This past Sunday was the 3rd Sunday of Advent! To watch the Sunday message in English, click here. Para mirar en Español, oprime aquí. To read this message in English, click here. Para leer en Español, oprime aquí.
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To provide our Rostered Ministers with respite after Christmas, an upcoming Service of the Word is being produced by our synod office. This service will be intended for the First Sunday of Christmas, December 27th.
All Rostered Ministers will receive a private link to this service via email on December 22nd. If you do not receive the video link on December 22nd, please email our Communications Specialist Marina directly at marinae@fbsynod.org, and she will make sure you receive it.
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16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence |
Companion churches Iglesia Evangélica Unida-Sinodo Luterano (IEU) in Santiago, Cuba and the Florida-Bahamas Synod (FBS) joined their voices together as women against gender-based violence.
The postcards found at this link were created by two groups: an ecumenical network in Cuba in which IEU pastor Rev. Yamilka Hernandez Guzman is involved, and women in the Florida-Bahamas Synod who traveled to Cuba in December 2019.
Each contributor has made a personal statement and connects it to a woman in the Bible.
This project reflects a diversity of perspectives and people, yet all are united in working to bring justice, healing and wholeness to women and children everywhere.
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The United As One COVID-19 Special Appeal continues to provide support to congregations during this pandemic.
By supporting our United as One Special Appeal, you will provide humanitarian aid for communities in need, support our congregations and strengthen ministries, provide new technology for congregations offering digital worship, and keep the Florida-Bahamas Synod strong, so we can continue serving and supporting our congregations.
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Join the Florida-Bahamas Synod and lift up your neighboring congregations!
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Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton's Christmas 2020 Message |
Precisely in our distress, in our dislocation, the Lord shows up. Emmanuel—God with us—makes his home in the very places we find foreign or isolating.
The room was spare and dimly lit. We sat on folding chairs in a circle—young Honduran women and some of us from the ELCA. We had come to Honduras to observe the work of AMMPARO (Accompanying Migrant Minors with Protection, Advocacy, Representation and Opportunities). This is the ELCA’s strategy to help youth who have been forced to flee their home countries because of violence, abuse, extortion by gangs and extreme poverty. Amparo is the Spanish word for shelter or refuge.
In this case, AMMPARO partnered with the Lutheran World Federation and the Mennonites to resettle returned migrants—those who had tried to seek asylum in the United States but had failed or had been denied and deported back to Honduras...
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The Book of Genesis: An Online Bible Study
January 18th to March 8th
Looking for a Bible study for yourself or your group in the new year? Why not start in the beginning with The Book of Genesis?
Please join us for a free, 8-week online study of the Book of Genesis with Dr. Joel S. Baden, Yale Divinity School Professor of Hebrew Bible and Director of the Center for Continuing Education. Beginning January 18th, we'll gather each Monday evening to examine where the stories of Genesis come from, how they relate to similar traditions from Israel’s neighboring cultures, and how they have grown over time until reaching the version we have them now. Participants who attend all 8 sessions will receive a Certificate of Completion.
Find information and registration here: The Book of Genesis. Once registered, you'll receive a confirmation email with Zoom information in early January.
Prof. Joel Baden, Professor of Hebrew Bible at Yale Divinity School, is a specialist in the Pentateuch, Biblical Hebrew, and disability theory in biblical studies as well the co-creator of the Yale Bible Study on Genesis.
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Transition Ministry Training Online Webinar
January 25-29, 2021
Transitions - There are many factors that come into play when a congregation is in transition. Whether that congregation has just received an interim pastor, or has just received a newly called pastor, or is seeking new direction into God's future, it is a time of transition from something that was to something that is yet to be.
The Transition Training Event will help attendees to focus on what it is that properly motivates ministry so that the "yet to be" is fully in the hands of God, and God's people are themselves renewed and ready for that ministry.
COST:
Interim Pastors 5 days - $160
First Call and/or New Call Pastors & Others (M-W) - $130
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Celebrating Hope Lutheran in Port St. Lucie |
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-4) |
We ask your prayers for the congregational of Hope Lutheran Church in Port St. Lucie as they gather on December 15th to give praise and thanksgiving for 37 years of ministry together and officially close their congregation. May God bless the people of Hope as they join with area congregations and begin new chapters in their faith.
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Why It Matters
Spotlight on Synod Council
Serving on the Synod Council for an ELCA Synod is an important calling. When elected, each council member takes on the responsibility to uplift and support their worship community with administrative support, decision-making, and prayer. Behind the scenes, our Synod Council members are communicating our shared mission and doing important work that directly impacts the trajectory of our synod and supports our shared mission.
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One such Council member is Linda Rosche’, who was elected to Synod Council at the June 2019 Assembly to serve a 1-year term, which was later extended due to the 2020 Assembly being cancelled. Linda says that she was very surprised, humbled, excited, and anxious to serve on the Synod Council, but was comforted by her fellow Council members and Vice President Cheryl Stewart, who were very welcoming and assuring.
Although both Linda and her husband Bill were raised in LC-MS congregations, they became aware of several issues in the LC-MS organization that motivated them to leave and join an ELCA congregation when they moved to Florida in 2005. Linda and Bill felt very strongly that the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ is a gift freely given to us, and they appreciated the ELCA’s communion practices. They also related personally to the ELCA’s missions for Racial Justice, as they both come from very diverse families. Additionally, Linda is proud that the ELCA has ordained women for 50 years, and for the recognition they have given to the LGBTQIA+ community.
Linda’s work on the Synod Council matters deeply to her, because she’s able to facilitate positive change and communicate the important work being done at the synod level. Linda says, “I am grateful that the Synod Council has recognized that we need to communicate to our congregations the missional work that is being done not only in the Florida-Bahamas Synod, but within the Churchwide organization as well. I feel that it’s important to let our members know how their contributions to their individual churches have a ripple effect that flows across our greater church to assist and affect so many individuals within our church communities.”
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Making a Non-Cash Gift to Your Congregation or ELCA Ministry
Making gifts outside of traditional “cash” gifts holds biblical significance and is a valuable opportunity to support the ministries that matter the most to you. Did you know that any ELCA-related congregation, synod or organization can receive gifts of marketable securities and marketable commodities in partnership with the ELCA Foundation?
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Lutheran Men in Mission Seeking Help
Lutheran Men in Mission (LMM) is looking for Ambassadors in the Florida-Bahamas Synod. Volunteers will be asked to share LMM news, resources and events via provided quarterly Ambassador-Grams to their congregations and those in their personal network. If interested, please contact the LMM Director of Communications/Networking, at david.newman@lutheranmeninmission.org.
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Jingle and Mingle at Christ Lutheran in Cape Coral
Joy filled the air as Christ Lutheran in Cape Coral held their first “Jingle and Mingle” and collected food and toys for the local pantry. The congregation was feeling the COVID blues and felt a need to find a safe way to celebrate the season with their faith family while also serving their community.
Members decorated their cars, sang Christmas Carols and had a visit from Santa - all masked and socially distanced. Prizes were given for decorations, goodie bags made by the committee were distributed, and each family received a special Christmas Ornament. Spirits were lifted by seeing everyone and the congregation rejoiced as they took 324 lbs of food, 70 toys and over $100 to the local panty.
So much fun, and plans are underway for next year, COVID-free! Merry Christmas!
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Our Central American partners were devastated by multiple hurricanes in quick succession, leading to widespread destruction, flooding, and death.
Please help us provide relief to our family in Christ in Central America.
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