Apple Cup Fundraiser for Campus Ministries!

During Apple Cup week, UW Lutherans and WSU's Episcopal-Lutheran-

Methodist (ELM) Campus Ministry will go head-to-head in a friendly

fundraising competition! As the Huskies and the Cougars battle it out on

the football field, their Lutheran campus ministries will engage in a battle

of donations!

There will be winners for most funds received and largest single donation,

but all funds will be split evenly at the end of the event. Winners will

receive bragging rights and pride. And the "losers" will be doomed to post

a photo of themselves wearing a t-shirt of the opposite team on campus!

Congregation leaders - you can use this PDF as you share this info with your members.

Donations of any amount are welcome!

To donate online in support of either ministry, use this link: https://ddock.co/de13f3a5

Or send a check to:

Lutheran Campus Council / PO Box 85401 / Seattle, WA 98145

Write "Apple Cup" and the team you are rooting for in the memo.

To see the results, follow our Instagram and Facebook pages:

@uwlutherans and @elm.wsu

Advent Devotional

from our friends at the Church of Steadfast Love

Find this Annual Advent Devotional HERE

From Church of Steadfast Love: During the Season of Advent, we prepare our hearts and minds for the coming of the Christ. We celebrate the birth of Jesus at Christmas, and we remember that in him the Kingdom of God came to earth. Now we wait expectantly for his return, not as the baby that was once worshipped in the manger, but as our Savior that will come again and restore all things unto himself.

As Christmas approaches the craziness of our lives traditionally increase as gift buying and parties are added to our daily routines, but not everyone has the comforts that many of us enjoy without giving them a second thought. It is for this reason that we call our devotional, “Silver and Gold Have We None.” Those whom we serve have not the material possessions that our society prizes, but they have the wonderful gifts of hope and promise. And we, those who find ourselves on the streets this holiday seasons, in the shelters, and securely housed, would like to share of ourselves with you this season.

May you find this devotional useful for increasing and deepening faith as you reflect on the Living Word, and on our humble insights.

YAGM Applications are OPEN!

The ELCA’s Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM) program is ready for new volunteers! This year, for the first time since early 2020, YAGM participants are walking alongside our international neighbors. Now, it’s time for the YAGM team to find the next volunteers ready to step out into the world. Do you know one of them? Applications are now open, and you can invite young adults on this journey abroad for the 2023-2024 program year.

If you know young adults aged 21 to 29, this is the time to reach out. Encourage them to apply for YAGM by the deadline of Feb.1, 2023. (Priority deadline is Jan. 15, 2023.) Talk to them personally about what this opportunity will mean for their faith, identity, career and understanding of God’s work in the world. You can also watch and share this video message to learn about some of the ways the YAGM team is updating the program’s recruiting practices and making it more welcoming for everyone.

Learn more here: www.elca.org/our-work/global-mission/young-adults-in-global-mission

Thriving Leadership Cohorts Forming Now!

Background: In 2018, California Lutheran University received a nearly $1 million, five-year grant from the Lilly Endowment to create Thriving Leadership Formation in partnership with its own Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary and the 11 ELCA synods of Regions 1 and 2. Membership is open to rostered and non-rostered leaders in ELCA Regions 1 and 2.

Purpose: Thriving Leadership Formation seeks to foster relational, creative, Spirit-led, compassionate forms of ministry that are deeply responsive to local communities. Participants will work in small groups that encourage and equip leaders to live out their faith in ways that make a difference in the world. Session content will focus on spiritual resources, leadership skills, competencies and tools for thriving in the practice of ministry. Opportunities to walk with mentors and coaches enable participants to attend to their own spiritual lives, to the guidance of the Spirit, and to voices, gifts and needs within their communities. Cohorts meet virtually for 12 sessions using a curriculum of spiritual practices. 

Now is the time to join a cohort!

At Large Cohorts are begin formed around a particular group or theme:

·   Youth Ministry Leaders

·   BIPOC

·   Partners of Rostered Ministers

·   LGBTQIA+

·   New Clergy/First Call

·   Retired Rostered Ministers (led by former pastor in our synod, Rev. Joan Beck)

·   Seminarians

Our Synod Cohort is being led by Rev. John Schraan (Our Saviour's, Arlington)

Find more information and how to sign up HERE.

Synod Gatherings 2023

Save the dates!

In lieu of a Synod Assembly in 2023, we will have 2 Synod Gatherings.

They will be held on May 13 (at Salem in Mount Vernon) and May 20 (at Saint Andrew's in Bellevue.) At each location will be gathering for worship, fellowship, and a number of forums for exploring and learning!

We are gathering names of those who wish to help both with preparation and during the event.

Contact Susan (susan@lutheransnw.org) if you would like to help with planning or the day-of logistics!

Global Mission Directory

Over 130 ELCA missionaries are at work in 45 countries! These missionaries are meeting the needs of their neighbors as teachers, health care workers, communicators, pastors and more. Most importantly, they are forming the deep relationships that connect us as a global community of faith. The new, interactive Global Mission Personnel directory gives you the opportunity to get to know these missionaries a little better. It also allows you to see some of the ways they walk alongside our companions around the world.

Use the Directory to:

Learn — Find full profiles of many missionaries, with more information about their lives, work and communities. To find these, look for the arrow icons and click the names they point to.

Share — Spread the word about the impact of Global Mission by forwarding this message to members of your congregation and community. You can also download a printable version of the directory here.

Give — Consider supporting an individual missionary at ELCA.org/MissionaryGiving, or make a direct gift to Global Mission at ELCA.org/GlobalGive.

ELCA Social Message on Climate Care

YOUR input desired!

Acting upon a request from several sources, in November 2021 the ELCA Church Council authorized the development of an ELCA social message on climate care. Social messages are ELCA teaching documents that address a focused social topic. Drawing from existing social teaching, they provide theological rationale and social analysis to foster discernment and engagement on a relatively narrow social issue.

This project was authorized in light of the grim contemporary situation affecting our global home and the need for fresh action on the part of this church. It draws its framing themes from several social statements, particularly Caring for Creation: Vision, Hope, and Justice.

In line with standard ELCA protocol, the project is being shepherded by the ELCA Director for Theological Ethics, working with a lead writer in collaboration with a group of reviewers.

The draft social message is now available for public feedback! 

Read the social message draft here. 

Then use this survey to share your input by Friday, Dec. 2!

The draft will be edited, guided by the feedback, and presented to the ELCA Church Council to be voted on this coming spring.