July 19, 2021
Weekly Update
announcements & events
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Synod Staff Announcement!
Bishop Shelley Bryan Wee is very pleased to announce that Pastor Herb Shao is joining the synod staff team as Director of Evangelical Mission beginning August 1, 2021. He will serve alongside Deacon Dianne Johnson who is continuing in her role as Director of Evangelical Mission. Pastor Shao and Deacon Johnson will both be 3/4 time.
Pastor Shao will work with our Asian congregations and ministry sites as well as implement the NWWA Synod Living Legacy Initiative. Together he and Deacon Johnson will work with new ministry sites and current congregations in the area of vitality. We are grateful to have this dynamic duo serving together in this important ministry area.
Pastor Shao comes to the NWWA Synod with a myriad of skills and experiences, most notably he just completed 20 years as a chaplain in the US Air Force. He and his wife, Akiyo, are delighted to be back in the NW Washington Synod. Together they have two young adult children.
The synod staff is excited to continue building on the five focus areas of the synod: Connection, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Youth and Young Adults, Faithful Innovation, and Leadership. We continue to live into our guiding statement: Trusting in the Spirit, we are walking together with God's people so that all may discover and participate in what God is doing among us through Jesus.
Thank you for your prayers and encouragement as we welcome Pastor Herb Shao to the staff!
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Employment Opportunities
in our Synod and beyond
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Disaster Preparedness & Response Info
Read the latest newsletter from our excellent partners at Region One Disaster Preparedness & Response here:
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2022 ELCA Youth Gathering
A Facebook group has been created specifically for adult leaders in our synod planning to take a group to the 2022 Gathering in Minneapolis. This is a great place to connect and share ideas! You may request to join here: www.facebook.com/groups/795113361195317/
Every three years, 30,000 high school youth and their adult leaders from across the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America gather for a week of faith formation known as the ELCA Youth Gathering. Through days spent in interactive learning, worship, Bible study, service and fellowship, young people grow in faith and are challenged and inspired to live their faith in their daily lives.
An important part of the Gathering’s ministry are the two pre-events, the Multicultural Youth Leadership Event (MYLE), a faith formation and leadership development event primarily for youth of color, and the tAble, a gathering that brings together, blesses and empowers youth with disabilities.
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Join LIRS in Calling for Protection for Afghan Allies
Soon President Biden will be deciding if/when we will be evacuating the Afghan Allies of our US military (and their families) out of Afghanistan before the withdrawal in Sept – or leave them to face certain death. These allies and their families soon became the targets of anti-American violence. They continue to be threatened, abducted, targeted, and killed for their allegiance to the U.S. and NATO mission. On this page – www.lirs.org/emergency-evacuation-afghan-allies-action-alert is a summary of the issue. There is a clear advocacy action included. The downloadable toolkit at the bottom of the page is an excellent source of information with talking points, a story, prayers and a longer explanation of ways to get involved. |
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Synod Events/Meetings this Week:
Team members, check your inbox for info & zoom links.
First Call Meet Up
Tuesday, July 20 at 2pm via Zoom
For those rostered ministers in their first three years of ministry.
South King Cluster Wee Walk
Wednesday, July 21 at 1pm
Rostered Ministers of the South King Cluster, join the bishop at Coulon Park for your Wee Walk gathering!
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ELCA Coaching – Courageous Leadership Series
Wednesdays, July 21, August 4, and August 18 at 11am (PST)
You are invited to join ELCA Coaching to learn some possibly surprising, and some definitely humorous, things about Courageous Leadership. We have a special guest confirmed for two of these dates, and we are inviting you to bring a spirit of curiosity and childlike play to discerning how and where Spirit might be calling you forward as a leader in your life, work, ministry, community, and the world. There will also be time for small groups in breakout rooms so that leaders across the church can continue to learn from each other and leave each gathering with at least one action step.
Learn more and get the zoom link here:
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Options from California Lutheran University’s Fifty and Better (FAB)
FAB is hosting a virtual Mid-Summer Lecture Series
Join us for lectures on the history of Wilshire Boulevard, The Big Lebowski and the legacy of the 1960s, an update on the Mars Rover mission, and more! Most lectures are $8 each, but a couple are free! These are open to all ages – we hope you will join us! Registration is now open.
FAB’s 4-week Summer II Session begins on July 26th, and registration is now open! Courses will explore subjects such as the stories of those who “named names” during the infamous Hollywood Blacklist period, exhibitions that made art history, the great orchestral and choral conductors of the past and present from around the world, and more! Join us on Zoom for these stimulating courses. Individuals 50+ are welcome, please share with your friends and family! Courses are $25 each or bundle all 6 for $100.
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Virtual Summer Music Clinic
July 28-29
Join clinicians Anton Armstrong and John Ferguson as they present new seasonal music, host a hymn festival, lead workshops and more!
This two-day virtual event will include two handbell reading sessions, a keyboard repertoire session, sessions on new choir music and vocal solos, a workshop on using All Creation Sings to restart your music program, a hymn festival, and an introduction to new liturgical song in All Creation Sings.
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Sip & Paint
Saturday, July 31, 4pm-6pm at Luther’s Table
Admission to the party includes, two glasses of wine, snack box of cheesy goodness, and a watercolor kit with enough product to take home and create more! Tomato Tomato Creative owner, Kelly Affleck, will walk us through botanical watercolor designs. Limited seating so grab tickets for you and your friends now!
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Advocacy Summer School
In a fresh format, five skill-building and issue-informing virtual sessions are planned on Wednesdays beginning at 11am Pacific. Pick 1 or take all 5!
Each is presented in 30 minutes, followed by an optional 15-minute Q&A time.
August 11 – What is faith-based advocacy?
August 18 – How do I approach policy makers?
August 25 – How do I use media for impact?
September 1 – Let’s talk: About the Holy Land
September 8 – Let’s talk: About immigration
Registration details will be coming soon!
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The LiVE Project: informational meetings
Living into Vocational Engagement (LiVE) is our latest innovative initiative of the Northwest Washington Synod. Our hope is to connect lay leaders in a shared journey of learning together, and toward creating community among other congregational leaders throughout our synod. We’d like to connect with folks in your congregation who are passionate about the church, faith formation, mission, and deepening their Christian faith.
The LiVE board has been doing extensive planning during covid to provide learning courses for lay leaders. If you are interested and would like to learn more please consider joining us for four opportunities to learn more, two zoom online options, and two in-person options. You might also consider these opportunities as additional ways your congregation does faith formation for the year. Our meeting will introduce you to the LiVE Project, the learning opportunities for 2021-2022, some of our teaching facilitators, as well as details for what involvement for you individually or congregationally might mean. Visit us at our synod website: www.lutheransnw.org/ministries/the-live-project
Zoom Options: please register in advance via links
Tuesday, August 24, 6:30-7:30pm at Advent Lutheran in Mill Creek
Monday, August 30, 6:30-7:30pm at Faith Lutheran in Bellingham
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ReconcilingWorks -
now has FOUR online trainings!
+ Building an Inclusive Church
+ Consent in Community Building
+ Bias and Its Impact on Welcome
+ Let’s Talk About SOIGIE (Sex, Gender Identity, Gender Expression, and Sexual Orientation)
Building an Inclusive Church (BIC) training helps you design and implement a journey for your faith community to publicly and intentionally welcome people of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions. Building an Inclusive Church equips you with ways to create dialogue, deepening relationships throughout your faith community rather than sparking debate and division.
Upcoming Trainings:
September 25, 2021
October 16, 2021 All BIC
trainings will take place from 9am-2:30pm Pacific1
Let’s Talk About SOIGIE (Sex, Gender Identity, Gender Expression, and Sexual Orientation)
As we seek to deepen and expand the holy work of welcome, inclusion, and celebration of LGBTQIA+ people in the church and society, we can find ourselves asking, "What does LGBTQIA+ mean?" Together we will co-create a safe space to learn helpful skills and tools to support you and your ministry.
Upcoming Trainings:
August 19, 2021
September 23, 2021
October 14, 2021
All SOGIE Trainings will take place from 3:30pm-5pm Pacific
Consent in Community Building
Honor and respect are an essential component of how we build relationships and experience community. Together we will explore helpful ways we can set boundaries that create opportunities to care for people we love, those around us, and in our faith communities. How will building healthy boundaries and relationships help strengthen welcome?
Upcoming Trainings:
August 17, 2021
September 14, 2021
October 19, 2021
All Consent trainings will take place from 3:30pm-5pm Pacific
Bias and Its Impact on Welcome
Bias is a part of our lives and ministries. This training will invite attendees into exploring how bias impacts welcome, creativity, and innovation for our lives and ministries. Together we will co-create a space to increase our awareness about how shifting our thinking can create new paths forward that were not possible before.
Upcoming Trainings:
September 21, 2021
October 26, 2021
All Bias trainings will take place from 3:30pm-5pm Pacific
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Want an item included?
All items due by 2pm on the prior Thursday
Northwest Washington Synod / ELCA
5519 Phinney Avenue North
Seattle, WA 98103
206-783-9292
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