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Message from Bishop Gronberg

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Informational Meeting with Bishop Gronberg, Tuesday Feb 11th 12:30-1:30pm

In the last several weeks there has been a flurry of activity within our nation that has impacts within our congregations. Bishop Gronberg invites leaders (lay and rostered) to join him for an informational session, Q&A, and a time of prayer. Bishop will share some of the resources that have already been shared with our synod council and deans. As our synod council meets the previous Sunday this will also allow him to give timely updates to those who join. Questions will be invited. Please join us if you are able.

Here is the zoom link.

Topic: Synod Meeting With Bishop
Time: Feb 11, 2025 12:30 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85086126278?pwd=C4rBcuAGI339Kw4IX0UIaEyQN1D5AF.1

Meeting ID: 850 8612 6278
Passcode: 715429

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Annual Rostered/ Authorized Leader Report

Annual Rostered / Authorized Leader Report

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Synod Assembly Registration and Nominations Now Open

Synod Assembly registration is now open. All information can be found on our Assembly page: https://www.ntnl.org/event/2025-nt-nl-synod-assembly/

At our Synod Assembly on April 25-26 we will be electing a Synod Treasurer to a 4 year term (2025-2029) and a Synod Secretary to a 3 year term (2025-2028) to complete Pastor Fitting-Snyder’s term on Synod Council.

Nominees must fill out this form for themselves. If you know of someone who would be a good fit for either of these roles please talk with them about standing for election.

If you are interested in standing for either of these positions please fill out this form. Nominations will close in early April.

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2025 Churchwide Assembly- Presiding Bishop Election

One of the many important decisions to be made by the 2025 Churchwide Assembly will be the election to a six-year term of the next presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). A list of the presiding bishop’s responsibilities can be found here.

Any rostered minister of Word and Sacrament of the ELCA is eligible for nomination. The Church Council has adopted a continuing resolution that allows each Churchwide Assembly voting member to identify up to three rostered ministers of Word and Sacrament of the ELCA whom they believe should be considered for this office.

Please note that this pre-identification process is not a nomination. The first ballot for presiding bishop will be an ecclesiastical ballot in which the name of any eligible individual may be submitted for nomination by a voting member of the assembly. Only people whose names are entered by voting members on the first ballot will be nominated, regardless of whether they were preidentified.

If you have a potential nominee, please talk with our NT-NL Synod Churchwide Voting Members prior to March 17th.

Our NT-NL Synod Churchwide Voting Members are:

Bishop Erik Gronberg
Pastor Daniel Weichart
Pastor Kathryn Saunders-Allen
Becky Brakke
Katelyn Hicks
Benjamin Freitag
Lazarus Lopez

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Ways to Support Global Refuge

On Friday, January 24, Global Refuge (formerly Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service) received a stop-work order from the government calling for them to immediately stop serving the nearly 6,000 newly arrived refugees in their care. This stop-work order means that government funding that provides food, housing, education, job placement, healthcare, and basic needs – has come to an immediate halt. These children and families fled war, violence, or persecution and came to the United States lawfully through the official U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. They arrived with little more than the clothes on their backs and now the support they rely on -the support they’d been promised- is being pulled out from under them.

With this abrupt and unprecedented cutoff of federal funding, Global Refuge must now rely solely on the generosity of private donors and supporters to fill in the gaps. Join them in standing with these families to let them know that when promised protections for them fail, communities like ours rise.

• Support Refugees with a gift – If you or communities you’re connected with are willing to support financially, please use/share this link.
• Write your Representative – Ask representatives pull back on this ban on supporting refugees.
• Learn more and Advocate – Explore resources with more information about executive orders and accompanying actions.
• Know Your Rights – Our partners at AMMPARO have a great resource for communities to read about their rights and those of immigrants in their care.

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United Lutheran Seminary Boundary Training Spring 2025

United Lutheran Seminary is offering LGBTQIA2S+ and Anti-Racism Boundary trainings this spring. Cost is $35 to join online.

To register or get more information click here.

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Creating a Culture of Shared Ministry, LEAD Retreat

You are invited to join LEAD at Camp Lutherhill on February 28-March 1 for a retreat focusing on “Creating a Culture of Shared Ministry, 6 Conversations”. The cost is housing, meals (Sat breakfast and lunch) at Lutherhill, plus $25 per person.

Email Deacon Peggy Hahn at peggy@leadconnects.org directly if you want to learn more about this opportunity or to register.

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Boys Choir of Thomaskirche, Leipzig Sponsorship Opportunities

On Tuesday, March 18th at 7:30pm the Thomanerchor, the Boys Choir of Thomaskirche from Leipzig, Germany will be performing at the Church of the Incarnation, Dallas as part of their North American tour.

The Thomaskirche is the church of Johann Sebastian Bach. The Thomanerchor was founded in 1212, some 500 years before Bach arrived in Leipzig. The choir will be in Dallas to perform at the annual convention of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA).

To help offset the cost of the concert and other expenses while in Dallas, they are accepting sponsorships. You can see what sponsorships are available here.

Information on how to reserve tickets to the concert will be sent in a separate email once details are finalized.

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ELCA Congregation Pulse Survey

For many years, the ELCA Annual Congregation Report included Form C. As time went by, the Office of the Secretary determined that the data collected through Form C lacked depth or thematic focus and that it took too long to report.

With those concerns in mind, the Office of the Secretary is trying something different in data collection. Instead of soliciting information from all congregations and worshiping communities simultaneously through Form C, they are conducting quarterly Congregation Pulse Surveys. These surveys are one way for congregations and worshiping communities to share their perspectives, strengths, and needs with synods and the churchwide organization in an expedient way.

Please check if your congregation was selected to receive the January Pulse Survey, in most cases the emails were sent to the church office email. Each Survey can be completed in five minutes or less and without any research. The best person to complete the survey is likely the congregation’s or worshiping community’s rostered minister, administrative assistant, or council president.

The survey will close on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, email them at Research@elca.org.

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Pastor Tom Schwolert, Supply Pastor

Notify Portico of Any Compensation Changes

To administer benefits accurately, Portico needs to know each member’s current compensation amount. If your congregation’s annual meeting included a salary or benefit adjustment, be sure your EmployerLink user notifies Portico within 60 days of the effective date of that change. Late notifications of compensation changes can impact your sponsored members’ retirement account contributions as well as disability and life insurance benefits.

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