c U S S A R K March News of God’s People in Action 2018 God’s work. Our hands. + Upper Susquehanna Synod + Evangelical Lutheran Church in America What Is Intentional Interim Ministry? Intentional Interim Ministry is a focused approach for guiding congregations during the time between regularly called pastors. It is not just crisis ministry, nor is it simply maintenance ministry. It is ministry with specific “intentions” and tasks to be accomplished, primarily the following: coming to terms with history, discovering a new identity, allowing needed leadership changes and procedures, strengthening the congregation’s relationship with the synod and wider church, and During Weekend, committing to new leadership and direction. Youth Explore Faith There are three basic situations in which an intentional This year’s Upper Susquehanna Synod interim pastor is helpful: Youth Retreat, GROW in the Snow, was • The loss of a long-term pastor through moving or held on February 9-10, 2018, at Camp retirement. Mount Luther. Over 65 youth and their • Conflict situations. adult leaders attended, exploring the • Shattering situations, such as misconduct or death of theme “Hello God, It’s Me.” The theme a leader. looked at prayer and particularly the Lord’s Prayer. Healthy congregations as well as unhealthy ones benefit Those in attendance participated in an from making constructive use of the interim time. The opening “campfire” program, complete with need to clarify mission in changing circumstances and skits and songs, following a time of ice other challenges may confront congregations in the time breakers. Participants worshipped with the between regularly-called pastors. Dealing with such Mount Luther Prayer Liturgy, a unfinished business during the interim time helps contemplative worship experience, and prepare a congregation for a successful ministry with its they talked about ways they pray, who next called pastor. Healthy congregations remain healthy they pray for, and where they engage in and vulnerable ones move toward health. In the event of prayer during that worship service. conflict and tragedies, such directed transition time is invaluable. On Saturday, four rotating stations were done. Those included Bible study, prayer Intentional interim pastors receive specialized training stations, games, and a craft. During the consisting of two intensive weeks with field work in the prayer stations, campers used clay and a intervening months. They also have continuing labyrinth as two ways to pray. For the education events to keep up to date and often have craft, each person made prayer beads. support groups. Currently, our synod has three intentional interim pastors working with congregations: Following lunch, the campers had the Pastor Mark Galbraith (Milton Lutheran Parish), Pastor opportunity to play in the snow and play some indoor games. Worship, planned and Sarah Hershberger (Grace, Shamokin and St. Paul, led by Upper Susquehanna Synod Bishop Gowen City), and Pastor James West (St. Mark, Barbara J. Collins, concluded the event, Williamsport). Pastors Lois Martin and Martha Sue Moll and helped campers remember all that are also trained intentional interim pastors. they learned during the weekend. Seminaries Look to Identify, Up and Down the Valleys Nurture, and Sustain New Leaders Sunday, February 11, 2018, members of the In partnership with Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton’s congregations of the synod celebrated outdoor Leadership Initiative, the seven seminaries of the ministries during “Mount Luther Sunday.” Synod Council designated Transfiguration Sunday each Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) year to help promote outdoor ministries in the will launch a combined effort to encourage new synod. Camp Mount Luther is an extension of candidates for ministry in the ELCA. the ministry that is done in congregations. The program, “Do you want to change the world?,” is being promoted through a series of videos, the first of which was released February 22. You can view it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9hQVPfKWsA&feat ure=youtu.be. The video addresses the current leadership shortage of the ELCA and the effort to seek more candidates for ministry. Decreased seminary enrollment combined with a record number of ELCA rostered ministers who are retiring, has resulted in not enough ministers to fill the open calls or to provide creative leadership in this time of rapid change in our church and in the world. The ELCA seminaries have addressed this need by working independently and in collaboration to increase the Pastor Mark Galbraith (Milton Lutheran Parish) number of candidates. According to the Rev. Dr. appears as an extra in a new series to air on Jonathan Strandjord, director of ELCA seminaries, this CNN. “The Pope: The Most Powerful Man in has resulted in a modest increase in fall starts for History”, narrated by Liam Neeson, will air Master of Divinity candidates in 2017. starting March 11. Galbraith portrays a Catholic cardinal and said, “This was my first major Building on these efforts to invite and encourage future production to have a role in, and the cast, crew leaders, this program will help seminaries identify new and the staff were so professional, positive, and candidates and provide resources that promote the upbeat, and guided us at each step of the way on vocation of public ministry, while providing marketing every day of production.” pieces for the good of the whole church. In her March column for Living Lutheran, ELCA The program is made possible by a grant from the Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton shares her Richard Hay Barkalow Charitable Seminary Fund of the call story of becoming a Lutheran pastor. She inFaith Community Foundation. says women don’t follow God’s call to be trailblazers—they say “yes” because God’s call is irresistible. Read her column at http://www.uss- elca.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Eaton- March-column.pdf. USS ARK is a publication of the Upper Susquehanna Synod, ELCA. Permission is granted for congregations to reproduce this newsletter. Send mission stories and ministry ideas by the first of the month to Upper Susquehanna Synod Chad Hershberger, Director of Communications, at [email protected]. PO Box 36, Lewisburg, PA 17837 570-524-9778 www.uss-elca.org The Rev. Barbara J. Collins, Bishop Upper Susquehanna Synod Events Scholarship Available InFaith Community Foundation is pleased to announce an available scholarship through the St. Paul Lutheran Church Scholarship Fund. This fund was founded by the congregation of the former St. Paul Lutheran Church, Williamsport. Prior to its closing, the church established this special scholarship fund to benefit Lutheran students who are graduating seniors of high schools located in Lycoming County. Scholarship recipients will receive an award of about $500. Applications are now available. Complete eligibility requirements and an online application are available at www.infaithfound.org/scholarships. All applications and necessary documents must be received by the foundation no later than April 30, 2018. Additional questions about this program can be directed to Nikki Johnson, Donor Services Associate, at [email protected] or by calling 1-800-365-4172. March 14-15, 2018: Camp Mount Luther is Helped by Raise the Region Camp Mount Luther is participating in “Raise the Region” on March 14-15, 2018. The event, coordinated by The First Community Foundation Partnership of Pennsylvania, helps the community support local nonprofit organizations’ fund raising efforts. FCFP, in partnership with Blaise Alexander Family Dealerships, will be launching the 30-hour fundraising event on March 14 and 15, 2018, starting at 6:00 p.m. on March 14 and ending at 11:59 p.m. on March 15. Blaise Alexander Family Dealerships has donated $150,000 that will be used to stretch a portion of donations made to pre-registered nonprofits. Additional monetary prizes and incentives will be awarded throughout the entire event. This program is designed to help organizations, like Camp Mount Luther, kickoff our 2018 fundraising campaigns and increase donor bases. Proceeds from this event will go to camp’s Annual Fund, unless a donor gets in touch with the camp office to designate it for another camp cause. How It Works: 1. On March 14 and 15, donors will visit www.raisetheregion.org from a computer, smart phone, iPad, etc. to learn more about the nonprofits participating and how their work is impacting our community. 2. You can then make an online donation to support one or more of those nonprofit organizations on the Raise the Region website. Running totals will be shown throughout the day at the Raise the Region website. 3. At the end of the donation period, a pro-rated match per gift will be determined and the Community Foundation will send checks to all participating nonprofits with the amount raised, the pro-rated match, and any EXTRA money from prizes awarded throughout the day. Camp Mount Luther has participated in Raise the Region for five years and has garnered about $65,000 in donations during this event. The camp hopes you will help us to have another successful year! March 22, 2018: LARC Luncheon Our synod has participated in Lutheran, Anglican, Roman Catholic (LARC) dialog since its inception. Together with the Lower Susquehanna Synod, Episcopal Diocese of Central Pennsylvania, and Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg, we entered into covenant in 1993, committing ourselves to “leading the church to greater unity”. The commitments we made in that covenant continue to be lived out in our congregations and in bi-monthly lunch dialogs at the Diocese of Harrisburg Keeler Center. Anyone interested in joining the conversation may attend these lunches – contact Rev. Craig Miller for more information or to be added to the notification list. Dates for 2018 include March 22, May 22, July 26, September 18, November 15. March 24, 2018: Hurricane Response Work Teams Meeting The Upper Susquehanna Synod and the Presbytery of Northumberland have come together to plan two work trips to Daytona, Florida.