|
From the Pastor
Dear siblings in Christ,
It has been a whirlwind of a spring so far in Churchland. After a quiet and meaningful Holy Week, and a truly joyful Easter Sunday, last Saturday was the church holiday known as Synod Assembly!
For those who have never been to synod assembly, or who haven’t been in a number of years, assembly is where the 200-some churches of the Northwest Synod of Wisconsin come together once a year to touch base, worship together, hear about work going on throughout the church, and guide the synod in its business.
The worship was fun, with upbeat music and a skit that dramatized the scripture reading.
If you are under the impression that the synod is some kind of monolith issuing edicts from on high, nothing could be further from the truth. The process is run by members like you (about 1/3 clergy and 2/3 laypeople). This year we passed resolutions pertaining to a capital campaign for the synod’s Neighbor to Neighbor program, Spanish-language translations, the ELCA Truth-Telling Initiative on Indian Boarding Schools, and the synod’s budget for mission.
We passed guidelines for compensating pastors, deacons, and SAMs as well, but that resolution was not without controversy! The result is that next year’s committee has been directed to update salary and benefit standards for deacons.
We also received reports from the synod’s Lutheran Campus Ministry sites (UW-Eau Claire, UW-River Falls, UW-Stout), Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan, and the vice-president of the ELCA, Imran Siddiqui. And a pretty good lunch too!
Stop and ask your congregational voting members about their experience: Diane Fizell, Darin Anderson, Yvette Fleming, and Jeff Stark. And please take a moment to thank them for their service.
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Connie
| 
