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The Synod staff will have reduced office hours December 23 - January 1.
The office will be closed December 24-26 and December 31 and January 1.
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Grace, peace, and late Advent stirrings be with you all this week. Christmas joy may have already burst into your daily lives with children’s concerts and family feasts. Here in the church, we continue to wait for the One promised. Promised for love. Promised for freedom. Promised as the One who would bring an end to our human tendencies toward clamoring for power and trampling the poor.
Here in 2024, we continue to pray: Come, Lord Jesus.
There’s a classic horror film gimmick that feels apt this season. (Hmm, that’s telling that tropes from horror films are seeming appropriate!) When the final survivor is nearing the film’s end, the phone rings. She picks up the receiver and tries to trace the call, only to realize “the call is coming from inside the house!” Eeek!
Yes, this illustration is circa 1995. But just roll with me, will ya?
Without needing to scream “Eeek!” I want to say that this is the prevailing sentiment about ministry in the NWIM synod. This time, the call is coming from inside our house. We synod staff are very blessed to be able to move about the cabin of our geography, learning about ministry and experiencing the many and various ways you all respond to our common baptismal calling. Week to week, as we check in with each other, we keep being amazed at what God is doing in our midst and through all of you. As many community organizers say, “the wisdom is in the room.”
Two weeks ago, I was preaching and presiding at a small congregation in Spokane county. A very young mom, carrying her newborn, came up to the communion railing. Helpers sweetly came to her aid, making sure she received bread and wine. Holding it all in her arms: baby, bit of bread, tiny up of wine, she asked, “Am I supposed to eat and drink this now?”
The purity of her question pierced me. For all our overt expressions of welcome and the help folks gave her, no one clarified, “Yes, my love, my precious one: this bread and this wine are absolutely for you to take in at this time. Eat, drink, and know that you are God’s beloved.”
I know there are trends in mission and ministry wanting us to reinvent everything, crying “innovate, innovate, innovate.” What if we simply find ways to meaningfully communicate the deeply good things we offer every Sunday?
In the spirit of nourishing and sharing the good things already happening in our midst, we are offering a book study in 2025 that will anchor us in the basics of who we are as Lutherans. Starting January 9, we’ll read through Daniel Erlander’s classic “Manna and Mercy.” Register if you plan to attend, as a group or as an individual:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0A4AA5A823A1F4C43-54058863-manna
Join us!
Thanks be to God for the creative, passionate, faithful ministry already happening throughout the NWIM Synod. And thanks be to God for the best gift of all: the Incarnation of Christ our Peace, born to end tyranny and inaugurate compassion forever. Alleluia!
Your DEM, Liv
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Please remember in prayer
- Rev. Sarah Toney and her mother Jan, at the death of Sarah’s step father, Ron.
- Former NWWA Bishop, Rev. Kirby Unti at the unexpected death of his wife, Kim. A memorial service will be in early January in Seattle.
O God, full of compassion, we commit and commend ourselves to you, in whom we live and move and have our being. Be the goal of our pilgrimage, and our rest by the way. Give us refuge from the turmoil of worldly distractions beneath the shadow of your wings. Let our hearts, so often a sea of restless waves, find peace in you, O God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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A Blue Christmas Service
December 19, 5:00 PM PST / 6:00 PM MST
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The Holiday season occurs in the midst of the longest, darkest, coldest time of year. In the midst of this long dark season when all of nature seems dead and lifeless, when things are at their darkest we look for the light of hope.
"A light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it."
And yet, sometimes the light of hope can seem pretty dim and the darkness very real and overwhelming.
We offer this virtual candlelight service designed for those who may not be feeling the happiness and joy that this season calls for. Not everyone is experiencing a holly jolly good time. For some of us, the Christmas season is more than difficult. We gather to acknowledge the pain you may be feeling and to plead for help and hope and light from out of the darkness.
| Sabbatical Guidelines Policy | |
The Lord said to Moses on Mount Sinai, "Speak to the Israelites and say to them:
When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath
to the Lord. For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and
gather their crops.
But in the seventh year the land is to have a Sabbath of rest, a Sabbath in the
Lord. Whatever the land yields during the Sabbath year will be food for you--for yourself,
your manservant and maidservant, and the hired worker and temporary resident who
live among you, as well as for your livestock and the wild animals in your land.
Whatever the land produces may be eaten. Leviticus 25:1-7
Healthy rostered ministers (Pastors and Deacons) are one key to effective
ministry. It has been repeatedly demonstrated that extended Sabbaticals for rostered ministers offer benefits for both the leader and the congregation. During its fall 2024 meeting, the Synod Council adopted a Sabbatical guidelines policy to help promote the health and wholeness of all our congregations and rostered ministers.
Thanks are due to these members of the Synod Council who served on the Sabbatical guidelines working group: Rev. Matt Erickson, Terri Lindemann, Tami McHugh, and Rev. Anne Palma
As spiritual leaders of the congregation, our rostered ministers spend most of
their working life engaged in day-to-day administration, visitation, preparation, teaching, counseling, etc., and they are often “on call” in their time off as well. Continuing education addresses their academic health but is not normally designed to nurture the physical and spiritual health of the leader.
An extended period of renewal is valuable not only for rostered ministers but also for the congregation they lead, and for God’s work in the world. A Sabbatical period provides an opportunity for a rostered minister to reflect on the call to ministry and on their relationship with God and God's people, and it is a tangible sign of the care the congregation bears for its rostered minister(s).
The Synod Council encourages each congregation to put into practice a congregational sabbatical policy appropriate to its context. The Synod's policy includes a model congregational sabbatical policy that your congregation may adapt and adopt!
Click here to see it. It can also be found on our website under Resources/Synod Documents:tools-forms-resources-ministry
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Church Administration News
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Congregations should use only the congregation’s individual federal Employer Identification Number (EIN), and NOT the ELCA’s EIN. Each congregation should have its own EIN for use on documents and official filings.
- If your congregation or ministry site needs a certification letter for 501 c 3 status, please contact the synod office.
- Remittance forms for Congregations to submit their Mission Support and benevolence can be found on the Synod Website here.
- There are several changes to the (Form A) Annual Congregation Report process to note for 2024:
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Congregations will receive a letter mailed in mid-January. The letter will contain details on how to access the online reporting system, including their congregation ID and password. Congregations will not receive any printed resources through the mail. All resources will be posted online at elca.org/reportinstructions.
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The online system for 2024 Form A reporting will open in mid-January. It will be accessible at elca.org/congregationreport. Contact the Synod Office if you need assistance with login information.
- To subscribe to the bi-monthly ELCA Administration Matters and to access past issues click here
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Is your website updated with worship times for Christmas Eve and Christmas?
- Considering checking your voicemail message to include current worship service times
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Bishop Eaton's Christmas Message | |
Webinar: Navigating 2025 Political Changes with Border Servant Corps
Border Servant Corps, a social ministry organization of the ELCA, is partnering with key migrant-serving organizations to prepare for upcoming political changes in 2025. This webinar – specifically created to offer this information to ELCA partners – offers real-time updates on policies and legal developments impacting faith-based migrant and humanitarian aid churches and organizations nationwide currently and faith-based organizational safeguarding practices for the future.
Featured Speakers:
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Ali Boyd, Human Rights Attorney, Border Servant Corps
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Kristin Etter, Director of Policy and Legal Services, Texas Immigration Law Council
Ali and Kristin will provide expert analysis on policy shifts, litigation, legislative updates, and practical safeguarding steps, with a focus on the incoming Congress and administration.
Who Should Attend:
This presentation is tailored for migrant-serving churches and Synods in the ELCA.
When: Tuesday, December 17th | 10:00 AM MT / 12:00 PM ET | Via Zoom
RSVP Here to secure your spot in this critical conversation.
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Excellence in Leadership Cohort | |
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At the heart of this ministry is the belief that effective leadership begins with the individual and is honed in community. This ministry helps each person learn how to appreciate who they are, how they are embodied, and manage the way they personally respond to challenges and conflict. Through engaging in this work,
individuals are then able to show up more effectively in places of anxiety, conflict, and frustration. When leaders show up in healthy ways, they are better equipped to help the people and systems they work in and with to also respond in healthier ways.
By engaging deeply in the studies of adaptive leadership, vulnerability, emotional intelligence, family systems, Theory U, and spiritual practices, we will be stepping forward to meet the future boldly. We are inviting participants from all regions and walks of life – lay or rostered, young or old. That includes you!
The next cohort will begin on January 13, 2025, and will meet twice per month on Monday evenings from 6:00 - 9:00 pm Mountain Time, with a commissioning on January 26, 2026.
Read more...
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Sign up for the Print Magazine
We heard you—and listened. We have found a way to bring back the magazine’s print publication in a quarterly fashion. Each issue (spring, summer, winter and fall) will feature the stories you know and love, along with updates on the church and your ELCA community. The cost for one year will be $19.95 for an individual subscription and $17 per year for a congregation group subscription.
You can sign up today to let us know you would like to subscribe for the magazine. You will be invoiced for your subscription before March 2025. If your subscription had not lapsed at the end of 2023, you will receive a renewal notice when your subscription expires.
https://www.livinglutheran.org/subscribe/
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What does it mean to join LVC?
We're excited that you're interested in joining our mission to unite people to work with peace for justice! Lutheran Volunteer Corps (LVC) is a full-time service and leadership program operating in many cities across the United States. LVC Fellowships are full-time positions (see 2024's full-time positions) at social justice organizations for one year, or for full or half year for virtual positions. Most positions are year-long; virtual positions are limited and based on Placement partner availability.
Fellows serving a year live together in intentional community with other fellows, practice living simply and sustainability, while exploring spirituality together. Fellows in virtual positions can serve virtually from home or live in community with other fellows.
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