 |
|
SYNOD NEWS AND EVENTS - APRIL 4, 2018
|
 Welcome Angela LaMoore
The SW MN Synod received three new candidates for call during the churchwide assignment process. We are grateful for Angela LaMoore, Matt Seegert and Roger Fears who will come to serve in your synod.
Meet Angela LaMoore
Hi, I'm Angela! I'm a recent graduate of Luther Seminary, finally earning my MDiv last December. My husband Morgan and I are both Twin Cities natives, and we are currently living in Minneapolis. I had a bit of a circuitous route into ministry. My first career was in science - I studied biology and worked in both cancer research and genetics. Also, while I was raised in the ELCA, I spent most of my twenties in other churches and denominations. The variety of experiences I have had continue to inform my approach to ministry, but in the ELCA and in this call to rostered ministry, I feel I have finally landed in the right place. Morgan and I are both excited to take this next step into first call and to see where God leads us!
|
|
Congregational Certificate Program
+Bishop Jon V. Anderson
Are any of your congregations looking at this program? We are trying to keep track of who is exploring ways of deepening capacity and attending to financial stewardship management.
Through the Congregational Certificate Program, your congregation has the opportunity to follow a road map to greater financial stability, using healthy behaviors which focus on five key areas:
Accounting, Finance, Human Resources, Risk Management and Stewardship. Click here to learn more.
Resourceful Servants is an ELCA Churchwide initiative, click here to learn more.
|
Rogation Sunday
+Bishop Jon V. Anderson
Are you thinking about a Rogation Sunday to emphasize our integration of faith, food/land and our care for creation?
See these resources to get you cooking.
 Background on Rogation
Stewardship of creation is an ongoing ministry in the church. The creation, which God declared good, is entrusted to the care of humankind. Exercising that care is one dimension of daily Christian discipleship. Rogation Days are a way for the church to honor God for the gift of creation and to pray for the land, the gift of labor, and the needs of all people.
Rogation Days were traditionally celebrated during the fifty days of Easter on the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before Ascension Day. The word, Rogation, has its
roots in the Latin word "rogare" which means to ask or petition and it comes from the ancient introit for the Sunday preceding the Ascension. In some places, the celebrationsof Rogation Days were quite elaborate and included processions from the church to and around fields while asking for God's blessing.
Churches that have maintained the practice of celebrating Rogation Days in our time now no longer mark these days specifically before Ascension. Instead, Rogation Days are celebrated at times and places that meet local needs. With an increased awareness of the need for the stewardship of creation both within the church and within contemporary culture, the themes of thanksgiving for the land and petitions for a fruitful earth may be adapted around broader cultural celebrations of Earth Day or at other times.
|
ACEs: What Ministers Need to Know
Understanding ACEs: Building Self-Healing Communities
The ACEs Study (Adverse Childhood Experience), conducted in the 1990s, confirmed with scientific evidence that childhood experiences, both positive and negative, have a tremendous impact on lifelong health, mental and emotional well-being, and behavioral problems.
Learn why ACEs impact people's lives, and what we can all do to dramatically improve health and resilience for this and future generations.
Join us for this presentation with Rick Loseth
Date and Time:
Tuesday, April 24, 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Location:
SW MN Synod Office, Redwood Falls, MN
Sponsored by:
Southwestern Minnesota Synod, ELCA
This presentation is brought to you by ACE Interface, LLC and Minnesota Communities Caring for Children
Click here to RSVP
|
|
Administration Matters
 ELCA Directory is now online
The 2018 ELCA Yearbook is now online and known as the ELCA Directory. Just as the printing press changed the world during Martin Luther's time, so are the digitization of data and the internet changing the way we publish and access information. This digital, online solution will provide the same content as the ELCA Yearbook with added features of accessing the information from any computer (including mobile devices), filtering and annual reporting. Find this free resource at
directory.ELCA.org.
Tithe.ly
Enable members of your congregation to give in seconds using Tithe.ly's suite of giving tools. Online, mobile and text giving are quick and easy. The ELCA churchwide organization has negotiated special pricing for ELCA congregations using these giving and engagement tools.
Click here to learn more about Tithe.ly and the special ELCA offer today.
|
|
Synod Assembly Registration is Open!
The online assembly registration is open, but before you register, click here to read about registration for voting participants and non-voting participants.
Helpful Registration Tips:
- Friday's lunch is optional. A box lunch will be available from 12-1pm on Friday during service projects and workshops. If you intend to eat on-site for Friday lunch, you must purchase a meal ticket for $9. A brief draft schedule is posted on the assembly webpage to help you plan.
- This year we are opening our assembly with Workshops & Service Projects! They begin at 10 am on Friday! Everyone is welcome! You do not have to be a voting member to attend! This is a great opportunity for youth groups, confirmands and your whole congregation to get a glimpse into our assembly and participate in Global & local mission projects! (Remember, if you intend to eat on-site, lunch tickets need to be purchased in advance).
- The pre-assembly reports will be available for download from our website May 1.
- Reports, agendas, and all other information will also be available through our Guidebook App by May 1.
- When reserving hotel rooms please reference the SW MN Synod Assembly. We have blocked off rooms for our group until the release date posted on our assembly webpage, see the "Hotel Information" tab.
- Save $50 per person when you register before May 18, 2018.
- There is also a $50 discounted for voting member under 35, lay only.
Display Requests
If you would like to have a display at the assembly, you must complete the online display request form by clicking here.
The RACC offers more space for displays. This is a great opportunity for vendors who share and support our work of the church.
|
|
Difficult Conversations 101
Responding to the encouraging feedback from participants in our first session of Difficult Conversations 101 in January, Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Peter will offer a second opportunity to participate in this project on Sunday, April 15, from 2:30 - 8:00 p.m. Everyone is welcome, especially those unable to attend the January workshop. Registration is $20 per participant.
We know that our churches are not immune to rifts in the fabric of community that are caused by the divisiveness and polarization that exists in our nation. Since we believe that our congregations can be agents of strengthening community through respectful dialogue, we are offering this Sunday afternoon session of Difficult Conversations. Skills, methods, and resources that can help hold and facilitate respectful and caring conversations will be presented and practiced. A structured dialogue, along with theological roots in our religious traditions, will provide opportunity for expressing differing views, listening carefully, raising questions and exploring "gray areas" as well as passionately held viewpoints, all in a climate of respect and safety.
Pastor Tom Duke, a recognized leader in the field of structured dialogue, will return to Trinity to lead the seminar. He founded the Saint Paul Interfaith Network (SPIN) to "provide a visible center and a point of contact" for organizing interfaith programming in the Twin Cities. Prior to his current role in SPIN, Duke served for fifteen years as the Executive Director of the Saint Paul Area Council of Churches.
Registration fee is $20 for each participant. Contact Trinity Lutheran Church at 507-934-4786 to register.
|
|
Synod Events
Below is a list of all the upcoming synod events. Visit the synod events webpage for more information.
|
|
JUNE
June 8-9, 2018
Redwood Falls, MN
SW MN Synod
Women of the ELCA Convention
June 29-30, 2018
Bethlehem Lutheran Church, St. Cloud
2018 Fall Theological Conference
October 7-9, 2018
Alexandria, MN
|
|
Southwestern Minnesota Synod, ELCA
PO Box 499, Redwood Falls, MN 56283
Phone: 507-637-3904
|
|
|
|
|
|
