|
CONNECT WITH
THE BISHOP
| |
Looking for opportunities to connect with Bishop Hazelwood?
Check out these upcoming events:
August 4
Immanuel and Salem, Naugatuck, CT,
morning worship;
Good Shepherd, Hamden, CT, meet and greet
August 8-9
Willow Creek Leadership Event, Rehoboth, MA
August 11-17
Conference of Bishops and Churchwide Assembly, Pittsburgh, PA
|
|
|
Synod Office Summer Hours
The New England Synod office will operate under summer hours from Independence Day (July 4) through Labor Day (Sept. 2). During that stretch, the Synod House will be open from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. each weekday.
|
 I preached at Good Shepherd in Kingston, R.I., this past Sunday. The congregation is currently in the call process, so the main reason for the visit was to assist the congregation as they begin their search for a new pastor. In addition to preaching and presiding at worship, I held a 20-minute Q&A with the congregation in the sanctuary immediately following worship. The questions ranged from desire for information about the practical steps involved, to broader questions about the availability of clergy, how seminaries prepare pastors and specifics about the call process.
Because I was preaching to a congregation in transition, I thought it would be an appropriate time to give more of a talk on the role of a pastor in contemporary church and culture, along with the challenges. So what you will hear is really less of a sermon and proclamation of the gospel, and more a reflection on pastor and parish dynamics in the 21st century. I chose to record this under the idea that others might appreciate it, especially other congregations in the call process for a new pastor. Now that I have had a chance to listen to myself, I realize numerous changes and/or
additions I would make to this presentation. But that's the nature of just about everything we do.
- The Rev. James Hazelwood
Click here to download the bishop's sermon
|
|
News and notes from the New England Synod
| |
|
Hammonasset 2013
September 6-8  Registration is now open! Hammonasset is also the premier - OK, only - annual gathering of youth throughout the New England Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). More than three decades ago a small group of Lutheran churches in Connecticut decided to get together for a youth camping weekend. They repeated the campout in subsequent years, adding people and activities. From this modest beginning, the event we call Hammonasset has grown to include more than 60 church youth groups from all six New England states. Since that first gathering, the event has grown to include 800+ attendees, nationally-known speakers, great live bands, small group Bible study, and inspirational worship. Speakers and bands frequently comment that "no other synod does anything like Hammonasset." Well, shucks ... we try. This year's gathering is Sept. 6-8 at Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison, Conn. Click here for more Information and RegistrationHammonasset for Families
Experience the Annual New England Synod Hammonasset event with your family!
|
|
Synod pastor on Pope's recent comments
 The Rev. William Barter (St. Ansgar, Portland, Maine), was recently featured in a report by Portland's WMTW-TV, giving his reaction to Pope Francis' remarks regarding gays.
From the story:
The Rev. William Barter of St. Ansgar Lutheran Church was a Catholic priest for more than nine years. He said he left the church for a variety of reasons.
"I think the biggest and most painful issue for me in the Roman Catholic priesthood, is the issue of women's ordination," Barter said. "I felt in some ways I was enabling a dysfunctional family by doing that by taking on more work while people were being excluded from ordination.
"I was also coming to terms with my own orientation as a gay man and I wasn't sure that I'd be able to live a celibate lifestyle. For me it was an act of honesty about who I was and I didn't want to betray any promises I'd made to anybody if I decided I wasn't going to live a celibate lifestyle so I couldn't do it both ways."
|
|
Public hearing on gun violence
University Lutheran (Cambridge, Mass.), a Participating Organization in the Massachusetts Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence, invites Massachusetts congregations west of Worcester to attend a public hearing on the proposed 40+ gun bills for this legislative session, held by the state legislature's Joint Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee. The hearing is scheduled for Aug. 2 at 10 a.m. at Griswold Auditorium on the campus of American International College in Springfield and involves all of Massachusetts from west of Worcester to the New York border.
North of Boston area and Boston hearings will follow shortly thereafter, with details TBA. All public hearings are due to be completed in early September. Once those are completed, there will be no further public input. You can learn more about the Massachusetts Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence by clicking here.
|
Write for Ekklesia!
Ekklesia is a new newsletter from the New England Synod that made its debut during Synod Assembly. The new quarterly newsletter will be sent to congregations in print form, and will be made available to anyone with an Internet connection via PDF download. You can check out the first edition of Ekklesia by clicking here.
So what's next for Ekklesia? Well, we're looking for more and varied voices from throughout the Synod to contribute to the newsletter. Young, old, rostered leader, layperson, musician, tone-deaf - we're hoping to make Ekklesia into a broad portrait of the many personalities and viewpoints to be found in New England.
That's where you come in.
Are you a writer? Have you always wanted to be one? In the next issue of Ekklesia, tentatively scheduled for early September, we want to include works from around the region.
Among the pieces we hope to include:
- Feature stories: Do you know of a great story in the Synod that hasn't been told yet? A congregation with an innovative ministry? A beloved tradition that has quietly endured through the years? A new face who is working for change? The possibilities are endless - if you've got a story, we want to help you tell it.
- Columns: Got some thoughts about living a spiritual life? Do you have an opinion about something you've seen in the world around you that informs your own faith? Ekklesia may be the perfect place for you to share your thoughts with the rest of the region.
- Photography: Ekklesia is meant to be a bold, rich collection of the many aspects of life in the New England Synod, and that includes the imagery that is so particular to the region. Are you an amateur photographer with a great eye? Do you have some great photos of an event you think the rest of the Synod ought to see? You can share them in Ekklesia!
How to get started: Synod Communications Director Andy Merritt is the editor of Ekklesia, and is now accepting stories, columns, photos and ideas for coming issues of the newsletter. Email him at amerritt@nesynod.org, or call 508-333-1761 to pitch your idea!
|
Is your congregation up to something special this summer? A youth mission trip? Planning a cool outdoor worship to beat the heat? We'd love to know about it, and to share it with the rest of the Synod. Send your stories and photos to Synod Communications Director Andy Merritt.
|
|
