Congratulations to Sugar Creek Lutheran Church!

The synod Care for Creation team congratulates Sugar Creek Lutheran Church, one of the oldest congregations in the SCSW, for developing a 20 kWh solar energy project this year. If approved in an upcoming congregational meeting, the new solar project will cover the cost of electricity for the next 30 years.

According to Pastor Dick Inglett, the project has won approval so far because it appealed to congregants who saw it as stewardship of the Earth – caring for creation, as well as to those who saw it as simply financially attractive. Sugar Creek Lutheran applied for and received a Solar for Good grant to cover half of the cost of solar panels. The cost of the entire project is around $40,000.

Sugar Creek recently submitted its one-page Care for Creation Plan in response to the 2023 Care for Creation Resolution passed at synod assembly last May. In addition to its solar project, the congregation has retrofitted to LED and energy efficient florescent lighting, installed new windows in the sanctuary and fellowship hall, and insulated wherever possible.

Pr. Inglett said many in the congregation see the solar project as a continuation of Sugar Creek’s tradition of innovative thinking. Founded in 1849, Sugar Creek, along with Jefferson Prairie and a few other early south-central Wisconsin churches, was instrumental in founding Luther College and Lutherdale Bible Camp.

If your congregation wants to take advantage of current solar energy grants/financial incentives and would like find out what is involved, please reach out to Sugar Creek Lutheran, or one of the churches who have recently installed solar panels, as listed on the synod’s Care for Creation page.

Submit Your One-Page Care for Creation Plan

Please submit your one-page Care for Creation plan so churches can connect and support each other as we seek to protect the Earth, its creatures and its resources. To do so visit the Care for Creation page on the synod website and click on the dark blue Submit a Plan Here button.

Alongside you,

The SCSW Caring for God's Creation Team

The 2024 SCSW Compensation guidelines have been updated to correct an error regarding the minimum required contribution rate for retirement. In 1993, the SCSW established that the minimum retirement contribution for rostered ministers would be 12% of defined compensation, out of care for the future well-being of rostered leaders in their retirement.

The corrected version now reflects the 12% minimum contribution rate.

Our Synod Treasurer, Pastor Naomi Garber, has also received questions regarding the housing allowance. The recommended housing allowance by county reflects a median three year housing sale by county. Several counties experienced a significant change in the housing market during this time, which is reflected in the housing allowance numbers for those areas.

Click on the button below to view and download the corrected 2024 Compensation guidelines. The corrected guidelines are also available on the synod website on the Resources for Congregations and Leaders page.

If you have any questions regarding the 2024 Compensation guidelines, please feel free to reach out to Synod Treasurer, Pastor Naomi Garber, at naomic59.ng@gmail.com or by phone at 701.388.4788.

Stop scrolling and mark your calendars!

LEAD 2024 will be held on Saturday, February 17, at St. John's Lutheran Church in Sauk Prairie from 9:30am to 3:30pm.

Information about the day's line-up and how to register will be coming out soon. Watch your inbox and get ready for another great day of Building, Learn, and Growing at LEAD.

The Office of the Bishop of the South-Central Synod of Wisconsin is seeking a gifted and motivated professional for the position of Executive Assistant for Synod Administration.

This is a full-time, hybrid position whose primary responsibilities include maintaining the Bishop's calendar and calendars of other staff as needed, planning and overseeing major synod events, and tending to other general office duties as required.

Qualified candidates are encouraged to submit their cover letter and resume to Rev. Jen Christenson, Associate to the Bishop for Candidacy and Community, at jenc@scsw-elca.org.

Resumes should be submitted by November 22, with interviews anticipated to take place the first week of December.

Click the button below to view the full job description.

We are delighted to share that construction is expected to begin soon at Lakeview Lutheran Church in Madison, where the new SCSW office will be located. Watch the newsletter for more updates as work begins and progresses!

We are looking forward to the Rostered Retired Leaders and Spouses Gathering on November 16 at St. John's Lutheran Church in Oregon.

Information about this gathering was sent by the Rev. Anne Andert to the rostered retired leaders email list. If you are not receiving emails regarding rostered retired gatherings and updates, please contact Anne at anneandert@gmail.com to be added to the list!

On November 12 we sent out an important transportation update for the 2024 ELCA Youth Gathering in New Orleans.

Click here to view the email, which includes information about reservation deadlines, deposits, and flight details.

You can find general information about the Gathering on the synod website and on the ELCA's Youth Gathering page.

If you have questions about the Gathering please contact our Gathering Synod Champion, Pastor Jason Poole-Xiong: E-Mail (best): jasonx@scsw-elca.org or Phone (voice): (608) 387-8560.

The ELCA Mission Support Team has resumed its monthly update, the "Mission Support Memo."

This month's edition shares a story from the Northeastern Minnesota Synod and their storytelling event called, "Walking Together 2023: Encounters with Christ."

The memo also includes an invitation to a webinar on November 27 about creating a Narrative Budget, presented by the Rev. Tim Brown, director of congregational stewardship.

Click the button below to view and download the October 2023 Mission Support Memo to read and share.

You can view this and previous editions of the Mission Support memo on the Stories of Faith in Action page on the ELCA's website.

As you may recall, the 2022 ELCA Churchwide Assembly authorized two reconsiderations (Memorial C3 and Motion K) of the 2009 social statement Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust. The assembly did not authorize a reconsideration of the whole statement or dictate a particular outcome. A reconsideration is not a wholesale rejection or rewriting of a social statement. It is instead a process that allows the church to thoughtfully, prayerfully, and communally re-examine particular parts of a social teaching document.



The process of reconsideration will proceed in two stages with one task force addressing, first, the editorial changes authorized by Memorial C in light of changes since 2009 in civil law governing same-sex marriages, public acceptance of such marriages, and diversity of family configurations. The second stage will reconsider the more substantive matter of the section of the social statement that outlines four different but valid convictions that Lutherans can faithfully hold about same-gender relationships (commonly referred to as “bound conscience”).

Click on the button below to find more information about the reconsideration process, nomination forms for the task force, and more.