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Season of Pentecost
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Sept. 11, 2013
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Calumet team set to Reach the Beach
Camp Calumet is sponsoring a team for the annual "Reach the Beach" relay race, a 200-mile trek through New Hampshire to be held Friday and Saturday, Sept. 13 and 14.
Three New England rostered leaders are joining Calumet's team this year: Calumet alum D. Guy Johnson, AIM, serving at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, Pastor Steven Wilco from Immanuel Lutheran in Amherst, Mass., and Pastor Kari Plymette of Ebenezer Lutheran in Willimantic, Conn.
This will be the fourth time that Calumet will field a team of runners and drivers to run the race, which starts at Cannon Mountain and ends at Hampton Beach. New England's Lutheran camp raises thousands of dollars for the Annual Fund which supports campership grants for kids in need.
For more information, check out this article on the Calumet website. You can also donate to D. Guy, Steven, Kari and the rest of the team by clicking here!
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Register for the 2014 N.E. Synod Mission Trip
 Group Youth Workcamp
Guilderland Center, NY
July 6-12, 2014
For: Ages 14+
Cost: $459 + Transportation
Deposit by Nov. 1, 2013: $50
Drive west from New England, and you'll be in a whole different world. Guilderland is a predominantly middle-class community nestled into the Capital Region of New York state. Guilderland is just minutes away from Albany and offers a mix of country and city, the best of both worlds.
Your group will be near a popular upstate New York theme park, Six Flags Great Escape. Locals enjoy a trip to Saratoga, or the many parks the town has to offer.
Hidden away in this good-looking town are pockets of lower-income areas that are often overlooked. The elderly struggle to keep up their homes that they have lived in for a generation. And in recent years, Guilderland was one of the towns ravaged by flooding.
Your week will be well-spent in Guilderland, as your group helps those who truly are not able to help themselves. Along with painting, siding, and other carpentry projects, your group will probably be upgrading the weatherization of homes as well, which will hold down heating costs and provide greater comfort for yearst to come.
Click here for more information, and to register.
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Stewardship Webinar
Oct. 9, 6:30 p.m.
On Oct. 9, the New England Synod and Immanuel Lutheran Church in Holden, Mass. will present a webinar on stewardship, using Immanuel's example to show strategies for success. Immanuel has experienced a high level of giving, and Senior Pastor Dan Wilfrid and Bishop James Hazelwood will examine what has worked so well for the congregation in a small, suburban Central Massachusetts town.
The meeting will be hosted on the GoToMeeting platform, and will be made available to a few dozen congregations throughout the region. The forum will also include a chance for viewers to send in questions and participate with Pastor Wilfrid and Bishop Hazelwood. A discussion guide will be made available following the forum for further thought.
More information to come, stay tuned!
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Bishop's Convocation
Oct. 28-30
Holy Family Passionist Retreat Center
West Hartford, Conn.
Hard to believe, but the fall Bishop's Convocation is right around the corner. The Bishop's Convocation is the annual continuing theological education gathering of the New England Synod, ELCA. It is an opportunity for rostered leaders to gather in fellowship and as a learning community. The event is coordinated by the CTET (Continuing Theological Education Team) and the Synod Worship Team.
Convocation will be held at Holy Family Retreat Center, which has two large meeting rooms, two classrooms, two dining rooms, 164 single bedrooms and four suites. Situated on 48 acres in Connecticut, the facility serves some 19,000 people each year, with a wide variety of services and retreats. For more information on the retreat center, click here.
 The theme of this year's Bishop's Convocation is "Missional Transformation." Just what is missional transformation and what does it mean for those of us doing ministry on the ground of the New England Synod? Keynote presenter Alan Roxburgh, one of the leading voices and authors on the missional church movement, argues that the "missional church conversation challenges some of the most basic assumptions we have about the nature and purpose of the church." His most recent book is " Missional: Joining God in the Neighborhood."
Come and enter the conversation as we look at those assumptions and what transformation means for us.
To download the full informational brochure, click here.
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Save the Dates!
Nov. 9 - Concert at Christ, Natick, Mass. (7 p.m.)
Organist Gregory Peterson (Luther College, Decorah, Iowa), formerly the organist at Old South Church in Boston, will perform. There will be a free will offering, and the concert will be a benefit for Empowering Learners, a charity that provides computers and other educational supplies for schools affiliated with the Lutheran Church in Namibia.
Nov. 16 - Liturgical Arts Day at Christ, Natick, Mass.
Keynote presentation by Lil Copan, arts contributor to The Christian Century, plus several workshops, lunch, and a closing worship at which Pr. Jon Niketh will be preacher.
Jan. 25, 2014 - CommFest 2014
After a successful communications seminar earlier this year, the Synod once again invites you to join us for a day spent discussing strategies and tips to help congregations better communicate - with their members and with the outside world. Speakers at CommFest 2014 include Pastor Keith Anderson (Dublin Lutheran Church, Ambler, Pa.) and Elizabeth Drescher, co-authors of Click 2 Save: The Digital Ministry Bible. |
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2014 Synod Assembly - Change of Date
The dates for the 2014 Synod Assembly have changed. Synod Assembly 2014 now will be held from Thursday, June 5, through Saturday, June 7.
The reason for the change is that Sunday, June 8, is Pentecost, a day when many pastors and laypersons will want to be in their home congregations to celebrate this major festival of the church year.
Please mark the new dates of June 5-7, 2014, on your calendars. The location will remain as planned, MassMutual Center, Springfield, Mass.
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Sanctuary Furniture for Sale
St. Andrew's (Ridgefield, Conn.) has an altar, lectern, paschal candle stand, silver communion set, advent wreath and more used sanctuary furniture for sale. St. Andrew's has also ordered new pews, so 46 solid oak, 5-foot, bench-style, movable pews are also available. Email pastormeier@standrewselca.com for more information or call 203-438-0606.
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NE Synod Assembly 2013 Highlights
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Assembly DVD
DVDs of the 2013 Synod Assembly are now available for purchase. The DVDs include Bishop Hazelwood's report and Sunday sermon, as well as the discussion with the "nones." To purchase a DVD, send a check for $12, payable to the New England Synod, to the address below.
Andrew Merritt
New England Synod
20 Upland Street
Worcester, MA 01607
For more information, contact Communications Director Andy Merritt at amerritt@nesynod.org or 508-333-1761. |
Update on job listings policy
Due to the (welcomed) increase in employment opportunities sent in for synod-wide communication, we have updated our policy for NES News listings. Job postings will run for two weeks in the synod's weekly NES News and/or Bishop's E-News, and then will be removed to make space for new listings. The listings will also be edited, so we urge you to submit them as 2-3 sentence listings with a contact if job seekers seek further information. Readers are encouraged to retain weekly emails if they wish to reference the job listings past their two-week publication period.
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