SECRETARY's REPORT 1. Since the Last Meeting of the Synod Council I
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REPORTS of the 2018 ASSEMBLY NORTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD of the EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH in AMERICA
REPORTS OF THE 2018 ASSEMBLY NORTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD of the EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH in AMERICA Mohegan Sun Arena Wilkes-Barre, PA June 8-9, 2018 CONTENTS: PART I Assembly Program Assembly Committees Assembly Reports Auditor’s Report Proposed Budget 2018 Assembly Minutes Voting Members PART II, Page 131 Constitution and Bylaws Standing and Continuing Resolutions PART III, Page 177 Congregational Statistics, 2017 Treasurer’s Acknowledgments Synodical Statistics, 2016 & 2017 PART IV, Page 215 Directories for: Synod Council Mission District Councils Synod Ministry Teams Synod Support Committees Boards of Institutions and Agencies Ordained Pastors Specialized Pastoral Care Professionals United Church of Christ Pastors Full-Communion Partner Denomination Pastors Deaconesses Associates in Ministry Diaconal Ministers Synodically Authorized Lay Ministers Slovak-Zion Synod Congregations Congregations, Listed by Location Social Ministry Agencies INDEX, Page 295 3 “Synod Assembly Plenary Session Minutes will be added when they are available “ 5 31st Annual Synod Assembly Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod, ELCA June 8-9, 2018 Mohegan Sun Arena Wilkes-Barre, PA 2018 Synod Assembly Program Friday, June 8, 2018 8:00 AM Registration Opens 9:00 - 11:00 AM Plenary Session One Introduction of Guests Opening Worship (with Order for the Opening of an Assembly) Adoption of the Program Report of the Nominating Committee/Floor Nominations First Ballot Report of the Bishop Greetings from Pastor President Gustavo Gómez Pascua Greetings from Ministries/Organizations -
The Lutheran Church in Slovakia: Five Years After Communism
Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe Volume 15 Issue 1 Article 1 2-1995 The Lutheran Church in Slovakia: Five Years After Communism Paul R. Hinlicky Evangelical Theological School, Slovakia Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/ree Part of the Christianity Commons, and the Eastern European Studies Commons Recommended Citation Hinlicky, Paul R. (1995) "The Lutheran Church in Slovakia: Five Years After Communism," Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe: Vol. 15 : Iss. 1 , Article 1. Available at: https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/ree/vol15/iss1/1 This Article, Exploration, or Report is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ George Fox University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ George Fox University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE LUTHERAN CHURCH IN SLOVAKIA: FIVE YEARS AFTER COMMUNISM by Paul R. Hinlicky Dr. Paul R. Hinlicky (Lutheran) is currently a professor of systematic theology at the Evangelical Theological School in Bratislava, Slovakia. He is an American of Slovak descent who was formerly the editor of the Lutheran Forum. This article was published in the February 1995 issue pf the Lutheran Forum and is here reprinted with the permission of the author and the editor. Historical Background For about one hundred years, virtually the entire nation of Slovakia (at that time, `upper Hungary') subscribed to the Augsburg Confession. Only at the cost of one of the cruelest episodes of the Counter- Reformation was the nation converted anew to Roman Catholicism. -
2019 Synod Assembly Materials
Metro D.C. Synod Assembly 2019 Report Table of Contents Preliminary Materials . Announcement Letter SynAsm19 Section 1 – Rules of Procedure and Agenda . Rules of Procedure 2019 . 2019 Synod Assembly Draft L Section 2 – Reports of Bishops and Assistants . ELCA 2019 Synod Assembly Letter / ELCA 2019 Synod Assembly Letter Spanish . ELCA Synod Assembly Report 2019 . Bishop Graham’s Synod Assembly Report 2019 . 2019 Synod Assembly Excuses . Assistant to the Bishop Assembly Report 2019 . Report of Director for Evangelical Mission through Jan 2019 . Report of Director for Evangelical Mission in Transition to Synod Assembly (post Jan 2019) Section 3 – Reports of Synod Council/ Primary Mission Table Section 4 – Report of the Treasurer . 2018FY Treasurer’s Report . 2020FY Metro DC Synod Spending Plan . 2020 Metro DC Synod Narrative Budget Section 5 – Reports of Tables, Divisions and Committees . New and Renewing Mission Table Report . New Connections Report for Synod Assembly 2019 . 2019 Office of Ecumenical Affairs Report . Racial Equity Team Report . Stewardship and Mission Support Table 2019 . Synodical Women’s Organization Report Section 6 – Report of Reference and Counsel . 2019-001 Greetings . 2019-001SP Greetings . 2019-002 VE – TS Section 7 – Report of the Nominating Committee . Candidate Information Form – Committee on Discipline Clergy – Rev. Eva Steege . Candidate Information Form – Committee on Discipline Lay – Birgit Campana . Candidate Information Form – Committee on Discipline Lay – Matthew Fuehrmeyer . Candidate Information Form – Committee on Discipline Lay – Katherine Wulff . Candidate Information Form – Synod Council At-Large – Rev. Eugene Kern . Candidate Information Form – Synod Council At-Large – Madelyn W . Candidate Information Form – Synod Council At-Large – Rev. Jeff Wilson . Candidate Information Form – Synod Council DC Lay – Michael Sonnenberg . -
Statement in Solidarity with Our Children and Youth
STATEMENT IN SOLIDARITY WITH OUR CHILDREN AND YOUTH Our children and youth are like a young Jeremiah prophesying to the people: For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jer. 29:11) Recently, the students, faculty and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida experienced tragedy. Seventeen people - students and teachers - were killed by a 19-year- old shooter. In response, students have invited their teachers, families and allies around the nation to join with them for a March for Our Lives on March 24, 2018 in Washington, DC; calling our country into a deeper conversation about school safety and second amendment rights and responsibilities. We recognize this incident is the latest in a long list of tragic shootings in our country and young people have been calling for protest and change for many years. Some of those young voices have been ignored or silenced because of racial and economic injustice. We cannot let that reality keep us from acting now. Adopted in 1994, the ELCA social message on Community Violence remains sadly relevant today. The message speaks about the causes of violence as complex and pervasive, and of how violence breeds violence. In proclaiming the forgiveness and love of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the church addresses the root of violence while being committed to social actions that respond directly to violence and the people it affects. From the Social Message: In the face of violence, God’s resolve for peace in human communities is unshakable. -
May 29, 2020 Special Edition of What Matters ELCA Bishops Respond to Recent Murders of Black Americans
May 29, 2020 Special Edition of What Matters ELCA Bishops Respond to Recent Murders of Black Americans Dear Partners in Ministry, In these past days I have been part of conversations among bishops leading to this attached statement, signed by every one of the ELCA’s Conference of Bishops. While the week’s killing in Minneapolis is the most recent, it is a reminder of many others… and a reminder that we continue to be the inheritors of a 400-year legacy of conflicted race relations, and the conscious and unconscious racial attitudes and behaviors that are part of this culture. As God’s people, we are called to stand with all who are marginalized, and called to confess that we have not always done so. And, finally, we are called to work for the changes in individual, cultural, and institutional patterns of behavior that perpetuate racism and privilege that plague us. May God’s spirit be with us in that work. Peter Rogness Bishop South-Central Synod of Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Church in America [email protected] What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8). The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) reaffirms its commitment to combating racism and white supremacy following the recent murders of Black Americans. Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Dreasjon (Sean) Reed, and George Floyd were our neighbors. Ahmaud Arbery was chased down, shot, and killed by a retired police officer and his son while jogging in Brunswick, Ga. -
Public Church, Public Leaders: Women in Leadership 2016 LSTC Leadership Conference and Distinguished Alumni/Ae Awards October 11-13, 2016
Public Church, Public Leaders: Women in Leadership 2016 LSTC Leadership Conference and Distinguished Alumni/ae Awards October 11-13, 2016 Tuesday, October 11 at 3:15 p.m. Who Runs the World? (Girls) Room 201 Stephanie Berkas and Erika Dornfeld Lutheran Volunteer Corps and Young Adults in Global Mission welcome ELCA young adults in yearlong service opportunities across the United States and throughout the world. Come hear stories of the many women who make the world go ‘round, tending to life’s most basic needs, healing the sick, and altering the trajectory of their communities and cultures through acts of faithful service. Erika Dornfeld serves as Midwest program coordinator for the Lutheran Volunteer Corps. As a member of the Lutheran Volunteer Corps, she served for two years at a Chicago interfaith environmental organization, Faith in Place. She received her master of divinity from the University of Chicago Divinity School in 2015, and was an affiliate student at LSTC. Stephanie Berkas serves as manager of the ELCA Young Adults in Global Mission program. She served as a YAGM volunteer in Cape Town, South Africa from 2009-2010, an experience that deepened her understanding of the global church and our shared call to be agents of hope and justice in the world. She earned a master of arts in ministry from LSTC in 2016. Grow, Hold & Fold: Turning Around Faith-based Organizations Room 202 for the 21st Century Beth Lewis In the face of rapid changes in religion, lifestyles and technology, how do faith-based organizations (congregations, synod, seminaries and others) make the radical shifts necessary to continue to proclaim a grace-filled Gospel while renewing and revitalizing our ministries for the 21st century? Augsburg Fortress, the ELCA’s ministry of publishing, has wrestled with this challenge and dramatically changed their priorities and processes in recent years. -
September 2019 • Volume 32, Issue 8
NORTHEASTERN IOWA SEPTEMBER 2019 • VOLUME 32, ISSUE 8 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Celebrating Renewal:Star Katherine von Bora Luther — Faith in the Home Teaching faith can mean finding the answers together by Marcia Hahn Pastor Rebecca when they were saying Kate’s Ninke writes bedtime prayers together. The a lot about book portrays one kid’s experi- faith and how ence praying for funny and to teach it to poignant things, sometimes others. She likes in surprising times and places people to know like when the character is that they do picking up dog poop in the not need to be Rebecca Ninke yard. Ninke and her daughter experts to teach hoped to convey the message the faith. that kids can just talk to God anytime and anywhere about “You don’t have to be holy to be anything. faithful,” Ninke says. “It’s okay for parents and Sunday school teach- Ninke says that rituals around ers to not have all the answers. It’s prayer are an important part okay to say to the kids I’m not sure. of sharing faith at home with That’s a great question, let’s find her children, and so are the out together.” informal conversations she has Pastor Rebecca Ninke and her nine-year-old daughter wrote the children’s book There’s No Wrong Way to Pray with them about everyday life, to help kids learn how easy it is to pray to God. Ninke serves as part-time pastor such as being good stewards, for two ELCA congregations in giving thanks to God for food the Madison, Wis., area and is an and learning not to waste food. -
ELCA REGIONAL ARCHIVES Collecting Records from Synods and Congregations ELCA Regional Archives
ELCA REGIONAL ARCHIVES Collecting records from synods and congregations ELCA Regional Archives Regional Archives The ELCA synodical and regional archives collect records relating to synods and congregations, including records from dissolved congregations. Some may also have records from early ELCA predecessor bodies. Region 1 The core of the collection at the Region 1 archives is mainly from ELCA synods in that area and the Norwegian and Swedish predecessor districts and conferences, but the collections also include such items as the recently deposited records of Holden Village, Chelan, Wash. Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington Josh Smith ELCA Region 1 Archives Archives and Special Collections Mortvedt Library Pacific Lutheran University Tacoma, WA 98447 (253) 535-7586 E-mail: [email protected] http:/www.plu.edu/archives Region 2 Materials on the work of synods in the region are found at the Region 2 archives, as well as core collections from The American Lutheran Church and the Lutheran Church in America districts and synods and their predecessors. A recent addition to this collection was the records of the former LCA Rocky Mountain Synod. Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming Thomas Yuschak South West California Synod / ELCA Region 2 Archives 1300 E. Colorado St. Glendale, CA 91205 (818) 937-4761 [email protected] Region 3 The Region 3 Archives holds records of the work of ELCA synods in the region. It also houses materials from the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America, later named the Evangelical Lutheran Church, which merged in 1960 into The American Lutheran Church, and records from the NLCA's predecessor bodies: The United Norwegian Lutheran Church, the Hauge Synod, and the Norwegian Synod. -
The Context for Mission and Ministry in the Evangelical Lutheran Church
The Context for Mission and Ministry in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Department for Research and Evaluation Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Kenneth W. Inskeep May 12, 2003 Over the course of the strategic planning process, a host of contextual information has been collected and reviewed. This is a summary and elaboration of that material. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY • The ELCA has a difficult time negotiating demographic change. Congregations may grow in Minnesota, but they struggle in states that are more diverse (in every way) like California and Florida. These states, however, are among the fastest growing states in the U.S. • Since 1990, the ELCA has not fared well in the industrial states of the Northeast (New York, Pennsylvania) or the Midwest (Ohio, Illinois, Michigan). This appears to be the case particularly in the medium and large cities of these states. In these medium and large cities the membership of the ELCA is older, less well educated, on fixed incomes, and much less likely to have children at home. This membership is also predominantly white despite the racial and ethnic diversity of the population in these places. • The ELCA is considerably more successful in the distant suburbs of large cities particularly in states like Minnesota. In these distant suburbs, the population is predominantly white and a high number of households consist of two adults with children. The population of these distant suburbs also tends to be well educated with higher incomes. • In general, no matter what the congregational setting, if the population is predominantly nonwhite, the ELCA does not do well in terms of membership growth. -
2019 Nominations Workbook for the Church Council, Boards of Separately Incorporated Ministries and Churchwide Committees Instructions
2019 Nominations Workbook for the Church Council, Boards of Separately Incorporated Ministries and Churchwide Committees Instructions The Nominating Committee of the and Continuing Resolutions of the Evangelical Churchwide Assembly is responsible for Lutheran Church in America. Please nominate nominating people for each position for which an only people who match the requirements of a election will be held. In advance of the assembly, given category. For information on restrictions and the Nominating Committee seeks names for representational principles, please see the next consideration. Nominations in specific categories page of this booklet. also can be made by voting members on the floor Recommend someone to the Nominating of the assembly. Committee by sending the person’s name and This booklet is designed to aid you in contact information to [email protected], recommending names to the Nominating Nominations Committee. For each committee or board for Office of the Secretary which there will be an election, you will find the 8765 W. Higgins Road following information: Chicago, IL 60631-4101 • a list of continuing members of the council, or 800-638-3522, ext. 2804. board or committee, Each person is required by the ELCA • a list of departing members, who are ineligible constitution to provide an information form to the for re-election, Nominating Committee. The form is online at • a list of any restrictions placed on a given http://webapps.elca.org/secretary/nominations/. A nomination, along with needs and preferences, sample of the form is printed at the back of this • a summary of the election process with booklet. The constitution requires that all pertinent constitutional excerpts, and information on the form be completed and • the positions for which nominations are verified. -
The Constitution, Bylaws, and Continuing Resolutions of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
The Constitution, Bylaws, and Continuing Resolutions of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America June 10, 2017 Introduction to the Constitution of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America The Constitution of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, like the other governing documents of this church, is an ecclesial, legal, and missional document that reflects the underlying theology and doctrines of this church as well as its polity and governance structures. As the guiding document of one of the three expressions of this church, it reflects that this synod, while fully the church, is not the whole church; and exists in an interdependent relationship with congregations and the churchwide organization and is part of the one holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. As such, the Constitution of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod is deeply rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Lutheran Confessions, and the history of this church. ➤ Required provisions: Sections of this Constitution for Synods that are marked by a dagger [†] are required provisions. These sections, including constitutional provisions, bylaws, and continuing resolutions, are used without alteration or amendment of the text in any manner (i.e., neither additions nor deletions are permissible) and reflect the interdependent relationship that exists between this synod, the ELCA churchwide expression and the various congregations and institutions of this synod. The Constitution -
2021 Bulletin of Reports
Bulletin of Reports SYNOD ASSEMBLY JUNE - , TH ANNUAL SYNOD ASSEMBLY Online Assembly BULLETIN OF REPORTS BULLETIN OF REPORTS for the THIRTY-FOURTH SYNOD ASSEMBLY of the SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to be held online on June 10-12, 2021 All Voting Members: These printed reports will not be read at the assembly; therefore, you should read them prior to the Assembly. Please have the Bulletin of Reports material available to you while you are participating in the assembly. Also, please note that the following items, previously published in the “Proceedings” book, are now part of this publication: Minutes of the 2020 Synod Assembly; the Synod’s Constitution and Bylaws; Synod Statistics; and the Compensation Guidelines for the current year. Each of these documents, as well as the current roster and the Bulletin of Reports in its entirety, can also be downloaded from the synod’s website. 1 May, 2021 BULLETIN OF REPORTS This page intentionally left blank. May, 2021 2 BULLETIN OF REPORTS SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA SYNOD SYNODICAL DIRECTORY 2021 SYNOD OFFICE 1014 Perry Highway, Suite 200; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15237 Phone: (412) 367-8222 E-Mail Address: [email protected] Web Site (URL): http://www.swpasynod.org Officers of the Synod Bishop ............................................The Reverend Kurt F. Kusserow Vice President ................................................. Mrs. Barbara Nugent Secretary ....................................The Reverend William A. Schaefer Treasurer ..................................................................Mr. Gary N. Teti Assistant to the Bishop The Reverend Peter D. Asplin Assistant to the Bishop/Director for Evangelical Mission The Reverend Melissa L. Stoller Director of the Synod Resource Center Deacon Elizabeth A. Caywood Office Information The Synod Office is open daily, Monday through Friday, from 8:45 a.m.