Weekly Update


December 2, 2024

announcements & events


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ANNOUNCEMENTS

Synod Events This Week:


Mon, Dec 2, 1pm - Rostered Synod Staff Members Meeting

Tues, Dec 3, 10am - Synod Staff Meeting

Tues, Dec 3, 3pm - Strategic Team for Authentic Diversity

Thurs, Dec 5, 10am - Candidacy Committee Meeting / Candidate Open House

Thurs, Dec. 5, 11am-2pm - Mission Developers gathering - meet Edward Moncivaiz

Sat, Dec 7 - Lay Minister Formation Cohort Meeting


+ + + + + + + + +


WISH TO SHARE THIS EMAIL WITH OTHERS?

Instead of forwarding this email (and risking them unsubscribing you!), the best way is to send them to our News Page - https://www.lutheransnw.org/news

Please share this position opening in your circles - ASAP!


This essential accounting management role supports the ministries of the six synods of Region One of the ELCA with financial administration. Based in Mill Creek, WA this is a full time position - with excellent benefits.


Learn more about the role and how to apply here: https://www.lutheransnw.org/news/financial-services-officer

God and Mental Health Challenges

free, online, self-paced course


What You’ll Learn:

  • Thinking theologically about mental health
  • What it means to care for yourself & others
  • Practical definitions and skills for supporting others with specific mental health challenges
  • Intersection of spiritual and medical perspectives
  • The value of deep listening and other best practices and resources for caregivers
  • Why the spiritual practice of lament matters
  • Clear processes for identifying when professional help is necessary


Faith+Lead, along with generous donors with a passion for mental health in church communities, now offers a mental health course for free. If you need support navigating the overwhelming frontlines of mental health challenges in your community, “God and Mental Health Challenges” was created to provide you with those useful tools! Learn more and register here.

ELCA Good Gifts Catalog - Merry Christmas!


Consider choosing from over 60 charitable gifts to give in honor of friends and loved ones this Christmas! New gifts include safe birth, a climate resilience kit and supporting a Young Adult in Global Mission for a month. Each gift goes on to make a difference in the world and share the love of Christ with our neighbors in need.

  

Church of Steadfast Love Advent Devotional


THANK YOU to the members of Church of Steadfast Love who offer this annual devotion series to the synod.


You will find it here.

2024 LSM Musical Advent Calendar



Experience the anticipation and hope of the Advent season with Lutheran Summer Music's fourth-annual Musical Advent Calendar. From December 1-24, immerse yourself in a daily moment of music and reflection shared on our Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube pages and archived on our website at LSMacademy.org/acal


To have these daily videos delivered straight to your inbox, sign up at forms.gle/6Jw7DoDApTAgW4Uf6

Reconciling in Christ (RIC) Sunday


This is an annual worship celebration created to share in the commitment our organization and partnering faith communities have in the ongoing work of welcome, inclusion, celebration, and advocacy for LGBTQIA+ people in the life of the church. While historically this day is celebrated on the final Sunday in January, many RIC partners will celebrate on their date of affirmation, or on other days meaningful to their communities rooted in this commitment to radical hospitality. We hope you enjoy Resilient Community as we join collectively with our 1,140+ partners across the United States and Canada through this celebratory service.

 

As special thank you to our planning team, Rev. Josh Evans, St. John’s Lutheran Church, Albany, New York; Rev. Dr. Lori Ruge-Jones, University Lutheran Church and Campus Ministry, Eau Claire, Wisconsin; and Deacon David Rask Behling, Program Coordinator.

 

The video Sermon will be uploaded to the RIC Sunday 2025 Google Drive by 12/09/24.


Resilient Community - 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. It focuses our attention on how community bonds and relationships sustain the individual members of the community, building resilience in institutions and individuals. When we work together for justice, communities are stronger; when we work together, people are stronger.

 

GO HERE to download this free resource in English and Español.

(https://www.reconcilingworks.org/ric/ricsunday/)


UPCOMING EVENTS

FREE LiVE Project Weekly Online Bible Study

Abide: Going Deeper

Tuesdays Dec 3 and 10 via Zoom, 7pm-8pm

 

We invite you to abide curiously in God's Word together. The LiVE retreats and courses are not meant to be stand alone offerings. Go deeper into the Biblical grounding of the course/retreat themes in this weekly synod-wide FREE Bible Study. No need to pre-register. (after the 10th, we will take a break for the holidays and begin again in January)

 

Join us any week! More info and Zoom link here

A Time for Burning Revisited

Tuesday, December 3, 5pm (Pacific)


 Join the Association of White Lutherans for Racial Justice for an online discussion and preview of a new documentary that revisits a classic film about a congregation wrestling with racial justice.


Hear interviews with filmmaker Bill Jersey—60 years after he made his film, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, and others. The association seeks to connect people across the ELCA to share ideas from congregations, synods and Regions, on making racial justice an active part of our Church.


Register for this Zoom session here: bit.ly/BurningRevisitedRegister

The Evolution of a Movement:

Faith-Based Development and Progress on the Policy Front


December 5

Enterprise Community Partners holds an annual summit on the growing national movement around faith-based development. This year’s virtual summit focuses on progress made on the public policy front to support faith-based development at all levels of government. Policy makers, practitioners, and faith-leaders from across the country will share their insights and perspectives on the evolution of the movement. Click here to learn more and register!

A PLU Christmas: In excelsis Deo

Join us for our beloved series of PLU Christmas Concerts as the Choir of the West, University Chorale, and University Symphony Orchestra present “In excelsis Deo”, featuring John Rutter’s exhilarating setting of Gloria. Other works by Sergei Rachmaninoff, David Willcocks, and Brian Galante mix with traditional carols and other seasonal favorites as we celebrate beauty and joy in this Christmas season.


Tickets still available for these concerts:

December 7 at 2pm in Lagerquist Concert Hall

December 7 at 7:30pm in Lagerquist Concert Hall

December 9 at 7:30pm in Benaroya Hall


Learn more - and purchase online here: https://www.plu.edu/christmas/

Register: Online at wartburgseminary.edu/CTLM

A NORWEGIAN CHRISTMAS DINNER


The Outreach Committee at Kent Lutheran Church together with Pastor Tormod Svensson will be putting on a Norwegian Christmas dinner (Pork meatballs, ribs, sausage, sauerkraut and potatoes) in their Fellowship Hall, Saturday, January 4 at 5 PM. The cost is $20 for adults and $10 for children 10 and under. The proceeds will go to support Lutheran Community Services Northwest.


Please RSVP to office@klclutheran.org or (253) 852 2057) no later than December 22. 



Want an item included?

Email Susan Berg, Dir. Communications & Events

All items due by 2pm on the prior Thursday


Northwest Washington Synod / ELCA

5519 Phinney Avenue North

Seattle, WA 98103

206-783-9292

www.lutheransnw.org
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