Just a few weeks ago, four North Carolina Synod pastors—Emily Harkins (The Dwelling, Winston-Salem), Cassie Overcash (Assistant to the Bishop), Ethan Overcash (Emmanuel, High Point), and Julie Tonnesen (Elon Campus Ministry)—returned to North Carolina from an accompaniment trip in Papua New Guinea. And given that their journey included nearly-missed flights, helicopter crashes, bridges destroyed by landslides, and 40 hours of international travel, it would be reasonable to think that any of these events would be the biggest news to come from this trip. But they weren’t. Far from it.

Read the full Mission Support story.

We are more! From college students to leaders and congregations, your partnership in the Gospel—with this synod and with this church—is changing lives.

We are more when congregations and leaders thrive together. In 2023, the synod staff walked with 25 congregations through the call process. In 2024, already 30 congregations have connected with their new rostered minister called to lead in that setting. To support this good work, you have faithfully sent Mission Support dollars to the synod. Thank-you letters for last year's giving were sent to each congregation in early September along with a request for a Statement of Intent for 2025. Please indicate your intent by December 15.

Watch This Is the One: St. John's Concord Calls Their Pastor.

We Are More—That was the theme of the 2024 North Carolina Synod Gathering, rooted in Romans 8:31-37. At Synod Gathering, five leaders from this synod reflected on this passage and what it means to be more together in Christ in a podcast hosted by Pastor Jennifer Shimota and Pastor Phil Tonnesen. Episodes will be shared weekly on Wednesdays.

Listen to the first three episodes.

Join Bishop Tim Smith for a special NC Synod town hall on Tuesday, October 1, at 7:00 p.m., to discuss “Loving Your Neighbor in Anxious Times.” As this election season heightens anxiety and polarization, how can Lutheran communities foster meaningful conversations? Explore the ways that covenants—commitments to treating one another with love—can help. Moderated by Deacon Dr. Mindy Makant, the event invites congregations to join in fostering understanding and compassion in their communities. Submit questions in advance and participate in this timely conversation. All are welcome!

Learn more about this live stream and Zoom; register today!

This synod provides the tool MissionInsite for every NC Synod congregation. Learn more about this tool to help you bridge the gap between data and decisions. MissionInsite allows your congregation to run demographic data, map your members, cross-analyze your organization and community, and more. Join Pastor Danielle DeNise and guests for a series of trainings. Join any or all of the Zoom sessions.

• TODAY, Tuesday, September 17 @ 2 p.m. Running demographic reports in MissionInsite

Register to receive the Zoom link.

Discuss and learn more about the new social statement set to be voted on at the 2025 churchwide assembly. This document aims to be a faithful and considered statement of our beliefs and values around the role of the church in public and political life, written to guide and inspire discussion and reflection across the church. Plan to review the draft before joining one of two hearing opportunities via Zoom; come with your thoughts and questions.

Led by Deacon Dr. Mindy Makant, join Wednesday, Sept. 25, at 7 p.m. or Thursday, Sept. 26, at 10 a.m.

Register today!

Youthquake is a gathering for 3rd-5th grade youth from across the NC Synod for fellowship, learning, service, and worship. The cost is $20/person and includes lunch and a T-shirt! There will be two events this year: The East Gathering at Good Shepherd, Raleigh, on Saturday, October 5, and the West Gathering at Mt. Pisgah, Hickory, on Saturday, October 19. Both events will begin at 10 a.m. and end at 3 p.m. Questions? Email Kai Thurow.

Learn more and register your group soon.

All NC Synod rostered ministers, assigned SAMs, church professionals, and interns serving in this synod, are invited to find The Calm in the Chaos, at this year's Fall Convocation, October 14-16. The Rev. Dr. Kathryn Schifferdecker (Old Testament, Luther Seminary) will offer thought-provoking keynotes and Bishop Tim will be present to listen and share. Come, replenish your spirit, renew your mind, and equip you with the resilience you need to continue your vital ministry. Find peace and renewal in the heart of chaos.

[Note: the boundary training option following convo is only for folks new to the synod or first-call rostered ministers. Contact Pastor Cassie with questions.]

Learn more, see the workshop list; register today!

The ELCA's Truth & Healing Movement invites you to attend an important presentation about the Truth-seeking and Truth-telling Initiative on Indian Boarding Schools. Over 400 Indian boarding schools were in operation between 1819 and 1969; more than half were affiliated with or supported by religious entities, including Lutheran ones.

Come to this session on Tuesday, September 24, from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. to hear from leaders in this work. What have they found? What are they doing with the ELCA Archives? What are we learning about our ancestors who ran a Lutheran Indian boarding school in Wisconsin? How do we educate and engage others in our congregations and synods for this truth-seeking and truth-telling work toward healing, for Native Americans and for us all?

Learn more; find the Zoom link here.

Calling all NC Synod coaches! Join the Coach Connect meeting on Zoom, Wednesday, September 18, at 1:00 p.m. To streamline communications, there is a Google group; trained coaches, please fill out this form if you aren't receiving emails from us. Questions? Contact Heidi Kleine, NC Synod Coach Coordinator.

In 2023, Bishop Tim Smith initiated an audacious goal to raise enough money to pay the registration fees for any North Carolina Synod youth who planned to attend the 2024 ELCA Youth Gathering. And you accomplished that goal! Thank you for supporting the faith formation of these NC youth!

Watch the video.

All are invited to the Ordination and Installation of Kathryn Ann Elkin Ziehr on Friday, September 20, at 7:00 p.m. at Holy Trinity, Chapel Hill. Rostered ministers and seminarians are invited to vest and process; the color of the day is red. A reception will follow. Katie has been called to Holy Trinity, Chapel Hill, and Lutheran Campus Ministry to serve as Campus Pastor.

All are invited to the Installation of Pastor Vern Kinard on Sunday, October 6, at 3:00 p.m. at Bethlehem, Hickory. Rostered ministers are invited to vest and process. A reception will follow.

All are invited to the Installation of Pastor Pierson Shaw on Sunday, October 13, at 4:00 p.m. at Advent, Spindale.

All are invited to the Installation of Pastor Debbie Frye on Sunday, October 20, at 3:00 p.m. at Mt. Zion, Conover. [Note: this is the corrected date from last week's invitation.]

Of Mourning

Ann Rust, mother of Pastors Ted and Steve Rust (retired, Knightdale; retired, Burlington; respectively) died September 16 in Columbus, Ohio. We mourn with her family; an obituary is forthcoming.

Of Healing

Pastor Louise Hilbert (retired, Durham) will have shoulder replacement surgery this week.

For an End to Prejudice

We pray for an end to prejudice throughout our country and the world; that we respect all people as precious children of God; and that racism, sexism, and all other forms of discrimination will be forever banished from our hearts, our society, and our laws. God of fellowship and equality, Hear our prayer. Amen.

(prayer excerpted from "Litany for Social Justice" (pdf), The Episcopal Church, page 8.)

Peggy Poe (Amazing Grace, Granite Falls), created a wall hanging as a creative response to this summer's Genesis Generations II. She writes:

When we picked up our readings in Genesis, my first reaction was, “Oh, no, more of the same!”—men searching for wives, brothers stealing the birthright, slavery. But I also realized that all the good was there, too: promises made and kept, sins forgiven, salvation, and, most of all, the love from God that surrounds us. In spite of all we do to separate ourselves from God, He still loves us. Once more we experienced God’s Amazing Grace.

Read Peggy's full reflection.

Colonel Sanders had his secret recipe. The Academy Awards have their lockbox and their security detail.

And the Lutheran Church Women of North Carolina had their hundreds of zipped-mouth accomplices who were not about to let this cat out of the bag. And they didn’t.

The ringleader labeled this project “top secret.” Phone calls crisscrossed the state. Handwritten letters and detailed instructions arrived in the mail, complete with stamps and envelopes in days long before emails, texts, or even many fax machines. The paper trail was long and risky.

Read more.

Join ELCA World Hunger to celebrate World Food Day and the 50th anniversary of ELCA World Hunger! This special Zoom event on Tuesday, October 15, at 8 p.m., will be hosted by the Rev. Amy Current, bishop of the SE Iowa Synod, and Imran Siddiqui, vice president of the ELCA. Tune in to hear firsthand stories from partners at ELCA World Hunger projects—including Educación Popular en Salud (EPES), a community health organization in Chile that was founded over 40 years ago, and more recent starts such as Tapestry Farms, an urban-farm system in the Quad Cities of Iowa and Illinois. See the impact of 50 years of ELCA World Hunger work; get excited to be part of the next 50 years!

Register here.

Lutheran Services Carolinas (LSC) is thrilled to announce that Nixmarie Ruiz has been named Executive Director of its New Americans Program.

“Nixmarie is a passionate advocate for refugees and immigrants, and a proven, collaborative leader,” LSC President and CEO Ted Goins said. “Her commitment to LSC’s vision and mission will translate into abundant living for thousands escaping death and persecution and those searching for freedom and a better life.”

Read more from Lutheran Services Carolinas.

The US Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Dept. of Justice (DOJ) Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnership, and other interagency partners will co-host a webinar: Protecting Places of Worship: Fall Religious Observance Security Briefing on Thursday, September 19, at 2:00 p.m. which will provide faith-based communities with a threat briefing and the “Protecting Places of Worship National Weeks of Action.” In addition, federal partners will share practical tools and resources to help strengthen the safety and security of places of worship and community spaces.

Please register here. 

The beta-test launch of Queer Confirmation begins on Sunday, September 22, from 4-6 p.m. This valuable opportunity for queer or questioning confirmation-aged youth (along with an accompanying safe adult—parent or religious leader) will allow them to dig into a fabulous curriculum complete with biblical storytelling, engaging lessons, impactful skills, and uplifting rituals!

Learn more and sign up today.

Our world feels more divided than ever. Polarization, racial violence, and inequity leave us asking: is it even possible to heal? Award-winning author and theologian Dr. Jacqueline A. Bussie believes it is. The retreat will focus on her book, Love Without Limits—Jesus’ Radical Vision for Love with No Exceptions. She challenges us to practice a love so deep it subverts the social order, so radical it scandalizes the powerful, so vast it excludes no one.

All women are invited to join this year's All Lutheran Women's Retreat, "A Cup of Unconditional Love," in Glen Allen, VA, from November 7-9.

Learn more and register by October 11.

Christ's Beloved Community, Winston-Salem, is looking for a part-time Youth and Children Director. We have a lot of kids and youth waiting for support. For more information or to express an interest, please e-mail Father Javier Arias.

Faith in Public Life invites you to "A National Call for Peacemakers: Battlegrounds Beyond the Ballot Box" on Tuesday, September 17, at 7 p.m. Register today.

You are invited to join Christians Against Christian Nationalism for a special online event on Tuesday, September 24, at 8 p.m. for a screening of the short film "Suppressed

and Sabotaged: The Fight to Vote." Register today.