Preparing for the 2003 Synod Assembly

And Reflecting on our Conversation about Homosexuality

Congregations have been encouraged to elect voting members for this Festival Assembly who are and who can be leaders in the shaping of the mission of the congregation.  If you are one who has been selected as a voting member, consider the trust and confidence that your congregation has in your leadership!  You are urged to come to this Assembly having prepared yourself to get the most out of it.  At the conclusion of this Assembly, voting members will have the opportunity to covenant together about specific and deliberate steps that can be undertaken upon their return to the congregation that will lead the congregation into greater mission.

Five things to do to prepare & a sixth:
	Pray
	Let not the power of prayer be underestimated!  Pray now for this Assembly and for the opportunity it provides our congregations and leaders to be encouraged in mission and ministry.  Pray for our speakers as they prepare.  Pray for the Planning Team as they make ready.  And, especially, pray for your own congregation that it may be open to the challenge of rediscovering its mission.  Root yourself in God’s promises and presence!
	Review
	Whether you attended last year’s Assembly or not, it would be helpful to review the missional challenge and encouragement shared by our keynote speaker, Pastor Michael Foss.  You can review what he had to say by reading the daily assembly newsletters, by checking in your church office for the video of Pastor Foss’ presentations, or by reading Pastor Foss’ book, Power Surge.
	Bible Study
	A Bible study has been prepared to help focus us on the Shaping of Mission (look on the Assembly’s main menu). The Bible study draws on the experience of the early Christians in the Book of Acts and the way in which they too engaged the three great questions of mission: who are we; why are we here; who is our neighbor?  The Bible study can be used privately by the voting members or, better still, in an adult discussion setting.
	Council Visit
	Voting members from each congregation are urged to ask for a period of time on the agenda of a Congregation Council meeting in February or March.  The time can be well spent exploring what those present feel is the congregation’s primary mission at this time.  Talk about the challenges and barriers to mission and about the gifts and strengths the congregation can bring to its missional task.  Decide what you would most like to learn at the Assembly.
	Read
	Several good books are available to you: Robert Slocum.  Maximizing Your Ministry: How You as a Lay Person Can Impact Your World for Jesus Christ (Entrepreneural Church Series, 1990). Herrington, Bonem and Furr.  Leading Congregational Change: A Practical Guide for the Transformational Journey (Jossey-Bass, 2000). George G. Hunter III.  The Celtic Way of Evangelism: How Christianity Can Reach the West…Again (Abingdon Press, 2000). Resources noted are also available at www.elca.org/do/transresources.html

And a Sixth:

Conversation among Christians about Homosexuality

Some time has been set aside during the 2003 Festival Assembly during which all those present will be invited to gather in small groups to talk together about homosexuality and the church.  The conversations are not for the purpose of deciding anything, but so that we can listen to each other about our convictions and our hopes regarding the church’s response to this sensitive issue.  A facilitator will be present to help our conversation be respectful and open.  You may wish to prepare for that conversation by reflecting on the three questions we will spend our time addressing:

·        Personal Experience:  Everyone will be invited to share about how the issue of homosexuality has touched his/her life – through family, friends, study, life experience.  How have you found yourself involved in the issue?

·        Personal Conviction:  Everyone will also be invited to share what you feel is at the heart of the matter for you as a Christian.  What is “essential” or central for you in any discussion of homosexuality within the church?

·        Personal Dilemmas:  Those who would like will be invited to share what gray areas they have found – dilemmas about beliefs, internal conflicts about the issue, concerns, value conflicts, or mixed feelings.

The conversation will be arranged in such a way as to have everyone’s opinion valued and held in confidence.  A recorder will make note only of the ideas raised so we can report to those who are leading the ELCA’s Study on Sexuality what it is that was expressed among us.

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