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This past week, Saint Matthew Lutheran Church in Walnut Creek held its VBS and had over 100 kids in attendance!
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On Sunday, St. Paul Lutheran Church in Lodi gave out 43 backpacks with supplies inside to community members!
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Send your ministry pictures to info@spselca.org be featured in the Synod Newsletter! | |
Discerning & Electing a new Bishop | |
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In February of this year, the Bishop's Election Committee began outlining the process of discerning and electing a new Bishop to serve the Sierra Pacific Synod. The Committee is delighted to share with you an array of documents, timelines, and procedures that will guide the Bishop Election process over the next five months.
On the Sierra Pacific Synod website, you will find a new tab called "2023 Synod Assembly" where all of this information (and more!) is and will be housed in the coming months. Under the Bishop's Election tab, we invite you to take a look at the newly released documents from the Bishop's Election Committee.
They include:
- A Discernment & Conversation Guide for Pre-Identification of Bishop Candidates
- The Bishop's Election Timeline & Process
- The 2023 Synod Profile
- The Call Responsibilities of the Sierra Pacific Synod Bishop
- Disclosure Questions for the Bishop's Election
- A Biographical Information Form
- Information on the Bishop's Election Committee
These can be found in English and Spanish here: https://www.spselca.net/bishopselection
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Dear Synod,
We are hard at work as your election committee finalizes the bishop pre-nominees. We will publish the names of nominees as soon as the Oxford background checks have been completed. We hoped this would be done by the 1st of August, but it is taking the company a bit longer to finish their work. We anticipate being able to release the names no later than August 7th. Thank you for your patience as we seek to create a deeply transparent process.
Peace and hope,
Rustin Comer and AJ Gaston
Election Committee Co-Chairs
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Policy 23-001 Policy Procedure for the Sierra Pacific Synod of the ELCA for Discipline of a Rostered Minister when a Complaint is Reported
As an expression of its life in the gospel of Jesus Christ, this church embraces disciplinary processes of counseling, admonition, and correction, with the objective of forgiveness, reconciliation, and healing. Simultaneously, out of deep concern for effective extension of the gospel, this church remains alert to the high calling of discipleship in Jesus Christ. The rostered ministers of this church, as persons charged with special responsibility for the proclamation of the gospel, are to seek to reflect the new life in Christ, avoiding that which would make them stumbling blocks to others. To that end, this church recognizes that there is behavior that is deemed to be incompatible with ordained ministry and that calls for disciplinary action.[1]
Public ministry is a position of trust and responsibility.
This document provides general policy statements and guidelines to be followed by the Sierra Pacific Synod of the ELCA in dealing with behavior that is incompatible with ordained ministry and that calls for disciplinary action. It must be emphasized that these policies and guidelines are not binding, rigid rules, but they are created to ensure that every ROSTERED MINISTER is treated equally and is provided an understanding of the procedures that will be followed if an official complaint is made against him/her/them. The synod encourages our member congregations work with the synod to implement this document. Every discipline case is unique, and therefore the synod reserves the right to depart from these policies and guidelines whenever the bishop deems necessary and appropriate.
The Synod Council will review this policy every three years and make updates if needed.
[1] Definition and Guidelines for Discipline: Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), March 2020, p. 1.
You can read the full document here.
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Candidacy Committee Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement
The Candidacy Committee of the Sierra Pacific Synod offers this living document to inspire and hold accountable our current and future work, particularly regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion. It is the result of a long discernment that included: consultation with various specialists in the field, much prayer, discussion, vulnerability, pain from our past, and hope for our future. Please keep us, our work, and especially our future leaders in your prayers.
You can read the full statement here.
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At its meeting on Saturday, June 17, 2023, the Sierra Pacific Synod Council passed the following continuing resolution to the synod constitution:
Continuing Resolution S7.22.A23. Rostered ministers on the roster of this synod who are granted disability status or on-leave-from-call are permitted but not required to serve as voting members of the synod assembly.
and amended Continuing Resolution S7.21.B23 to read:
B. Congregations may send one additional lay voting member who is a youth (confirmed to age 17) or young adult (age 18 to 30, see †S6.04.01.). For purposes of the constitution, bylaws, and continuing resolutions of this synod, the term “youth” means a voting member of a congregation who has not reached the age of 18 at the time of election or appointment for service. The term “young adult” means a voting member of a congregation between the ages of 18 and 30 at the time of election or appointment for service. If a congregation is sending a youth as part of the Sierra Pacific Synod Youth Committee (see S7.21.04.), the congregation may send a young adult.
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Upcoming Synod-Wide Events | |
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Coastside Pride Chorus Concert
Saturday, August 12, 7 pm
The Coastside Pride Chorus is a new choral group that has formed in Half Moon Bay and is being sponsored by Coastside Lutheran Church. They are having our first concert on August 12 at 7 pm.
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St. Francis Lutheran Church presents: Tones and Scones: Organ Concert followed by Tea and Scones.
Sunday, August 13, 3 pm
This is a short program of organ music followed by tea and scones. Family-friendly and appropriate for school aged children through adults.
Organist David Schofield will present a program of works spanning the 17th century through the present day, including works by Bach and Pachelbel, as well as a work written in 2016 based on the Gregorian Salve Regina by Olivier Latry, titular organist at Notre Dame in Paris. All the programmed selections are music dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The choir of St. Francis Lutheran Church will sing chants and chorales upon which the organ music is based.
For more information and to get tickets, please click here!
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Announcing St. Mark's Endowment Grant Application Period
Do you have an idea for growing a ministry or ministry partnerships? The Endowment Fund of St. Mark's San Francisco is now accepting grant applications for its 2023 grant cycle until August 27. A total of $15,500 is available this year to fund projects: those of St. Mark's ministries that are new initiatives / fall outside of the annual budget; and, those of organizations whose work expands or enhances the ministry of St. Mark's. Please visit the Endowment Fund’s web page at stmarks-sf.org/endowment to find out more about the application process and the Endowment Fund or contact the committee at endowment@stmarks-sf.org for details.
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We give thanks for the life of Pastor DeeDee Lundahl, who passed away earlier this month in Omaha, Nebraska. She was one of the first women ordained as a Minister of Word and Sacrament in the LCA, and had previous calls as an Associate Pastor to Lutheran Church of the Master and St. John's Lutheran Church, both in Sacramento. Her last call was to Kountze Memorial Lutheran Church in Omaha. You can read her full obituary here.
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New Opportunities Available!
Are you looking for something new? We have amazing congregations looking for someone like you! Check out our job posting page for open positions throughout our Synod.
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Updates and Resources from ELCA Churchwide & Beyond | |
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FAITHS Community Partners Grant
The faith community has historically been at the forefront of advocating for racial and economic equity, and it remains a crucial voice today. In 1993, The San Francisco Foundation created FAITHS (Foundation Alliance with Interfaith to Heal Society) — now a nationally recognized program — to enhance the work of faith-based organizations and congregations to organize and advocate for equitable policies and improve services and outcomes in their neighborhoods and the region. For more information, click here!
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ELCA Fund for Leaders Day of Giving
August 16
For over 25 years, FFL has been providing scholarships for talented and passionate seminary students. FFL Day of Giving allows us to honor past scholarship recipients and provide emerging leaders with a path to seminary.
Click here for more information and to give!
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On the morning of Saturday, July 29th, Pastor Ned of Trinity Lutheran Church in Oakland was informed that a homicide had taken place in the church parking lot and was being investigated by Oakland Police. Due to the ongoing investigation, we will keep the name of the victim private.
Pastor Ned and a member of the Trinity congregation went to the place where the young man had died. They prayed for the individual, trusting they are in God's loving arms, and they sprinkled Baptismal Water over the ground to bless and reclaim that area of their church back to God's purposes.
Pastor Ned would like to encourage everyone to include in your prayers this individual and their family and friends. Pray for the couple who first came upon the body and are dealing with the trauma of such a horrible sight. Pray for all of Trinity's neighbors who are now a bit uneasier living here. Pray for those who committed this crime. Pray for an end to violence and bloodshed in the city and throughout our world. Pray for justice in our world. Pray for God's Spirit to guide all of us to a place where God's reign of love and care, especially for those feeling trapped in the midst of this violence, may blossom and change hearts and lives.
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Pray for Rev. Joe Barndt, who is in the critical care unit on a ventilator at Watsonville Community Hospital. He had surgery today and is receiving good care from his medical team. He is the husband of the Rev. Susan Birkelo. | |
Connect with Synod Staff & Your Conference Dean | |
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Rev. Ben Colahan
Dean, Redwood Mountain Conference 1
conference1@spselca.org
Rev. Dave Miller
Dean, Bridges Conference 2
conference2@spselca.org
Rev. Dr. Gabriele Schroeder
Dean, Capitol Valley Conference 3
conference3@spselca.org
Rev. Charlane Lines
Dean, Sierra Nevada Foothills
Conference 4
conference4@spselca.org
Rev. John Kuehner
Dean, San Francisco Peninsula Conference 5
conference5@spselca.org
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Rev. Cristina Beauchemin
Dean, El Camino Real Conference 6
conference6@spselca.org
Rev. Dr. John Valentine
Dean, Mt. Diablo Conference 7
conference7@spselca.org
Rev. Mark Price
Dean, Sierra Central Valley Conference 8
conference8@spselca.org
Rev. Jodi Golden-Lund
Dean, Central San Joaquin Conference 9
conference9@spselca.org
Rev. Cindy Beck
Dean, Interim Ministry
interims@spselca.org
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The Sierra Pacific Synod Office resides on the unceded land of the Ramaytush Ohlone People.
To learn more about their tribal history, we encourage you to click here.
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