September 8th, 2020
For more information, visit www.fbsynod.com
|
|
Bishop Suárez's Message for the 14th Sunday After Pentecost
Hi! I am honored you chose to view this Sunday reflection with me. Today, I would like to read from the second reading of the Revised Common Lectionary, Romans 13 verses 8 to 14. It reads like this…
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law. Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”
Watch Bishop Suarez's Sunday Message on YouTube!
|
|
Faith Lutheran in Sarasota needed help to take their worship online during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to the United as One grant, they now have the resources they need.
Their grant of $2,000 has provided the videography equipment they needed to film and share worship each weekend. Pictured to the left are Office Administrator Tami Page and videographers Nancy Taylor and Andrea Gamboa hard at work!
Thank you to everyone who has given to the United As One Relief Fund so far! Your gifts help bring worship into homes during this time of pandemic.
|
|
Pastor Rusty & PJ May
Establish New Grant in
Florida-Bahamas Synod
With a generous gift of $75,000, Pr. Rusty and PJ May have established the May Educational Grant for Ministers of Word and Sacrament, the first continuing education grant of its kind in the Florida-Bahamas Synod.
For Pr. Rusty and PJ, this new grant is a celebration of the blessings, opportunities, and experiences they have shared during their storied ministry. PJ only recently retired from her role as Chair of the Global Mission Table, while Pr. Rusty has been in ministry for over 40 years.
Pr. Rusty knows how life-changing a professional grant can be for a pastor early in their ministry. While serving in the Upstate New York Synod, he was a recipient of the Samuel Trexler Fellowship, which was established to fund the cultural enrichment of pastors.
And both Pr. Rusty and PJ learned the importance of generosity during their youth. They say, “We were both blessed to come from families where our parents were generous, and we both learned from an early age about the value of giving to others.”
Pr. Rusty also credits his mentors for instilling in him a love of continuing education. At all three of his calls, Pr. Rusty says he was blessed with leadership that was committed to offering opportunities to help him grow as a pastor. “The pastors I have admired and have wanted to emulate are pastors who were eager to learn and advance their skills. This grant is in honor of those pastors, who encouraged me to keep learning.”
So how did the May Educational Grant for Ministers of Word and Sacrament finally come to life? Pr. Rusty says that the idea for the grant was born during a conversation at a Conference on Ministry gathering between himself and Pr. Ana Lugo, our synod’s Regional Gift Planner for the ELCA Foundation. “I am so thankful for Pr. Ana’s expertise, experience, and encouragement,” says PJ. “I can’t say enough about how helpful, gracious, and patient she was during this process.”
The conversation then grew to include input from two Thrivent advisors, Mark Fontana and Dave Saviola, who helped Pr. Rusty and PJ allocate funds for the grant while also planning comfortably for their retirement. These professional voices, along with a serendipitous tax provision thanks to the CARES Act, created what PJ calls a “win-win-win” scenario. “Thrivent says to live generously,” PJ says. “And that’s what we’re trying to do!”
“We’ve been extremely blessed in our professional lives, personal lives, and ministry,” the couple says. “If all our hopes come true, pastors who crave to expand their education and experience will be able to use this grant to continue learning and growing. That would make our hearts happy!”
The Mays say they are blessed to have the ability to establish this grant while they are still alive, so they can witness the positive impacts of this funding on our synod. They are also thankful to Bishop Suárez and the Synod Council for seeing the value and potential of this grant, and for being willing to establish a team to oversee funding and awards. This support means the grant will continue to help pastors for generations to come.
To learn about contributing to this grant or making plans for your own legacy gift, please contact Pr. Ana Lugo at (904) 219-2769 or by email at ana.lugo@elca.org.
|
|
Our Saviour in Vero Beach Dedicates Over 500 Face Masks to Elementary School
On Sunday, August 23rd, Our Savior Lutheran Church in Vero Beach dedicated over 500 face masks that had been sewn by members and friends of the congregation. The masks were designed in many sizes for children and produced over the course of several weeks. The masks, which included a bee design, were created for their community's largest elementary school, Citrus Elementary, whose school mascot is the bee. Each mask helps to support the mission and identity of the school.
Thanks to the generosity of church members and Thrivent, all costs were covered. Several teachers and students of the school, who are members of Our Savior, participated in the blessing of the masks on live-stream worship on the Sunday before they were distributed on campus. Thanks be to God for the hundreds of hours given to this service project and the love and care put into each mask. God’s Work, Our Hands!
Pictured above: Pastor Mark Bernthal, Pastor Nicole Eastwood, Student Abbey Eastwood, Teacher Lori Nelson, WELCA President Gisela Khail and over 500 Bee Masks.
|
|
On September 17th at 10:00am,
join Bishop Suárez and Dr. Timothy Wengert for our next Rostered Ministers Virtual Gathering!
We will gather online for prayer together and a discussion of Holy Communion during COVID-19.
|
|
Our special guest, Timothy J. Wengert, is the Ministerium of Pennsylvania emeritus professor of Reformation History and the Lutheran Confessions at the United Lutheran Seminary (Philadelphia). |
|
Gather with Bishop Pedro Suárez, Assistant to the Bishop Pastor Khader El-Yateem, and Pastor Joe Conner for a service of remembrance and prayer on the 19th anniversary of September 11th, 2001. Service will begin at 10:00am.
This brief service will include prayers of lamentation and special live music. Reflections will be shared by Pr. Joe Conner, who served as Pastor of Zion Lutheran Church on Staten Island during 9/11/01, and now serves as Pastor of Lamb of God in Haines City.
No registration is necessary. Simply click the link to access the meeting.
|
|
Boundaries Training
Essential to ministry.
Easy to access online.
Is it time to complete your Boundaries training?
During COVID-19, Rostered Ministers can access our Synod's comprehensive boundaries and sexual ethics training completely online! Not only is Boundaries training absolutely essential for ministry; it is the expectation of Bishop Suárez that rostered ministers will take boundaries training once every 3 years.
|
|
New Opportunity for Rostered Ministers
Faith and Fiction, a monthly book group for rostered leaders in the Florida-Bahamas Synod, will meet online on the first Tuesday of every month at 12:30pm.
The first meeting will be on October 6 th. If you are interested and able to attend the group gathering, please send an email to Pastor Janice Mynchenberg at revjem@msn.com, so that she can send you a Zoom invitation.
The fall schedule begins with Gilead by Marilynne Robinson on October 6th, followed by In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden on November 10th (delayed one week due to the election) and Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin on December 8th. The books were selected because they are modern classics in which the religious life of their protagonists is central to the story they tell. Further selections will be chosen with the help of those who are participating in the discussions.
|
|
Click on the calendar icon to see more
events on the Synod calendar
|
|
September 13 - “God’s Work. Our hands.” Sunday
September 20 - Caring for Creation Online Worship Service -
October 10 - Bishop's Visit, Advent, Melbourne
|
|
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Bishop Suárez continues to work from home and take meetings electronically. |
|
|
|
If this newsletter was forwarded to you and you would like to subscribe to receive it in the future, please click HERE.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
