Assembly Update for Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Amended
rrcc-assembly         God's Story, Our Voices
  
  "...you are to be a key witness to everyone 
       you meet of what you've seen and heard."
                                                          Acts 22:15
  

 

Registration for the 2015 Upstate New York Synod Assembly, God's Story, Our Voices, is now open.  The registration DEADLINE IS MAY 15!  Synod Assembly will be held May 29 - 30, 2015 at the Joseph A. Floreano Riverside Convention Center in Rochester, NY.  The registration fee is $95.  Hotel and food costs are in addition to the registration fee and are outlined on the Synod Assembly Registration Form.  Assembly is open to all who want to attend, not just rostered leaders and congregational voting members.  Visit http://upstatenysynod.org/category/assembly/ before and during the assembly and join the conversation through our social media outlets.


 

Planning Team volunteers will be in the registration area at the Hyatt Hotel during busy check-in times to help answer your questions and facilitate the check-in process.  Please look for our Upstate New York Synod sign and stop by to say hello.


 

Accommodations will be at the Hyatt Regency Rochester.  The Hyatt is conveniently located in downtown Rochester and easily accessible to the adjacent Joseph Floreano Riverside Convention Center via a sky bridge.  Reservations at the Hyatt Regency may be made, modified or canceled by individuals on-line at

https://resweb.passkey.com/go/SYNOD2015. Individuals are also able to make reservations by calling central Reservations at 1-888-421-1442 and referring to the Upstate New York Synod Assembly 2015.  Reservations must be made by MAY 15 TO GUARANTEE THE $109 RATE.

 

  • Check-In time is 3:00pm.  The Check-out time is 12:00pm.  Requests for late checkout at no additional charge for individual rooms are evaluated based on length of additional night's charge.  On the date of arrival, guests can call 1-800-CHECKIN (1-800-243-2546) to pre-register at the Hotel.  Video check-out is available in all guest rooms for your convenience.
  • Guarantee Policy - the Hyatt requires that all reservations be guaranteed either by a credit card or by a cash/check deposit for one night's room and tax.  Guarantee/Deposit will not be refunded unless the reservation is canceled more than 24 hours in advance.
  • Parking is at the South Avenue Parking Garage which is managed and operated by Riverside Parking.  Overnight guests receive a discounted rate of $4.00 per night with in/out privileges.  The South Avenue Garage address is 39 Stone Street, Rochester, NY 14604.
  • Taxes and Tax Exempt - to be tax exempt the organization must provide the Hyatt with a valid New York State (ST-119) Sales Tax Exemption Certificate.  Organizations that are exempt from sales tax including occupancy and food and beverage taxes include:  certain religious, charitable or educational organizations which have received exempt organizations certificates from the New York Department of Taxation and Finance.  Individuals from exempt organizations are not tax-exempt when paying for their own charges.  New York State requires the payer of record to be the organization itself and does not accept third party payments.  Even if the individual is being reimbursed by an exempt organization, or is attending a function of an exempt organization but is paying on their own, New York state requires that taxes be collected. This means that if your reservations are made by your church the bill must also be paid with a church check or church credit card and a church tax exempt certificate must be provided to the Hyatt in order to receive the tax exemption.

Meet our Synod Assembly Chaplains 

We welcome Pastors Angela Nelson, and Derek Cheek, and Pastoral Assistant Tara Eastman, as our 2015 Synod Assembly Chaplains.  They will lead us in prayer and devotion at various times throughout assembly and be available to all assembly attendees for prayer and conversation. 

 

Pr. Angela Nelson
(compliments of
Emily Ann Garcia)

Pastor Nelson attended Valparaiso University and learned there that Lutherans can rock both at high mass and at outdoor worship with guitars.  She attended

 seminary at LSTC and is currently serving Christ Our Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Chatham in her first call. 

 
Pr. Derek Cheek

Pastor Cheek has served as pastor of Immanuel Lutheran in Olean since 2004.  In 2013 following a time of study, conversation and prayer, Immanuel (formerly LCMS) voted unanimously to affiliate with the ELCA, which more faithfully embraces the Gospel attitudes of grace, mercy and strives to extend God's welcome to all people.  We welcomed both Pr. Cheek and Immanuel into our synod at the 2014 Synod Assembly.  Pr. Cheek holds a BA in theology/philosophy from Cedarville University; an MA in literature from Wright State, and an MDiv in church history from Concordia Seminary.  He completed his DMin at Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry, focusing on understanding our changing culture and reaching people with the Gospel in this postmodern era.

 

Tara Eastman, Pastoral Assistant

Pastoral Assistant Tara Lamont Eastman serves at First Lutheran Church in Jamestown. She is a seminary student in the TEEM (Theological Education for Emerging Ministry) Candidate at Wartburg Theological Seminary.  Tara is a visual artist, writer, singer, storyteller, and community curator with whatever is on hand.  In addition to her Chaplain responsibilities at Assembly we are grateful that she has shared her artistic creativity with us for our Faith Stories Plenary Wall Murals.  


 
 

HOW IS YOUR CONGREGATION TELLING GOD'S STORY?


Help us create a story wall in the Plenary Hall at this year's Synod Assembly.  Pastoral Assistant Tara Eastman, First Lutheran, Jamestown, is creating large canvases for us to tell our stories on.  Bring a picture, drawing or some bullet points on a piece of cardstock with you to assembly OR grab some markers and/or paint when you arrive and design your story on our canvas story boards.  We know there are many ways that our congregations and members are living God's Story in the world - let's create a BIG display of the ways our VOICES are telling God's Story!  After you stop at the registration table upon arrival at assembly, come into the Plenary Hall and add to the story!

 

TAKE THE BISHOP CHALLENGE!!  Bishop Macholz is challenging all Synod Assembly attendees to join him in wearing a bow tie or other bow to Saturday morning's Plenary session.  The bow must be worn from the shoulders up so that it is easily visible to our counters.  For every bow, Bishop Macholz and his wife, Lin will make a donation to                                                World Hunger.  Join the fun - bring your bows and help us                                              raise even more money for Hunger!  
 
TIDBITS

20,000 Meals to Help Fight Hunger! Every day 1 in 5 children in the United States go to bed hungry or wake up not knowing where their next meal will come from. Join us Thursday evening, May 28 at 6:30pm in Empire South at the Convention Center as we package 20,000 Rice and Bean meals. All meals will be distributed through Rochester FoodLink Food bank and benefit local families.  To help us plan SIGN UP TODAY at My Sign Up

 

Young Adult Dinner at Synod Assembly -  If you are between the ages of 18 and 30, plan to join other young adults for dinner on the Friday evening of Synod Assembly at 5:00pm.  Nothing formal-just conversation and community. Meet in the lobby of the Radisson (not the Hyatt), and your fearless leaders-Pastor Becca Ehrlich, Caitlin Donovan, and Jonathan Ugalde will show the way. When you register for Synod Assembly, please be sure to check the "Young Adult Dinner" box. You'll pay with your registration and order off the menu at Legends Restaurant. Note that the cost of the Young Adult Dinner is different from the regular dinner price. If you have questions, please contact Pastor Laurie Carson, 716.799.4017, pastorlcn@gmail.com, or Facebook.

 

MISSION FAIRE - On the lower level at the bottom of the escalators you will find the Mission Faire.  Please take time to explore the many vendor displays that will be at this year's assembly.   Take a journey on the Disciple Ship to help us raise Hunger dollars.  Stop by and see what is new with programs like Cherish All Children, Lutheran Disaster Response, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia and Women of the ELCA.  Take some new ideas for ministry back to your congregation to share!

 

SAVE YOUR CAN TABS!  Bring can tabs to Synod Assembly and add them to the collection at the top of the escalators near the Assembly Registration area.  Let's see if we can beat last year's dollar total of more than $335!

 

 

CHILD CARE IS AVAILABLE AT ASSEMBLY - be sure to note on your Synod Assembly Registration form under the 'Special Requests' section if you will need child care at assembly.  Help us with planning by telling us the number of children and their ages in this box as well.  Child care will be provided on Friday, May 29 from 8am - 9:30pm and on Saturday, May 30 from 8am - 1pm. 

 

VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED! Are you attending Synod Assembly as a visitor?  If yes, consider helping out by serving as a Page during assembly.  We are also looking for volunteers to help at the Registration desk and for some strong volunteers who can help us with loading and unloading equipment from the synod both in Rochester and at the synod office.  Volunteers are needed at the Synod office, 5811 Heritage Landing Drive, E. Syracuse on Wednesday, May 27 at 3:00pm for about an hour to load the truck and again on Saturday, May 30 at 4:00pm to unload the truck.  At the Convention Center in Rochester volunteers are needed on Thursday, May 28 at 12:00noon to help unload and on Saturday at 1:00pm to load up the truck.  If you would like to help, please email Patsy Glista, pglista@upstatenysynod.org.

 

FELLOWSHIP OPPORTUNITIES 

Two Fellowship opportunities are available at Synod Assembly.   For those who arrive early on Thursday join us in the Main Street Galleria at the Hyatt, 9pm - midnight for refreshments and conversation.  On Friday night the Women of the ELCA will host our Fellowship in the Riverside Court (under the escalators) at the Convention Center, 9:30pm - midnight.  In addition to amazing refreshments there will be fun story telling things to do including - puppets, old fashioned flannel boards, live story telling recording and much more.  See you there!

 

Take note - you could be in pictures!  We will be web-casting Synod Assembly sessions this year.  It is possible that you could appear on camera.  

 

Please visit our website upstatenysynod.org
 
Thank you for taking time to read this edition of the Assembly Update. If you, or someone you know, is planning on attending this year's assembly, please encourage them to sign up for our Upstate Update List. 
 
Katherine M. Neugent
Executive Assistant to the Bishop
Upstate New York Synod of the 
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America 
Phone: 315-299-4955 Fax: 315-299-4981 
 
 Resurrection people who pray first, walk together and change lives.   
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