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ELCA observes 2016 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
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Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will join millions of Christians around the world Jan. 18-25 to observe the 2016 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
"Each year, Christians throughout the world observe The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity," said the Rev. Donald McCoid, ELCA director for ecumenical and inter-religious relations. "In keeping with Jesus' prayer for His disciples in John 17:21 'that they may be one so that the world may believe,' Christians pray for this unity among followers of Jesus today."
The theme of the 2016 observance is "Jesus said to her, 'Give me a drink,'" taken from the story of the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4:1-42.
Traditionally the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is observed during the week between the feasts of St. Peter and St. Paul. In the Southern Hemisphere, the observance is held later in the church year, often during Pentecost.
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Atonement Syracuse to be Partner Site for Racial Justice Event
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You're invited to attend Trinity Institute, an annual conference that takes place at Trinity Episcopal Church in New York City-but you can attend right here via webcast at Atonement Lutheran Church!
Trinity Institute 2016, Listen For A Change: Sacred Conversations for Racial Justice, will explore the most pressing issues of our time, including structural racism and mass incarceration. The conference will take place over three days, from Thursday evening, January 21st through Saturday afternoon, January 23rd. Pre-registration is requested.
WHERE: Atonement Lutheran Church
116 W. Glen Ave., Syracuse NY 13205
WHEN: Thursday, January 21st (6:30-9:00 p.m.)
Friday, January 22nd (9 a.m. - 4 p.m.)
Saturday, January 23rd (9 a.m. - 4 p.m.)
COST: $20 for Thursday, Friday & Saturday
(includes Lunch on Thursday and Friday)
$10 if only attending Thursday or Friday
(scholarships are available, nobody will
be turned away.)
CALL TO REGISTER by Sunday January 17th :
Contact Atonement Church Office at (315) 492-9065)
For information call or email Laura Light at laura.light@alcsyracuse.org
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 REMEMBER to read the all-synod read book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander. In the months ahead there will be opportunities for book group discussions using a bible study, and the Study Guide and Call to Action that accompanies this book. As part of carrying on the work of Christ in tearing down the barriers that separate us as people of God, and removing the hostility that is between us, through the cross of Christ and the love poured out there, we hop you will join us in this important work of living into the kingdom of God. |
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Putting the pieces together
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2016 dedicated to setting directions,
priorities across all the church
 It has been just more than two years since I began this call. I'm often asked what has been the greatest surprise. Certainly the amount of travel has been a surprise, but the greatest has been the complexity and scope of the ELCA. As bishop of the Northeastern Ohio Synod, I had a pretty good grasp of the ministries in its 20 counties, but now my territory includes all of the counties in all of the states and the Caribbean, along with international partnerships.
This church does a lot. All over the world. All of the time. At your churchwide office, spreadsheets track the progress of the six goals we set for ourselves in the 2013-2016 operational plan. This just tracks the work of churchwide staff, not that of congregations, synods, social ministry organizations, colleges and universities, seminaries, conciliar relationships, camps, campus ministries, separately incorporated ministries, federal chaplaincies and missionary personnel.
At its November 2015 meeting, the ELCA Church Council received the report of the Theological Education Advisory Council. One of the striking revelations in this report was the number of ways we deliver theological education in the ELCA. We do this through seminaries, of course, but also through colleges and universities, lay schools, certificate programs, synodical schools and congregational schools.
This can be seen as a rich flourishing of creative and diverse delivery of theological education, or it can be seen as a symptom of a disconnected approach. With the best intentions, groups within the church see a need and develop a solution for a particular issue without considering what else might be in place or even how the solution fits in with the mission of the whole. We have one synod that has two lay academies and neither one knew the other existed.
The ELCA constitution states: "The congregations, synods and churchwide organization of this church are interdependent partners sharing responsibility in God's mission." This is constitutional language for "We are church together." Some days we are, but many days and in many ways we aren't. I'm not singling out theological education as an egregious example, but as one instance among many where we aren't really connected with each other. This exposes the cultural sense that the church is a voluntary association like the Rotary or the Girl Scouts, where one can come and go as one chooses, and not a new creation joined to Christ in baptism.
As Peter wrote to the churches in Asia Minor: "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy" (1 Peter 2:9-10). God created the church. God has put us together through baptism as the body of Christ. You just don't opt in or out of that.
Looking through the lens of Martin Luther's explanation of the eighth commandment, I believe that good and faithful members, congregations, synods and the churchwide organization have tried to carry out God's mission. The issue, I think, is that the mission has become at once universal and very particular. We are doing everything and we are doing it in pixels-pixels that don't come together to make a complete picture.
Throughout 2016 we-all of us-are going to take a look at the future directions and priorities of this church. We will build on the work already done on this issue. We will engage all the expressions of this church, it will be part of the work of the 2016 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, and it will clarify and sharpen our mission.
Apart from God our work is in vain. This process must depend on the Spirit's guidance. This isn't merely a technical problem to be solved, but a time for this church to engage intentionally and consistently in a process of communal spiritual discernment. We aren't just inviting God into this process at the beginning and thanking God at the end. Instead we, as a church, will open ourselves up to the invitation of God to be part of God's reconciling work through Christ in the world. Join me.
A monthly message from the presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Her email address: bishop@elca.org. This article first appeared in The Lutheran's January 2016 issue. Reprinted with permission.
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Congregational Hospitality:
How to Really Welcome the Stranger
a presentation and conversation event with Beth Lewis
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Monday, February 1, 2016 | Noon - 3:00 pm
Lunch included! | FREE with registration
The Brossman Center | The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia
7301 Germantown Avenue | Philadelphia, PA 19119
Co-hosted by LTSP and Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod, ELCA
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Beth Lewis
President & CEO
Augsburg Fortress
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As a visitor to a different congregation almost every Sunday since September 2002, Beth Lewis, President and CEO of Augsburg Fortress, the ministry of publishing of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), has developed a strong sense of what works and what doesn't in terms of how congregations reach out to visitors and prospective members. You will come away from this session with specific, practical ideas for helping children, youth, and adults live out our Biblical mandate of welcome and improve hospitality for mission in your congregation.
Lunch will be provided with the event, which is open to congregational leaders interested in learning ways to successfully welcome and provide hospitality to all who join in congregational activities and events. The time together will be split between Beth's presentation and conversation with attendees, both about the topic at hand and discussion about Augsburg Fortress.
Please register for this FREE event here. |
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Pennsylvania Lutheran Seminaries Declare Intent to Form "New School of Theology"
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In simultaneous meetings held on their respective campuses January 12-13, 2016, the boards of Philadelphia and Gettysburg Lutheran seminaries adopted identical resolutions calling for "the creation of a new school of theology and leadership formation." Both Boards' resolutions stated their actions were taken "in the conviction that God and the church are calling us into a new venture of theological education, with a mission of preparing faithful Christian leaders for the church and the world." The Boards' unanimous actions authorized the two schools' presidents and other officers to take all necessary steps required prior to their April 2016 board meetings that would launch the process of creating a unified Lutheran seminary.
Founded in 1826, Gettysburg Seminary is the oldest Lutheran seminary in the Americas. Widely renowned for its role in the great Civil War battle of Gettysburg, the school on Seminary Ridge opened an award-winning Seminary Ridge Museum in 2013. Since its founding in 1864, Philadelphia likewise has played a pivotal role in American and Lutheran history. Beginning more than 40 years ago, Philadelphia's outreach to ecumenical partners, particularly historic African American churches, has created one of the most diverse learning environments that exists in 21st-century theological education.
"From the moment we both felt the Spirit leading in this bold new direction," declared Presidents David Lose and Michael Cooper-White (of Philadelphia and Gettysburg respectively), "it became clear that our proposal would not envision simply blending together two fine traditions and excellent institutions. Rather, we believe God is calling us to do a new thing. Mergers are created out of past realities; our vision is to embrace what God is beckoning from the future."
"The heart of this plan," the two presidents continued, "is the opportunity to engage the larger church in a conversation about what the church needs from a seminary today and then build
that kind of seminary, not simply try to adapt existing institutions to a world very different from the one in which they were initially launched. We believe a new seminary will be among the leading institutions of theological education and leadership formation."
The proposal developed by the two presidents was in response to prior actions by each Board, taken within the larger context of a comprehensive review of theological education by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Each Board had asked that key leaders conduct explorations of options that will ensure the highest caliber of leadership preparation for future ministers and other church leaders.
As envisioned, the new Lutheran seminary will be "one school on two campuses with multiple points of access." Efforts already well under way at both schools to offer coordinated "distributed learning" opportunities (with courses available online as well as in short-term intensive formats) bode well for other areas of expanded collaboration that can occur even before the new school is launched. The search for and selection of administrative leaders and faculty for the new school will be conducted by a founding board of directors, which will be constituted in accord with parameters established by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's governing documents.
The resolution adopted by both seminary boards authorized their officers to engage experts in matters related to finance, legal, and property-related issues, and academic accreditation. The presidents and board members committed themselves to conduct widespread conversations with constituent groups, their sponsoring church body, and the other six ELCA seminaries. The resolution specifically refers to these key stakeholders and the importance of "gaining their wisdom as this exploratory process unfolds." The Boards and administrative leaders also issued strong reassurances to current students at both schools that they will be able to complete their studies under current curricular requirements. Many students and recent graduates already have experienced enhanced offerings as the two schools have expanded faculty sharing and offered reciprocal registration and library privileges in recent years.
"We will all pray fervently for God's guidance as we move into a time of exciting change," concluded Lose and Cooper-White. "Sensing this truly is God's and our church's call for us at this moment, we are confident the pathway forward will be revealed as we move along in our journey of faith."
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 IN OUR PRAYERS
Prayers of Healing
- for all refugees and the alleviation of suffering around the world.
- Rev. Deb Stein
- Barry Murdoch (husband of Pr. Ernie Varga)
Prayers of Comfort
- for all affected by the suicide terrorist attack in Jakarta, Indonesia
Prayers of Thanksgiving
- for Lutheran colleges and seminaries
- for our Synod Deans
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Coming January 20,2016: Synod Assembly 2016 Preview Issue!!
2016 Synod Assembly Resolutions and Memorials Reminder
The deadline for submission of Resolutions and Memorials to the Synod Council for consideration at the 2016 Synod Assembly, which will be held June 5-7, 2016 in Rochester, is January 15, 2016. Resolutions and Memorials are formal ways we can get an assembly of people to consider new ideas or make changes. Most of us are familiar with motions/resolutions that are made at annual congregation meetings, local government meetings, service clubs, etc.
Per the synod constitution "Resolutions received by Synod Council after the January deadline, may be addressed by the Synod Council and/or be directly referred to the Reference and Counsel Committee at Synod Assembly."
Submissions may be sent to the attention of Synod Council Vice President, Thomas Madden at the synod office, in care of Kathy Neugent, kneugent@upstatenysynod.org
2016 IRS Mileage rates reminder - The IRS has announced the standard business mileage rate for 2016 will be $0.54/mile (down from $0.575/mile in 2015). Mileage for medical or moving purposes will decrease to $0.19/mile (down from $0.23/mile). The standard charitable mileage rate remains at the statutory rate of $0.14/mile. Lower fuel prices are a contributor to the declines in mileage rates. To access the IRS standard mileage document visit this link.
2016 Rostered Leader's Annual Report to the Bishop
Whether you're serving a congregation, on leave from call, retired or serving in a special call, you are required to complete this annual report. If you are living in another synod's territory, it is an expectation that the Bishop will receive your report as long as you are rostered in this synod. Bishop Macholz yearns to learn as much as he can about his rostered leaders and your report aids him greatly. Please complete your report now at 2016 Annual Report to the Bishop and send it to the Bishop's Executive Assistant, Kathy Neugent.
Submissions for God's Story, Our Voices Welcomed
As outlined in previous issues, we are still accepting submissions for God's Story, Our Voices. If you have a story you want highlighted in a future issue of the Upstate
2016 Mission Commitments
The ELCA has completed the 2016 Mission Commitment packets for submission to the Synod. Congregations will see these delivered by the deans in the next few weeks. A fillable pdf Statement of Intent form is available on our website by clicking here and looking under the Stewardship section. Please get these forms to me at your earliest convenience, as we use these reports for budgeting purposes. You may submit by email at kbrundige@upstatenysynod.org or by mail to the Synod Office.
2016 Bishop's Convocation
The second annual Bishop's Convocation will be held, Saturday, March 12, 2016 at St. Michael's Lutheran Church in Camillus. It will bring together rostered and lay leaders from across the synod to focus together on a topic pertinent to the church. We will welcome the Rev. Kevin Strickland, executive for worship and assistant to the ELCA presiding bishop. Strickland will lead us through conversations focusing on the "Means of Grace": how do we offer it, care for it and receive it? How do these gifts of grace help shape our liturgy and lives of study and prayer? What are the biggest challenges facing worship today? In an ever-changing world, how do we as church leaders continue to offer these "Means of Grace," inviting all into these as gifts and not legalistic prescriptions to our faith?
Congregation members and rostered leaders are all invited to join us. Mark your calendar now! Watch for more information in future Upstate Updates.
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