Winter Break, Christmas Break, whatever you want to call the days between Christmas and New Year’s, always felt like a magical time when I was younger.

To be sure, the presents, the cookies, the getting to stay up later than usual, were all a part of that feeling. However, as I watched my own children live out their own holiday break, I think it’s something more.

There is a certain peace in taking a pause from the busy-ness of everyday life. A break from the rigors of school, and, for those blessed to have time off, from work. A step back from the meetings, dance classes, choir rehearsals, sports activities, and all of the other things, most of them very good, and very wanted, that fill our time.

We exist in those few ethereal days simply in relationship – who are we going to visit next? With what beloved grandparent, aunt, uncle, cousin, friend, chosen family who we haven’t seen in ages, will we get to spend some precious time? With most of everything we normally do on pause, we have the time, or we make the time to simply be with one another. I may not have been aware of this when I was younger, but I am now certain that for me, that was part of the magical feeling of the holidays.

I wonder, too, if that’s a little glimpse of the foretaste of the feast to come. As the prayer in the funeral liturgy promises, “when the fever of life is over and the busy world is hushed” all that is left are the beloved relationships we have – with God in Christ Jesus, and with one another.

Perhaps that’s another gift that the Incarnation brings our way. The way our culture has stacked up a bunch of holidays within a short space of time can make for a frenzied busy time. It can also create a space where we have a few moments to breathe, to pause, to exist in God’s grace and to exist, to simply be, in the relationships around us.

Beloved siblings in Christ, as this short break comes to an end, may we hold fast to the moments in that time that brought the most peace. May we remember the gift of the relationships that remind us who we are and whose we are – beloved by God, beloved by so many around us.

Happy and Blessed New Year!

Rev. Jen Christenson

Associate to the Bishop for Candidacy and Community

Registration for the 2025 LEAD Conference is now open!

The conference is February 22, 9:30am to 3:00pm at The Grove/New Heights Lutheran (314 Anne St., Mazomanie, WI).

An email was sent out earlier today with additional information. Click here to view that email.

Click the button below to learn more and to register. Registration closes January 31.

Interested in facilitating a workshop at LEAD? Click here for more information and a form to submit your workshop proposal. Proposals must be submitted by January 31.

Annual Meeting season is approaching for many synod congregations. Below you will find links to the Annual Meeting report covers from the ELCA along with Bishop Joy's letter to congregations.

Blessings to all as you prepare for this important part of your ministry life together!

ELCA Annual Report Cover - Individual Pages

ELCA Annual Report Cover - Spread/Booklet Version

Bishop Joy's Letter to Congregations - PDF Version

Click the button below to access all of these resources and an image version of Bishop Joy's letter that can be inserted into a Word or Publisher file.

The SCSW is blessed to have the Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church (NELC) in India as our companion synod.

This January, a group from the SCSW along with others from the ELCA will be making a visit to our partners in ministry in India. Please hold Bishop Joy Mortensen-Wiebe, Associate to the Bishop Marie Leafblad, the Rev. Anne Wickland, Pamela Black, and Celyna Socha as they travel to India. May God bless their conversations, their travels, and the joyful work they will engage in while walking alongside our partners in ministry in the NELC in India. We look forward to hearing about their experiences after their return in late January.

The Rev. Carolyn Schneider is currently serving in Guyana. She writes:

God's blessings to you this Christmas! I am greeting you from Guyana, where I am experiencing for the first time the way that Guyanese celebrate Christ's birth.

Click the button below to view and download the latest newsletter from Rev. Schneider, which includes information regarding how you can support her work and the work of others involved with ELCA Global Missions.

The SCSW Synod Racial Equity Team encourages individuals, congregations, and conferences to consider hosting a discussion of the documentary film, A Time for Burning.

The movie chronicles efforts in the 1960s to build relationships between white and black Lutherans living in Omaha, Nebraska. In 1967, it was nominated for an Academy Award. While this film captures a moment in history, it also continues to challenge those of us in the Lutheran church today.

If you are interested in hosting a watch party, click the button below for more information. A facilitator’s guide, respectful communication guidelines, and discussion questions will be shared with you.

Reconciling in Christ (RIC) Sunday will be January 26, 2025.

This year's theme is Resilient Community. From the Reconciling Works website: This year’s theme allows us to celebrate how far we all have come in difficult times while also reminding us we need to keep moving toward the goal of true inclusion. ... When we work together for justice, communities are stronger; when we work together, people are stronger.

Click the button below to visit the RIC Resource page on the Reconciling Works website. You will find more about this year's theme as well as a link to request access to worship resources and more!

The SCSW Care for God's Creation Team is offering a Zoom book study in January and February of 2025.

We will discuss the book "Life After Doom" by Brian McLaren.

The group begins Thursday, January 16 and meets every Thursday through February 20 from 6:30pm to 7:45pm. If you are interested in being part of the Care for God's Creation book study click the button below to register. Questions? please contact Deacon Meg Nielsen, team chair.

Voices of Color will continue in 2025! Voices of Color is a joint event supported by the Synodical Women of the WELCA and the Synod Racial Equity Ministry Team.

You are invited to join the first synod-wide zoom discussion on Tuesday, February 11 from 7pm to 8pm. Or, consider inviting members of your congregation to read and discuss one or more of the the books chosen for 2025.

Click the button below for a full description of each book and to register!

The Synod Campus Ministry Oversight Team invites congregations to host a Campus Ministry Sunday on January 19 to highlight campus ministry in prayer, spread the news about campus ministry to their members, and encourage financial support for these programs.

A video including descriptions and up-to-date information for each campus ministry can be found on the Campus Ministry page on the Synod website. Once there, you will find a prayer toolkit that would nicely accompany the video. (Click the "Pray for Our Campus Ministries" button near the top of the page.)

While you are thinking about campus ministry, please take a moment to connect your students to the campus ministry staff by filling out the "Student Referral Form" on the Synod website. This is one of the best ways that you can directly support campus ministry. 

The National Day of Racial Healing is being celebrated by the ELCA on January 21, 2025. This is an annual observance that follows Martin Luther King Jr. Day. This year, the ELCA, in partnership with Augsburg Fortress, will join the movement of racial healing for our church and the nation. On Jan. 21, 2025, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Central time, the ELCA will feature a free online educational event that centers the voices of ELCA leaders of color.

You are invited to join in this collective effort for a more just and equitable world. This event is open to all ELCA rostered ministers, lay leaders and members.

Click here to find more information and updates on the ELCA website.

Click the button below to register.

January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month. Since 2005 the Women of the ELCA (WELCA) have been actively working to prevent human trafficking.

WELCA has created a number resources for congregations to use in their own efforts to raise awareness about human trafficking and to work toward prevention.

These resources include daily prayers for the four weeks from January 12 to February 9, informative articles and presentations, and links to additional places where you can learn what you can do in your own community to stop human trafficking.

Click the button below to view the resources on the WELCA website.

Wesley Isberner

Saturday, January 18, 2025, 2:00pm

Bethany Lutheran Church, Wisconsin Dells

Wesley has been called to serve Spirit Alive! Lutheran Church in Kenosha, WI.

Rostered and lay leaders are invited to join Madison Learning Community’s spring course, EXODUS, providing an in-depth exegetical study of the Book of Exodus. This class is a seminary-level course for anyone interested in growing their knowledge and understanding of Scripture. The class meets weekly on Tuesday evenings and is co-taught by Dr. Christina Bosserman (Marquette University; New Vision Church) and Dr. Jesse Pruett (UW-Madison).

This in-person learning opportunity begins January 21.

Click the button below for more information and to register.

Applications are open for the next cohort of Contemplative Renewal Immersions at Holy Wisdom Monastery.

This is an opportunity to journey as part of a cohort of pastors from across the country and multiple Christian traditions for two years of contemplative practice and renewal.

Click the button below to learn more and to register.

The application window closes January 31.