Now that annual meeting season has come and gone, and budgets have (hopefully!) been settled, the Synod is requesting annual Mission Support forms from each of its congregations. This crucial information is needed to prepare the New England Synod 2014 budget, and your mission support helps the Synod accomplish a host of initiatives and tasks, from helping future leaders through candidacy, to current pastors in mobility, to the planting and development of new ministries and congregations.

 

The Synod will be working in 2014 to expand and enhance our YouTube page, with more videos including updates from the bishop (like his Christmas message below) and check-ins from our various events. Are you a subscriber to our channel? It's easy, just click here to visit the page, and click on the "Subscribe" button (or you can click on the big old red button to the right!). Subscribers get updates whenever we add a new video to our page, either through email or on their own YouTube profile page (it's your choice!), so you won't miss any of the exciting things we're hoping to do in the coming year. And don't worry, we won't be spamming you with a new video every five minutes. We just want to make sure you don't miss out when we do post something new!

 

Bishop Hazelwood's Christmas message

We're also hoping to transition to YouTube to broadcast the 2014 Synod Assembly, and we can use your help! Become a subscriber today, and you can help us reach our goal of 100 subscribers, which will allow us to use this technology to make the assembly available to anyone with an Internet connection. 

 

It's simple! Just click here to subscribe!

March 15, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.

Concordia Lutheran Church

40 Pitkin St.

Manchester, CT 06040

 

The New England Lutheran Theological Forum will present "Christian Faith and Witness in the Age of Digital Pluralism," featuring noted preacher and speaker David Lose, on March 15 at Concordia Lutheran Church. 

 

The Rev. Dr. Lose holds the Marbury Anderson Chair of Biblical Preaching at Luther Seminary, where he is also the director of the Center for Biblical Preaching. He has chaired the Leadership Division at Luther and served as academic dean, and he led the creative team that created www.workingpreacher.org. He is the author "Preaching at the Crossroads" (2013), "Making Sense of Scripture" (2009), "Making Sense of the Christian Faith" (2010), and "Making Sense of the Cross" (2011). He also writes for the Huffington Post, Patheos, and The Christian Century. You can find his daily bible devotions and other writings and reflections on connecting faith to daily life at www.davidlose.net.

 

Rev. Dr. Lose will lead a series of talks including looks at why church attendance in North America has fallen, the effects of digital media on our culture, and the future of preaching and worship in an increasingly post-Christian world.

 

Registration is $30 on or before March 1, and $35 after. Registration includes morning coffee and a light lunch. All are welcome

 

To register, download the event flyer by clicking here, and send your registration to:

Emanuel Lutheran Church

attn. Ellen Anderson

311 Capitol Ave.

Hartford, CT 06106-1410.

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 Zach Harris to his new call at Faith (Middletown, Conn.), Pastor Danny Hammons to St. Luke (Gales Ferry, Conn.), and Pastor Greg Huth to Redeemer (Plattsburgh, N.Y.)

 

Zach Harris
Called to: Faith (Middletown, Conn.)

Zach arrived in snowy Connecticut last week after working as the Mission Developer and first called pastor at Rock of Ages Lutheran Church in Wildwood, Fla. A Pensacola, Fla., native, Zach has undergraduate degrees in English, Religion, and Classics from Lenoir-Rhyne, as well as masters in divinity and Systematic Theology from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg.

 

Zach lives with his wife, Karen, and has two step-children: Brittany, 22, a recent graduate of Florida State University, and Ryan, 18, who's in his first year at Florida State. Asked about his call to the newly formed Faith Lutheran Church, Zach wrote, "The exciting thing about my new call is the possibilities. In the same year, I am the first called pastor to Rock of Ages in Florida and also the first called pastor to Faith in Middletown. As usual for me, I am much more interested in what lay over the horizon than what is evident in the rearview mirror."

 

Danny Hammons

Called to: St. Luke (Gales Ferry, Conn.)

Danny Hammons, a native of Covington, Ky., comes to St. Luke after serving for the last seven and a half years as co-pastor with his wife, Maria, at St. John's in Baltimore, Md. He has an undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland, and a master of divinity from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg. He has also nearly completed a master's in sacred theology.

 

Danny and Maria have two children, Annissa Beatty and Eric Hammons, and four grandchildren. Both he and Maria previously interned in Rhode Island - Maria at Pilgrim in Warwick, and Danny at St. Peter's in Newport. Wrote Danny, "I am excited to begin ministry at St. Luke. The one thing that sold me was a statement made by the congregation that they wanted to do more than just give money, they wanted to be actively involved in ministry beyond their walls. This congregation is excited about doing ministry and I am looking forward to getting involved with the members of St. Luke in all kinds of ministry in the local area, in Connecticut and beyond. There is great potential as all of us at St. Luke develop and use our Spiritual gifts as disciples to spread the gospel. What's not to be excited about?"

 

Greg Huth

Called to: Redeemer (Plattsburgh, N.Y.) 

Greg, a Cleveland native, comes to Redeemer Lutheran Church after serving in a joint call at St. Paul's in Dansville and Zion in Cohocton, both part of the Upstate New York Synod. He received his master of divinity from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia in 2006, after attending Yale as an undergrad in the 1970s. Before going to Philadelphia for seminary in the 2000s, Greg worked as an editor for CBS in New York, as well as publisher Simon & Schuster. 

 

Greg said he's excited to come to Redeemer, whose congregation he calls "warm, enthusiastic, and welcoming, and is rapidly establishing a reputation as a hospitable, inclusive congregation. Being located so close to the SUNY Plattsburgh campus opens up additional opportunities for 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. 

Caring for God's creation is a basic dimension of stewardship. How has your church been able to save energy, green your church, or educate the parish or community about caring for the environment? Please send stories/photos/videos to Andrew Merritt (amerritt@nesynod.org), to post on the "Go Green" portion of the synod website. And keep up the great work! 

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. 

The Synod will host a retreat for all rostered women in ministry and current interns, "The Evolving Role of Women in Church and Society: Legacy, Reality, and Dreams," featuring rich worship, conversation and learning over three days at the St. Edmund's Retreat Center.

Click here to register. The cost is $255 per person for the entire event, which covers two nights in a private room and six meals. For more information, click here to download the flyer.

Update on job listings policy

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