Lutheran Summer Music at Valparaiso University
She left the ELCA National Youth Gathering in Houston headed for the campus of Valparaiso University in Indiana and another four weeks away from home. Carolina Bowen, rising 11th grader and member of College Lutheran in Salem, returned to Valparaiso University for her second year at Lutheran Summer Music (LSM) camp. Founded in 1981, LMS is a residential training and performance program. Each summer, LSM brings together band, orchestra, choir, composition, organ, and piano students in a supportive, intentional community on a college campus.

While at LSM, Carolina participates in large and small ensembles, private instruction with professional musicians and college faculty, a musicianship class, a musical theater elective, as well as daily prayer and weekly worship. The camp welcomes rising 9th through 12th grade musicians nationwide. Being Lutheran is not required. There is both a two week and four-week camp option. Carolina sings in her high school choir and plays the viola in the Roanoke Youth Orchestra. Bowen found out about the program because both her mother and aunt attended LSM as teenagers. Various Lutheran colleges and universities have hosted the camp over the years including Augustana College in Illinois, Augustana College South Dakota, Luther College in Iowa, and Wittenberg University in Ohio. Financial and merit-based scholarships are available.
The Lutheran Summer Music Facebook page provides opportunities to see concerts and camp worship live streamed straight from Indiana. This summer’s camp runs from July 1- 29. LSM is another way the ELCA and other Lutheran colleges work together to form the faith of our youth and help them develop their God given talents.
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Announcements
Summer Camp Update from the Caroline Furnace Program Team
We are just over halfway through summer camp and we are overwhelmed with the joy, fun, and faith formation that the Lord has granted us this summer. In the midst of our day-to-day activities, our campers and staff alike have been exploring the grace that God freely gives to each and every one of us. Together, we are learning that this is in fact not of our own doing but is an incredible gift from God (Ephesians 2:8). As a community we have committed ourselves to recognizing the Lord's love and dedication to us, while exploring the wonders of God's creation. 

Registration is still open for Week 8! Join us for your week of camp, and choose from the following adventures: Explorer, Classic, Crafting, Culinary, and Night. To learn more and view the summer schedule,  click here . We hope to see you soon!
Annual Gathering of Virginia Synodical Women's Organization
"Let Us Encourage" will be the theme for the annual gathering of Virginia Synodical Women's Organization at Bethel Lutheran, Winchester, August 3-4, 2018.

Jody Smiley, VSWO president, said the gathering will be patterned after the synod youth events. Plans are for a large group with skits, singing and small sessions. The churchwide representative will be Lydia Davila, a board member of Women of the ELCA. Bishop Bob Humphrey will participate. Judy Casteele will present the ELCA draft Social Statement on Women and Justice. Health kits will be assembled as a service project.

For more information and to register for this event, click here.

For the Spring Newsletter from the VWSO, click here.
Expanding “God’s Work. Our Hands.” from a Day of Service to a Life of Faith Worship Resource
“God’s Work. Our Hands.” is an opportunity “to explore one of our most basic convictions as Lutherans: that all of life in Jesus Christ—every act of service, in every daily calling, in every corner of life—flows freely from a living, daring confidence in God’s grace.” As the ELCA website says, the intent is to reinforce the reality that “You work every day to make your community a better place.” Without careful reflection and equipping, we can leave the impression that our call to participate in God’s work is fulfilled on this one day of service each year, and then we return to our workaday world where God is largely absent.

Expanding “God’s Work. Our Hands.” from a Day of Service to a Life of Faith is a worship resource that describes a way to expand “God’s Work. Our Hands.” from being a single day of service to a way to equip our people for a life of faith, so that “every act of service, in every daily calling, in every corner of life flows freely from a living, daring confidence in God’s grace” indeed.

To download this document to make use in your worship planning, click here.

For more information on the ELCA Day of Service and Virginia Synod Week of Service, visit www.vasynod.org/resources/week-of-service
Reflect, Renew, Recommit Seminar
September 24-29, 2018
Reflect, Renew, Recommit (3R) , a week long discernment retreat will be offered September 24-29, 2018 at Lutheranch in Tallapoosa, GA.  This experience creates a safe place for rostered leaders and spouses to process, share, worship, embrace prayer practices, use tools for vocational support, and discover a newfound community.   If you know a leader that might find this retreat helpful, please invite them prayerfully to consider attending. 
 
The total cost to attend is $1100. Synods will be asked to support leaders in sharing the by contributing $550 toward their tuition. Participants will contribute $550 and spouses an additional $300.
 
For more information please contact: Tiffany Pieters, 3R Registrar, at  tiffany@scsynod.com  before August 15. If you have questions about the week, please reach out to Tammy Devine ( tdevine@porticobenefits.org ).

To see the 3R informational brochure, click here. To register for the event click here.
Fall 2018 ACTS Course
This year's spring ACTS course will be held October 20th and November 10th at Grace Evangelical Lutheran in Waynesboro (or at two Simulcast locations). The Rev. Dr. Timothy Wengert will present on Lutheran Confessions.

For more information on the Fall ACTS course and to register for this fall's course,  click here .
2019 Impact Grants—Apply Now!
Impact1890—A National Lutheran Program is pleased to announce the availability of Impact grants for the 2019 year. Each year, Impact1890 awards grants to non-profit organizations that share in the same passion of serving seniors, particularly those who are aging in place in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. All grants must address at least one of the following urgent needs faced by seniors:

  • Social isolation
  • Transportation
  • Housing
  • Navigating and accessing health care and social services
  • Chronic disease management
  • Dealing with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and memory loss

Does your organization qualify? Proposals will be accepted June 1, 2018 – August 15, 2018. To learn more about the submission of grant proposals visit www.impact1890.org. Questions? Contact us at grants@impact1890.org or 301-354-2703 and ask for Impact1890.

To download a flyer with info on Impact1890's Impact grants, click here.
Strategy Survey on HIV and AIDS
The ELCA Strategy on HIV and AIDS wants to hear from you and has put together a survey to better understand the many ministries of congregations and organizations as they relate to health and specifically around the response to HIV/AIDS. Please consider taking a few minutes to share more about ministry in your congregation or organization and help inform the work around the ELCA's Strategy on HIV and AIDS. To take the survey, click here .
Job Opportunities
Part-Time Coordinator of Programs, St. Luke Lutheran Church in Richmond
St. Luke Lutheran Church in Richmond, Virginia is recruiting a Part-Time Coordinator of Programs. The Coordinator of Programs is a person of committed faith, with a passion to further the ministry of
St. Luke through intergenerational programming. This position is responsible for the creation, development, and implementation of programming, with one special focus on the needs of younger members, young adults, young couples and families and a second special focus on seniors which includes but is not limited to Education, Fellowship and Outreach.

For a complete position description, and information on how to apply, click here.
ELCA Hunger Advocacy Fellow- Washington, DC
Through the support of ELCA World Hunger, ELCA Advocacy works to end hunger by engaging directly with local, state and national governments and equipping people of faith to seek justice through advocacy. ELCA Advocacy is a ministry of the ELCA Domestic Mission Unit. This is a twelve-month, non-renewable contract position.

The Hunger Advocacy Fellow will participate in a 12-month transformative experience that combines leadership development and faith formation with impactful advocacy that moves us toward an end to hunger and a just world where all are fed.

The 2018 Hunger Advocacy Fellow is a full-time contract employee (with benefits) of the ELCA Advocacy office in Washington D.C. The Fellow will serve as a member of the ELCA Advocacy national staff team.

Focusing on analyzing and addressing the root causes of hunger and economic injustice, and promoting a holistic approach to hunger ministry, the Hunger Advocacy Fellow will build ELCA World Hunger capacity to end hunger by deepening and expanding Lutheran advocacy efforts in synods, coalitions and networks.

For a complete job description, and to apply for this position, click here.
If you have a position opening you would like posted, please email Emily Pilat at  pilat@vasynod.org