We gathered Thursday evening to participate in pre-Assembly service events.  The highlight for many was a meal packaging project through Foodlink that took place right next to where the assembly would gather next morning.  Teams of twelve volunteers, 118 volunteers in all, outfitted with hair nets and gloves, weighed, measured, poured, packaged, and sealed meals consisting of rice, beans, dried vegetables, soy protein, and spices.  Each package was designed to feed a family of 6-8 people.  Those who chose to participate worked like clockwork until a total of 19,008 meals had been successfully packed.  Only a lack of rice kept them from reaching their goal of 20,000 meals.

Thursday evening was also a time of settling in to new lodgings-the Hyatt instead of

the Radisson-and gathering in a more relaxed fashion to prepare for Friday.  A forum about the Practice Discipleship Initiative was held by Pastor Laurie Carson and Mr. Jonathan Ugalde to introduce congregations and leaders to this resource of webinars, lectures, and in-person gatherings designed to help congregations do ministry in new, innovative ways.  More information is available at Practice Discipleship

Plenty of other service opportunities were present during the assembly itself as well.  The Hunger Team for the synod had set a goal of raising $35,000 for ELCA World Hunger with their theme "Join the Disciple Ship."  They blew through that goal and raised a total of $53,730 by the end of assembly!  Bishop Macholz and his wife Lin made a personal donation to ELCA World Hunger as well--$5 for each person who wore a bow tie or bow of any kind to Saturday morning's plenary session.  An anonymous donor decided to match that donation to make it $10 per person for a combined total of $2,800.  Finally, congregations from all over the synod brought pounds and pounds of aluminum can tabs to help provide clean water to people who need it.  Bishop Macholz has promised to ride the zip line at the ELCA Youth Gathering in Detroit this summer if $5,000 can be raised for this cause.  If the overflowing boxes of can tabs are any indication, it's time for the bishop to buckle up.

Every assembly has business to which it must attend, and this assembly was no different.  

Resolution 1 was the 2016 Mission Plan, presented for the first time in narrative format, which translates the line items into the ministry that is actually done with those funds.  It passed on Saturday morning after being introduced throughout the assembly.  While it is a deficit plan, it would only take an average of $215 more per congregation in order to balance it.  

• Resolutions 2 (regarding disposal of the records of closed congregations), 3 (regarding the term of a new bishop), and 4 (requiring all resolutions for Synod Assembly be presented to Synod Council before its January meeting) were slight changes to the synod constitution and all were adopted.  

• Resolution 5, giving rostered leaders on leave from call voice and vote at synod assembly, passed with little debate.  It applies to those who are serving in an interim capacity in congregations at the request of the Bishop.

• Resolution 6, giving lay leaders the authority to preside at the Lord's Supper, caused a vigorous debate.  Currently the bishop may grant that authority on an as-needed basis, but this resolution would have placed that power in the hands of congregations.  The Synod Council had recommended that the assembly not adopt this resolution, since the matter is currently being debated at the Churchwide level and has yet to be resolved.  The resolution was amended to call for the Synod Council to create opportunities for further conversation on this topic in each conference.  After a year of discernment and discussion, the goal would be for the 2016 Synod Assembly to memorialize the 2016 Churchwide Assembly on this matter, rather than to take action now.  The amended resolution passed.

The Reference and Counsel Committee also brought three new resolutions to the floor in Saturday morning's plenary session.  

• The first dealt with the call for a living wage (considered to be $15 per hour) for fast food workers.  It asked congregations to commit to pray about the matter and asked the bishop to write a letter to the governor supporting this cause on behalf of the assembly. There was much discussion but ultimately it was adopted as presented.  

• The second called congregations to engage with criminal justice ministries and the ELCA social statement on criminal justice, passed in 2013.  It was adopted.  

• The third established a new task force on racial and social justice to report to the bishop's office and the Synod Council and work at all levels of the synod to engagement around racial, cultural and ethnic diversity.  It was adopted with only minor changes.

The assembly also elected thirteen persons to serve as voting members to the 2016 Churchwide Assembly.  This proved to be a challenge, as our assigned number of voting members has dwindled and a wide variety of goals and guidelines exist to shape the demographics of the assembly itself.  After some initial confusion about the process, the assembly elected the following individuals, who along with Bishop Macholz and Synod Council Vice President, Thomas Madden will serve as representatives of the Upstate New York Synod:  Rev. Lee Miller, Rev. Gail Wolling, Mr. Rick Mollenkopf-Grill, Mr. Tom Henry, Mr. Jim Osborne, Mrs. Patsy Glista, AIM, Rev. Krista Mendoza, Mrs. Mary Schwartz, Ms. Sharon Hamilton, Mr. Ryan Lotocki, Rev. Pamela Hoh, Mr. Christopher George, Ms. Meridith Cavanagh.

Th  is year marked a new way of celebrating the many faces of discipleship in our synod.  Instead of recognizing just one congregational disciple, each conference had the opportunity to recognize an exemplary and inspirational disciple.  Mrs. Mary Lohr - Central Crossroads, Mr. Robert Lindholm - Foothills, Mrs. Ellen Meyer - Genesee-Finger Lakes, Mrs. Carole Glidden - Hudson-Mohawk, Ms. Lynn Whitworth  - Niagara Frontier, and Mrs. Tori Swanson - Southwestern Conference were honored at Friday afternoon's plenary session. In addition Mr. Gary Roller, was awarded the Synodical Discipleship Award.

Rostered leaders marking important anniversaries of ordination, consecration or commissioning were also recognized, including the Rev. William Wittcopp, celebrating fifty years of ordination, and the Revs. David Allen and James R. Crouthamel, celebrating forty years of ordination.

The Rev. Nancy Milleville was recognized for her service as outgoing dean for the Niagara Frontier Conference.  Allyssa Strassburg, outgoing Synod Council youth member, and the Rev. Judith VanOsdol, concluding her term as Director of Evangelical Mission were also thanked for their service to the synod.  The assembly also officially sent participants to this summer's Youth Gathering to Detroit.

The  assembly celebrated its guests: the Rev. Brenda Smith, ELCA Program Director for Faith Practices, convener of the ELCA's Renewal/Prayer/Revival Team, and co-coordinator for the Book of Fait h Initiative; and the Rev. Dr. David Lose, president of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia.  Smith and Lose both presented workshops on Friday afternoon and addressed the assembly as part of their role as official visitors.  Lose also served as the keynote speaker on Friday afternoon, discussing the need for congregations to move from "performative" ministry on Sunday mornings to "formative" ministry that encourages people to connect their "church life" with their "real life."

As Smith said in her comments, "We have to know our story to go out and share the story," so the 2015 Synod Assembly was a time to come together, hear and learn the story again, practice sharing the story with each other, and discern how best to share that story with the world.  We saw how our stories and the stories of our congregations are all part of God's story, the story of healing and redeeming the whole world.