October 28, 2015

Winterfest 2016 Offers LutheranHANDS-on Pre-Event

Winterfest 2016, our synod's annual senior high and young adult event, officially begins on Saturday, January 2, 2016, at the Lancaster Host Resort. "Community" is this year's theme and title, and it's not only a title but also an opportunity to serve locally. 

Congregations can opt to arrive on Friday, January 1, for a pre-event offered by LutheranHANDS. Participants who choose this Friday night pre-event can look forward to a local service activity held on site in the Lancaster Expo Center that will support Lancaster County ministries. Included in the evening will be a gathering with music and speakers and time for fellowship and games in the Expo Center following the evening service activity. 

The price for the early registrants also includes a Friday evening snack, overnight stay at the Host and Saturday breakfast meal. Participants will also be able to access early check-in for our Winterfest event itself.  

LutheranHANDS Please visit our synod website at: http://www.lss-elca.org/youth-family/events/winterfest/, for promotional materials, more details, or to register. Both Winterfest and our LutheranHANDS pre-event are open to high school youth and young adults through age 24, plus their adult advisors and mentors. 

 Hugues Bastian to Visit Trinity, Chambersburg, November 14-15

Hugues Bastien, the director of the school Institution Univers in Ouanaminthe, Haiti, will visit Trinity Lutheran Church, Chambersburg the weekend of November 14-15. Bastien is an extraordinary and visionary leader, who with the help of his Haitian friends founded the school in 1994 to address the needs of young people in his community. Through his work with Institution Univers, and in partnership with Hope in Haiti, Bastien has connected to a large number of congregational members in the western half of our Lower Susquehanna Synod. These congregations, through Hope in Haiti, send mission teams each summer to run one week of a summer camp for the school, which now has 2,400 students in 13 grades, along with a health center, a technological center for continued education after high school, and a bakery. Click here for more about Hugues Bastien and his ministry.

Trinity Lutheran Church invites you to hear this dynamic story at one of our three weekend services (Saturday, November 14 at 5:00 p.m., or Sunday,  November 15 at either our traditional service starting at 9:00 a.m. or our contemporary service at 11:15 a.m.). Also, all are welcome to meet and greet Hugues Bastien and others involved in Hope in Haiti at a Pot Luck reception in the church social hall beginning at 12:30 p.m. following the contemporary service. Please RSVP to James Druckenbrod at [email protected].

Note: Hope In Haiti began in 2007 as an expansion of the summer mission trips to Ouanaminthe, Haiti, that started when Jillian Rockey and Carol Forbes traveled to Institution Univers in 2005. In addition to mission trips, the group celebrates its broad membership with an August picnic at Kentland Retreat Center, and it raises money for all aspects of its programs through various area fundraisers. It also raises money for the charitable home organization of the school (www.cocinahaiti.org).

Currently five graduates of Institution Univers are pursuing higher education in our synod through congregations and private donors: Pascal Florival through Trinity Lutheran, Chambersburg, Erwens Fleurant through a private donor, Angrand Karl-Doudy and Elie Jean-Berno through Ascension Lutheran, Willow Street, and Audate Starson through a private donor. 

For more information about how you can help or become involved with Hope in Haiti, contact Sarah (Person) Williams at [email protected].  

Thanks to Global Mission Committee member Jim Druckenbrod for submitting this article! Have a global mission story to share? Please contact Sharron Blezard [email protected].

IMPORTANT REMINDER from Portico Benefits

With just days left until the October 30 Employer Selection deadline, Portico reports that some sponsoring employers still haven't submitted their ELCA-Primary health benefit option for next year.

All congregations and organizations that currently sponsor a plan member are required to submit a health benefit election, even if they want to keep their current health benefit option.
If your congregation cannot meet the October 30 deadline, please call Portico Benefits immediately at 800-352-2876.

Rostered leaders and covered ministry employees will need to make benefit selections in November. Materials were sent to each covered employee several weeks ago. Please call Portico Benefits if you have any questions.

Leadership Link of the Week

Our synod grows stronger because its dedicated leaders continue to learn new ways of approaching ministry and serving God's people. Check here each week for a link to a video, article, podcast, powerpoint presentation or other media that will help our leaders embrace new ideas and learn new insights into ministry. (Photo: Chris Carter, Creative Commons)

7 Reasons Why Church Leaders Should Exercise Regularly
Let's face it: Being a professional church leader in today's culture is hard, hard work! We face stresses all around us. Our churches face tight budgets, need for growth in attendance and programs to raise up disciples. Personally we face demands on our time and energy from family and the people we serve. Is it any wonder that professional church leaders fall into unhealthy patterns of self-care? Regular exercise is one prescription for some of these ailments, as writer Ron Edmondson points out. Would that work for you? Did you know that if you join a participating fitness club that Portico will reimburse you up to $20 per month for your club fees, providing you work out eight times per month? (Log into Portico to learn more about the fitness benefit.)  

Nov. 12 TED Talk: Rekindling Stewardship for Advent
Advent of Lectionary Year C offers the perfect opportunity to talk about the proper use of God's gifts. Luke's gospel, which takes center stage in Year C, is all about money. Including the Magnificat (with its wonderfully subversive economic underpinnings), Year C's Advent texts provide an excellent backdrop for a giving-response program, or for a follow-up to a stewardship emphasis that concluded earlier this fall.  Come to this TED Talk to get some ideas on preaching and teaching stewardship for Advent - as well as for the rest of Lectionary Year C. Leaders will be Pastors Robert and Sharron Blezard, assistants to the bishop.

Hold the Date for "Healthy Congregations" 
Our December  TED Talk will feature Pastor Dan Biles, an expert in family and systems theory. Pastor Biles will review "Healthy Congregations" and how church leaders can work to improve church life. Join us from 10:00 a.m. - noon on December 10.

Our synod's monthly TED (Theology, Evangelism and Discipleship) Talks cover topics of interest to congregational leaders free and open to anyone. They are held every second Thursday of the month from 10 a.m. - Noon in the lunchroom of the United Church Center (where our synod office is located), 900 S. Arlington Ave., Harrisburg. Bring a lunch and we can share a fellowship meal and talk afterwards. In order that we have enough resources to go around, please RSVP to Cathy Deitrich at the synod offices, [email protected].

prayers
Prayers and Updates 
  
Our synod prayer list is updated frequently and posted on the website. To be redirected to the complete prayer list click here.

...prayers for the family and friends of the Rev. Craig J. Dorward, who died Sunday, October 25, at age 88. Services will be held Friday, October 30, at 10:30 a.m., in Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Lebanon. The family will receive friends from 10:00 - 10:30 a.m., and a private interment will follow the service. Click here to be redirected to the obituary.

...prayers for those affected by the powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake in Afghanistan's Hindu Kush region that has taken hundreds of lives, including 12 girls who were crushed in a stampede as they fled their collapsing school, and more than 200 in nearby Pakistan. 

...continued prayers for our brothers and sisters in the Konde Diocese and the people of Tanzania as they await results from last Sunday's important elections.

Check out ELCA Prayer Ventures by clicking here and download daily prayer petitions each month.
Have a prayer request to share with others in our synod? Please contact Pr. Sharron Blezard at [email protected]. 

Give + Receive + Share = News to Use from our Synod Office

CLICK TO GIVE: It's Easier Than Ever to Make a Difference with your Mission Support!
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.

You are Cordially Invited . . .
Sunday, November 8, 4:00 p.m.
Installation of the Rev. Alison Bowlan
Salem Lutheran Church, 26 Owl Hill Rd., Lititz. The color of the day is green.
Sunday, November 15, 3:00 p.m.
Installation of the Rev. Marleen Griffith-Stull
St. John Lutheran Church, 8 Linden Ave., Mercersburg. The color of the day is green. Refreshments will be served following the service, and guests will have opportunity to shop at the congregation's SERRV Fair Trade Fair.
Saturday, December 5, 10:00 a.m.
Ordination of Anne Confer Martens
St. James Lutheran Church, Pottstown
Anne has been called by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod to serve as associate chaplain at the Hill School.

Wanted: A New Home for Our Synod Office
As a way of containing the costs and reducing our footprint to permit our important ministries to continue and expand, our Lower Susquehanna Synod Office plans to move from its present location in 2017. Bishop Dunlop has appointed a task force to plan for our new office space. The first step is to explore possible locations. Our first preference would be to use existing space in one of our congregation's church buildings or in one of our related agencies' properties. We would prefer to be in the Harrisburg area or near the geographical center of our synod, which is near Dillsburg.  We would like to have adequate parking, to be near main highways, and to be permitted to repurpose the space to meet our needs. Congregations and agencies that would be willing to explore with the task force the possibilities of allowing our synod to use space in their buildings for our offices, please contact Pastor Thomas McKee, synod secretary at 1-800-692-7282, ext. 111 or at [email protected]

Check the Synod Calendar on our website for a complete listing of meetings and gatherings. Inclement weather closings of our office are announced on the answering machine (ext. 100) and our Facebook page.

books
Opportunities for Education...  
CLICK HERE to be redirected to our synod website for detailed information about upcoming events. We add events and update our website weekly.
COMING SOON...
October 29
Preaching Perspectives: "Light into our Darkness: Waiting, Receiving, and Seeing God Made Visible in our World"
Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary
November 1
Luther Rose Lecture "Martin Luther: Then & Now" with the Rev. Dr. Richard Carlson
Palm Lutheran Church, 11 W. Cherry St., Palmyra
November 2
The Mission of God in an Intercultural and Interreligious World: Lutheran-Anglican-Roman-Catholic (LARC) Day of Dialogue with the Rev. Dr. Robert S. Heaney
Cardinal Keeler Center, 4800 Union Deposit Rd., Harrisburg (Click here to register.)
November 3, 10,17,24, and Dec. 1
Creation & Science Series (on-campus or online) *Discount for congregations
Lutheran Theological Seminary Philadelphia. Click here to register.
Friday, November 6
Boundary Training for Rostered Leaders and other Ministry Professionals
8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Epiphany Lutheran Church, 1100 Colonial Rd., Harrisburg (Registration closes Monday, Oct. 30).

Be sure to check the Center for Faith Formation webpage for information about upcoming events and links for registration. Click here to be redirected.

Don't forget about all the fun and educational events at our area Lutheran Camps! Click here to visit the Lutheran Camping Corporation website and see what's happening at Nawakwa, Kirchenwald, and Wittel Farm.


Visit the Congregation Connections page on our synod's website to keep up with the specific details (including event times, contact information, publications, and registration information) of the many good things happening in the worshiping communities of our synod. (Click the blue hotlink at the beginning of this paragraph to be redirected.)

Please keep us posted about what's happening in your congregation and community. We are able to post photos, pdf documents and flyers, and contact information on our Congregation Connections website page. E-mail event information to [email protected].

Coming Soon...
October 28
Syrian Refugee Informational MeetingUnion Lutheran Church, 408 W. Market St., York
November 6
St. Petersburg Men's Ensemble in ConcertTrindle Spring Lutheran Church, 14 State Rd., Mechanicsburg
November 7
"Looking to the Future: Aging and Estate Planning," Zion Lutheran Church of Union Deposit, 5 W. Main St., Hershey
SERRV Fair Trade FairSt. Luke Lutheran Church, 1432 Heidelberg Ave., Schaefferstown
Annual Pork & Sauerkraut DinnerSt. Paul Lutheran Church, 201 W. Louther St., Carlisle
Sorensen in Concert at the Grove Community Coffee HouseSalem Lutheran Church, 99 York Rd., Jacobus
November 8
Special Service Honoring All U.S. Military Veterans, Living and Deceased,Zion Lutheran Church, 100 W. Main St. Hummelstown
Rejoicing Spirits Worship (a disABILITIES Ministry)St. Stephen Lutheran Church, 30 W. Main St., New Kingstown
An American in Paris--Great American Composers, with Paul Bisacchia, pianoTrinity Lutheran Church, 2000 Chestnut St., Camp Hill
To Share: 
Need hymnals, tables, Bibles, an organ, or choir robes? Check the Congregation Connections page of our Synod's website for a list of offerings by congregations who are willing to share what they no longer need. Have something to share with others? Let us know!

 
Employment listings are provided to synod congregations and related agencies free of charge. This service is made possible by your Mission Support of Lower Susquehanna Synod and ELCA.  Please provide a brief position description, contact information, and a link to a complete position description on your web site (if desired).  Send information to Sharron Blezard at [email protected]. Positions are posted for 60 days unless extended.
  
Visit the Employment Opportunities page on our website for a complete list of current job openings with more details.

Carings and Sharings is the e-newsletter of the Lower Susquehanna Synod. Its purpose is the sharing of news and events which raise up the mission and ministry of the synod and ELCA in our congregations, our synod, and the broader church. It is not intended to be an endorsement of every activity. Comments about this newsletter may be sent to Sharron Blezard, editor,  [email protected].

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