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 SEPANews Update / November 10, 2015 |
Our Synod is co-sponsoring live webcasts of "Listen for a Change: Sacred Conversations for Racial Justice" featuring New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, actor Anna Deavere Smith, and Vanderbilt Divinity School Dean Emilie Townes on January 21-23, 2016, at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. The conference will explore structural racism, mass incarceration, and policy change. Small group discussions will focus on how to undo racism here at home.
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Thinking Outside the Walls
About 100 pastors and rostered leaders will network next week at Bishop's Convocation. Our leaders will be equipped by interaction with pastor, author, and pub theologian Bryan Berghoef and renowned preacher Barbara Lundblad. Innovation will be front and center as participants experience dinner church and pub conversations. Please pray for our leaders as they gather Nov. 18-20, and watch for our communications from the event on Facebook.
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"Do Something You Never Thought You Could"
 The Church didn't cause the steady decline in religious participation over the last 50 years, says LTSP President David Lose. Massive changes have shifted the world around the church. But in holding on to what used to work church leaders have missed many of the changes, Lose said at Ministry Resource Day on campus in September. In a culture shaped by stories, the Church has a compelling one. The shifting environment in which we serve is an opportunity to reclaim the Church's emergent and inventive DNA by being experimental and taking the risk of failing, he said.
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Are You Ready for Christmas Ingathering?
 Join in the nearly 50-year tradition of helping our neighbors by participating in the 2015 Ingathering sponsored by Lutheran Congregational Services. Banding together across our Synod allows us together to serve more people locally and globally. The collection on Sunday, Dec. 6 will benefit Lutheran Children and Family Service, Seaman's Church Institute, Lutheran World Relief, Local Lutheran food pantries, Philadelphia Lutheran Ministries, and other local institutions of care.
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Shop and Support Our Shared Synod Ministries
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Welcome, Brad!
Pastor Bradley Burke is now on-board as Assistant to the Bishop for Youth, Young Adult and Spiritual Formation. You can contact him by email at bburke@sepa.org or by calling 267.323.3762.
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Visit Lutherland with SEPA
 Plan to travel with SEPA Synod's Reformation tour June 22 to July 2, 2016 - just in time to mark the 500th anniversary in 2017. The trip includes cities and places connected to Luther and the Reformation, among them Prague, Leipzig, Wittenberg, Eisleben, Erfurt, Eisenach and Wartburg Castle. Side trips will lead to Berlin and Buchenwald. Detail about costs will be available soon. The tour is led by Rev. Soenke Schmidt- Lange and Mrs. Anne Schmidt-Lange.
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You're Invited to August Grace Gathering!
 Presiding Bishop Eaton invites you to New Orleans next August to "connect, reflect and discover...how the Reformation can continue to guide us today." The Grace Gathering Aug. 10-13 will feature worship, workshops, and experiential learning - and the singing will be great.
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Seminaries Explore Learning Exchange
 In an unprecedented gathering, delegations from the eight ELCA seminaries gathered recently to envision how a "common learning exchange" could enhance the church's theological education network. Participants generated ideas for courses that would address needs of emerging and practicing church leaders, curricular innovations, and uses in which the exchange would add value to theological education. They also imagined new kinds of educational offerings for non-degree students and for active lay learners in congregations across the church.
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- Nov. 26-27 - Synod Office closed for Thanksgiving holiday
- Dec. 3-6 - Via De Cristo weekend
- Jan. 11-13 - Stewardship of Sacred Spaces course at LTSP
- Jan. 15-17 - Bear Creek Camp Connect for Grades 9-12
- Feb. 5-7 - Bear Creek Camp Connect for Grades 4-8
- March 12 - Council Leaders' Gathering
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Thank you!
for taking the time to read MinistryLink. Tell your friends and fellow church members to subscribe by visiting http://ministrylink.org/subscribe.
 Bob Fisher
Assistant to the Bishop, Mission Interpretation and Communication
267.323.3743
sepanews@sepa.org
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