Due to the impending snowstorm expected to blanket much of Massachusetts Wednesday morning, the Synod office will be closed until Thursday, Feb. 6. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. If you have any questions, please get in touch with Communications Director Andrew Merritt at amerritt@nesynod.org.

The New England Synod welcomes five pastors to new calls in our churches, and over the next few weeks we'll be featuring them in this space. This week, we welcome Pastor Cindy Jacobsen to her new call at Redeemer (Woburn, Mass.) and Pastor Joe McGarry to Faith (Gardner, Mass.)

Joe McGarry
Called to: Faith (Gardner, Mass.)
Joe comes to Faith after serving as pastor at St. Mark's in Baldwinsville, N.Y., and previously as youth director at Hope Lutheran Church in Reading, Pa., as well as program director at Camp Calumet. He has a degree in youth development from Concordia (St. Paul, Minn.), and a master of divinity from the Lutheran Theologial Seminary in Philadelphia. 

Born in Danville, Pa., Joe and his wife, Katie, have two children: Logan (9) and Addyson (6). Both grew up in New England - Joe in Rutland, Vt., where he was a member of Good Shepherd, and Katie in Rochester, N.H.
On his new call, Joe writes, "Faith is the product of two different worshiping communities coming together to form something new. They are excited to get to know one another, to discern who they are as the live into the new name "Faith" and they are VERY excited to get involved in the community. They already have plans to be involved with Relay for Life, and with other community events and above all else they are excited about the future of the church and their ability to do great ministry."

Cindy Jacobsen
Called to: Redeemer (Woburn, Mass.)
Cindy arrives at Redeemer after working as an interim pastor in addition to counseling and family therapy. That included a recent four-month term at Grace (Needham, Mass.), where she provided instrumental ministry while Pastor Jennifer Hitt was away on sabbatical. Cindy has a master of divinity from Lutheran Seminary in St. Paul, Minn., and a doctorate in ministry from Waterloo Lutheran Seminary in Waterloo, Ontario. 

Born in Green Bay, Wisc., Cindy is married with two children, ages 21 and 18. On her new call, Cindy writes, "I am excited to be in ministry with a congregation that values strong lay ministry." 

Saturday, March 1

St. Andrew Lutheran Church

Charlestown, R.I.

9 a.m.-noon

Join Dr. Bill Barter, the senior pastor at St. Ansgar (Portland, Maine) for a Safe Church training seminar at St. Andrew.

The training will be an overview of child abuse and neglect issues. Best practices and models for creating and maintaining a safe church for children will also be the focus of the training. The session involves lecture, interactive activities, a video, and an opportunity for questions and answers. Anyone who needs continuing education hours (counselors, nurses, teachers, etc.) receives a certificate for three hours of continuing education. The training runs approximately three hours. Dr. Barter is a Ph.D. psychologist with a specialization in child abuse and forensics. 

Whether you've never gone through the training, or simply need a refresher, this is a good opportunity to make sure your church is up to speed with best practices for working with youth.

Invited to attend the session are pastors, lay leaders in children's and youth ministry, preschool staff, council members, preschool board members, and anyone else who works with your church's youth.

The training session is free, though participants are asked to help cover the cost of training by putting a small donation in the basket. Those interested in attending are asked to register by emailing standrewRIoffice@gmail.com. Coffee will be served!

Saturday, Feb. 22

The Radisson Hotel

Chelmsford, Mass.

5:30 p.m.

You are invited to join the Lutheran Seminary at Philadelphia for a dinner hosted by two New England Synod pastors on Saturday, February  22, at The Radisson Hotel, 10 Independence Drive, Chelmsford, MA 01824. 

This is an event for you if you have ever thought about serving as a pastor; or serving as one of the church's leaders with youth, or as a church musician, or providing leadership for a social service organization, advocacy group or overseas mission group, or any number of other charitable or service-oriented professions. This will be an evening to discern where and how God is calling you next; an evening spent with others who are figuring out how to best prepare for the next big adventure that God has in store;  an evening of good food, stimulating conversation, and the Spirit's presence.

The dinner will be hosted by Rev. David Rinas (left), pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Chelmsford, Mass., and Rev. Matthew Tingler (right), pastor of Christ the King Lutheran Church, Nashua, N.H. The visit team from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP) will include three current students, as well as Rev. Dr. Katie Day, The Charles A. Scheiren Professor, Church and Society and Director, Metropolitan/Urban Concentration; Merri Brown, Director of Communication; and Don Johnson, vice-president for student development.

Here's what you will experience:

• Hear first-hand from LTSP students what it's like to study at one of the most cutting-edge seminaries in the USA.
• Find out how intellectually stimulating and at the same time down to earth are the faculty at LTSP.
• Learn how great LTSP makes it to prepare to be a pastor and find out how LTSP also is a great place to prepare for many other ways of serving in church and/or charitable organizations.
• Find out that there are ways of financing a seminary education that won't put you in debt for the rest of your life. 
• Get the scoop on the ways you can design a course schedule that works around your personal and family obligations.

Please RSVP by Wednesday, February 19, by emailing admissions@Ltsp.edu. Please indicate any dietary restrictions.

2% Discount: What, How, and Why

What: Money saved by ELCA employers throughout the New England Synod

Who: You, if you are an ELCA-Primary plan member or eligible spouse.

How: All congregations and organizations in our synod will earn a 2% discount on ELCA health premiums for all of 2014 if 65% of the eligible ELCA-Primary plan members and eligible spouses in our synod take the Mayo Clinic Health Assessment Jan. 1-April 30.

Why we need you: If you're an ELCA-Primary health plan member, we need you to take the health assessment. You may be the one to push us over the 65% discount threshold and save us all 2% on all 2014 premiums.

Take the health assessment by clicking on myPortico.PorticoBenefits.org. 

A column by Presiding Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton

We are an overwhelmingly white denomination in a culture that is still majority European American. Those of us who are white almost never have to think about being white. We can consider ourselves the norm. People of color, then, are implicitly expected to adapt. This, in and of itself, doesn't mean that we who are white are bad people. It's a system and reality that is already in place. We didn't create it. In fact, many of us can point to our own persecuted ancestors who came to America to have an opportunity for a better life.

But no matter where we came from or why we had to come, the mere physical characteristic of being white admits us to a certain degree of privilege, just as being right-handed is easier than being left-handed in our culture.

Click here to read more.

The 2014 New England Synod Assembly will be held Thursday, June 5, through Saturday, June 7, at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Mass. Our theme for 2014 is "Mission and Worship in the Age of the Spirit."

Our keynote speakers are Rev. Dr. Scott Thumma and Rev. Dr. Claudio Carvalhaes. 

For more information on this year's assembly, click here. Watch for registration information to appear there (and in other Synod communications) sometime in March.

Among the many events and actions planned for the assembly is the election of a series of positions on Synod Council and the Discipline and Consultation Committees. Click on the link above to see a list of all the positions up for election at this year's assembly. 

Update on job listings policy