NWWA Synod Weekly Update for 7/3/23

July 3, 2023

Weekly Update

announcements & events

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Lutheran Community Services Northwest

Bulletin inserts for congregations

Please find the attached bulletin insert, available for your churches to copy and paste, or use parts as needed to show the impact churches are making in communities in the Northwest through LCSNW.

The Spirit

Read the July-August Edition of The Spirit HERE.

Check out previous monthly messages from our Synod Vice President Kay Edgerton and Bishop Shelley Bryan Wee here: https://www.lutheransnw.org/news/the-spirit

Truth and Healing Movement Events

Find opportunities to learn the true history and current realities of our Indigenous neighbors. It is these truths, truths that have been ignored by most for hundreds of years, that will bring healing for both Indigenous people and non-Indigenous people.

Find webinars, book lists, and more HERE!

NWWA Synod Trip to the Holy Land

January 14-25, 2024

You are invited to join with others in the NWWA Synod for a life-changing trip to the Holy Land. Not only will we visit holy sites, we will also meet with, talk with, and listen to those who live, work, laugh, worship, and struggle in this land. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL) is one of our partners in the Lutheran World Federation. They are excited to share their stories with us. There is also an additional post-trip to Egypt that you are invited to sign up for, as well.

We want this to be a time for people to interact with and learn with the people of this land. Therefore, we are only taking twenty-four people. We hope that you will come and be a part of this important trip. Please click the link below to find out more information or reach out to me for any questions you might have.

https://www.eliastours.com/tours/northwest-washington-synod-holy-land-trip-with-bishop-shelley-bryan-wee-dr-rod-schofield

UPCOMING EVENTS

Synod Office Closed July 3 & 4 for Independence Day

+ We pray: Creator God, we give you thanks for the freedom and abundance we enjoy in our country. Help us to exercise generosity in our national life, addressing root causes of the poverty, hunger, injustice, racism, and lack of opportunity our neighbors experience on a daily basis. Amen.

PRIDE

What a delight to see SO MANY NWWA Synod Lutherans at the various PRIDE parades and events around the synod this last month! Thank you to all of our coordinators and marchers!

There is one more parade in Bellingham on July 9!

Retired Rostered Ministers Lunch

July 11, 11:30am-1:30pm at Advent Lutheran Church in Mill Creek.

All retired deacons and pastors...and spouses, widows, widowers...are invited to join the bishop and her staff as you connect with friends.

Registration Extended!

Please register by emailing Susan@lutheransnw.org by July 5!

Summer Family Camp

at Camp Casey Campground

July 14-16

Registration is OPEN!

We will be doing a multi-congregational family summer camp with our local Lutheran congregations! Come join the fun. Everyone is welcome! We are all FAMILY - So Family Camp means YOU!

We'll have music, camp games, crafts, free family time, evening vespers, closing worship, and much more! All nestled by the Fort Casey Campground beachfront.

Registration is now - space is limited. RV's & tents sites available. Come for the day or come for the whole event. You do not reserve with Fort Casey individually. You must register using the QR link on the flyer. Spaces will fill fast, so register NOW!

Refugees NW – Foster Care Info Sessions

Tuesdays, July 18 and August 15 at 5:30pm

For over 40 years, the Refugees Northwest Foster Care program of Lutheran Community Services Northwest has partnered with a dedicated community of caregivers to welcome and support refugee and immigrant youth. These youth cannot return to their home countries, have no available adults to care for them, and are in need of stable, loving, long-term caregivers here in the U.S. Until a caregiver is available, youth remain in refugee camps overseas, or in facilities within the U.S., waiting. You can end their wait by becoming a foster parent or host home.

At these online sessions, Refugees Northwest Foster Care staff will share an overview of the youth we serve, the supports we offer foster families, and the basics of the licensing process and host home approval process. There will be time for your questions, too.

Refugees Northwest Foster Care actively seeks individuals and couples from diverse backgrounds to join our program as foster parents or host homes. We welcome adults of all sexual orientations, gender identities, marital statuses, and faiths, and we value the strengths a diverse foster parent community brings to help meet the diverse needs of our youth. Our program currently licenses households and approves host homes in King County and some south Snohomish County areas only. Due to the sensitive nature of the material shared, we ask that children do not attend this event. Teens are welcome.

Community Sing:

Songs in Your Body, on this Land.

7400 Woodlawn (Greenlake/Seattle) welcomes you to join us for song in Greenlake Park! Conie Borchardt and Liz Digitale Anderson, leaders/musicians from Music That Makes Community, will lead us!

Thursday, July 27 – 5pm Bring-Your-Own-Picnic

6pm-7:30pm Singing

Registration fee is $5-20, but no one will be turned away... Register here: https://www.facebook.com/events/112937045155351?ref=newsfeed, and use the COMMUNITY SING REGISTRATION in the drop down menu. In case of inclement weather, check back at our website www.7400woodlawn.org/events for location update. If you have questions, contact Harriet Platts at info@7400Woodlawn.org.

Save the dates for these

Events for Rostered Ministers & SALMS:

Cluster Deans Dinner

Thursday, August 17, 4pm-8pm

Save the date - more info coming soon!

(Spouses/partners/families are invited, too)

New-to-the-Synod Dinner

October 5, 4pm-7:30pm

Rostered ministers and their spouses/partners who are new to the synod since Summer 2022, are invited to attend this dinner - look for more information mid summer!

LOOKING AHEAD

save the dates for these excellent retreats!

Holden Village Retreat - register now!

September 10-15

A partnership with Music That Makes a Difference!

Learn more HERE.

The planning team will be posting regularly on this substack

It is a collaboration gathering for all people who are working toward wholeness, justice, and all those good things.

RECLAIM - register now!

September 14-17 in Minneapolis

RECLAIM is a gathering for people of African descent, brought to you by African Descent Ministries. Participants will build a tool kit for ministry as we move through a pandemic, climate change and an era of preserving healers' spiritual and emotional wellness.

The church needs healthy and whole preachers, teachers, professionals and young adults, all well-equipped with culturally relevant approaches to the word. Grounded in Scripture, RECLAIM will help participants feel embodied, emboldened and liberated in their identities.

Learn more HERE!

12th Triennial of Women of the ELCA

September 21-24 in Phoenix, AZ

We invite you to experience a life-changing event with other bold women of faith in September 2023. Find more info about the Triennial and the Quilt Challenge here: https://www.womenoftheelca.org/new-triennial-event-page. Questions? Reach out to Janice Stepp, our Synod Triennial Promoter, at 425-210-2733

Sacred Space Day Retreat

Sacred Spaces: Opening the Holy Invitation Even Wider

Part of the Cultivate Project of NWWA Synod of the ELCA

September 15 and 16 at Camp Lutherwood

Join Facilitators and Practitioners of unique gatherings and organic forms of church, for a day of stories, experiences, and workshops to explore together how we can open God’s holy invitation even wider. There are so many ways to gather as faithful communities, whether it's outdoors, creating art, at the pub, or just eating around one big table. Why shouldn’t our gatherings reflect our uniqueness?

Let’s imagine how we can foster organic sacred spaces right in our own backyards. How can we create more inclusive gatherings for people to encounter God? How can we experiment with the gifts we have to meet the needs of those seeking the spirit in our own neighborhoods? What is sprouting up within you that is ready for germination? Come with ideas, come with questions, come to dream about what sacred spaces can be!

We’ll have an optional gathering the night before for practitioners to come, share a meal and find community in the sometimes siloed work on church experimentation. Scholarships are available so please reach out if cost is a barrier.

Learn more about this event and get registered here!

LiVE Fall Retreat - Save the date!

(Living into Vocational Engagement)

Saturday, September 23

Location to be announced soon!

Chosen: A Study in God's People-Creating Project

Dr. Michael Chan will lead this One-day Retreat for any and all lay leaders who wish to revisit the Chosen life of God’s people as heard within the Old Testament. Whether you are new to Scripture or a seasoned Bible reader, this day will bring you new insight, and inspiration for growing closer to the God who chooses people for a life of calling and connection.