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2% Discount: What, How, and Why
 What: $35,000 saved by ELCA employers in this synod
How: All congregations and organizations in our synod will earn a 2% discount on this year's ELCA health contributions if 65% of the eligible ELCA-Primary health plan members and spouses in our synod take the Mayo Clinic health assessment January 1-April 30.
Why We Need You: If you're an ELCA-Primary health plan member, we need you to take the health assessment. Same goes for your spouse, if he or she has ELCA-Primary health benefits. You may be the one to push us over the 65% discount threshold and save us all 2% on all of this year's health contributions. The good news is that as of the end of January, we were already a third of the way there with 23 percent of our eligible members taking the assessment.
Taking the assessment also benefits you, as you will earn $150 in wellness dollars to offset out-of-pocket costs!
New this year: To take the Mayo Clinic health assessment, access Mayo Clinic Healthy Living online directly through myPortico - no separate Mayo Clinic ID and password necessary. Go to PorticoBenefits.org/HealthyLiving for details.
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Registration now open for 2015 Synod Assembly
The 2015 New England Synod Assembly is scheduled for June 5-6, 2015, at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Mass., and registration for the assembly itself as well as preferred lodging at the nearby Sheraton Springfield Monarch Place Hotel is now open!
HOW TO REGISTER FOR THE ASSEMBLY
All active and retired rostered leaders must register as voting members. Rostered leaders on leave from call may register as non-voters. Please complete all required fields on the registration form (marked with an *). If you do not know the name of your conference, please check with your pastor or congregational secretary.
IF PAYING BY CHECK: After completing your registration form, please print a copy and mail it to New England Synod, P.O. Box 13, Worcester, MA 01614-0013. Please include the number of the check accompanying your registration, or ask your congregational treasurer to include that number on each form if multiple forms are mailed together.
VOTING MEMBERS selected by your congregation or rostered leaders, Click here to register as a voting member
NON-VOTING VISITOR attending by your own volition or assisting with the event, click here to register as a non-voting visitor
*If you are a Keynote Presenter or ELCA Representative, Ecumenical Partner, Assembly Staff (office, musicians, AV), Volunteer for display table or workshop, Anniversary Honoree, Guest of Anniversary Honoree, School of Lay Ministry Graduate, or Guest of Graduate please register on the NON-VOTING VISITOR page under the appropriate heading.
Cancellations requested by May 1, 2015, can receive a full refund.
LODGING REGISTRATION
Lodging reservation must be made separately using the link below. A block of rooms for the New England Synod has been reserved at the Sheraton Springfield Monarch Place Hotel. The deadline for hotel reservations is May 7, 2015. Be sure to pre-arrange your roommate and send in only one reservation form per room. Parking at the Sheraton is an additional $10 per day. Check in time is 3 p.m. Luggage may be safely stored by the hotel, if necessary.
To register at the Sheraton, click here!
Nominations open for 2015 Synod Assembly elections
At our June 2015 Synod Assembly, we will be electing our voting members for the 2016 Churchwide Assembly, which is to be held Aug. 8-13, 2016, in New Orleans, La.
NOTE: The nominations committee is strongly encouraging people who have never attended an ELCA Churchwide Assembly to submit an application - even for categories not explicitly designed for first-time attenders. We want many new people to connect with the wider church.
We will be electing the following positions:
- 1 Clergy who is a person of color and/or with a primary language other than English
- 2 Clergy who have never served as a Voting member at an ELCA Assembly
- 2 Clergy at Large
- 1 Clergy who is the Bishop
- 1 Layperson who is the Synod vice president
- 1 Layperson who is the Synod vice president-elect
- 1 Male Layperson who has never served as a Voting member at an ELCA Assembly
- 1 Female Layperson who has never served as a Voting member at an ELCA Assembly
- 1 Layperson at Large
- 1 Male Layperson who is person of color and/or with a primary language other than English
- 1 Female Layperson who is person of color and/or with a primary language other than English
- 1 Male Youth/Young Adult
- 1 Female Youth/Young Adult
Nomination forms are now available. Click one of the links below to download the nomination form you require.
Nominating Committee
Ms. Donna Kerry, First Lutheran, Malden, Mass.
Rev. Christian Holleck, St. Peter's Lutheran, Harwich, Mass.
Mr. Dave Farabaugh, Immanuel Lutheran, Holden, Mass.
Ms. Judy Armelin, St. Paul, Gloucester, Mass.
Rev. Lena Warren, Grace Lutheran, Naugatuck, Conn.
Ms. Cassandra Wilson, Redeemer Lutheran, Woburn, Mass.
For more information, contact the Synod Council Secretary Charlene Pederson at (203) 435-0313 or email attycwright@comcast.net.
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Reimagining Sunday School - a Calumet retreat
 May 15-17, 2015
Camp Calumet, Freedom, N.H.
Are you daring to reconsider or reformat your Sunday School program? Are your once filled classrooms down to a handful of children?
Come to Calumet and wonder ... dream ... imagine ... what Christian Education could look like in your local congregation. This three-day retreat will include opportunities for discussion in rethinking and reimagining Sunday School. You will hear from local folks in the New England Synod who have taken the leap to try new methods and models for Faith Formation, and have discussions based on the study guide written by Pastor Robert C. Blezard, assistant to the bishop of the Lower Susquehanna Synod, as found in the September 2014 issue of The Lutheran.
COST: 2 nights and 5 meals ~ $162 per person; 1 night and 3 meals ~ $86 per person
Contact Alice for more information or to make your reservation by calling (603) 539-3223, EXT. 220, or emailing alice@calumet.org.
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The Theology of Harry Potter
 Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Westborough, Mass.
Feb. 25-March 25
As part of its 2015 Lenten studies, Good Shepherd in Westborough will host classes led by The Rev. Dr. Kathryn B. Baines exploring the Theology of Harry Potter. The classes will be held on five Wednesday evenings, beginning Feb. 25. The classes are open to the public. Please let the office at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church know if you are interested in joining this class by calling 508-366-7095 or emailing office@goodshepherdcares.org (Registration is for preparation of class materials only.) The themes and dates are:
Week 1 (February 25): Form and Structure of the Series: This is my body given for you. Week 2 (March 4): Power vs. Love: My power is made perfect in weakness. Week 3 (March 11): Tolerance: In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave not free, male nor female. Week 4 (March 18): Death and Afterlife: Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise. Week 5 (March 25): Christology: Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for life for one's friends.
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Workshop: "Blinded by the Light"
 Over the next few months, Dr. Pam Shellberg, Scholar-in-Residence at The BTS Center (formerly known as Bangor Theological Seminary), will offer a workshop that addresses the topics of transformation and change. Using the biblical narratives of Paul and Ananias as a framework, Pam will lead small groups of clergy and lay leaders in inquiry sessions. This workshop is designed to support the efforts of faith leaders and faith communities to live into the challenges and opportunities of 21st-century ministry. The one-day event is scheduled for four Saturdays in locations around New England, beginning with registration at 8:30 a.m., and concluding at 4 p.m. Lunch will be provided. There will be no cost to attend the event, but we ask attendees to register so we may plan accordingly for workshop space and meals.
Registration is now open for "Blinded by the Light." Click here to go to the BTS Center's Programs page and scroll down to the list of dates/sites to select whichever date/site is most convenient for you. You will be taken to a registration page, where you may sign up for that workshop.
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Water in the Wilderness: An Overnight Retreat
for Rostered Leaders
March 16-17, 2015
Rostered leaders, join us for a Lenten timeout in companionship with colleagues. We will use Ignatian meditation for scripture reflection; no experience in Ignatian Exercises necessary for participants. Our focus is simply on prayer, rest, refreshment. Time for intentional prayer and quiet are balanced with open time for conversation, walking, or relaxing in the beautiful houses and grounds of the Holy Family Passionist Retreat Center. This retreat is sponsored by the synod's Continuing Theological Education Team.
Date: Monday, March 16, 2 p.m.-Tuesday, March 17, 1 p.m.
Cost: $150 per person for overnight accommodation and meals; $100 for commuters.
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"Welcome One Another" Fellowship Retreat 2015
 May 1-3, 2015
The Walker Center, 144 Hancock St., Auburndale, Mass.
The Synod Team for LGBT Inclusion extends an open invitation to all members and friends of the Synod to the 2015 "Welcome One Another Retreat." The retreat will include worship, fellowship, meals, small group reflection, and large group plenary as participants learn more about the "B" in LGBT: bisexuality. For more information, please contact Pastor Nathan Pipho at 617-328-8348 or by email at PastorPipho@aol.com
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Lent Photo-a-Day challenge
Several leaders in the ELCA have created a new "Lent Photo-a-Day" Challenge. Beginning Ash Wednesday (Feb. 18), a word and prayer will be posted at the challenge's Facebook page. You are invited and encouraged to join the page, and share your own images that reflect each day's word and prayer using the hashtags Lent2015 and LentFaith. |
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2015 New England Synod Honduras Mission Trip
 April 20 - 28, 2015 Yuscaran, Honduras
Leader: Pastor Dave Rinas
Estimated Costs: $795 plus airfare (approx. $850) from Boston to Tegucigalpa.
After flying in to the Capital we will take a one-hour bus ride to our living quarters, which are located on the mountains overlooking the town of Yuscaran. Accommodations are more rustic; we sleep in cabins in bunk beds. While pillows, sheets and blankets are provided, we suggest you bring lightweight sleeping bags and your own pillow. Solar showers provide warm showers at the end of each day. Gravity flush toilets are located outside of the sleeping areas. The work in Yuscaran has centered on three projects, and each person finds their own place in one or more of these projects:
- Construction and dedication of the church building through cement and rebar work. We have nearly completed this project.
- Spontaneous after school children's VBS - crafts, games & singing in the town square.
- Women's sewing clinic. We have brought sewing machines and provided an opportunity for women (though a few men come) to sew. We leave the machines and they are used in a nearby church as a resource to the community.
Contact Pr. Dave Rinas for more details or visit www.sdumas.net.
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Job listings policy
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.
Additionally, job listings are now hosted on the Synod website's new job board.
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Parish Assistant
Pilgrim Lutheran Church, 1817 Warwick Avenue, Warwick, RI 02889
The Parish Assistant will serve as the initial contact for Pilgrim Lutheran Church as well as represent the face of the congregation. The Parish Assistant will work under the direct supervision of the Pastor, with administrative and organizational support provided not only to the pastor but also to other staff members as needed. This position is a part-time, 20 hour per week position. Working hours are Monday through Friday, 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. For more information and to apply: www.pilgrimlutheranri.org.
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