English District of
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
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Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.
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Installation and Bishop's Visitation
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Bishop Jamison Hardy was blessed to be a part of the ordination and installation of Devon Burmeister at Beautiful Savior in Lee's Summit, Missouri.
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Call Returned
The Rev. Ian S. Pacey (Texas District) has returned the call from Faith, Tucson, AZ to serve as the deployed Campus Pastor to the University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.
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It is with a mix of joy and sadness that I share the planned retirement of Rev. David Thiele as District Vice President for the English and SELC districts.
David has served the English District 40 years; pastoring two congregations, serving as Mission Executive, and then moving to LCEF District Vice President ten years ago. While doing such a great job for the English District, Dave added the duties of serving the SELC District as their
LCEF District Vice President
the last four years.
Dave brings a joyful smile and creative attitude to his work. He has faithfully served the LCMS these many years and now desires a new adventure with his family. He would note their numerous sacrifices over his 40 years of ministry.
LCEF and the English and SELC Districts have begun the process to identify a new DVP to serve the two non-geographic districts of the LCMS. The position is posted
here
.
Dave’s retirement will be effective December 31.
Bishop Jamison Hardy
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Supporting Clergy Families - Spouses
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When the church worker wellness survey was accomplished a few years ago, it was designed to assess the wellness of not only the church worker themselves but the spouses and the family as well. The data obtained and collated clearly revealed that church workers cannot be islands to themselves and that being in ministry impacts family systems as a whole. Each member of a church worker's family is important and an important part of the whole family’s health.
One of the outcomes for us as the English District has been to change the message and the focus from "we support church workers" to "we support church workers, their spouses, and their families." Changing the message and focus has not been easy for several reasons. First, spouses have not often felt cared for unless there has been a huge crisis within the family. Second, spouses have come to expect to be relatively ignored by the churches and the synod. Both of these statements have been correct. Third, spouses have been afraid of letting people know about problems within the family and how that can impact the ministry.
Still we want to support families. We start by changing our focus. We continue by seeing the current situation. We move in a new direction in actions and not words alone.
To this end, we would like to provide clergy spouses an opportunity to be specifically supported during this time of Covid-19 as they are also living through the challenges being faced in our culture and our churches. We would like to create and provide our English District clergy wives with the opportunity to meet together for a private Zoom session with Dr. Beverly Yahnke. It would be similar to the session that was offered to church workers recently but would focus on the unique needs and situations that clergy wives encounter in their daily lives.
And we hit a wall. We have no method for connecting with clergy spouses directly apart from going through the clergy themselves. While we believe that most clergy would pass on the information and opportunity to their spouses, it is a less than optimal method of communication. It would be better and more respectful to communicate directly with the individuals themselves and invite them directly.
We have been left with one method and that is an open appeal to clergy spouses to share with us their email address. Our contact person is Holly Scheer. You can reach her at
hscheer@englishdistrict.org
. Holly is a confidential contact who works very closely with me at the District office.
We continue to keep all our church workers and their families in prayer as they make decisions and movements toward returning to worship and ministry activities or not, depending on the context of their ministry. We remain vigilant to care for our church workers, their spouses and their families as an English District. We pray for God's continued peace, protection, and guidance.
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Concordia Plans Town Hall
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English District & Concordia Plan Services (CPS) invite you to a Town Hall meeting to discuss the changes coming to the Concordia Health Plan (CHP) in 2021. These changes are the result of feedback you and other employers have provided CPS. The meeting should last around 60 minutes; 30-40 minutes to outline changes with ample time for questions and discussion.
1. CHP rate increases
2. CHP plan design changes
3. New Vision and Dental offerings
4. New Wellness Offerings
5. OE Timeline
There are multiple dates available. Please reserve your spot today using the link below:
Thursday, July 23 at 1 pm CST or
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English District Professional Church Workers Conference
English District pastors and rostered church workers, mark your calendars for the Professional Church Workers Conference to be held October 5-7, 2020 in Akron, Ohio. Online registration will be available July 15
th
. Watch your email and the district
website
for further details.
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1-1-1 A Dollar for Missions
One Dollar - Per Member – Per Week
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At its 2018 convention, the English District launched a new model for funding missions to which every congregation is invited to participate. It is completely voluntary, but we believe that as God's people see and hear what is being accomplished, specifically and directly in support and development of new missions and enhancing existing missions, more and more of us will want to be involved.
Won’t you consider joining us as we support Tree of Life, Inverness, FL and Holy Cross Lutheran Mission, Hazelwood, PA. YOU can support them through your prayers for their ministries to grow as they evangelize to the community around them. Joining 1-1-1 will help our two missions as they continue to witness and share their heartfelt faith in Christ.
This is the power of many giving little as we are moved by God's spirit. Missions is what Jesus calls the Church to do.
Contact our District Mission Executive, Pastor
Derek Mathers
or Pastor
Justin Laughridge
, Chair of the Missions Council, with any questions regarding 1-1-1.
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Is God Calling You to the Ministry?
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The LCMS is hosting an online workshop for church musicians. Details
here
.
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Lutheran Church Extension Fund's (LCEF) recent webinar "Let's Talk About Online Giving & Stewardship" is available to view
here.
The webinar focuses on...
- How pastors and church leaders can speak to congregations about online giving.
- Exploring alternate ways to accept offerings and keep ministry moving during Covid-19.
- Learning about LCEF's online giving solution.
If you are interested in moving your ministry forward with ideas like these, please c
ontact David Thiele, English District LCEF Vice President, by
email or phone
517-980-2857.
LCEF is here to support you and your congregation.
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For more information contact the English District Gift Planning Counselor Ron Grimm by phone (
412)-584-7039
or
email
.
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Livestreamed/Recorded Services
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We encourage everyone to take advantage of alternative opportunities to hear God’s word and to be blessed by the Divine Service. We have compiled a
list of opportunities
on the English District website that is continually updated.
If your congregation is recording or live streaming and is not included on this list, please email us at
info@englishdistrict.org
and let us know how people can access it.
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PPP Loan Forgiveness Requirements
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The Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020 has amended The CARES Act. The amendment now allows 24 weeks to use proceeds of the loan for qualified forgiveness purposes (some borrowers can still use an 8-week period), an increase in forgivable non-payroll expenditures to 40% of the forgiveness amount, and several other modifications.
Links to the revised PPP loan application and additional information on CARES Act amendments are available on the
PPP Loan Information
page of our website.
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Ministerial Health Commission
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Hello, and prayers and blessings to you that you are safe and well in this time of lockdowns, isolation, and uncertainty. In these unprecedented times we desperately need our pastors to share the Good News and support us in strengthening our faith. We also need the wisdom and experience of health professionals to share clear, concise guidelines for us to follow.
We know that we all have had times of worry, doubt, and, yes, even fear. However, as Christians, we all have the joy and peace knowing that our Lord is with us, and He will strengthen us with all that we need. Our future is not known to us; but, praise God, we know that HE knows! We ask God to protect us; yet, we must do all that we can to grow in our faith, follow good health practices, and promote patience as we ask for His mercy and accept His plan for our future.
We live in a broken world full of all kinds of sin, and we are now experiencing the sin of the coronavirus pandemic. Folks, just as the coronavirus is alive and well and we must use all of our resources to combat this evil, the devil is also alive and well and we MUST use the power of our Lord and Savior Jesus to combat Satan. Just as we may not get a second chance to fight the
coronavirus
if infected, we may also miss the chance to know, go, and share the Good News of Jesus to our world.
If there are concerns or questions please let me know.
Blessings,
Parish Nurse Sue Neff, on behalf of the MHC
If you have questions or concerns, please contact:
Assistant to the Bishop and Mission Executive
1-800-755-9335 x 311 or 248.476.0039 x 311
416-320-6366 (Canadian cell)
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Your prayer concerns are important to the English District. When you submit a prayer request, with your permission, it will be posted in this weekly eNewsletter. The Bible's promise is true: "If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us" (1 John 5:14).
We invite you to pray with us. The District's August prayer list is available on our
website
.
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Risen Christ, Plymouth, MI
The baptism of Luke Otto. Welcome to God's family! Video
here
.
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Open Arms, Atlanta, GA
Fourth of July celebration!
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Bethesda, Chicago, IL
The third week of summer camp is going well!
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The 2019 - 2020 LCMS School report is available on
LuthEd.org
.
The full Supreme Court ruling on the support of religious scholarships and tax credits is
here
.
Please keep our school and school faculties in your prayers as they work to plan to restart classes in the fall. With so much changing day-to-day, it is a difficult task. Many families are still undecided and uncertain about enrolling their children, which can create unsettling times for our school leaders. Thanks be to God that we have outstanding leadership in our English District schools, who fully rely on the grace of God to guide them through the hills and valleys of Christian education.
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LCEF District Vice President
The English and SELC Districts, in partnership with the Lutheran Church Extension Fund, are filling the role of LCEF District Vice President to develop and nurture strong relationships with the pastors, ministers and key lay leaders in the English & SELC Districts for the purpose of promoting, cultivating and capturing loan opportunities. The Vice President will assist LCEF National Lending in developing and maintaining tangible relationships with key Recognized Service Organizations, educational ministries and other LCMS affiliated ministries that fall under the authority of the National Lending team.
More information is available
here.
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Part-Time Accounting Assistant
The English District of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod is seeking a part-time (approximately 25 hours per week) Accounting Assistant for their Farmington, Michigan office. This position is available immediately.
Duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to, providing support to the finance office executive and staff through a variety of tasks related to bookkeeping, accounting and finance, and data management. More information is available on our
website
.
Please submit a resume and cover letter, which includes compensation requirements and availability, to
Sally Naglich
, Business Manager.
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Please share the information from Servant to Servant with members of your congregation.
All are invited to subscribe to this weekly publication. Forward the newsletter to members of your church. They can subscribe by clicking on the "Sign up for our emails" link at the bottom. Thanks for spreading the word!
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Please share your congregation's or school's unique ministries with the rest of the District. Send pictures and stories for consideration to
Holly Scheer
by Wednesday, 12:00 pm ET. We want to see how YOUR congregation or school is showing the love of God to those in your community and around the world.
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If you'd like to share our emails, please forward
using your email's forwarding option.
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