Keeping up with news and stories from around the synod...

Education Debt Relief Survey

All rostered ministers with education debt are asked to respond to the survey no later than April 1.

In partnership with the Lilly Foundation and the North Carolina Synod, the Florida-Bahamas Synod is developing a comprehensive plan to help alleviate some of the burden of education debt. The first step is to determine the extent of education debt in our Synod among our rostered ministers.

We are requesting that all rostered ministers with education debt respond even if you don't need loan assistance as we are working to determine both the education debt of the synod as a whole and the total number of rostered ministers impacted. Your responses will help us plan present and future programs to ease the burden of educational debt. Survey responses are anonymous and confidential.

Click here to complete this survey on or before April 1, 2022.

Synod Assembly Registration is Now Open

We are thrilled to finally be able to gather in assembly after two years of pandemic precautions. We look forward to a joy-filled time of worship, workshops, and fellowship.

We will meet at the Caribe Royale in Orlando from June 3 through 5, 2022.

Information and registration link available here.

Volunteer Opportunity at Synod Assembly

This year’s Synod Assembly will include and in-person volunteer opportunity at Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. This private non-profit serves six counties in Central Florida and last year alone distributed enough food for 73 million meals.

If you live in central Florida or can come in early, join your fellow Lutherans at 8 a.m. on Friday, June 3 at the warehouse (411 Mercy Dr., Orlando) and let’s get to work. Can’t make it to the warehouse? Take up a special collection and bring it with you. Let’s fill these bins. If each congregation brings 50 pounds of canned goods and other items, we could donate more than four tons to Second Harvest! That would help a lot of struggling families.

Critically needed items:

Canned fruit and vegetables
Grains (rice, cereal, oatmeal)
Proteins (canned meat, tuna, beans, peanut butter, canned soup)
Dairy (dry or evaporated milk)
Baby Food
Non-Food items (these can’t be purchased with food stamps – e.g., soap, shampoo, toothpaste)

Online Service of

Lament & Confession

Monday, April 4, 2022, 7 PM

In commemoration of the 54^th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., let us lament and confess the sin of racism and take up the disciplines that will bring forth understanding and peace. Click here to register for the online service.

The Just Love Team invites persons who would like to partner with us as ambassadors by completing the form at this link. Future trainings are now being planned.

Gethsemane Quilters Touch Lives around the World

The quilting group at Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Gainesville was organized 13 years ago. With this year's donation of 29 quilts, the church has now sent 365 quilts to Lutheran World Relief which are tracked with a bar code. Some of these quilts have been sent to Peru, Mali, and the Republic of Georgia.

In addition to quilts, the church also assembled 21 school kits which will be sent with the quilts to the in-gathering in Jacksonville next week. School kits and quilts are the most requested items by LWR and Gethsemane Lutheran Church is honored to contribute to these worthy ministries.

Open Position: Part-Time Music Director -

King of Kings (Port Richey)

King of Kings Lutheran Church in Port Richey is seeking a part-time music/choir director and musician for Sunday service. Interested parties can inquire at 727-868-5744 (leave a message) or email king2s@live.com.

It's not too late to file these annual reports

Congregation Reports (Parochial) 2021

Rostered Minister Reports - Download and save to your computer. Following completion, save, and attach to an e-mail to ileanas@fbsynod.org.

Mission Support Covenants - You can file your covenant online or by returning the card to the Synod Office. This year, the Florida-Bahamas Synod will forward 46% of our mission support dollars to Churchwide.

A Time for a Reset

In her March column for Living Lutheran, ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton reminds us that “over and over again humankind has betrayed the hope God has for us.” She suggests that this is a “time for a reset.”

Read her column in English here and in Spanish here.