Vice President/Mission Advancement
Financial Administrator
Director of Music/ Organist

Dec. 11: Synod Council
Jan. 8-11: Project Connect Young Adult Retreat
In Brief

Save the Dates!

IRS Sets 2015 Mileage Rates

The Internal Revenue Service has announced that the mileage rates for deducting business and charitable mileage. For 2015 the business mileage rate rises to 57.5 cents per mile. The rate for driving in the service of a charitable organization is 14 cents per mile. Full info at http://1.usa.gov/1qwNI2D

 

Attention Portico Plan Members

In preparation for a new health portal site to launch in January, the current Embody Health portal will be shut down Dec. 14. If you have information stored in the portal, please log on and download it before Dec. 14 as information will not be transferred to the new system.

 

 

Thank you!

for taking the time to read this edition of MinistryLink. We hope you find this electronic newsletter a valuable resource in our shared ministry. If you know of anyone who could benefit from the information in this newsletter, please forward it to them using the link below and encourage them to sign up to receive MinistryLink directly.

 

Bob Fisher

Assistant to the Bishop, Mission Interpretation and Communication

267.323.3743

sepanews@sepa.org