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E-Spirit Weekly Newsletter | November 18, 2025

Celebrating Tina Fritz’s Retirement

After five years of dedicated service, it is with mixed emotions that we announce the retirement of Tina Fritz, who has been an integral part of our organization. Throughout her tenure, Tina has exemplified dedication, creativity, and selflessness in everything she does. Her steadfast commitment and contributions have made a lasting impact, and she will be truly missed.

As Tina embarks on this exciting new chapter, she looks forward to traveling across the country with her husband, embracing new adventures and experiences. While we will miss her hard work and insight, we celebrate her achievements and wish her nothing but joy and unforgettable times on this journey.

Please join us in expressing our gratitude for Tina’s contributions and in extending best wishes for her retirement.

Send your well wishes to Tina at: TinaF@fbsynod.org.

Building Bridges: Churches Unite Across Cultures for Service and Connection

One of the Vision to Action Funding priorities is to build bridges across languages and cultures. The pre-packaged "Building Bridges" grant is doing just that at Atonement Lutheran in Sebring where five diverse churches, represented by five leaders each, are gathering for dinner, connection and service.

Atonement V2A project leader Deacon Diane Marten reports: "We came together across denominational and language/cultural lines to listen to each other. We asked about the concerns and needs in our own neighborhoods, and about how we could share our resources to make a difference. We prayed together, in two languages, asking God to bless our work and our relationships."

The five congregations are using the funds to feed those most vulnerable in their respective communities, provide clean clothes and hygiene kits, and even offer haircuts while taking time to listen and pray with others.

Two rules guide this effort:

No church may do their service alone—each must partner with a Building Bridges congregation.
All commit to quarterly potlucks and joint worship to sustain and support their shared work.

Volunteers from Atonement are already collaborating with Iglesia Rey Soberano to pack Thanksgiving baskets. El Dios de Misericordia is sending bilingual volunteers to Emmanuel UCC’s food bank to assist with translation and help people feel welcome. Deacon Marten said, "Our excitement is growing, and we are just getting started!"

We'd Love to Hear From You!

We’re collecting information about food ministries across our congregations. Please take a moment to complete this quick 3-question survey:

Name and city of your church
Do you have a weekly food pantry?
How many people does it serve each week?

Your responses will help us celebrate and support the vital work happening in our communities.

TAKE THE SURVEY

LMM Fall 2025 Ambassador-Gram

The latest Lutheran Men in Mission Ambassador-Gram is now available. Click here to see current news from LMM, including upcoming events and virtual opportunities for study and worship.

READ THE LMM NEWSLETTER

Just Love Advent Resources

The season of Advent is a time of watching, waiting, and hope as we ponder with anticipation the celebration of Jesus Christ’s coming into our world incarnate, to share in our pain and sorrows, and to show us how to live in relationship with one another. Advent is also a time to reflect on what it means to live and act with love and compassion for those oppressed and marginalized in our world as we live in the promise that Christ will indeed come again!

The Just Love Team of the Florida-Bahamas Synod invites you this Advent to take time to reflect on the incarnation of Jesus Christ in the faces and stories of our siblings around the world through the devotions developed by ELCA Sumud and/or ELCA World Hunger.

The Sumud Advent devotions introduce us to parishioners, pastors, and the Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan and the Holy Land, hearing their stories and inviting us to listen with our hearts to the cries of the oppressed, embracing God’s call for justice. The resource includes a children’s storybook that invites even the youngest among us into relationship through “a Palestinian Sunbird’s Christmas Journey.”

ELCA World Hunger Advent Devotions invite you to listen and learn with our global companion churches and partners about the root causes of poverty and how injustices intersect. “A Stable Lamp is Lighted” is a 3-week study that invites us into a greater understanding of hunger’s cause and God’s invitation into deeper relationships with our global neighbors through models of accompaniment. Only through deeper relationships with God and one another can we take sustainable action to fight hunger at its roots both globally and in our own communities. There is also an interactive advent calendar to share with all ages. The activities inside include a standing nativity scene, ready to be colored throughout the season alongside daily Bible readings and learning opportunities.

Let us take time this Advent season in prayer, in deep listening, and in solidarity with our siblings and neighbors who are suffering around the world. As we see Christ’s incarnate presence in one another, the Spirit reveals new possibilities, and we sow God’s hope, peace, joy and love throughout the world.

If you would like to explore other congregational and individual devotions for Advent, check out the previous Just Love Advent resources: 2022 Just Love Advent Devotional, An Advent Journey with Mary (2023), and Advent of Peace (2024).

Support for Our Companion Partners in Cuba

Urgent appeal to support those suffering from Melissa in Cuba. Our siblings in Christ in Santiago de Cuba are helping to coordinate relief across the Eastern province for those who have suffered tremendous damage from Melissa. Widespread flooding, the collapse of homes and lost roofs, plus ongoing electrical outages have created tremendous hardship and suffering among the people. Please be aware that the transmission of support to our friends in Cuba requires special efforts and additional expense that none of our other companion partners face. Your gifts for relief include help with meeting the expense of getting the relief there. You may make donations through online through the synod's giving portal.

The Rev. Dr. Russell L. Meyer

Cuba Accompaniment Team Coordinator

SUPPORT CUBA RELIEF EFFORTS

Opportunity: Part-Time Church Office Manager

Lutheran Church of Our Savior in Tampa is seeking an experienced and organized Office Manager to support daily operations. This part-time role (about 20 hours/week) offers a chance to serve in a welcoming faith community. Learn more and read the full job description at the button below.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Lessons and Carols Concert

Sunday, December 7 at 3 PM

Grace Lutheran Church of Carrollwood, Tampa

Join the Choir of Grace Lutheran for a Service of Advent and Christmas Music, accompanied by chamber orchestra and pipe organ under the direction of Lisa Katt. The program features choral works by Craig Courtney, Mary McDonald, and John Rutter, along with nine Scripture readings and congregational singing. There is no admission fee; the cost of the program is underwritten by the Betty Burton Endowment Fund. A freewill offering will be received on behalf of Atonement Lutheran's rebuilding fund after damage from Hurricane Milton. You can find more information at 813-961-8747 and www.gracetampa.org.

Bach Vespers at St. Mark's, Jacksonville

A choir of singers from the community, members of the Festival Choir of St. Mark's, and a group of professional instrumentalists present music of J.S. Bach in the context of a Lutheran Vespers (evening prayer) service. All are welcome to this free event on Sunday, November 23, at 6 p.m. (3976 Hendricks Avenue).

DOWNLOAD THE FLYER

A Pastoral Message for These Troubled Days

Presiding Bishop Yehiel Curry has issued a pastoral message expressing gratitude for the ELCA ministries that serve our neighbors during troubled times. "No matter what happens next, we must continue to care for all neighbors, especially those who are marginalized," he reminds us.

READ BISHOP CURRY'S MESSAGE

ELCA Good Gifts

This holiday season, give a gift that makes a real difference in the world. Through ELCA Good Gifts, you can provide someone with goats, feed a refugee family or support an ELCA missionary. Visit ELCA.org/GoodGifts to browse these gifts and more.

GOOD GIFTS