UPCOMING INSTALLATIONS

(and there are more to be announced soon!)

Rachel San Diego Installation

Rachel (former intern at Immanuel, Seattle) has accepted the call to serve as one of the pastors at St. Matthew's in Renton. She was ordained over the weekend at St. Andrew's in San Mateo, CA and the nstallation service will be held Sunday, March 17 at 2pm at St. Matthew's. Rostered Ministers are invited to vest - color of the day is red, please arrive by 1:30pm. God bless this new ministry partnership!

Sister Jessica Zimmerle Installation

St. John United Lutheran Church (Seattle) is happy to share that they have called Sister Jessica Zimmerle to serve as Director of Community Engagement. Her role as the congregation's deacon is focused on bridging the church with the broader neighborhood to discern how to best steward their property into the future as a community resource. All are welcome to join for a service of installation on Saturday, April 13 at 3pm with a reception to follow. Rostered leaders are invited to vest and the color of the day is green. God bless this new ministry partnership!

Synod Assembly is coming up soon!

Saturday, May 18, 9am-4pm

at Grace Lutheran Church in Des Moines

Doors open for check in and hospitality time at 8am

Our theme is from Psalm 121:1-2 | I lift up my eyes to the hills - from where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

We will gather to worship, hear reports and synod updates, Spirit Stories from around the synod, vote on the upcoming budget, and to elect members to synod council, committees and the 2025 ELCA Churchwide Assembly.

Online registration will open this week at 8am on March 14 and close April 15!

Congregations/Rostered Ministers received an email with info to help get their voting members registered as a group. If you did not see that email, contact Susan in the synod office ASAP! An email with the regisgtration link will be sent to all congregation and Rostered Minister emails early on 3/14.

• Volunteers needed for our check-in tables (7:45am-11am) - contact Susan@lutheransnw.org
• Nominations for Synod Council, Committee on Discipline, Consultation Committee and Voting Members for the ELCA Churchwide Assembly are open now through April 15.
• Resolutions to be considered are being received now through April 15.
• Ministry Partners & Committee Chairs should have received an email about participating in the assembly last week. Find the details on our website here: https://www.lutheransnw.org/pages/synod-assembly

Trinity Education Foundation (TEF) is excited to open applications for 2024 scholarships as we continue partnering with students by providing support and guidance to foster academic success and inspire vocational development, reflecting the Gospel’s values of love, justice, and healing for the sake of the world. 

In celebration of the 80th year since the beginning of Lutheran Bible Institute in Seattle (LBIS), which later became Trinity Lutheran College (TLC), TEF offers three distinct scholarships to honor the LBIS/TLC story:

+ LBIS/TLC 80th Year Undergraduate Scholarship

+ Dave Ellingson Scholarship for Environmental Studies

+ Child of LBIS/TLC Alum Scholarship

Please encourage a college student in your midst to apply. Visit https://www.trinityeducationfoundation.org/ for more information.

ELCA Conference of Bishops calls for cease-fire in Gaza / stands in solidarity with migrants

The Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) during its meeting Feb. 27-March 5 drafted two lettters:

• Issued a statement and sent a letter to President Joe Biden calling for a permanent bilateral cease-fire in Gaza and urging the president and legislators “to do everything in their power to bring an end to the current suffering and lay the foundation for lasting peace with justice.”
• Issued a statement of solidarity with migrants in Texas that expressed concerns about the fate of Annunciation House, a place of welcome for immigrants in El Paso. “Annunciation House’s work with the marginalized in society resonates with us as leaders in the ELCA, a church with a core immigrant identity, for whom welcoming the stranger is a significant part of our baptismal covenant,” the statement read. 

CYF Monthly Newsletter

Find the March edition of this newsletter HERE.

The Synod Children, Youth & Family Committee and the synod office are producing a monthly e-newsletter for CYF ministry leaders. IF you are not receiving it and would like to be added to the distibution list, email Susan@lutheransnw.org.

Survey Invitation - complete by March 15

The Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church (CRLC) has designed a survey to be shared throughout the ELCA. There are questions that apply to churchwide, synods and congregations - you are invited to participate here: Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church Survey (google.com)

More information about the commission can be found here:

Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church - Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (elca.org)

Discerning Vocation in Retirement

Tuesday, March 12, 4pm online

Please join us for a conversation with Dr. Samuel Torvend, Director of External Relations for The Wild Hope Center for Vocation. Entering retirement can be both exciting and a bit scary. It can produce a sense of relief from a life of work but also raise questions about the future. How, then, might we consider retirement a vocation, a calling, that gives meaning to our lives? In this conversation about retirement, we'll consider a different way of thinking and living one's life, a purposeful life beyond departure from the workforce. This discussion will be held via Zoom. REGISTER HERE. The link to join will be sent out on March 11.

Abide in the Word Bible Study - continues!

Tuesdays, 7-8pm via Zoom

This is a year-long, Synod-wide weekly Bible Study that takes participants on a deeper dive into the coming Sunday's Lectionary text. Participants will have the chance to experience diverse perspectives and voices from various guest facilitators from across the synod.



This is a FREE LiVE offering! No registration needed!

YES, you may join in any week at this link: HERE.

How Loneliness Influences Health and What Nurses (and others!) Can Do to Help

Thursday, March 14, 4pm (Pacific)

Online

While the primary audience is nurses, others will learn from the presentation. We all know lonely people in our lives and in our worship communities. Dr. Theeke will offer some helpful interventions for all of us. See the flyer for more information and the registration link.  

Lent with Baldwin & Bonhoeffer

6-week Course via zoom

Thursdays in Lent, 7-8:30pm

What might Dietrich Bonhoeffer (a Lutheran German theologian) and James Baldwin (a Black, 20th century author and novelist) together have to prophetically speak to our current time? Through a combination of presentations, and brief selected readings, this co-facilitated course will invite a conversation for how these particular perspectives inform our lives as persons and communities of faith. Come join the conversation!

This 6-week course will meet via zoom Thursday nights during Lent (Feb 15th-March 21st), facilitated by Dr. Edward Donalson III and Dr. Dan Peterson. Registration: FREE for those whose church purchased the Congregational Bundle; $50 otherwise.

More info & to Register

Trio Animé Concert

Saturday, March 16, 7pm

at Saint Andrew's, Bellevue

Please join the Trio Animé for a delightful concert of chamber music masterpieces, featuring works by Max Bruch and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Trio Animé specializes in works written for this unique and beautiful instrumental combination. The trio includes Leslie Johnson, viola; Eliza Siracusan, clarinet; and Charles Enlow, piano. (Free will offering will be received)

Chrism Mass

Tuesday, March 26, 11am

at Saint Andrew's Lutheran Church, Bellevue

NOTE THE LOCATION CHANGE!

Rostered Ministers are invited to join colleagues from the Southwestern Washington Synod and the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia for this service which includes holy communion, renewal of vows, and receiving oil to be used for blessings.

A light lunch will follow.

(IF YOU would like to assist with preparing/serving/cleaning up our simple soup & bread lunch, please contact Susan@lutheransnw.org)

Natalie Mayer and Raphael Lemkin Lecture

at Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma

April 2, 7:00 pm

Presented by Professor Aomar Boum

in the Scandinavian Cultural Center, AUC

While this event is free and open to the public, please register for the lecture HERE.

Professor Aomar Boum, The Maurice Amado Chair in Sephardic Studies in the Departments of Anthropology, Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, and History at the University of California, Los Angeles, will be our Lemkin Lecturer on Tuesday, April 2, 2024 at 7:00 pm in the Scandinavian Cultural Center, AUC.

The lecture will be preceded by a brief presentation of the Lemkin Essay contest winner’s paper.

Learn more about the event and Professor Boum here: https://www.plu.edu/holocaustconference/lemkin-lecture/

Deciding whether seminary education is right for you?



April 5-7, 2024 – Signs Along the Way

In-person at the PLTS campus in Berkeley

+ Engage your sense of call

+ Explore the San Francisco Bay area and what it’s like to live and study at PLTS

+ Experience a PLTS class and connect with current students, faculty, and staff

+ Lodging and most meals are covered; travel assistance available to those who need it

Click here to register

Signs Along the Way is a great opportunity for folks to connect with current seminarians and other people in discernment, spend some time exploring their sense of call, and learn more about what seminary at PLTS might be like for them. People at all stages of discernment are welcome. PLTS covers two nights of lodging in a hotel, most meals throughout the weekend, and can provide some travel assistance for those who need it.

Faith & Civic Life

New HYBRID Adult Learning Series coming this Spring for Six Sundays at 11 am - beginning April 7 - from Our Savior's Lutheran, Everett

Our Saviors is piloting a new ELCA course led by Rev. Dr. Rick Rouse designed to explore Christian discipleship in the public arena. Looking toward the 2024 election, we will seek to answer the following questions:



• How do we faithfully live out our baptismal vocation in everyday life?
• What does it mean to follow Jesus in our citizenship?
• Why could voting be considered a faith-filled act of justice?

The course will be offered hybrid for six weeks beginning Sunday, April 7th. 

If interested in joining us online contact Marko Jokinen at aerofinn@aol.com

Bishop's Convocation

April 21-24 at Seabeck Conference Center

Mindful that we are in an election cycle fraught with discord and danger, Rostered Ministers, SALMs and Interns will share learning and discussion around the theme of Christian Nationalism - what it is, the real threats it presents to us both as citizens of a democracy and as Christian disciples, and what our role is as faith leaders in the public arena. We are delighted to welcome Dr. Seth Dowland and Rev. Dr. Rick Rouse to lead our sessions. Learn more and get registered here by March 14 at 5pm!

Middle School Retreat

April 26-27 | First Lutheran Richmond Beach

All middle school students are invited to join us for our 2nd annual middle school retreat! Our theme this year is Prayer – What is it? Why do we care? We’ll explore the theme using a variety of mediums and spend time at the beach on Saturday. The cost is $50 per student, adults are free. Registration begins March 1.

Questions? Contact Becky at children@hslckirkland.org.

May Youth Weekend at Holden!

May 17-19 (Friday - Sunday)

Theme: All Creation Groans Together: Love, Lament, and Action in a Climate Emergency

How can we live faithful lives when we are overloaded with climate grief and anxiety? How can we find motivation for meaningful action when the future is uncertain? Together we'll dive deep into our love for God's beloved creation, and learn how to find our way through the ruins.

Registration now! Find all the details here!

Want an item included?

Email Susan Berg, Communications Administrator

All items due by 2pm on the prior Thursday

Northwest Washington Synod / ELCA

5519 Phinney Avenue North

Seattle, WA 98103

206-783-9292