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These Things We Call Clusters

Bishop Meggan Manlove

In our synod constitution (Chapter 12) there are five purposes of clusters:

a. fostering interdependent relationships among congregations for mission purposes [in four specific areas]

b. developing relationships with other religious and secular organizations dedicated to advocating justice and providing services to meet human needs.

c. seeking to facilitate communication between the congregations of the cluster and the synod.

d. providing a forum for conversation about matters coming before the Synod Assembly. e. submitting nominations for any available synod position to the Synod Nominating Committee.

That’s the Constitution, but what does it actually look like? When I was a member of the Treasure Valley Cluster, we regularly asked, “What can we do together as a cluster that we cannot do alone?” or “What can we do better together?” That led to several collaborations. Many of our pastors met for weekly text study. We also wondered if all of our churches really needed their own copier agreements. Alternatively, in my first call in rural Western Iowa, I was in a congregation far from the hub of my mostly urban cluster, but I drove weekly for a great text study, followed by lunch, with pastors from two clusters. The collegiality was a lifeline. We also have clusters in the NWIM Synod whose rostered leaders go on retreats together. Last week, dozens of members, rostered and lay people, of the Lower Columbia Basin Cluster went to a baseball game together! 

No one is going to prescribe exactly how to be a cluster. I have told the deans that I expect them to pull together the active rostered leaders every other month online or in person to check in on one another. Many rostered leaders do meet weekly or monthly in person for text study. Lay and rostered people should come together before regular synod assemblies, as our constitution states, though I celebrate those clusters that come together more often for business or recreation or worship.

During the winter deans’ retreat we created some potentially different boundaries/clusters. We encourage everyone to try these on and, if they work, we can work towards formalizing them. Why this experiment and potential changes? So much has changed since the synod was created in the late 1980s. So, here they are, with their respective dean(s).

• Upper Snake River (still Twin Falls to Jackson) – Pastor Wayne Shipman
• Treasure Valley (still Ontario to Mountain Home) – Pastors Lucas Shurson and Paul Malek
• North Idaho (still Coeur d’Alene to Bonners Ferry) – Pastors Dan Forsgren and Matt Erickson
• Columbia Basin (still Tri-Cities plus Walla Walla and Othello) – Pastor Kirsten Sauey Hoffman
• South Central Washington (still Ellensburg to Grandview) – Pastor Dennis Hickman
• Palouse and Tsceminicum Clusters Joined – Pastor Wes Howell
• Mount Spokane and Spokane Valley Clusters Joined – Pastors Joel Skindlov and Matt Larson
• North Central Washington Cluster gains Moses Lake – Pastor Paul Palumbo
• West Spokane/West Plains Cluster includes Davenport, Egypt, Reardon, Medical Lake, Ritzville, Sprague, Wilbur, Salem, All Saints, Central, and St. Mark’s – Pastors Carol Yeager and Nathaneil Christman

If you are not sure about your cluster, ask your pastor, deacon, or council president. If you are curious about who represents your cluster on the synod council, visit the synod website: https://nwimsynod.org/council We hope your cluster council reps are conduits of communication between the synod council and the clusters.

Last year at synod assembly, we met under the theme Bega Kwa Bega, a Swahili phrase which translates shoulder to shoulder. We use this phrase to describe our relationship with our companion synod, the Ulanga Kilombero Diocese of Tanzania. It also could be used to describe cluster relationships: you and your congregations walking shoulder to shoulder with other congregations in your cluster. (I will use a future column to encourage walking bega kwa bega with ecumenical partners.)

For now, know that cluster relationships are important. Sometimes members of clusters gather for a timely reason or with a specific goal. Sometimes the simple purposes for gathering are prayer and getting to know one another. If it’s the latter, trust that the Holy Spirit will in time produce fruit from that faithful gathering. 

Peace,

Bishop Manlove

Preach Pray Preside - Fall Retreat

Who is this for?



• Members who are occasionally authorized to preside at Communion,
• Members who preach occasionally,
• Members who have been lifted up by congregations to be Synod Authorized Ministers (SAMs).

Save the date: Oct. 25-27 in Spokane.

We have some funds set aside to help with travel costs, so save the date even if you are from Southern Idaho or the western edge of the synod.

More information (instructors and specific locations and cost) in future synod

e-newsletters. 

Council Members Monthly Check-In

The word “synod” at its root means something like “on the way together.” It is a transliteration of the ancient Greek word σύνοδος (súnodos). The prefix “sún” (syn) means together or alongside; and the word hodos (making up the “od” of synod) means way or path. That word does a great job of articulating what or who the Northwest Intermountain (NWIM) Synod is at our best. The NWIM Synod is the people and ministries across our territory who are on the way together.

One way we hope to live into being Synod together is gathering those who serve on councils or boards of ministries for a monthly check-in with each other. We will meet over Zoom on the 4th Tuesday of each month at 6:30pm Pacific Time/7:30pm Mountain Time. The hope and plan is that these check-ins will be an opportunity for members of councils/boards to connect, pray together, share best practices, and more. Depending upon the size of the group, breakout rooms may be used so that people can have more time to share and be heard by others.

The first Council Members Monthly Check-In will take place on May 28, 2024. The Zoom information, which will remain the same for each check-in, is below.

Topic: Council Members Check-In

Time: This is a recurring meeting Meet anytime

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89176429941?pwd=OENTWS9HdEVKZ2pBOEI5eHRPbzZpUT09

Meeting ID: 891 7642 9941

Passcode: 881268

One tap mobile

+16694449171,,89176429941#,,,,*881268# US

+16699006833,,89176429941#,,,,*881268# US (San Jose)

Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/knWnic4b1

The College for Congregational Development

Currently, the College is offered in an

intensive 6-day summer format

August 4 - 9

The College for Congregational Development is a comprehensive training program for clergy and laity in congregational and organization development. Because the College seeks to improve the way that leaders function in congregations, congregations are strongly encouraged to send clergy-lay teams to the College.

Northwest Intermountain Synod

REGIONAL GATHERINGS 2024

Last one on May 18

Come join with your siblings in Christ to be renewed and rekindled in faith together, and sent into our aching world, free of fear and rooted in holy joy.—DEM Pastor Liv Larson Andrews

Regional Gatherings Pre-work

Theme: Finding New Ways to Fund Ministry

We asked our Regional Gathering speaker Grace Pomroy to help prime the pump before we all descend on Spokane Valley, Twin Falls, and Ellensburg. Click the link below for materials you could use in a classroom, online, in worship, or on the drive to the event. You could involve people who will be attending and/or other members of your congregation. 

PRE-WORK

Register Participants for May 18

at First Lutheran Church, Ellensburg, WA

2024 Regional Gathering Offerings

Rooted in Place - Internship Site Grants

Donate here

Choose the correct option

"2024 Region Gathering offering: Rooted in Place". 

Join the hunger ministry teams of six ELCA Synods in Region 1 with Faith Action Network to learn about our nation’s most important and largest food system legislation—the Farm Bill. Find out its impact on you and your neighbors. Help us advocate to pass a new Farm Bill this year!

Event highlights:

• Presentation by ELCA Advocacy Staff
• Special guest speakers from across Region 1
• Prayerful reflection with ELCA Bishops
• Breakout groups to meet and discuss with ELCA and community members from across the region
• Take action by writing letters to Congress 

It’s not too late to join

Lutheran Summer Music 2024!

June 30-July 28

We’re looking forward to an incredible year at LSM, and we’ve been able to add extra spots for this summer! Final openings are available for the four-week Full Session (June 30-July 28) for students in grades 8-12 who play clarinet, flute, horn, oboe, trumpet, euphonium, violin, or string bass. Contact LSM Admissions for questions or to refer students: admissions@lutheransummermusic.org. For more information or to apply, visit LSMacademy.org.

In partnership with the Presbyterian Foundation of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the ELCA Stewardship and Generosity team is proud to present a three-day conference dedicated to digging deeply into stewardship and generosity, utilizing workshops and plenaries that highlight diverse and authoritative voices from across the PCUSA, the ELCA and partner church bodies. This year we’ll be in Portland, Ore., exploring what “makes stewardship weird,” and hearing from a number of voices engaged in both practical and cutting-edge thoughts around fueling ministry.

Stewardship Kaleidoscope offers real tools for real ministry and is perfect for both rostered and lay leaders. The mission of the conference is to ignite generosity, give practical tools for cultivating congregational generosity, expand leadership capacity for stewardship leaders, and cultivate adaptive approaches for funding Christ’s mission throughout the world.

Limited partial scholarships are available! Contact the Rev. Tim Brown at Tim.Brown@elca.org if interested.

For information and registration (now open!), click here.

Mark your calendar: Sept. 23-25 - Portland, Ore.

$325 individual rate

$125 virtual rate

Group discounts available for those from the same congregation

Preach Pray Preside - Fall Retreat

Who is this for?

• Members who are occasionally authorized to preside at Communion,
• Members who preach occasionally,
• Members who have been lifted up by congregations to be Synod Authorized Ministers (SAMs).

Save the date: Oct. 25-27 in Spokane.

We have some funds set aside to help with travel costs, so save the date even if you are from Southern Idaho or the western edge of the synod.

More information (instructors and specific locations and cost) in future synod e-newsletters. 

Updates from ELCA

Indigenous Ministries & Tribal Relations

The Indigenous Ministries & Tribal Relations (IMTR) is implementing Social Policy Resolution CA 16.02.04, the Repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery, which deemed non-Christians in Africa and the Americas “enemies of Christ” and sanctioned their brutal conquest and colonization. There are three foci of this pan-ELCA initiative, a comprehensive commitment of every expression of our church.

First, The Repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery Task Force, co-chaired by former Bishop Jessica Crist and Rev. Manuel Retamoza, meets quarterly to find ways for the ELCA to implement the 21 commitments made in the document.

Second, The Truth & Healing Movement helps ELCA members understand our complicity as a church and as Christians in the colonial project and provides ways to respond to injustices perpetrated on Indigenous people and Tribal Nations in the United States.

A third way to respond is be part of this important justice work is through the Truth Seeking Truth Telling Initiative. To help understand how Lutherans and ELCA predecessor church bodies were complicit in Indian boarding schools, nearly 200 volunteers help identify Indian boarding schools and day schools sponsored or supported by Lutherans before 1970. They are committed to participating in an ongoing truth and healing process for both Native peoples and White ELCA Lutherans.   

The first ten students completed their second week of classes in Theological Education for Indigenous Leaders (TEIL) certificate program, designed to equip effective indigenous leaders for communities and congregations. Through Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary and the American Indian Alaska Native Lutheran Association, “wisdom keepers” or instructors (90% indigenous) offer classes to students from a variety of ELCA Indigenous ministries. Three cohorts will complete the program over a five-year period. 

Godly Play Core Training

August 16 - 18, 2024

Peace Lutheran Church, Peoria AZ

$300 registration fee includes training materials and food

Godly Play Core Training is the recommended training for those leading Godly Play sessions, program administrators, parents/caregivers and clergy. Over the course of three days, participants experience all aspects of the Godly Play method and begin to become fluent in the Godly Play core stories and fundamental practices. Our training will follow an action/reflection model of learning with a mixture of trainer-led presentations and participant storytelling presentations.

For information and registration click here.