"Through Foundations of Christian Leadership, we aim to help Christian leaders explore their gifts and cultivate the practices that are essential for spurring transformation within Christian organizations," reads the program's description. "The program is best suited to those who have been in a leadership position for fewer than five years. Join up to 30 participants from nonprofit organizations, congregations, mission agencies, seminaries and denominations for two residential sessions and two online sessions over the course of four months. Each Foundations participant will have the opportunity to apply for a $5,000 grant to support innovative approaches within his or her institution."

The fall 2015 session of the program will be held in Greensboro, N.C., at The Summit conference center. The two-part session will be held Sept. 14-17 and Dec. 7-10.

For those who'd like to stay close to home, the Foundations of Christian Leadership program is coming to New England in 2016. The sessions will be held in April and September at St. Methodios Faith & Heritage Center in Contoocook, N.H.

For further information, including pricing and registration links, click here.

• The I Have a Dream Fund, established by Margaret and John Payne, provides financial resources for those who long for an end to racism and an increase in understanding across cultural barriers. Click here to download an explainer on the fund and grant process.
• The Youth and Young Adult Grants support ministries to serve outreach to those particular age groups. Click here to download the application. (Applications due in December. For more information, contact the Synod office.)
• The Congregational Renewal Grants assist in efforts designed to bring renewed vitality to your congregation. Click here to download the application. (Applications due in December. For more information, contact the Synod office.)

The New England Synod is pleased to announce the upcoming ordinations of two new Pastors who have been called to ministry in the region.

Jeffrey Johnson, left, and Douglas Barclay are set to be ordained in August, and have been called to ministry in New England.

Jeffrey Craig Johnson has been called to serve First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brockton, Mass. A native of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., Johnson holds a bachelor's degree from Florida State University, a master's degree from Westminster Choir College, and his master of divinity from Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary. Johnson will be ordained on Thursday, Aug. 20, at 7 p.m., at Messiah Lutheran Church in Panama City, Fla. The Rev. Robert Schaefer, Bishop of the Florida-Bahamas Synod, will preside.

Douglas David Barclay is a native of Williamsport, Pa., who has been called to serve Concordia Lutheran Church in Manchester, Conn. Barclay holds a bachelor's in music from Lycoming College, a graduate certificate in liturgy from Washington Theological Union, and a master of divinity from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. He will be ordained on Friday, Aug. 28, at 7 p.m. at Christ Lutheran Church in Baltimore, Md. Bishop James Hazelwood and the Rev. Susan Tjornehoj will preside, and the Rev. Dr. John Sabatelli will preach.

The color of the day for both ordinations is red, and all are welcome at each ceremony.

Synod Companion Trip to Jordan and the Holy Land

Dec. 29-Jan. 14

Registration Deadline: Sept. 1

Later this year, the New England Synod will reaffirm its partnership with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land with a two-week companion trip to the Middle East.

The trip is planned for Dec. 29, 2015-Jan. 14, 2016. The all-inclusive cost is $3,700.

How is the trip planning going?

Pastor Tim Keyl is consulting with ELCA colleagues and Palestinian contacts to map out an itinerary. We will have a guide for most of our trip and a chartered bus. We will stay in Lutheran or Christian Guesthouses, based on double occupancy (you can pick a roommate or Pastor Keyl can pick one for you). If you request a single, the cost will be slightly higher.

What does the $3,700 cost cover?

The costs covers lodging with breakfast, and the total cost includes round-trip airfare from Newark Airport, dinners, room, tips, and all other fees. Any additional costs will be for lunch, and flight from a different originating airport. Once we book the flights, Pastor Keyl will provide information about travel insurance, which will incur additional cost. For previous trips, Pastor Keyl made arrangements for most in the group to travel by van or train from his church, Bethesda - New Haven, Conn., and will be glad to do that this time.

The only documentation you will need to bring on the trip is a current passport. Please provide Pastor Keyl with the name that is on your passport, the passport number, your mailing address, and phone number(s).

An initial $500 down payment (check payable to the New England Synod, memo "2015/16 Companion Synod Trip") is due by Sept. 1. Two additional payments of $1,700 are due Oct. 1 and Dec. 1 to the same address with the same memo. Send to New England Synod, P.O. Box 13, Worcester, MA 01614-0013

To learn more about our Holy Land partnerships, see www.elca.org/peacenotwalls and www.elcjhl.org.

No secrets here. In her August column for The Lutheran, ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton says rumors and politics on three issues before the ELCA are at odds with true discernment. There are no schemes, she says, just time and space for a process of talking together, praying together and listening together as a church-time for discernment.

The churchwide assembly is a year away. Voting members have been elected during this spring's synod assemblies. Memorials and resolutions have been debated and passed. More will come before synods during next year's assembly season. When we gather as the church in assembly in New Orleans next August we will deliberate, attend hearings and vote. Robert's Rules of Order will help us navigate through legislative sessions. Some groups might organize around particular issues or causes the way the youth and young adults did at the 2013 Churchwide Assembly around adding $4 million to Always Being Made New: The Campaign for the ELCA. That is well and good. God can use our best practices, even our political practices, to bring about God's will for God's people. But the churchwide assembly is not primarily a political process. It's a process of communal spiritual discernment.
  

Read Bishop Eaton's column by clicking here.

The New England Synod is now seeking candidates for the newly created position of Associate to the Bishop for Generosity.

The position was created as part of the synod's participation in a three-year pilot experiment in the areas of mission development and mission support. The new position was created in tandem with the position of Associate to the Bishop for Mission, to which Ms. Kim Bergstrand was appointed earlier this month. She will begin officially on Aug. 1.

The Associate to the Bishop for Generosity will have primary responsibilities for cultivating thanksgiving and generosity in our synod by assisting congregations in their stewardship practices, working with the Macedonia Generosity Team, leading efforts in a newly-designed Mission Support partnership, and working in the area of development. A complete position description is available at this link (click here). This position is now open, and we are accepting applications. The deadline to apply is August 15, 2015, or until the position is filled, and is open to either rostered leaders or lay persons.

The position is part-time (25-30 hours per week), and comes with a full benefit package. The design is similar to the approach taken by other synods, who have divided the responsibilities in these two areas of mission and stewardship. This is a restructuring of what has been known as the D.E.M. or Director for Evangelical Mission.