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A Joyful Procession

Liv Larson Andrews, Director for Evangelical Mission

“We are a people on the move following Christ Jesus.” This is the invitation to Susan Briehl’s workshop at the 2024 Institute for Liturgical Studies called On Our Way: The Purpose and Practice of Processing. Do you feature processions in worship? As a teenaged acolyte, I remember being a bit anxious that I would walk in the right direction and remember what to carry. In college, I was more at ease, but the processions were much more elaborate, being a part of weekly chapel life at Valparaiso University. On the other hand, Theologian Alexander Schmemann says that the most important procession begins when we wake up in the morning. As Susan puts it, we are on the move following Jesus. All our days, and all our movements, are lived to the glory to God.

“We are a people on the move” could also describe our synod staff lately. We have been out and about on the highways and byways, visiting parishes, meeting folks, connecting. Discovering what the holy Spirit is up to. It is inspiring and sacred. Perhaps we have been engaging in a long procession throughout our synod geography!

And even as we notice the rising level of fear and anxiety flowing through our geography, there is so much dedication to mission and cultivation of hope.

Among the things I carry with me in procession after the last 6 months are:

• An image from Faith Lutheran in Kamiah, Idaho of the gathered assembly in a circle, singing a sending blessing to the tune of Edelweiss.

• Seeds of conversation spilling out into hallways and street corners following an anti-racism/decolonization training in Wenatchee led by our mission developers at Cultivating Justice.

• A story from my former parish in which a professor of theology met with a queer student who felt exiled in their church. This professor reached out to queer faithful members of the congregation who spoke with the student, invited them to the Easter Vigil, and in the student’s own words, showed them that “church doesn’t have to suck.” Alleluia, alleluia!

Pastor Dean Stewart of blessed memory always loved to quote St. Theresa of Avila who said, “All the way to heaven is heaven. As we live our lives, journeying together, heaven, resurrected life, is breaking forth all the time. It’s worthy of a joyful procession. 

Northwest Intermountain Synod

REGIONAL GATHERINGS 2024

April 27 | May 4 | May 18

Come join with your siblings in Christ to be renewed and rekindled in faith together, and sent into our aching world, free of fear and rooted in holy joy.—DEM Pastor Liv Larson Andrews

Regional Gatherings Pre-work

Theme: Finding New Ways to Fund Ministry

We asked our Regional Gathering speaker Grace Pomroy to help prime the pump before we all descend on Spokane Valley, Twin Falls, and Ellensburg. Click the link below for materials you could use in a classroom, online, in worship, or on the drive to the event. You could involve people who will be attending and/or other members of your congregation. 

PRE-WORK

Choose your Gathering and Register Participants

April 27, 2024

Advent Lutheran

Church

May 4, 2024

Our Savior Lutheran Church

May 18, 2024

First Lutheran

Church

2024 Regional Gathering Offerings

Rooted in Place - Internship Site Grants

The 2024 Regional Gathering Offerings bring together several vital realities:

• Gifted seminary students need internship sites that will prepare them to serve God’s church with creativity and energy.
• Some seminarians need to stay close to their home for internship for a variety of reasons.
• Congregations hosting interns greatly benefit from their ministry.
• The Northwest Intermountain Synod has ministries that would serve as exceptional training centers, yet don’t have the funding capacity to afford a seminary intern.
• Our 2024 Regional Gatherings are about finding new ways to fund ministry.
• Our 2024 Regional Gatherings are about place and knowing a location’s context.

Interns will benefit as they receive vital experience. Internship congregations will benefit as they utilize the intern’s gifts. The whole church will benefit as these interns bring their new gifts to their ministry.

Your gift will allow the Northwest Intermountain Synod to provide partnership grants to vital ministry sites that will allow them to train the next generation of rostered ministers.

Donate here

Choose the correct option

"2024 Region Gathering offering: Rooted in Place". 

Do you have a spare ELW Leaders Ritual Book?

St. Paul Lutheran in Chewelah, WA is seeking an ELW Leaders Ritual Book. If you have one on a bookshelf and would like to share it, please call the church office (509) 935-6311

Stewardship for All Seasons (SAS)

Expanding ministry!

Just think of the lives your congregation could improve if your members grew their giving by 10%-15% next year!

This is exactly the goal of Stewardship for All Seasons (SAS), a two-year, comprehensive process to increase generosity to fund your ministry. SAS congregations learn to embrace an impactful annual appeal and move into other vital realms of a culture of generosity: Communications and Story-Telling, Strategic Planning, Endowments, Special Appeals, Volunteer Recruitment, and Donor Cultivation.

The Northwest Intermountain Synod invites you to a virtual informational session to meet Paul Marsh, the SAS facilitator, and learn more about the process on Tuesday, April 23 at 6:30 mountain.

Topic: NWIM Synod SAS Open House

Time: Apr 23, 2024 06:30 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6095953112?pwd=TWdkaTRkeGhNUUg2L3lRbHVaL21CZz09&omn=87606038610

Meeting ID: 609 595 3112

Passcode: GSBFR

See former SAS participant and Synod Executive Committee Council Member Jerry Ethridge’s article on SAS HERE: 

Faith Action Network Events (FAN)

in NWIM Synod

Snake River Healing Canoe Journey

Thursday, April 19, 9:00am PT, Snake River Healing Canoe Journey, Palouse Event, Sacajawea Historical State Park, Pasco. Join to recognize the voices that held the true cultural and traditional knowledge-based systems to keep sovereign rights at the forefront.

Register here.

Holden Village

Summer in the North Cascades wilderness calls! Holden Village is offering some exciting programming this summer, and we are excited that FAN Policy Engagement Director Kristin Ang and FAN Governing Board Member Rev. Dr. Edward Donalson will be part of the teaching faculty for the week of August 5-8. There will be lots of opportunities to participate in meaningful programs and discussions, as well as enjoy the outdoors and all that Holden has to offer.

Register on the Holden website.

Our Kairos Moment

Study Guide for the ELCA’s social message Earth’s Climate Crisis  

Welcome to “Our Kairos Moment,” a study guide for the ELCA’s social message “Earth’s Climate Crisis.” In this guide you will find four sessions designed to dig more deeply into major themes from the social message. Each session is intended for a 60-minute, small-group learning experience. The study guide works best when groups can use all four sessions, but each session can be used independently with minor adjustments.   

Within each session you will find learning activities, Bible studies, ideas for prayer and lessons drawn from passages of the social message. The end of each session features “Make One Change,” an activity that encourages and equips members of your group to do one thing on their own, between your meetings perhaps. The activities in “Make One Change” are simple opportunities to learn more about what we can do as people of faith to care for God’s world. If you do all four sessions with your group, by the end you should have a display of all the “changes” your group made during your time together. This can be a tangible reminder of active hope.

Organizing for Mission Network

Did you know the ELCA has a network of congregations, synods, seminaries, and leaders that are all practicing the skills and arts of community organizing?

If you said no, you’re not alone! Lots of people are just learning about the Organizing for Mission Network. And next month, Seattle is playing host to OFMN’s spring contextual gathering.

OFMN’s contextual gatherings bring together leaders from across the country and throughout the network for three days of place-based learning. These gatherings are relational, faith-filled, creative, and rooted in the work of racial and economic equity. Contextual gatherings are a great place to sharpen skills, for OMFN leaders to reconnect, and for those early in their organizing journey to find their people. 

This spring we will gather in Seattle, WA where the Church Council of Greater Seattle will share about their organizing work, with a particular focus on their Faith Land Initative. Together we will learn how congregations can practice community stewardship of land.

Things will start Thursday, May 9 at 9am and wrap up Saturday, May 11th at 2pm. A detailed schedule will be updated on our website in the weeks ahead.

Who should attend?

• Leaders looking to sharpen their organizing skills
• Members of the network seeking to re-connect
• Teams from congregations asking questions about property use, faith, and justice
• Organizers seeking new approaches
• Faith leaders looking to deepen relationships in their own community
• YOU!

How much does it cost?

Members of OFMN who have paid dues in the last 365 days have no registration fee. Members in good standing who are staying in a hotel with a roommate will get two nights free. Members staying in a solo room will get one night free.

Non-members will pay a $200 registration fee.

Lodging is at Watertown Hotel in the University District and is $172 per night. 

Still have more questions?

Schedule a 1-1 with OFMN’s director, Br. Steve:  https://calendly.com/revjerbi/ofmn

Register Now!

$4,000 Grant

ELCA Ministry with Children

Applications accepted:

May 1st-June 30th 2024

ELCA Purpose: Activate each of us, so that more people know the way of Jesus and discover community, justice, and love.

Ministry with Children of the ELCA serves under Christian Community, Leadership and Mission.

Christian Community and Leadership Purpose: Recruit, train, and deploy leaders who will establish and grow Christian Communities 

Ministry with Children Grants are for ELCA partners that engage in faith formation with and for children (birth through age 11) that further the ELCA's mission and purpose.

The grant proposal must follow one of the following topics.

1. ELCA schools and early learning centers that promote the gospel in the week-day ministry setting.
2. Ministries reaching out to underserved populations, including but not limited to economically impoverished and Queer communities.  
3. Training on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion as it relates to children.
4. Rewilding the classroom by nurturing outdoor awareness, interaction and increased green initiatives.
5. Educational materials and resources to help with understanding Lutheranism, the Bible, theology or spirituality.
6. Scholarship money for continuing education for lay leaders/staff to attend events vital to their ministry with children.​

Requirements:

1. Read through Grant Information, above.
2. Apply HERE (scroll down to find the Ministry with Children grant.)
3. At the end of a year, provide a written and video testimony along with pictures regarding use of the grant money and its impact on your ministry.

2023 Grant Receipients Included: Funding for Outdoor Nature Playscape at a Early Learning Center, Funding for a Youth Group to Bring Neighboring Homeless Boys to Events, Director Trip to the Holy Land

ELCA Domestic Hunger Grants

Each year ELCA World Hunger offers three-year Domestic Hunger Grants (DHG) for up to $10,000 per year to assist with ministries that improve food security in communities in the United States.

This year the cycle begins with a Letter of Inquiry request from May 1 through June 16, 2024.

Review of these Letters of Inquiry will begin after June 16, 2024 to determine which ministries will be requested to complete a full proposal.

DHG selection stresses accompaniment with those who may be receiving benefits from the grant. That means that the food-related ministry would provide support to help solve underlying issues that lead to food insecurity in that community. This could be job skills development, abuse support, addressing policies in the community such as summer feeding programs, etc.

The application process was modified last year. Our Synod Hunger Team learned a lot and would like to share that information with ministry sites interested in pursuing DHGs. If you have applied in the past we encourage you to try again.

To find more information about DHGs, please go to:

https://www.elca.org/domestichungergrants

If you have questions, or would like to talk about a ministry or would like more assistance, please contact Pastor Ethan Bergman at bergmane25@gmail.com or Bishop Meggan Manlove at bishopmeggan.manlove@nwimsynod.org and we can arrange a zoom or phone call.