Friends, 

“You are looking for Jesus… He isn’t here, he’s been raised from the dead.” (Matthew 28:5-6) 

What does resurrection look like?   

This Easter we celebrate a God who died. And then rose again. Not in the way anyone would expect. His own disciples didn’t recognize him. The world changed after him. It’s worth remembering when we in the church are so quick to jump to resurrection and gloss over death. Resurrection, redemption, changes everything.   

These early Easter readings also mark the beginning of the church of Acts, a small group of determined believers, equipped with the Holy Spirit, who set out to follow God and show Jesus’ love to the world.   

It begs the question, where have we seen Jesus? Where have you witnessed the resurrected spirit of the Living God?   

As you ponder where you have encountered the risen Christ in your life, there is a children’s book, titled, Maybe God is Like That Too. It traces the story of a young boy, living in a downtown urban area with his grandmother. As he struggles to imagine what God looks like, when he can’t see God, his grandmother lists the fruit of the Spirit. She responds that any time we witness someone practicing gentleness, kindness, patience, self-control, etc. we experience God in the world. The rest of the story traces times during the day when the little boy notices people acting like little Christs* to one another: holding the door for someone who needs it, sharing on the playground, advocating for peace instead of war, and in the hug from his grandma. It reminds us there are many ways we can experience the ongoing redemptive work of God’s Spirit. 

This Easter season, may you be blessed with the courage and confidence to know God is at work in the world, calling all of us followers of Jesus to be little Christs to one another. 

The Rev. Peter Beeson 

Associate to the Bishop for Generosity 

*Reformation 500: 50 things Luther taught that you may not know. Living Lutheran. 

https://www.livinglutheran.org/2017/08/reformation-500-50-things-luther-taught-that-you-may-not-know/ 

Get ready!

Registration for this year's Synod Assembly will open at 10:00am on Tuesday, April 2. Registration will close on Monday, April 22.

Information and updates about this year's assembly can be found on the Synod Assembly page on the synod website.

We have many synod leadership positions to elect at this year's assembly, including our voting members for the 2025 Churchwide Assembly.

Click here to view the list of open positions. Please review and prayerfully consider if you or someone you know may be called to one of the roles listed in the document.

To nominate someone (or yourself), click the button below to go to the 2024 Synod Assembly Page on the synod website. If you have any questions, please contact the SCSW Synod Assembly Manager, Trevor Thom, at trevort@scsw-elca.org.

Luther Seminary's Faith+Lead and the Siebert Foundation are offering a learning opportunity for congregations and their leaders called Fresh Expressions.

Fresh Expressions asks, "What if the church could meet people as they are, right where they are, and help them discover the difference Jesus can make in their lives?"

Interested? Curious? Want to know more? An informational webinar will be offered on Thursday, May 30 at 6:30pm. Click the button below to view/download a flyer with more details and to register for the webinar. Contact the Rev. Walter Baires, Associate to the Bishop and Director for Evangelical Mission, with questions and wonderings.

2024 Faithful Innovation Learning Communities are forming now!

Click the button below to view and download an informational flyer with details about this opportunity and how it can benefit your ministry.

If your congregation would like to participate, or if you have any questions about Faithful Innovation Learning Communities, contact the Rev. Walter Baires, Associate to the Bishop and Director of Evangelical Mission, at walterb@scsw-elca.org.

Lay leaders and rostered ministers are invited to attend the Courageous Collaboration forum on April 27, 10:00am - noon, at St. Matthew New Life (7564 Cottage Grove Rd, Madison, WI).

The purpose of this SCSW-sponsored event is to create a space where congregations can share hopes and dreams as well as challenges while confronting the need to adapt in a time of rapid change in our local communities.

During this forum three congregations from our synod will be sharing their learnings on practicing adaptive approaches in their local context.

This invitation is for both rostered ministers and lay leaders. If you have questions about the forum, please contact the Rev. Walter Baires, Associate to the Bishop and Director of Evangelical Mission, at walterb@scsw-elca.org.

Click the button below to register. Registration will close on April 19, 2024.

A reminder that the even though we have moved into our new physical space, the synod office mailing address has NOT changed. Please continue to address all mail to:

P.O. Box 14496

Madison, WI 53708

Please do not use the Mandrake Road address for mail for the synod office.

Thank you for your continued cooperation.

Registration is now open!

The SCSW Care for Creation Team invites you to:

Church in the Wild

Saturday, May 4 from 10:00am to 1:00pm

at Bethel Horizons

(4651 Co Rd ZZ, Dodgeville, WI 53533)

Not just an outdoor church service, Church in the Wild is an invitation to worship in the cathedral of earth and sky. After a brief opening liturgy, we'll wander into nature individually or in small groups to see, listen, contemplate, and sense our connectedness to all living things. Then we’ll regather to share how we’ve experienced the sacred in the creation, to “give thanks for the peace of wild things,” and to join in Holy Communion with Bishop Joy Mortensen-Wiebe. We’ll conclude with fellowship at a free earth-friendly lunch prepared by Horizons Chef Cena.

Suitable for all ages and activity levels, Church in the Wild is hosted by the synod’s Care for Creation team and Bethel Lutheran Church with generous financial support from the Bethel Endowment Foundation.

Click the button below to RSVP for the event - all are welcome, but we do need to know how many to expect for lunch!

You are invited to the synod-wide April Voices of Color book study. This month's book selection is Solito: A Memoir by Javier Zamora.

The study will be held via Zoom on Monday, April 22 from 6:00pm to 7:00pm.

Click here to read a full description of this and other books in the series. Click the button below to register for the Zoom session.

The Spring SCSW Alive night will be Wednesday, April 24, 5:30pm to 7:30pm, at Evangelical Lutheran Church in Mt. Horeb. This event is open to middle and high school youth.

All congregations are invited to gather under the theme of "Alive in Community" for an evening of a light dinner, games, icebreakers, fun, worship, and music.

The cost of the event is just a suggested donation of $5.00 to cover the cost of food (paid via cash/check onsite).

We ask for an RSVP with an estimate of attendance prior to each event for planning purposes but know that everyone is welcome. Please RSVP by no later than April 11.

Click the button below for more information and to RSVP.

The South-Central Synod of Wisconsin’s Children, Youth and Family Ministry Team invites all who work with youth, whether as a volunteer or in a paid position, to take a brief survey about how you are engaging with youth in your congregational setting.

Click the button below to access the survey. Please feel free to forward the survey to others in your congregation who are engaging in this important ministry.

In 2022, the Synod Assembly, the highest legislative body of our synod, passed a resolution requiring the synod to provide anti-racism education for rostered ministers.

In adherence to this resolution, the SCSW Racial Equity Team is pleased to offer "Imago Dei and Racial Identity Development" led by Rhonda Hill of Race & Faith.

Rostered ministers can register for the training on the Racial Equity Team page on the synod website or by clicking the button below. Click here for more information about the format and content of the training.

Please register by no later than April 9. If you have any questions or hesitations, please contact Rev. Jen Christenson, Associate to the Bishop for Candidacy and Community.

The 2024 South-Central Wisconsin Synodical Women's Organization conference meetings are coming up in April. Click the button below for a flyer listing the different conferences and their meeting dates.

You may also visit the WELCA page on the synod website to read the latest edition of the Trumpeter and find out more information.

Wartburg Seminary is hosting a Land Acknowledgment Workshop on Monday, April 22. The workshop will be offered via Zoom at 11:30am and again at 6:30pm.

Learn how to create and embody a land acknowledgment in your ministry setting.

Click the button below to download an informational flyer, which also includes the registration link.

Below are learning opportunities that the Office of the Bishop has been made aware of, that may be of interest to our rostered or lay leaders.

The Siebert Lutheran Foundation presents the annual "Inspired to Thrive" conference, on May 14, from 8:15am to 4:00pm.

The event will be at the Brookfield Conference Center (325 S. Moorland Rd., Brookfield, WI).

Gather with Lutheran pastors and lay leaders, ministry and youth leaders, volunteers, and people representing Lutheran-affiliated nonprofits and schools.

Registration is required for this complimentary conference. Click the button below for more information and to register.

You are invited to attend a free virtual clergy training event on April 23, from 1:00pm to 3:00pm, sponsored by the William S. Middleton Memorial VA Hospital in Madison.

The topics include "Moral Injury, Building Spiritual Strength, and New Applications" and "A Veteran in My Congregation is Suicidal? What Do I Do?"

Click here to view an informational flyer about the event. Click the button below to register.

All youth who have completed 9th-12th grades are invited to attend this year’s Confluence June 23 – 28, 2024 at Augsburg University in Minneapolis, MN.

Attendees will experience a week of discovering who they are and how God is calling them to make the world more just and sustainable for all. Together in community, youth will engage in vocational discernment through a variety of experiences including: daily spiritual practices, small groups led by college mentors, tasty and meaningful meals together, thoughtful conversations with peers and mentors, and experiential learning around the Twin Cities.

Registration is $400 per participant. Registration closes on May 15. Click the button below to learn more and to register via the Augsburg University website.