June 7,
2016


Synod E-News

FEATURED NEWS & EVENTS FeaturedNews
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The #HungerRiders Are the Road!  Donate Now to Support ELCA World Hunger
Our #HungerRide Team took off from Max, ND on June 7 and is biking its way to Synod Assembly in Bismarck. Along the way, they are visiting area churches, staying with congregational members, raising awareness of hunger issues facing God's people and raising funds to support ELCA World Hunger. Support the #HungerRide by making a donation using the link below:
Donate Now to Support WND #HungerRide Team 
art-event.jpg Last Call for Art Show Entries
To showcase the unique gifts of God's people in this region, we will once again host an Art Show as part of this year's Synod Assembly.  The Synod Assembly Art Show is open to any artist who is a member of a congregation of the Western North Dakota Synod. Each artist may submit one work in any medium.  Only original artwork will be accepted, no copies, or reproductions will qualify.  Please submit an entry form and photo of the piece to Art Show coordinators. Call the Synod office at 701-223-5312 if you would like to enter a piece of art.
Synod Assembly Information
 
Join us for Opening Worship at 8:30 AM Friday!
Opening worship for synod assembly is open for all to attend.    If you are near the Bismarck area, we encourage you to join us for worship.

Synod Assembly Registration Hours
The Registration Table will be located outside the Assembly Hall at the Ramkota Hotel.  Please Note Registration will close during opening worship on Friday and morning devotions on Saturday, but will reopen shortly after worship.
Thursday hours:  3:30PM - 7:30PM
Friday hours: 7:00AM - 3:00PM (closed during worship)
Saturday hours: 8:00 AM - 12:00PM (closed during devotions)

PreAssembly Workshop: Gifted to Serve
The PreAssembly Workshop will take place in the lower level meeting rooms behind the main hotel lobby.  Registration will open at 9:30AM and the workshop will take place from 10:00AM-3:30PM.

Mission Gala Dinner and Auction
Mission Gala Tickets are almost sold out.  We have just a couple left and they can be purchased by calling the synod office at 701-223-5312.  You must have a ticket reserved to attend.  The event will begin at 5:30 PM with Appetizers and a chance to peruse the auction items.  Please check-in at the host table when you arrive.

Voting Member Materials
All voting member materials including an updated agenda, reports & business items are available on the synod assembly website.  Click here to access the voting member information.

Synod Assembly Offerings
  • Opening Worship Offerings will support ELCA  Campaign - World Hunger and Disaster Appeal
  • A Love offering during the Banquet will be divided between our 4 ELCA Outdoor Ministry Sites
  • Donations for Sweet Deal for C.A.R. to support our companion synod ministries with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Central African Republic can be turned in at the registration table
  • Inkind items are being received to create Fresh Start bags for youth leaving the ND Youth Correctional Center.  Go to http://wndsynod.org/synod-assembly for a list of items.

Items to Bring

Please bring your Bible and a light sweater or jacket as the Assembly Hall may be cool.  

 

All Event Details are posted at 

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Bringing the Assembly Home
Please watch your inboxes for resources that can help you bring Synod Assembly home to your congregation. 
On Saturday afternoon we will e-mail a summary of the assembly to all rostered leaders, congregations, assembly participants, and our synod e-news list.  This will include a pdf that can be printed and shared in bulletins on Sunday mornings following the assembly.  We'll also share a service of blessing which could be used to celebrate the vocations of the members of your congregation back home.
Cobber Gathering at Synod Assembly
Concordia College alumni are invited to gather in the Nickels Lounge of the Ramkota Hotel for Cobber fellowship, following the Friday night banquet. See who's coming at Facebook.com/101277856955261.

More Events and Notices MoreNews
Explore the Call to Ministry at a Discernment Dinner 
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to serve as a pastor, diaconal minister, or associate in ministry? Are you sensing God calling you to a more formal role as a public leader in the wider church?  Join the synod Candidacy Committee at a Discernment Dinner on Friday, June 17th at 6:30 pm at the Synod Office in Bismarck for conversation.  This is an informal time of conversation where questions can be asked and you can learn more about theological education and discerning the call to ministry.  Please RSVP to beth@wndsynod.org by Thursday, June 16th for meal planning.
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Prepare and Enrich Facilitator Training,
PREPARE/ENRICH is a customized couple assessment completed online that identifies a couple's strength and growth areas. It is one of the most widely used programs for premarital counseling and premarital education. It is also used for marriage counseling, marriage enrichment, and dating couples considering engagement. Based on a couple's assessment results, a trained facilitator provides 4-8 feedback sessions in which the facilitator helps the couple discuss and understand their results as they are taught proven relationship skills.  A facilitator training will be held in Bismarck on June 25, at Century Baptist Church (205 Colt Ave), and led by Dr. Gordon Stork.  Cost for the training is $95. To register contact Gordon Stork at 701-751-7676 or email pastorgordonstork@gmail.com.  Registration deadline is June 17.
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Service of Commendation for Unused Bibles
Do you have Bibles in your home or worship center that are unusable due to age or damage, etc. and unsure what to do with them?  You are invited to participate in a service of commendation on  Thursday, July 7, 2016,  11 a.m. at  Sunset Memorial Gardens, Bismarck. Thanks to the generosity of Bob Eastgate and Eastgate Funeral Service, a vault at Sunset Memorial Gardens will provide the resting place and burial ground for such unusable Bibles.   Eastgate Funeral Service kindly provides this donation of planning, site and labor.  To participate in this service, simply attend the July 7 event and place your offered Bible "at graveside". Pastor Perry Schnabel, Calvary United Methodist in Bismarck and Pastor Rebecca Aardahl, Missouri Slope Lutheran Care Center, Bismarck will lead a brief Service of Committal.  Questions? Please contact Eastgate Funeral Service at 223-7322.
In Mission Together InMissionTogether

As we lead up to our synod assembly, the next few weeks' stories will feature the reports and stories of some of our synod ministries and ministry partners . . . .
Synod Bishop's Report to Assembly

We are a blessed people! Gifted by God in various ways - some to teach, others to listen, still others to build, another one to organize, someone else to heal and the list goes on - endlessly. God has provided an Abundance of gifts so that the Good News of Jesus Christ might be made visible in this world.

We gather for the second year around the theme "Living in God's Abundance" with a special emphasis on how God, through the power of the Holy Spirit has gifted individuals. Some people are aware of their gifts, others are working to discern or understand how they have been gifted and how these gifts are to be used.
Learn More  
 
The items highlighted below are available for preview from the Synod's Resource Library. 
To request to borrow a copy, e-mail your request to info@wndsynod.org or call 701-223-5312. Resources
Simplicity
By: Mindy Caliguire
From Soulcare Resources (Spiritual Formation for Individuals and Groups) comes a timely little guide called Simplicity by Mindy Caliguire.
 
Our closets, our garages, our cupboards, our lives are - let's face it - cluttered.  Stuff is everywhere:  projects we started years ago but never finished, commitments to activities that we now regret making but don't feel we can pull out of.  And sometimes in the midst of it all we lose sight of who we are.  This small book is designed to help you find the space you need to be with God.
 
Soulcare Resources are designed to be simple, but not simplistic, guides to maintaining or recovering the life and health of your soul, that essential personhood created by God as YOU.  In four sections Mindy Caliguire helps you discover and embrace who you are, set healthy boundaries, and embrace simplicity as a lifestyle that brings freedom.
 
You can use this book in small chunks of daily reading, covering the whole book in four weeks.  Also included are four guided group discussions for use with a small group or a spiritual friend. 
 
Are you ready to start your journey toward simplicity?

Practicing Care in Rural Congregations and Communities
By:  Jeanne Hoeft, Shannon Jung, & Joretta Marshall

Description:
Pastoral care in rural communities is different from care in other locales, say the authors of this comprehensive new resource. 

The challenges of physical isolation and social visibility in small towns shape the practice of care in particular and unique ways.  Despite these differences, rural churches and communities also hold a particular wisdom from which the rest of the church might benefit - including what it means to care for one another and a heightened sense of community and interrelatedness, which is both a great challenge and a great gift. 

Grounded in research in a variety of rural and small-town contexts, this book will be an essential guide for all ministers, regardless of location.

Format:  Book
Publication Year: 2013
Publisher: Fortress Press

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 In Our PrayersPrayers
We will pray together through the synod's roster of congregations and rostered leaders.  Please keep the ministries and ministers below in your prayers this week.
 
Congregations
Medora Lutheran, Medora
Our Savior's Lutheran, Mercer
Bethany Lutheran, Minot
Bread of Life Lutheran, Minot
 
Rostered Leaders
Rev. Susan Anderson
Rev. Mary Lou Aune
Rev. Sharon Baker

For Healing & Comfort
Rev. Jeff Giles
Marcella Nelson
Gary & Rev. Andrea DeGroot-Nesdahl

In Celebration 
Rev. Nathan and Annie Mugaas on the birth of their son Stanley

Our Ministry Partners
Southeastern Minnesota Synod
 Upcoming EventsEvents
  • June 9
    PreAssembly Workshop
  •  (Ramkota, Bismarck)
  • June 9
    Mission Gala Dinner and Auction

    (Lord of Life, Bismarck)
      
  • June 9
    Synod Council Meeting

    (
    Ramkota Hotel, Bismarck)
  • June 10 & 11
    Synod Assembly
    (Ramkota Hotel, Bismarck)
  • June 17 
    Discernment Dinner

    (Synod Office, Bismarck)
  • June 17-18Synod Candidacy Meetings
    (Synod Office, Bismarck)

  

View these and all Synod Events 

Synod TransitionsTransitions
 
Calls Accepted
 
Rev. Carin "Bear" to Calvary Lutheran, Lemmon

Rev. Kristen Schwan to St. Luke's, Wishek

Rev. Derek Harkins to Christ Lutheran, Minot (Associate)

Recent Ordinations   
Dorothy Williams, May 16, Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, IA 
 
Upcoming Retirements 
Rev. Ray Anderson, Living Water Lutheran Church, Mandan, Aug. 1

Resignations
Rev. Rebecca Aardahl, Missouri Slope Lutheran Care Center 

Congregations in the 
Call Process  
  • Faith Lutheran Church, Bismarck
  • Lutheran Church of the Cross, Bismarck
  • Dakota Prairie Parish, Bowman, Amidon and Rhame (Associate)
  • English Lutheran, Hazen
  • McClusky Goodrich Parish, McClusky and Goodrich
  • Prairie Hope Parish, Newburg, Maxbass, Westhope
  • Prairie Rose Parish, Roseglen, Ryder & Makoti
  • Noonan Lutheran Parish, Noonan and rural Crosby
  • Reeder Lutheran Parish, Reeder, Ralph & Bucyrus
  • Bethany Lutheran, Rugby and Wolford Lutheran, Wolford
  • First Lutheran, Williston (Associate)
  • Gloria Dei Lutheran, Williston
  • Shepherd of the Prairie Parish, Williston


  Save the Dates
Western ND Synod Assembly
June 10-11, 2016 @ Ramkota Hotel, Bismarck, ND
June 2-3, 2017 @ Grand Hotel, Minot, ND
May 31-June 2, 2018 @ Ramkota Hotel, Bismarck, ND
June 6-8, 2019 @ Grand Hotel, Minot, ND

Western ND Fall Rostered Leaders Gathering
September 11-13, 2016 Medora, ND
 
Western North Dakota Women of the ELCA Gathering
June 16-17, 2017 at the Grand Hotel, Minot, ND  
 The Synod E-News is sent to rostered leaders and congregations of the Western North Dakota Synod, and subscribers each week.  If you would like to submit an item for publication in E-News or on the synod website please send to  beth@wndsynod.org