"Faith is more than feeding and caring for others - it is believing that these other ones actually have a place in our heart."  The Reverend Peter Marty from "An Incognito Lord"

Members of the El Salvador Committee at St. Stephen Lutheran Church (New Kingstown) take 30 years of long-term accompaniment in mission seriously and join with various Lutheran congregations and communities throughout the country to faithfully listen, evaluate, respond to and serve ever-changing needs (responding to natural disasters, providing security for a church's parsonage, assisting repairs on a church and food bank center, assisting Lutheran University when it was robbed, assisting in purchase of a vehicle for a women's rights organizer, feeding homeless).

Pastor Don Seiple (retired) with scholarship recipients in El Salvador.

The committee funds scholarships from elementary school through post high school, supporting as many students as possible who request assistance. This group is committed to causes that improve and benefit health and well-being of Salvadoran communities that are under or un-served (solar cell installation in a campesino community without electricity, sanitation system to another campesino community, and establishing micro-loans). 

Collaborating and communicating are crucial parts of the committee's work. St. Stephen Lutherans are in contact with other churches throughout the U.S. and Canada in ministries within El Salvador to reduce duplication of services as well as to support existing projects. They also communicate regularly with Salvadoran Lutheran pastors, seminarians, a bishop, an ELCA missionary, and a Canadian Lutheran pastor living in El Salvador to get a sense of reality within the country.

Finally, this local congregational committee coordinates and disseminates information for those who request specific resources, such as an individual or group wanting to take a mission trip, providing materials to a college group taking a mission trip. 

For more information about the committee's work, how to support ministries in El Salvador, or how to advocate for our sisters and brothers in the global South, contact Pastor Emeritus Donald J. Seiple at Dseiple12@verizon.net or Caroline Scheaffer at cjs12@comcast.net. Check out this website for more about a Salvadoran oral history project: http://www.embracingelsalvador.org.

 Note: Do you have an idea from your congregation that you'd like to highlight? E-mail Sharron Blezard or contact any Global Missions Committee member. Thanks to Caroline J. Scheaffer of St. Stephen, New Kingstown, for this week's article!

Leadership in Scarcity

When Mainline ministers talk honestly among ourselves, we sometimes wonder if our entire careers have been or will be spent in a time of institutional scarcity and decline. Clearly, leadership in a situation of abundance and growth is very different than leadership in a situation of scarcity and decrease, and there is a lot that we never learned in seminary. If there is "a time for every season under heaven," then this is clearly a time for "Leadership in Scarcity," indeed. In this insightful article, a writer from Alban at Duke Divinity School describes some challenges and gifts and offers a few proposals. 

Upcoming Brown Bag Leadership Lunches: 

This year Pennsylvania became another state where same-gender couples may tie the knot. For many of our congregations this has stirred old controversies and raised new questions. The November Brown Bag Leadership Lunch will explore raising and handling the issue within a congregation. In our discussion we'll review the Guidelines on Same-Gender Marriage adopted by our Synod Council, as well as our denomination's 2009 Statement on Human Sexuality. Led by Assistant to the Bishop Rob Blezard.

December 11 - The Use and the Means of Grace & Eucharistic Practice

The December Brown Bag Leadership Lunch will discuss the ELCA document, "The Use and the Means of Grace" that addresses communion practices in the ELCA and how that informs who we are as Lutheran Christians. Looking for tips on how to facilitate conversations in your congregation? Want to talk with others and share ideas? Join us on December 11. You can find this document on the ELCA website here as a downloadable PDF and additional resources for study at www.elca.org/worship.
 

Brown-Bag Leadership Lunches take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Lunchroom of our Synod Offices. Bring lunch and we'll have discussion and a meal together. Registration unnecessary.

It's easier than ever to make a gift to support the mission of our Lower Susquehanna Synod. All you have to do is visit our website (www.lss-elca.org) and click the "Donate Now" button on the bottom right side. It will take you to our secure donation site (the same one that hosts Thrivent's Simply Giving) so that you can easily support our work together. Make a one-time gift or set up a regular giving schedule. Together we are stronger and better able to feed others as we have been fed by Christ.

Reminder: Rostered Leaders Register for the Wellness Retreat by 12/01/14

Sign up now for "Renewing our Spirits: Jesus' Spirituality as a Model of Wholeness" at the Hotel Hershey, February 2-3, 2015. Click here for a flyer with details. Click here to register. This retreat is subsidized by the Portico Health Assessment rebate and Thrivent Financial. NOTE: The deadline to register for this event is December 1, 2014, AND  all payments must be postmarked by December 31, 2014.

Conversations with Bishop Dunlop: November 20 at St. John's, New Freedom

Join Bishop Dunlop for a brief Bible study, updates about exciting events across our synod, and a conversation about the ELCA document, "The Use and the Means of Grace" that addresses communion practices in the ELCA and how that informs who we are as Lutheran Christians. You can find this document on the ELCA website here as a downloadable PDF and additional resources for study at www.elca.org/worship. Check the Congregation Connections page on our synod website for dates, locations, and times.