Synod Focus

CLIPART CAN'T COMPARE!
The synod's 2014 Christmas Greeting Artwork Contest is underway. We are happily receiving submissions for the greetings the synod will use to share our joy in the Christmas season from YOU. Style of art and age of artist are wide open. Just send it in by Dec. 2 so staff can select the artwork we'll share, attributing it to the artist and giving a logo item to the selected artist. Details and a flyer to share with others in Forum blog post. 


DON'T FORGET TO LOOK IN THIS CATALOG
Looking for a unique gift for your loved one this Christmas season? Do you want to make a difference in your community? Sponsored by the Metro D.C. Synod, the 2014 Gifts of Hope Catalog contains 39 gifts with prices ranging from $10-250. These gifts support mission and programs of Lutheran social service organizations, camps, colleges, seminaries and Companion Synods abroad. Find the catalog in your congregation during Advent and year-round at the updated www.giftsofhopedc.org website. Use  the provided Christmas card to describe your selected gift to a loved one. Your purchases will bring hope to other while honoring those on your gift list. (Submitted by Carolyn Sowinski, director, Gifts of Hope)

KITS AVAILABLE FOR TANGIBLE LEARNING
It will take a little advance planning to fully experience Companion Synod Sunday on Jan. 25, 2015, celebrating in our synod our ties with the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovakia. A team from the synod's Global Missions Committee has put together a Resource Guide, with information including Lesson Plans, photos and background. An innovative option - particularly for Middle School youth - is building a wooden articular church model from a puzzle kit. What is an articular church? Check out the Resource Guide for this insight through architecture! Order puzzle kits now to be ready. More under "Events" tab - or go to www. metrodcelca.org/events/companion-synod-sunday/.

TIM's TALKING AGAIN
Is Together in Mission on your radar? This annual, synod-wide opportunity is coming Jan. 31, 2015. Tickets and info at http://timmetrodc.org. Don't miss the diverse slate of speakers, sharing in 18-minute segments their best ideas for better following Jesus in the 21st century.

Local Info

CALLING HALLOWOOD?
Hallowood Retreat and Conference Center, a ministry of St. Luke Lutheran Church in Silver Spring at the base of Sugarloaf Mountain, has a new phone number. Reach them at 301-874-0400 (or visit http://hallowood.org/).

LOCAL SEMINARIANS AWARDED GRANTS
Two of the 20 students awarded scholarships from the ELCA Fund for Leaders are from the Metro D.C. Synod as announced in October 2014. Both Lauren Heywood, studying at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, and Chris Schaefer, studying at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, are working with our synod's Candidacy Committee. The scholarship program "attracts men and women of promise to study at one of eight ELCA seminaries." Providing full-tuition support to every qualified ELCA seminarian remains the long-term goal of the ECLCA Fund for Leaders said Rachel Wind, director. More at www.elca.org/fundforleaders.

GOTTA KNOW WHERE TO LOOK
Young adult ministry is active, fruitful and evolving in our synod. One development: Use the synod's website (select "Young Adult" under "Ministries" tab or bookmark http://metrodcelca.org/ministries/young-adult-ministry/) and Facebook page (www.facebook.com/metrodcelca) for young adult ministry info instead of the website and Facebook page previously maintained separately. Want to read more about the shifts? Read a memo from the Rev. Amy Thompson Sevimli on the latest on the synod site.

WORKPLACE GIVING OPPORTUNITIES
The Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) is currently active in our area. The synod's Gifts of Hope program compiled a list of beneficiary organizations' numbers used by the CFC and Untied Way campaigns for your convenience. Find it at www.giftsofhopedc.org/beneficiary-organizations/.

Resource Alerts

POTENTIAL GRANTS FOR SOCIAL MINISTRIES
Lutheran Services in America has compiled a list of grant announcements of interest to the Lutheran social ministry community. Peruse the list at http://lutheranservices.org/lsatogether_oct14_resources.

NYC ROOM DESTINATION FUNDS MINISTRY
Seafarers International House, a hospitality ministry in New York City affiliated with the ELCA, has rooms in its guesthouse bookable from sihnyc.org. The guesthouse is in the Union Square neighborhood. By staying at this not-for-profit guesthouse, guests help support the mission to seafarers and sojourners offering prayer, advocacy and social services to those in need. A renovated conference space and chapel are also available for assemblies, including youth groups.

ROAD SIGN DESIGN
An ELCA congregation recently asked for help creating a road sign in an online forum. Response indicated a vendor does make them for congregations, and "ELCA Roadmarker Order Form" information can be found at www.elca.org/en/Resources/ELCA-Branding.

EXHIBIT IN READING OPEN TO CHURCH GROUPS
If you're going to be in Reading, Penn. in the first months of 2015, you may be interested in "Spirits of the Passage: The Story of the Transatlantic Slave Trade." This exhibition explores the transatlantic slave trade through a display of objects salvaged from sunken ships. A retired ELCA pastor on the board directed an invitation to church groups and leaders in our area through the synod to see the display featured Jan. 24-May 3. More at readingpublicmuseum.org.

Announced Churchwide

ADVENT DEVOTIONS FROM DENOMINATIONAL LEADERS
Advent devotions by the presiding bishops of the ELCA, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, The Anglican Church of Canada, and The Episcopal Church were prepared at a recent meeting of the group. Members are encouraged to use and share these devotions in congregations or individually during the season of preparation for the coming of our Lord. Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton provides the devotions for the first week of Advent, which begins Nov. 30. This elca.org blog post directs you to a download of the devotions.

SYNOD AND ELCA-WIDE EFFORTS TO CONFRONT EBOLA CHALLENGE
The ELCA Northern Texas - Northern Louisiana Synod has raised more than $85,000 in response to the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone. The funds have provided humanitarian assistance for the synod's companion church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sierra Leone. Three containers of supplies which include personal protective equipment and a high-intensity cleansing agent, plus funds for food distribution to treatment centers and individuals in quarantine, were provided. Learn more about ongoing response opportunities from Lutheran Disaster Response. (ELCA News, 10/24/14)

NEWLY LUTHERAN?
The Lutheran magazine is seeking stories of ELCA members who weren't raised in the Lutheran tradition but who call ELCA communities of faith a "home" in preparation for a future cover article in the magazine. Through Nov. 30, 300 word brief responses are invited. If you'd like contact details for the magazine, contact Karen Krueger in the synod office.

ROANOKE COLLEGE RECOGNIZED
For the fourth time in recent years, Roanoke College is ranked among the nation's top Up and Coming National Liberal Arts Colleges in the U.S. News & World Report's annual Best Colleges rankings. (Roanoke College News, 9/9/14) More about Roanoke College and the 41 Lutheran  colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada represented by the Lutheran Educational Conference of North America at http://lutherancolleges.org.

CLIMATE CHANGE PASTORAL MESSAGE
"While an accounting of climate changes that has credibility and integrity must include our own repentance, we find our hope in the promise of God's won faithfulness to the creation and humankind and in the liberation that comes from God's promise," write signers of a Sept. 19 pastoral message on climate change, including Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton and national leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, Anglican Church of Canada, and The Episcopal Church. "While the challenge may seem daunting, the Spirit's abundant gifts for service empower us to find common cause with people who exercise countless insights and skills, embodied in hundreds of occupations and trades." Read the full letter at www.elca.org/Resources/Presiding-Bishop-Messages. (ELCA News Service, 9/19/14)

Card campaign can cross detention LIRS wants our help to complete cards for 1,700 women and children held in family immigration detention facilities by Christmas of 2014.  Read more...

Spruce up our spiritual house In the ELCA Presiding Bishop's monthly column, she tells us spiritual practices chip away at our willfulness and make us aware of God's presence in our lives.  Read more...

Full human flourishing "I believe as the saying goes that God doesn't need our good works, but our neighbor does." The CEO of LWR said this and more at the synod-hosted Reformation Service.  Read more...

Young American experiences expand One enthusiastic woman's experience open to other young adults who want to experience ELCA global connections.  Read more...

See each other as brother, sister In the ELCA Presiding Bishop's monthly column, she says it seems that the climate of distrust and accusation in society has become more heated - even in the church.  Read more...

Scramble-free disaster preparedness When you're anxious enough to check alerts on your device, TV or radio, it's NOT the best time to scramble for the church directory or insurance policy. Here are tips for thinking ahead.  Read more...

Art Contest - 2014 Christmas Greeting Yup - this is when the details of that "Local Focus" item were introduced.  Read more...