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                                                                                             April 2014
      
                         The Virginia 
                      LUTHERAN 
Bringing you news of the Virginia Synod since 1921.

 

Volunteers glean tons of food

                          

            Last year, Shenandoah Valley Lutherans were among the 2,178 volunteers who gleaned over 263,000 pounds---that's 132 tons---of food from Frederick County area farms for distribution to hungry people by 60 agencies. A total of two million pounds of fruit and vegetables was gleaned in Virginia last year.              

            Their work was celebrated Sunday, March 30, at the seventh annual Hunger Summit of the Winchester district of the Society of St. Andrew Gleaning Network, held at the Stephens City United Methodist Church.

            The gleaning network connects volunteers, farmers and distribution agencies to save crops left to rot or be plowed under on farms. The food is passed along to those in need at food pantries.  The Society of St. Andrew, a national organization, is based at Big Island in Bedford County.

            Betty Heishman, Winchester district coordinator for the program, urged the volunteers, "Watch for waste." She asked them to look for places that might generate waste food, such as businesses and schools. 

In This Issue
Lutherans in the news
Bishop Eaton to speak at LTSS
What is good news?
Carol Mauney Robinson dies
College students build
Henrickson receives Habitat award
President Eleaser meets Virginia friends
Aging activity planned
Six approved for ordination
Seeing what is in front of us
Talking together cross-culturally
Price named assistant to the bishop
Brandon Oaks recognized
Thank you from Micah's Backpack
Lutheran night at the symphony
One month left!
Learning to use media in the church

   

Lutherans in the news

    

VanderWel

            Shanna VanderWel, youth minister at Muhlenberg, Harrisonburg, will be commissioned as a diaconal minister at her home congregation, St. John's, Kildeer, North Dakota, on Sunday, April 6. She has accepted a call to Muhlenberg, continuing campus ministry and connecting youth and outreach programs and events with the wider community.She's a graduate of North Dakota Statea University and Luther Seminary. Her husband, Ryan VanderWel, plans to study chemistry. Also, the congregation's Muhlenberg Players  will be holding workshops in acting games, dramatic performance, expression, story-telling and writing. The congregation's Gloria Dei Ringers will participate in a regional festival of Handbell Musicians of America in Chesapeake April 4-5.

            Roanoke College President Michael Maxey will speak at a banquet during a reunion marking the 140th Anniversary of the founding of Marion College on May 17 in Marion. Several tours of local attractions will include a visit to the Job Corps, current occupant of the old Marion campus. A commemorative tree planting will be held on the former college grounds.

            Dr. Paul Wee, a former assistant general secretary for international affars and human rights for the Lutheran World Federation and a member of the United Nations Observer Mission to South Africa, was the visiting theologian at Luther Memorial, Blacksburg, on March 30-31. His theme was "Now the eyes of my eyes are open: Pursuing peace and justice."

            Ed Kilbourne, a folk theologian who teaches and preaches with story-telling, guitar and song will be performing at First, Norfolk, on Sunday, April 6. He performed at Power in  the Spirit in 2012. Planning is under way to start a photography club at First Lutheran. "It's impossible not to see God's work in every single photo, whether it's a picture of a bug, a bird, a mountain, a gorgeous sunrise or a picture of our loved ones," according to The Contact, the congregation's newsletter.

            Jackie Bourque, St. Paul, Strasburg, a leader in Synod activities, has been elected secretary of the Region 9 Council.

            "Jesus, Son of Our Father," a musical setting of the Gospel of John, will be presented at Trinity Ecumenical Parish, Moneta, on Saturday, April 12, at 3 p.m. The text was written by Bishop Emeritus Richard Bansemer and the music was composed by Aaron Garber, music director at Trinity. Pastor Philip Bouknight will sing the role of Jesus. An orchestra will accompany the choir. Trinity is setting up a Neighbors Helping Neighbors (NHN) program to help residents of the nearby Smith Mountain Lake community "age 60 and older, to live comfortably." Some of the services proposed are transportation to medical , church, bank, grocery and salon appointments, telephone checks, basic household repairs and home maintenance. On Good Friday, Trinity plans a service for children, highlighting Jesus' journey from his triumphant entrance into Jerusalem to his resurrection. Members of four other churches will join Trinity, said Pastor Philip Bouknight.

            Pastor Sandy Wisco, St. Mark, Charlottesville, will begin a sabbatical period after Easter, returning in August after a "time of study and refreshment." Jeffrey W. McClurken, a former member of St. Mark, is one of 12 faculty members in Virginia to receive the 2014 Outstanding Faculty Award administered by the State Council of Higher Education. McClurken, "teaching with technology" recipient, is chair of History and American Studies at the University of Mary Washington.

            A Brat Bowl, a "friendly" game of football between St. Andrew and Holy Communion, Portsmouth, raised a total of $1,137 for the Food Bank of Southeastern Virginia. St. Andrew helped the Oasis program in  Portsmouth serve 44,000 lunches and breakfast in a soup kitchen, provided 183,000 meals to the community and delivered monthly supplies of groceries to 76 low-income, often disabled seniors last year.

            Five members of Bethel, Winchester, traveled to India in February to visit Bethania Kid's Homes supported by the congregation. About 1,000 disadvantaged, handicapped or abandoned youngsters are served by the centers. Planning has started at Bethel for a Global Missions trip to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of Operation Bootstrap Africa and the 20th anniversary of Maasae Girls Lutheran Secondary School.   

            Libby Lipscomb Boyer, organist at Apostles, Gloucester, presented a concert at the 1734 St. John's Episcopal Church in King William County on Sunday, March16.. Boyer traces her family's roots to her ancestors who lived in the county and attended this church since the 1600s.

            A Summer Seminar of the Institute for Ecumenical Research, an arm of the Lutheran World Federation, will be held in Strasbourg, France, July 2-9. Dr. Sarah Hinlicky Wilson, daughter of the Rev. Paul and Ellen Hinlicky, Roanoke County, is associate professor at the Institute.

            A Seventh Day Adventist Spanish congregation which worships at Trinity, Roanoke, on Saturdays, will hold a Health Day program on Saturday, April 12, featuring talks on heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and diet by Dr. John Kelly, a physician focusing on preventative care.

            On Tuesday, April 22, a number of restaurants in the Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Radford area will donate 10 percent of their profit to Our House, an organization providing temporary winter thermal shelter and compassionate care to homeless men in the New River Valley.

            Pastor Lanny Westphal, director of the ELCA Global Church Sponsorship, is offering a free copy of the 2014 Global Church Annual Directory, highlighting ELCA missionaries, scholarships and ministries and providing an overview of the church's global engagement. An order may be placed at 800-638-3522 or [email protected].

            Trinity, Stephens City, is seeking a director of  parish programming to work in church programming, volunteer recruitment and office management, according to Pastor Cameron Keyser.         

 

ELCA Bishop Elizabeth Eaton

to speak at Southern Seminary

 

Bishop Eaton

  

     ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton will be the commencement speaker and  receive an honorary degree from Southern Seminary on Saturday, May 24. The 10 a.m. service will be held at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Columbia, S.C. This will be her first degree from a Lutheran school, according to Dr. Clay Schmit, seminary provost.

Another degree will be awarded to Maj. Gen. Howard Stendahl, a Lutheran pastor who is chief of chaplains in the Pentagon, the highest chaplaincy rank in the Air Force.

           Following its merger with Lenoir-Rhyne University, the Seminary announced that it will house the new Lenoir-Rhyne University Center for Graduate Studies of Columbia, beginning Aug. 21. Three master of arts degree programs in counseling, human services and leadership are proposed. The human services and leadership programs are pending state approval, Schmit said..

            Seminary Prof. Emeritus Thomas Ridenhour will join composers Marty Haugen and Susan Briehl for presentations and workshops on the Seminary's annual Alumni Day, May 2.

 

What is good news?

    by Anna Havron, Gettysburg Seminary 

 

Anna Havron is a seminarian at Gettysburg seminary. Starting next summer, as part of her training to be a pastor, she will be serving as a vicar for a year in Wilmington, DE. She wrote this column for the Bethel Banner, newsletter of Bethel, Winchester.

 

In my first theology class, the professor asked us to answer three questions at the beginning of the semester, and we were to answer the same three questions at the end of the semester. Here are the questions:

What is the Good News?

What makes it good?

What makes it news?

As I write this in mid-March, snow is coming down, and right now I am completely sick of winter. Yesterday, five satiny purple crocus buds popped up in our garden. Today they are crushed under six inches of wet snow. But this morning while Dean and I were digging out the cars, he pointed up into the tree branches above and said, "Look who is watching us!"         

 It was a robin, and the robin's chest looked vividly red against all those ridges of white snow frosting the bare maple branches. Immediately I felt my spirits lift. The robin was not frightened by our scraping and shoveling or by the noise of the car engines running, and I thought, "Who cares if we're shoveling more snow. There's a robin. Finally, this winter is coming to an end."

            As you read this, I hope snow is just a memory and that spring flowers and birdsong surround us. I know from living in Vermont and Michigan and Alaska that no matter how much snow comes down, winter won't -- can't -- last forever. Still, it's one thing to know it in your head and another to get to experience the warming breezes, the rich smell of garden soil, the bright yellows and purples of daffodils and crocuses

after a long winter, at least to me, spring still comes as a startling sensory revelation. Fresh green growth! New blooming life!

            Martin Luther insisted on what he called the "theology of the cross," the idea that God is paradoxically found in what appears to us to be ultimate defeat. Luther taught that Christ's love and presence are inseparable from us even -- especially -- when it feels to us like new life will never come. God is not "out there." God is right here, Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit are right here, always, with us. Winter cannot hold back spring. Sin and Death cannot hold back the in-breaking of God's kingdom, God's grace and God's love.

And for me, that is along the lines of how I currently answer the professor's three questions:

What is the Good News? The Good News is that defeat and death are neither the whole story, nor the end of the story: God's love, God's grace, and our unending life in Christ is.

What makes it good? This news is good because even in the depths, new life comes, and dry bones live again; and this amazing, mysterious transformation happens not only in death but throughout our lives.

What makes it news? This news is news because in the depths we rarely see it for ourselves, but luckily we have witnesses from Scripture on, that Life not death, has, and IS, the final Word. Amen!

 

Carol Mauney Robinson dies

 

            Carol Mauney Robinson, sister of Bishop Jim Mauney and daughter of retired Pastor Marshall Mauney, died in Norfolk on March 17 after a long siege of cancer. Also surviving are her husband, Bill Robinson, and children, Katie, Caroline and Michael.

The funeral was conducted on March 22 at First Lutheran, Norfolk.

 

College Students build houses on spring break

 

           During the Roanoke College spring break in March, two teams of students traveled to Nicaragua and Columbia, S.C., to build houses. Ten students, led by Jesse Griffin, director of the college's Center for Engagement, helped build 11 houses in a small village in Southern Nicaragua. They stayed with local families, laying brick and assembling materials for "grunt work," Griffin said. The students, enrolled in a "Culture and Civic Responsibility" course, had a close look at poverty. 

            Others helped renovate a house, rebuilt floors, poured concrete and did finishing work with Habitat for Humanity, in Columbia, S.C., led by Chaplain Chris Bowen.

            The women's lacrosse team played and coached at Puerto Rico and the men's team taught Puerto Rican children to play lacrosse on a trip to Texas. 

 

Paul Henrickson receives S.C. Habitat award

Meeting at the Habitat award event in Columbia, S.C., were (from left) Steve Davis, building supervisor for Central, S.C. Habitat; Paul Henrickson; Matt Henrickson, Paul's son and site supervisor for the S.C. chapter; Brian Clark, , building supervisor for Roanoke, V.A.; and, William Greer, Church Relations, Roanoke College. 

Pastor Paul Henrickson, recently retired Roanoke College chaplain, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Central South Carolina Chapter of Habitat for Humanity in Columbia, S. C., March 20.

            Henrickson said he received his first grant of $1,000 from the former Lutheran Church in America to lead his first spring break student trip to Columbia to work on Habitat projects 28 years ago. Since that trip, the college has turned the $1,000 grant into approximately $500,000 for Habitat projects, he said. Henrickson has led many student trips to work on the homes at Columbia.

            Talking about "what God can do with $1,000," he held up a $1,000 check which he and his wife, Jennifer, presented to the Central South Carolina Habitat Chapter.

 

President Tobey Eleaser meets Virginia friends 

President Eleasar had lunch with Diane Giessler (right) and Karen Mayer at Roanoke College.

            

          District President Toby Eleasar of Papua New Guinea was warmly greeted when he stepped off a plane March 20 after a 13,000-mile flight to Roanoke for a three-week visit with his new Virginia companion synod friends from Bristol to Norfolk. In his first trip outside his native Pacific country, Eleazar said he wanted to bridge the cultures and church members in the two countries.

            Traveling with Bishop Jim Mauney and Diana Giessler, coordinator of the Companion Synod program and chair of the Synod's Global Misssion's Committee, Eleazar is visiting more than 20 congregations, many of them supporters of the 35 congregations in his district. He told of 10,000 Lutherans in 17 districts in Papua New Guinea.

            Although surpassed by Catholics in numbers, he said Lutherans are growing in his country. Oil companies are expanding, bringing new people.  But Papua New Guinea is a poor country. Larger nations come in and take its natural resources such as copper and gold, "leaving us nothing," he said.

            Bishop Mauney hailed the visiting pastor as "a dear brother and a faithful minister" and recalled their first meeting on his visit to Papua New Guinea in 2008. In Eleasar, the bishop found "a well-read theologian who expressed interest in having greater communication between our synod and their district for the purpose of the fellowship of sharing theology and prayers."

            Among those greeting the district president was Pastor Wynemah Hinlicky of College.Salem, who was born in Papua New Guinea to missionary parents. Bishop Emeritus Richard Bansemer, Ann Mitchell of Lynchburg and Giessler recalled their visits to the far-off country. He had never seen snow but he found it on this trip.

 

Aging activity planned in Richmond

 

At 92, Carolyn Huntley of Epiphany, Richmond, has been active in bringing together members of Richmond-area Lutheran churches to form a partnership with Virginia Commonwealth University's (VCU's) Department of Gerontology.

The group includes Pastor Phillip Martin of Epiphany, Rev. Liz Yates, and Ellen

Hinlicky, director of the Virginia Synod's Lutheran Partners in Mission. The Gerontology program at VCU, chaired by Dr. E. Ayn Welleford, has offered a wealth of resources to Virginia Lutherans through the Gerontology department's AGEWell VA program: www.agewellva.com.

         The group hopes to sponsor an activity for Richmond-area churches in the upcoming year. Huntley and her husband, the Rev. Joe Huntley, for many years directed an active seniors group at Epiphany.


Six candidates approved for ordination

 

Six women and men were approved for ordination, subject to acceptance of a call, at two recent meetings of the Synod Candidacy Committee, according Pastor Chris Price, Synod staff support for the committee. These names are sent to the ELCA Conference of Bishops for assignment to synods and regions of the church.

They are Curtis Black, Kerri Wadzita Clark, Richard Goeres, Barbara Krumm, David Walters and Sonja Williams-Giersch. Black, Goeres and Walters will be graduating from Southern Seminary. Clark and Krumm are graduating from Gettysburg and William Giersch is completing studies at Gettysburg.

Black entered the candidacy process from St. Andrew, Portsmouth. Clark came from St. Michael, Virginia Beach. Goeres, a son of Pastor Rick Goeres of First, Norfolk, entered the process from St. Paul, Strasburg. Krumm is a member of St. John, Norfolk. Walters is from First, Norfolk.  Williams-Giersch has been serving the Gravel Springs Parish in Frederick County through the ELCA Theological Education for Emerging Ministries (TEEM) program. She entered the process as a member of St. Paul, Strasburg.


Seeing what is in front of us

     by Pastor JoannaStallings, Luther Memorial, Blacksburg

 

What do you do when you go to Philadelphia?  Do you check out the architecture? The sports teams?   Do you go for the art, the flower show, or the historical sites?  Well, if you go with the college students you go for the service learning. 

Last week five of us drove North with friends from UVA to the city of Brotherly Love; a city that is also ranked as 4th in the nation for hunger and poverty.  One in every four residents of Philly is a recipient of SNAP or food stamps.  We visited ministries where they teach people transferable skills, heard about churches that are lending agents to neighborhood businesses/mosques/temples, toured areas by the railroad tracks where people "live" under the parking decks. We volunteered at two enormous food distribution centers, talked and worshipped with people from different religious traditions. Yes, we managed to squeeze in some historical sightseeing.

On Thursday afternoon we were in center city where it was windy and bitter cold. It was probably 7 degrees with the wind chill.  My colleague and I were walking across Independence Mall to get coffee.  We passed a group of people waiting for the bus.  There were three people that stood out; a mother and her two children.  The four-year- old girl was huddled next to her mother wearing white leggings, a bright yellow cotton sundress, and a long sleeved shirt that she had pulled over her hands. Her bare ankles and feet were pushed into sneakers. She wasn't wearing a jacket or even a sweater. Her eighteen month old brother was in a similar state; wearing sweatshirt and jeans.  The boy was plastered against his mother's neck. The mother was clad against the elements in a thin fleece jacket.  I was so shocked that I am not sure I knew what I was seeing until later that evening when I had time to process the experience. 

Sometimes we have to go to somewhere else to "see" what is right in front of us. I know that this happens in our 'burg on our own street corners.  It would be easy to feel overwhelmed and discouraged by the abject misery that surrounds us.  Such experiences remind us that we live in a dark and sinful world.  On the other hand, we could see this as an opportunity.

 This kind of  experience can strengthen our will to partner with agencies and ministries that do God's work of bringing light and love to those in need.  May God grant us courage to move forward with hope.

 

            (From Bread for the Journey, a newsletter of Luther Memorial, Blacksburg)

 

Talking Together as Christians Cross-Culturally

             

The Synod's All-Inclusive Outreach Team will present a strategic new program, "Talking Together as Christians Cross-Culturally," beginning April 26, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Gloria Dei in Hampton. With the support of Bishop Jim Mauney, the team has developed the program in response to Resolution 4 passed at the June 2013 Synod Assembly, calling for expansion of cross-cultural conversations in "every willing congregation."

Based on the ELCA's Talking Together as Christians Cross-Culturally, A Field

Guide,the program will first be offered for churches in the Tidewater and Peninsula conferences. Somewhat akin to the ACTS Program, it is designed to take place on Saturdays (specifically, on three non-ACTS Saturdays, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.) with small group meetings in between.

Program sessions will explore the Field Guide's three guiding principles for mission:

"Listening to God in Scripture and Prayer," "Listening to the Household of Faith" and "Listening to the Community Outside of Our Doors." Attendees will be stimulated to discern the implications of the guiding principles for their congregations. The sessions' format will alternate between Synod and guest speaker presentations, interactive discussion, and reporting by the small groups, with effort to ensure that "all the voices at the table" are valued in the discernment.

The program is free, though a $10 fee per session for lunch will be payable at the door. The Field Guide can be downloaded for free. Dates and locations of the sessions:

Sat., April 26 - Session I, Gloria Dei, Hampton

Sat., May 17 - Session II, St. Paul, Hampton

Sat., Sept. 20 - Session III, Our Saviour, VA Beach

Spring "Reunion" - Sharing of Outreach Project Experience, St. Andrew, Portsmouth - Date TBA

      The team said, 

"Let's commit ourselves to making this happen in our Synod, for the sake of God's mission and the world!"

 

            Team members are Bill Smith, Hank Jud, Emma Elley, Sylvia Elley,  Dr. Phyllis Milton and Pastors Tim Waltonen, Harry Griffith, Lou Florio, Aaron Fuller and Chris Farrow. Pastor CeCee Mills and Melinda Barnhardt Jud are team leaders. 

 

Pastor Chris Price named

3/4 time bishop's assistant

  

Price

          Pastor J. Christopher "Chris" Price, retired senior pastor of Epiphany, Richmond, has joined the Synod staff as a � time assistant to the bishop, effective April 1. Bishop Jim Mauney called Price "a gifted theologian and seasoned pastor (with) more than 30 years of excellent pastoral experience," in his announcement.

            Price grew up in Hebron, Madison, graduated from Roanoke College, where he has served as a trustee for more than 30 years, and also graduated from Gettysburg Seminary and served as associate pastor at Trinity, Newport News, before moving to Epiphany almost 30 years ago. He was named pastor emeritus after he retired last year. He has been on Synod Council, dean of the Richmond Conference, chair of the Candidacy Committee and a member of the Examining Committee. He and his wife, Terry, have two daughters, Katie and Meghan.

            At Epiphany, he "led the congregation through three long strategic major campaigns that led to growth in congregational programming, staffing, facilities, membership and discipleship."

            Price will continue to live in Richmond, and work primarily with the four conferences east of the mountains for evangelical mission with their congregations, the bishop said. This will continue duties formerly held by Pastor Jean Bozeman before she retired as an assistant to the bishop, working from Norfolk.

            Mauney said he is asking Price to visit pastors and parishes, "listen with a pastor's heart for how the life of Jesus is being shared with others" and consider how to establish a foundation of healthy congregations, foster conversations for new ministries and new starts, working ecumenically, seek to help gifted pastors to begin new places with other congregations, help find ways to raise funds for new starts and help do more to create a plan for mission.                            

            The bishop wants Price to ask congregations east of the mountains if "they are seeking to survive or are they actively seeking to tell others about Jesus?" Other questions for him to ask the eastern congregations: Do they seem to have joy in the work of the gospel? Do they have an eye on the community? Do they have a sense about a new campaign for their life in the name of Jesus? Are there opportunities for new ministries and new starts? What about their stewardship, their support for their pastor and how might they work ecumenically?

            Also, Mauney asked Price to consider how the church can be confessional, emphasize Christian formation and speak the gospel to an ever increasing culture that does not want to be part of an institutional church. "What about the neighborhoods and contexts in which we are located? Who is my neighbor?" 

 

Brandon Oaks draws national recognition

                          

Brandon Oaks Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Roanoke has been recognized by U.S. News and World Report as a 5-star rated facility, earning distinction as one of the "best nursing homes in the nation." Only 22% of nursing home facilities in Virginia earned this designation.

U.S. News and World report has long provided information for consumers and for the past six years has been ranking a growing area of the health care field - nursing homes. Nearly every facility in the nation is given a rating of 1 to 5 stars in the categories of: state-conducted health inspections, nursing staff time with residents and the quality of medical care provided to residents. These ratings also coincide with data collected from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, who also rate on a 5-star system. U.S. News and World Report also provides information to aid families in selecting a nursing home.

Avery Comarow, U.S. News health rankings editor, said facilities recognized with the Best Nursing Home 2014 distinction speaks to care that is steadily becoming more skilled and compassionate. 

For more information on the U.S News and World Report Nursing Home rankings and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, visit the following: 

http://health.usnews.com/best-nursing-homes 

and www.medicare.gov/nursinghomecompare/, respectively.

 

Thank you from Micah's Backpack program

                          

Thank you to everyone who makes Micah's Backpack
a fun and rewarding way to share gifts of food with children in our community.

 

Lutheran night at the symphony

                            

            Monday, March 17, was Lutheran night in Roanoke as the Roanoke Symphony played the premiere performance of "Blue Ridge Rhapsody," by Steve Brown of Our Saviour, Christiansburg, and Tara Bouknight of Trinity Ecumenical Parish, Moneta, sang a leading role in a Prokofiev cantata. Several Lutheran singers were among the four choral groups in the concert at Roanoke Performing Arts Theatre.

Brown

            Brown, whose day job is music director for Roanoke Public Radio Station WVTF, also is organist/music director at Our Saviour. In his composition, he said he wanted "to pay tribute to this area in music." His work, hailed by the audience and a critic, has three parts: a section for trombone or euphonium, a tune based on the old hymn, "How Firm a Foundation," and selections of mountain music with a fiddle, bass and snare drum.

            Brown's musical interest started in a high school band in California in 1966. He came to this region after 21 years in the Navy. He also serves as associate conductor of a concert band in Blacksburg.          

            Tara Bouknight, wife of  Pastor Philip Bouknight, sang  the mezzo soprano role in the cantata. An accomplished former operatic singer, she teaches voice and serves as an adjunct faculty member at Lynchburg and Randolph colleges. She has had many leading roles with operatic companies and symphonies.

            Among the more than 200 choral singers were Pastor David Skole and Nancy Delaney, organist and music director at Christ, Roanoke.  

 

One month left!

  logo malaria                           

With less than one month to go 'til World Malaria Sunday on April 27, the Virginia Synod Malaria Task Group recommends:

1) Re-read Bishop Mauney's Ash Wednesday message and make good use of it during Lent.  This is the last month of the Bishop's 100 Net Challenge.

            2) Activate your congregation with helpful resources form ELCA.org and Team2017.org

            3) Download the free World Malaria Day Congregation Toolkit.  (If prompted for password, simply hit "cancel" and the download should begin)

      4) Educate others with a special World Malaria Day PowerPoint presentation and script.

Got a malaria display in your narthex?

        5) Get details about how the ELCA Malaria Campaign will work in Namibia by downloading the Namibia country profile.

       6) Ordebrochures, stickers, poster and offering envelopes.
       7)  Watch one of the ELCA Malaria Campaign videos during adult forum, Sunday School, Bible study, or youth group.
         8) Visit http://www.team2017.org/malaria/index.html for bulletin inserts, videos, and other useful information and resources!

 

Learning to use media in the church

     by Pastor Aaron DeBenedetto, Emmanuel, Virginia Beach

                             

The Tidewater Church Media Conference or tidewatercmc is here for YOU!  As a leader in your church, God has entrusted you with the sharing of the Gospel and the empowering of your people to do ministry in every area of their lives.  God provides an infinite number of ways to do that.

 Our world may be changing as technology becomes more and more prevalent, but it doesn't have to compete with Jesus Christ.  The media can communicate the very clear message of our loving God in ways that Paul never dreamed.  Come explore the tools at our fingertips that could change somebody's life eternally!

             The schedule: Saturday May 3 from 9 a.m.-3 p.m., with optional field trip to follow

The theme: Social Media and Mobile Marketing

The cost: $20, includes lunch

 The location: St. Timothy Lutheran Church, Norfolk

 The Topics: Workshops in: Administrator Forum, Bridging the Tech Gap, Church Advertising and Marketing, Email Marketing & Best Practices: eTapestry, Constant Contact, and MailChimp, Going Tech in Worship, Google Docs and Dropbox, Helpful Resources for Pastors, the Importance of Social Media in Church Ministry, New Worship Music Ideas, and Website Considerations

            For more information and registration, visit: www.tidewatercmc.com.

 

THE VIRGINIA LUTHERAN

A MONTHLY NEWS PUBLICATION OF THE VIRGINIA SYNOD, ELCA

 

Editor:  George Kegley   
Voice: 540-366-4607;  Email: [email protected]
Post:  301 Tinker Creek Lane, NE, Roanoke, VA  24019


Deadline for submission of articles is the 10th of each month. 

 Photographs must be separate from text and in .jpg format only.

 

Any portion of this publication may be reprinted

for use in local church publications with appropriate credit.