News from Northeastern Iowa Synod

Bishop Kevin Jones

December 14, 2023

July

Blessed Advent and Christmas

There will be no E-Letter next week.

News and Events

Linda Groe Appointed Synod Vice-President

Kris Meyer is moving out of state and will no longer be able to continue to serve as the Vice President of the Northeastern Iowa Synod. The Synod Constitution calls for the Bishop, with the approval of the Executive Committee of the Synod Council, to “arrange for the appropriate care of the responsibilities of the officer until an election of a new officer can be held.” (S8.55)

After careful consideration, prayer, and conversation with the whole Synod Council, Linda Groe has been appointed, and accepted, to serve as the Synod VP until an election can be held at the next Synod Assembly in 2025. Her term as VP officially begins December 15, 2023.

Linda was elected to the Synod Council at the 2021 Synod Assembly. We felt it was important to have a VP that was elected to leadership by the Synod Assembly rather than bringing someone into this role who is new to the work of the Synod and Synod Council.
Linda has served as the Chair of the Registration Committee at several Synod Assemblies and is the one who has presented the registration reports to the Assembly.
Linda is a member of St. John Lutheran in Waukon. Her congregational involvement includes, Altar Guild, Choir, Bell Choir, LYO, WELCA, and Bible Study leader. She enjoys golf, scrapbooking, and reading.

Please join us in prayers of gratitude for the work of our outgoing VP, Kris Meyer, and prayers of blessing for our new VP, Linda Groe. The January/February 2024 issue of the Northeastern Iowa Star will include a more detailed article about this change in Synod leadership.

The Northeastern Iowa Synod is invited to attend online listening sessions to share your hopes, ideas, needs and comments regarding the structure and governance of the ELCA. Each session will last approximately one hour and also includes invitations to learn about the Churchwide Assembly Memorial initiating the Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church as well as participation in a digital survey to share more extensive comments.

Sessions:

Active Rostered Ministers:
Thursday, January 25, 2:00 pm
Monday, January 29, 4:00 pm.

Retired Rostered Ministers:
Friday, January 26, 10:30 am

Lay Ministers:
Tuesday, January 30, 7:00 pm

To participate, please contact Alison Pettit at [email protected]. You will then receive a handout with further information and the Zoom link.

Apply for a Hunger Ministry Grant

Northeastern Iowa Synod congregations and hunger ministries are invited to apply for a “Ride Against Hunger” Ministry Grant.

The grants are the result of funds raised through the 2023 “Iowa Bishops Ride Against Hunger” in RAGBRAI. Congregations and individuals supported the ride by donating close to $100,000. Of those funds, $50,000 went to ELCA World Hunger, and approximately $14,000 went to each synod to invest in their own hunger ministries. Ministry Grant applications will be reviewed monthly. All applications turned in before the 15th will

be reviewed that month. Checks will typically be sent out by the end of that month.

More Information

Mission Support Intent Form

The Mission Support Intent Form for 2024 is now available online. The completed forms should be submitted to Michelle Van Riper at [email protected] or by mail to PO Box 804, Waverly, IA 50677-0804.

Download the form from the synod website at www.neiasynod.org/download-category/

congregations.

Youth Gathering News

In the aftermath of a storm, hurricane, or tornado, New Orleans residents regularly find themselves without electricity. This quickly becomes a health crisis as people try to manage life in the hot, humid Gulf Coast summers.

City leaders and community organizers identified the eight most-requested items to help residents as they wait for the power grid to be restored. Our goal is to create 3,000 disaster relief kits filled with these items to help New Orleanians get through the days immediately following a natural disaster.

It takes about $100 to create an entire disaster relief kit. We encourage you to collect the items for your region or raise funds to complete an entire kit!

Starting in April, you may order directly through an Amazon Wishlist with items being delivered directly to New Orleans.

Now we need your help to make sure families and neighborhoods are prepared for the next disaster.

The Northeastern Iowa Synod is in Region 5 and is asked to bring cooling towels.

What are "Cooling Towels?"

Microfiber towels that when soaked in water stay cool for hours.

The Handbook Series

The Handbook Series is a collection of courses filled with tips & tricks from seasoned youth ministry leaders and Gathering leadership designed to help you navigate the 2024 Gathering, MYLE and the tAble.

More Information

More Resources

ADVENT Resources

North American Church Leaders Call for Peace in Holy Land in Advent Prayer Resource

The leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC), the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) and The Episcopal Church (TEC) have released the Churches Beyond Borders 2023 Advent Cycle of Prayer.

The prayer resource calls for justice and peace, especially for churches impacted by the war in the Holy Land, and for lifting up Palestinian Christian communities and ministries and the congregations and institutions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land and the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem.

In a letter to accompany the Advent resource the leaders write, "We call, and pray for, an end to the war in Gaza, Israel, and the West Bank. We call for a ceasefire, an end to violence in the West Bank and the opening of humanitarian corridors in Gaza."

The church leaders contributed prayers for the four Sundays of Advent, focusing on the themes truth, justice, peace and hope.

Download:

2023 Advent Cycle of Prayer

FOR THE CHURCHES IN THE HOLY LAND AND THE MIDDLE EAST

Download:

GOD WITH US

An Advent devotional from the ELCA Homeless and Justice Network

Download

ELCA World Hunger Advent Study

Human Sexuality - Gift and Trust Study Process

The 2022 ELCA Churchwide Assembly authorized two reconsiderations of the ELCA’s social statement "Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust." This process of discernment for the church will begin in 2024.

A new website offers more information, plus a form to apply or to nominate someone else for the task force that will guide this process. Learn more at www.elca.org/reconsiderations.

Social Message on Gun-Related Violence and Trauma

The ELCA is currently working on creating a social message about gun-related violence and trauma. Social messages are ELCA teaching documents that draw from existing social teaching but throw a fuller and sharper spotlight on a particular social issue. The draft’s themes focus on trauma, public health, and an ethic of shared responsibility for peacemaking, seeking to move beyond the strict polarization of gun rights vs. gun control.

Please take the time, alone or with a group, to study the draft version of this social message and share your affirmations, concerns, and suggestions via an online survey by Jan. 31. Submitted comments will be taken into account in revising the draft, which will then be considered for adoption by the ELCA Church Council in late March of 2024.

Feedback is due by January 31, 2024

More Information

Christmas Programs

Around the Synod

ELCA Worship Resources

Worship Resources

Prayers of Intercession

Advent Year B

Christmas Year B

Advent Resources from ELCA World Hunger

Care-filled Worship and Sacramental Life in a Lingering Pandemic

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Prayers

For as the earth brings forth its shoots,

and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,

so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise

to spring up before all the nations.

Isaiah 61: 11

Please join us in praying for the following leaders and ministries of the Northeastern Iowa Synod:

Rev. Tracy K. Hinkel, Sumner; Rev. Dr. Kristin J. Wendland, Waverly; Rev. Gregory L. DeBoer, Independence; Bishop Amy Current & Staff of the Southeastern Iowa Synod, Iowa City; Rev. Dr. Elaine G. Siemsen, Rochester, MN; St. James, Allison; Zion, Alta Vista.

What is our Bishop up to?