This past Sunday was the third Sunday in Lent! Bishop Suárez has recorded his weekend message for us to enjoy from the comfort of our homes.
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Presiding Bishop Eaton's March Column
Future Church: In her March column for Living Lutheran, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton reflects on the meaning behind “evangelical” in our name and the future of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: “I believe God will transform this church.”
Read her column in English here and in Spanish here.
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Back to Camp Day of Giving for NovusWay |
Back to Camp Day of Giving is March 9th! Our friends at NovusWay have received a generous $60,000 challenge gift to provide an additional $200 for every gift received up to their goal of 300 gifts.
Our congregations and communities partner with our camps to support their work of forming faith and developing leaders. Be a part of the team and support the next generation of difference-makers.
Our friends at NovusWay will be live at the top of each hour with camp stories to inspire and connect you to these sacred places apart. Thanks to two generous donors, the first 300 gifts will be multiplied by an extra $200 regardless of the gift size.
You can make a recurring gift or an above and beyond gift today at www.novusway.org. Click the green donate button in the top right corner.
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Four New COVID-19 Vaccination Sites Established
Four new COVID-19 vaccination sites have been established in partnership with the federal government in Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Jacksonville. These sites were opened on March 3rd, 2021 and will operate 7 days per week, 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. Each site will administer 2,000 vaccines per day.
Additionally, each site will have two smaller, mobile satellite sites that will each conduct 500 vaccinations per day in underserved areas.
Executive Order 21-47. Effective March 3, 2021, individuals eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccine include:
- Long-term care facility residents and staff.
- Persons 65 years of age and older.
- Health care personnel with direct patient contact.
- K-12 school employees 50 years of age and older.
- Sworn law enforcement officers 50 years of age and older.
- Firefighters 50 years of age and older.
Eligible individuals are encouraged to preregister with the statewide preregistration system by either calling each county’s designated phone number – complete list of phone numbers available on the COVID-19 Vaccines in Florida webpage or visiting MyVaccine.FL.gov. Onsite walk-up registration will also be available.
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Ministry Spotlight: International Women Leaders |
Women have great potential to bring lasting change to their communities, yet around the world, social and political structures deny them equal access to education. In observance of International Women’s Day (March 8), and thanks to a group of generous donors, all gifts to the ELCA’s International Women Leaders program will be matched — dollar for dollar — until we reach $50,000. Your gifts provide scholarship support to young women from our global companion churches who excel in their studies and have shown great potential to lead their communities. Give today and invest in the future of women leaders all around the world. Click here to learn more!
Interested in making a long-term impact? Contact our synod's Regional Gift Planner, Rev. Ana Lugo, at ana.lugo@elca.org or (904) 219-2769.
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Looking for a New Career? Visit our Employment Page! |
Ready for a new adventure? Looking to start a new career or take on a new part-time job?
The Florida-Bahamas Synod maintains an employment page full of job opportunities from around our synod.
Full-time and part-time positions are available.
Recent job postings include:
Publishing and Communications Coordinator at Lutheran Church of Our Saviour, Tampa
Director of Youth and Family Ministries at Grace Lutheran Church, Tampa
Construction Manager in Panama City
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Racial Justice Prayer of the Week
Heavenly Father, we come to you with heavy hearts for the world we live in is not as you would want it to be. We're in need of your peace and truth to soothe our hearts and spirits right now. We seek guidance as we take on the vaccine and the hope it will get us thru this pandemic. We continue to seek guidance although it’s been a year since COVID began. We need to be reminded of your constant love, healing, and grace. We seek healing for our bodies and our spirit. We ask for your Holy Spirit to comfort and strengthen us.
Lord, in your Mercy
Hear Our Prayers
Lord, we seek your guidance to overcome the spirit of division in our world today. Division in our country, our workplaces, our churches, our communities, our homes and our families. We seek a world where we can voice our feelings and truths without being ridiculed or chastised. A world where the weak are protected, different races and cultures can live in harmony and mutual respect. A world where peace is achievable with justice and love for all. Give us the inspiration, strength and courage to work together to build that world.
Lord, in your Mercy
Hear Our Prayers
Lord, as we celebrate International Woman’s Day, help us to remember the woman who have so bravely paved the road for the rest of us to walk upon. The trailblazers who believed that we are important and do matter. Let us celebrate those that have gone before us and those who are actively working now to create a better place for their daughters and granddaughters. That believed there is an equal place for us in the home, in the workplace, in the church and in our communities.
Lord, in your Mercy
Hear our prayers.
Lord, thank you that you have set us free and that you are bigger than anything we face in this life. We lay our burdens before you, every single one, for we know they're much safer in your hands than our own. Make me an instrument of Your peace.
Lord, in your Mercy
Hear our prayers.
This prayer was submitted by Grace El-Yateem on behalf of the Synod Racial Justice Team.
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Honoring the Past with Gifts for the Future |
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On March 7th, Rev. Khader El-Yateem, Assistant to the Bishop and Director for Evangelical Mission for the South Region, traveled to Living Faith Church in Tradition, Port St. Lucie on behalf of Bishop Pedro Suárez to present the congregation with a check for $50,000. This gift was a portion of the proceeds from the sale of Hope Lutheran Church in Port St. Lucie and was approved by the Florida-Bahamas Synod Council.
After the closure of Hope Lutheran, the people of Living Faith opened their doors and their hearts to their siblings in Christ, welcoming many of Hope Lutheran’s members. This gift honors the Saints who have gone before us and ensures that Living Faith’s growing congregation can continue to thrive for years to come. Specifically, Living Faith says this gift will go towards their new building project.
Pastor Maryanne Kehlenbach said, “We thank the synod for their faithfulness to us and the work that we’re doing here in Port. St. Lucie.”
Rev. El-Yateem encouraged the congregation to praise God for this gift, saying, “God is great, and God will do amazing things through this gift and through this ministry.”
Pastor Kehlenbach went on to celebrate the incredible work done at Hope Lutheran during their years of ministry. “Whether a ministry lasts a week or 150 years, it doesn’t matter. Lives have been changed, and we give thanks for all of the faithful people who were members of the congregation that gathered in the name of Hope, and we give them thanks that, in their hope, they have entrusted to Living Faith this incredible gift, that God’s work will and can and shall continue in the community of Port St. Lucie.”
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Youth Empowerment Project (YEP) at Zion Evangelical Lutheran |
Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Deerfield Beach would like to invite local high school students to join their student group!
The Youth Empowerment Project - South Florida (YEP) at Zion began in January 2020 and is ongoing for high school students. They focus on education, service, and personal growth. All high school students (from any school, any church, or no church at all) are welcome.
They are currently meeting on Zoom, have virtual game nights just about every other week, and several "life skills" community speakers planned for the spring. For more information, visit: www.zion-lutheran.org/yep
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Babcock Ranch's March 2021 Newsletter Now Available |
Our friends at The Community Church in Babcock Ranch have released their March 2021 newsletter! Click here to view page one, and click here to view page two.
In this newsletter, the faithful members of The Community Church thank the donors who have helped launch this ministry. If you're interested in helping support the church in Babcock Ranch, please visit their website by clicking here.
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Partners in Ministry: ELCA and the Lutheran Church in Cuba
Despite the restrictions in US-Cuba relations, the ELCA finds ways to partner with IEU-SL, the Lutheran Church in Santiago, Cuba. The ELCA churchwide expression has made two grants to the Cuban church with the most recent one being for $15,000.
Funds have been used not only for food and necessary supplies, but also for pastoral care support and training in the wake of the hardships brought on by Covid and economic stress. The photographs below depict the dissemination of medicine and toiletries to the congregation "Cristo Redentor" (Christ the Redeemer). In the midst of profound need, these gifts were gratefully received.
Bishop Ismael Laborde of IEU-SL has expressed his joy over the grants and for the growing partnership with the ELCA. He also offers the following prayer petitions that we can continue to lift together: that we experience God's peace and presence in this time of hardship; that the pastoral staff of IEU-SL, severely impacted by the devaluation of currency in Cuba, be granted strength in their time of need; that health be restored; and that the economic crisis in Cuba be alleviated.
And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. ~1 John 5:14
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Looking for a way to serve the larger Church beyond your congregation? |
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The Synod Nominating Committee has 34 ways for you to chose from! Over the next month we will highlight these opportunities and then starting in mid-April you will be able to submit nominations to take on these exciting Synod Roles.
I’d like to start with Synod Council Representative which is a three-year term for both Lay and Rostered persons and Young Adult and Youth representatives. This year there are several two-year terms available because of not having an Assembly in 2020. Meetings are held four times a year at various locations around the Synod or on Zoom, as has been the case the last many months.
As a member of Synod Council, you are called to see that the mission and vision of the Synod are lifted up and carried forward: Mission - Share Christ, Make Disciples, Do Justice in the world, and Vision - To be deeply rooted in Christ, firmly grounded in Word and Sacrament, and joyfully sent for the sake of the world.
The Synod Council is the board of directors of the synod and serves as its interim legislative authority between meetings of the Synod Assembly. A few functions of synod council are:
- Recommend program goals and budgets to meetings of the Synod Assembly
- Carry out the resolutions of the Synod Assembly
- Annually review of the roster, act upon recommendations regarding those persons whose status is subject to reconsideration, and Issue letters of call to rostered persons.
The following Synod Council positions are open for nominations - please consider yourself or others who would enjoy sharing in the wonderful experience of serving in this capacity.
North Mission District - 1st Coast, Heart of Florida, Pinelands, Panhandle & Flagler- Volusia Conferences
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Rostered Minister (in good standing for a three-year term)
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Layperson Female (in good standing for a two-year term)
Southwest Mission District - Lake, Mid Gulf, Tampa, Sun Coast, Gulf Coast & Caloosa Conferences
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Layperson Female (in good standing for a three-year term)
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Layperson Male (in good standing for a two-year term)
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PCLE* Rostered Minister or Layperson (in good standing for a two-year term) *A person of color or primary language other than English.
Southeast Mission District - Miami-Dade, Broward-Bahamas, Tradewinds & Space Coast Conferences
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Layperson Male (in good standing for a three-year term)
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Rostered Minister (in good standing for a two-year term)
Youth - Any mission district (in good standing for a one-year term) - Nominees for the youth position shall be 15-17 years of age AND be a rising 9th through 11th Grader in school at the time of election.
Young Adult - Any mission district (in good standing for a three-year term) - Nominees for the young adult position shall be 18 - 30 years of age.
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Why It Matters: Interviews with Our Florida-Bahamas Synod Council |
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Growing up in the Lutheran Church in the Virgin Islands, Brenda Lans followed the traditional Lutheran worship with the Virgin Islands’ signature Afro-Caribbean flair. In her congregation, music was reminiscent of her robust heritage, incorporated into worship through the singing of old spiritual songs and the use of Calypso instrumental music, drums, tambourines, and other features.
According to Brenda, “This church was where I began my Christian life and I embraced it whole-heartedly by becoming involved in all aspects of it.” Now, as a member of the Florida-Bahamas Synod Council, Brenda’s walk with Christ has led her to use her unique worship experiences to better her community.
Before serving on the Synod Council, Brenda was on the board of the Florida-
Bahamas Synodical Women of the ELCA back in the early 90’s. This was the first time she became involved in ELCA initiatives and policies. Brenda says, “I would have to say that the Women of the ELCA Anti-Racism programming, Today’s Dream: Tomorrow’s Reality, was one initiative that I was very proud to be a part of. Nowadays, my passion is moving more towards Lutheran World Relief.”
As she continues to advocate for global relief and anti-racism initiatives, Brenda says her service is also inspired by her desire to support her church community during difficult times. “As leaders of our churches and congregations,” she says, “we experience, at any given time, feelings of fulfillment, and anxiety. Sometimes we get excited for the future. We are constantly faced with many important issues that affect our decisions as leaders. Being a part of the Synod council gives me a glimpse of how the decisions we (the Synod Council) make not only affect the churches in the state of Florida but also churchwide.”
Moving forward, Brenda has big dreams for our synod. She says, “My hope for the Florida-Bahamas Synod for the next few years is to see the board continue to reflect more diverse groups and include more young adults in leadership.”
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Save the Date for "God's work. Our hands." Sunday! |
Save the date for this year's "God's work. Our hands." Sunday on September 21st.
We’re not sure what the impact of this crisis will look like in September, but we continue to be church together. Our congregations continue to maintain feeding ministries, serve communities disproportionately affected by COVID-19 pandemic, and assist people who are financially burdened by the economic downturn.
“Service in the Time of COVID-19” was developed to offer service project ideas and considerations for safely supporting your community in this time of pandemic.
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Lutheran Disaster Response is standing ready to support the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod, the Southwestern Texas Synod, the Northern Texas-Northern Louisiana Synod, and Lutheran Social Services Disaster Response.
Your gifts will support storm survivors. Gifts to "U.S. Severe Storms" will be used in full (100%) to assist those affected by severe storms.
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