"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

Dear Friends,

Blessed almost Holy Week to you. If you are a congregational leader or pastor you know this time of year is filled with busyness – running around, planning, trying to make this year’s Easter celebration even more special than the year before. The stress adds in when we realize there are constraints we didn’t experience previously. Maybe a much-loved volunteer has moved or died, maybe there have been staffing changes or turn-over, maybe the budget for special music is less than it was before. It’s easy to fall into the trap of looking back to some previously ideal or hopeful time. 

When God says God has plans to prosper us and not harm us, it’s easy to put our human spin on it. However, prospering us doesn’t mean that things will be like they were in the “good, old days.” Jeremiah was written to exiles. People living in a foreign country who had lost their homeland. There was no going back, the places they had loved no longer existed. It is easy to imagine the people of Ukraine, Syria, or any other country undergoing modern day warfare to feel similarly. 

However, rather than be an easy promise, a few verses before this famous verse, God had instructed the exiled people to, “work the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. … because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” (Jeremiah 29:7) It’s a reminder our congregational wellbeing is caught up in the wellbeing of our communities and neighborhoods.   

Rather than waiting for some far-off hopeful day, how is your church working for the wellbeing of the community around it? How are you serving, loving, and advocating for the people living in your towns and communities? How are you serving your neighbors who are unemployed or underemployed, who are living with mental health challenges, who are dealing with depression, struggling to find childcare, caring for aging parents, or retiring on not enough? Our wellbeing as the church, as congregations throughout our South-Central Synod of Wisconsin – and indeed our entire country is caught up – not in how much we lament the good old days (which were never good for many of us) – but how we work for the peace and prosperity of the people around us. It is a different message and take on the otherwise easy promise of Jeremiah.

This Easter, as you preach resurrection, how does Jesus matter to the people in your communities – as more than a four letter word? How do they see your church meeting them where they are and advocating for their wellbeing? Where are you working for the common good? How are you sharing God’s grace and peace? How are you proclaiming resurrection in a way that gives people the space to experience resurrection in their own lives? These aren’t easy questions, they are part of the mandate God has given us, to steward our resources well and work for the good of our community and neighborhoods.

Blessings to you this Holy Week as you strive to live into the promise of the resurrection.

The Rev. Peter Beeson

Associate to the Bishop for Generosity

The 2023 Synod Assembly is on Saturday, May 20, 2023 at Evangelical Lutheran Church in Mount Horeb.

Registration for Synod Assembly is now open!

The early bird rate ends at 11:59pm on March 31.

You can find information about registration, child care, the speaker and worship leader for assembly, and much more on the synod assembly page on the synod website.

Click the button below for all the details!

The South-Central Synod of Wisconsin Care for God's Creation Team encourages you to attend the following event, sponsored by Bethel Lutheran in Madison.

Join Bethel’s Caring for Creation and social-justice ministries to celebrate the gift of God’s creation and to strengthen our commitment to care for our common home and its inhabitants.

Dinner: (6:00 pm)

Enjoy a light meal prepared by our in-house chef before the big show.

Movie: The Letter (7:00 pm)

Get ready for stunning visuals and music on the giant screen in our Sanctuary as we show The Letter. Produced by award-winning filmmakers and featured on PBS, this documentary tells the compelling story of the Laudato Si' encyclical letter by Pope Francis through the eyes and stories of people who face the effects of our planet’s ecological crisis. Representing the indigenous, the poor, youth, and science, frontline leaders journey to Rome to meet with each other and the Pope as they build new bonds to face the future with hope. Click here to view the trailer.

As a special short feature, we’ll begin with Bethel’s own music video, Suite Prayers for Our Earth. Sung by the Bethel Choir and composed by our Minister of Liturgical Worship Zach Busch and Minneapolis songwriter Bret Hesla, Suite Prayers is a musical setting of the moving “Prayer for our Earth” that concludes the Laudato Si’ encyclical.

Don’t miss these 90 minutes of beauty and inspiration!

Registration information will be available soon. If you would like to sign up now, or if you have any questions, please contact Todd Fansler from Bethel's Caring for Creation Team.

The SCSW Care for God's Creation Team is working on a number of activities for congregations and individuals to commemorate Earth Day and to celebrate the gift of God's creation.

Watch the Care for God's Creation page on the synod website and your email for more information.

This fall, the synodical Women of the ELCA and the Racial Equity Team are offering a "train the trainer" series on the "Now is the Time" study on the 2019 ELCA Declaration to People of African Descent.

The series will be offered via Zoom and begins September 7. The Rev. Kathi Matthews-Risley and Donna Peterson will facilitate the course.

Click the button below to view all the dates in the series, and to register. Click here to view more information about the Now Is the Time study on the Racial Equity page of the synod website.

Introducing “So…Now What?” this year’s Young Adult Transitions retreat, May 11 - 14 at Lutherdale Camp in Elkhorn, WI.

Gather with 75 young adults from all over the ELCA who are also in times of transition to worship, network, and faithfully discern together. Throughout small groups, one-on-one coaching, worship and fellowship we will ask the question “So…now what?” as a means for moving into your next most faithful step.

Registration is now open! Click the button below to learn more and to register.

The ELCA is currently developing a social statement on topics related to the intersection of our civic life and faith.

As part of this process, the ELCA Task Force on Studies for Civic Life and Faith has developed a study curriculum for congregations, ministries, and synods.

From the Task Force page: "The curriculum has six sessions. The first is a core introduction, and the following sessions can be done in any order according to the interests of the group. Each session comes ready to use, with a teaching video, prayers, hymn suggestions, Scriptures, group discussion questions, suggested resources, and case studies taken from everyday life."

Each session also includes a response form so study participants can provide feedback to the Task Force.

Click or tap the button below to visit the ELCA Task Force on Studies for Civic Life and Faith web page, where you can view and download the study materials.

The study response period is open until October 15, 2023.

Registration for the 2023 Rostered Ministers Gathering continues. Early bird registration at a lower cost has been extended through April 21!

The Gathering will be held July 17-20, 2023 at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, AZ.

From the event website:

"Let this gathering be an opportunity for you to remember, reclaim, rekindle and revive yourself. Gathering with colleagues from across the church for fellowship, renewal, continuing education, worship, bible study and refreshment for your spirit.

All rostered ministers are invited (active in call, on leave from call, awaiting call, retired)."

For more information and to register, click the button below.

Below is a learning opportunity that the Synod Office has been made aware of, which may be of interest to our rostered and lay leaders.

William S. Middleton Memorial VA Hospital, Madison, WI., invites rostered leaders to attend one of two Virtual Clergy Training Events.

Each event will be two hours long with the topics of Moral Injury and Suicide Prevention to be discussed.

Click the button below for more information and to register.