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Featured Blog Post

(Published January 1, 2021)

Dear Partners in Mission:

366 days ago, January 1, 2020, we had no idea we would experience the most significant disruption to our work in the church any leader in living memory has experienced. Despite warnings about the potential of the virus, we could not have understood the magnitude and duration of what we have experienced and are experiencing. Hundreds of thousands of lives lost to Covid-19, political turmoil, regular worship and discipleship ministries disrupted now for almost a year, individual financial and vocational futures in doubt, outdoor ministries financially hobbled, congregations’ sustainability questioned. These have been, and will continue to be, difficult times. Yet in the midst of this, we have also seen great adaptation, learning, and innovation. New ways of being church together and hard but essential questions being asked about what the purpose and mission of our church is.

As we look towards 2021, with hope for a vaccine, it is clear we will not return “to normal” even when Covid-19 is no longer the threat it continues to be. The status quo did not and will not hold. As such it is vital that we, as leaders, spend time in discernment and prayer about how God is leading us into this future. The Holy Spirit is and has been at work in our church as she always has been, but now, more than ever, how do we listen more intently to her call? Most of all, how do we continue to be Lutheran witnesses in the territory of NT-NL proclaiming a gospel of grace, welcome and invitation, of freedom given by Christ for the sake of the world.

To do this we will be offering a number of opportunities for NT-NL leaders to engage in conversation and discernment, to learn techniques and tools for navigating systems, and prayerfully working with God and one another in order to forge a faithful future the coming year and beyond.

• January 7: 1-2pm Systems Theory and Anxiety: A primer and reminder of systems theory to get you ready for 2021.
• January 25-26: Bonhoeffer – Reception and Resistance. An opportunity to engage with leading Bonhoeffer scholar Dr. Michael DeJonge and connect our context to that of Bonheoffer’s.
• Feb 5-6: NT-NL Synod Council and Deans meeting. To engage constructively how our conferences can be more intentional in shepherding our congregations in this time.
• Feb-May (dates TBD): Follow up conversations on systems and leading change in systems.
• April 23: NT-NL Synod Council and Deans meet to continue strategic conversations and how to support congregations by conference.
• April 24: NT-NL Online Assembly. Bishop Mike Girlinghouse will keynote our time speaking about his book Embracing God’s Future Without Forgetting the Past.
• Summer 2021 Briarwood Programming: “Crowded Table” A theme resonating our longings for gathering and the reality that tables will look different now yet still full of God’s abundance.
• Oct 18-20: NT-NL/Briarwood Leadership Convocation. Hopefully in-person, a time to gather, and continue to think critically about how God is calling us to mission.
• Ongoing: Coaching services are available to you in English and Spanish through NT-NL and ELCA Coaching.

All of these gatherings are intended to connect with overarching issues of systems, context, and engaging mission. We cannot avoid in 2021 the reality that our context has radically changed. The great disruption of 2020 will impact our lives in the church for decades to come. Yet by God’s grace, we know we have a timeless message of justification, being made right with God, by grace through the gift of faith given by the Holy Spirit. That we proclaim Law and Gospel and have a faith that can and has adapted to disruptions throughout our history.

As our communities look towards the future, it is essential that these Lutheran distinctives drive our mission. We are called to proclaim to people God’s desire to be in right relationship with them. A desire so strong God sent Jesus, the son of God, to live, die, and rise so we and our communities might not fear disruption, even death. Because through death comes life.

Already in the second half of 2020 we have seen congregations recognizing their status quo is no longer sustainable. The disruption of Covid-19 has accelerated systemic issues already in place. Your synod staff has walked with those communities to assess their priorities and future. And in some cases helped find ways to faithfully end Word and Sacrament ministry in a particular location to release assets to serve God’s people and world. My goal in 2021 is that we are more intentional with all our congregations to assess honestly the context and system in place and how God’s mission is being accomplished through that work. To take seriously enough our mission to be honest about where we are, and where we are going, and listen to God for guidance on how we accomplish that together.

2021, I pray, is going to be a year marked by intentional and communal discernment in all of our congregations and ministries. We have been disrupted, we have and will continue to experience great losses, we have achieved things we never thought we would be able to or even need to. God is and will be faithful to us in NT-NL and across our church. This New Years day know that you and yours are in my prayers and that we continue to be about this work…

#InMissionTogether

Bishop Gronberg

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Annual Rostered / Authorized Leader Report

It’s that time again. If you are a rostered or authorized leader in our synod, please submit this report to the Bishop as soon as you are able: https://www.ntnl.org/annual-rostered-authorized-leader-report/. We are aiming for 100% participation, and this report helps the Bishop and synod staff know how best to support you and the worshiping community you serve. If you are a person who needs a deadline, please submit by March 31 so that we can have accurate reporting in time for Synod Assembly (April 23-24).

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2021 Tri-Theological Conference

The 2021 Tri-Theological Conference with Professor Michael DeJonge

Co-sponsored by the Southwest Texas Synod, Gulf Coast Synod, Northern Texas-Northern Louisiana Synod, and Briarwood Leadership Center

January 25-26

Cost: $75
Registration closes at 10am Central on January 25
REGISTER HERE.

Download a flyer here to share.

Michael P. DeJonge is Professor and Chair of Religious Studies at the University of South Florida. He researches the history of Christian thought and issues involving religion and politics.

DeJonge has been a Fulbright Scholar, a Fellow of the Berlin Program for Advanced German and European Studies, a Volkswagen/Mellon Fellow at the Leibniz-Institute for European History in Mainz, Germany, and Visiting Dietrich Bonhoeffer Professor of Theology and Ethics at Union Theological Seminary in New York.

His scholarship has focused on the twentieth-century German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, with monographs including Bonhoeffer’s Theological Formation (Oxford, 2012), Bonhoeffer’s Reception of Luther (Oxford, 2017), and Bonhoeffer on Resistance: The Word Against the Wheel (Oxford, 2018).

This will be an online event. Full details, including recommended readings, can be found here: https://www.ntnl.org/event/2021-theological-conference/.

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Sunday Night 12 Steps

A New Meeting for Mainline Christians on Zoom

This meeting is open to anyone in 12-Step recovery of any kind and for those interested in learning more about 12-Step recovery.

The Center of Addiction and Faith and the Fellowship of Recovering Lutheran Clergy (FRLC) host this meeting, offered every Sunday night at 8pm Eastern / 7pm Central / 6pm Mountain / 5pm Pacific. All are welcome.

Follow the link at the appropriate time for your zone: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81470899913?pwd=UUd1T1lDTnd1ckFDSS84MXJQeXY5QT09

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YAGM Application Due January 15

Applications for the ELCA’s Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM) program are now being accepted, and you can invite young adults on this journey abroad for the 2021-2022 program year.

If you know young adults ages 21 to 29, this is the time to reach out. Encourage them to apply for YAGM by the deadline of Jan. 15, 2021. Talk to them personally about what this opportunity will mean for their faith, identity, career and understanding of God’s work in the world.

YAGM volunteers will begin in August 2021 and will be placed in one of the country programs. As YAGM continues to monitor the COVID-19 situation and we communicate with our global companions, please know that the list of country programs for the 2021-2022 service year may change.

Through YAGM, young adults will learn what it means to serve in a spirit of accompaniment as they walk alongside global church companions. They’ll become immersed in a new community and form deep relationships. And they’ll confront issues of wealth and poverty, racial privilege, gender privilege, economic disparity and globalization, all through the lens of faith. Learn more at ELCA.org/YAGM.

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2021 Ignite the Church Conference

Adapting to a New Reality: Living into a Fresh Vision for God’s Church

Starting January 21

This annual conference has moved online! Monthly webinars focus on key areas:

January – Encouragement Beyond Fatigue

February – Justice and the Common Good

March – Hybrid Community: Virtual & In-Person

April – Creative Expressions of Church

The Ignite the Church Conference movement continues to grow as leaders are encouraged and ministry is transformed!

Go to IgniteTheChurch.net to see the outstanding line up of speakers and panel leaders and to get more information on how you can join the movement.

All conference proceeds are donated to the ELCA Fund for Leaders. Last year’s gift to future leaders totaled $6,000!

We hope to see you remotely! #ignitethechurch

Links:

https://video214.com/play/o5pHNJn7eW86vhiIpzkM9g/s/dark

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/14EK68s-yvPXaGkrrT-dpwocMZjwYcx88?usp=sharing

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Weekly Online Gatherings for ELCA Leaders

BEING CHURCH

Wednesdays, 1PM Central

This month’s schedule:

January 6 – The Sacred Work of Grief, Part 5: What We Expected and Did Not Receive – Rev. Solveig Nilsen-Goodin

January 13 – Discipleship and Civic Engagement – Amy Reumann, ELCA National Advocacy

January 20 – Growing Young: Warm Relationships – Rachel Alley and others

January 27 – Showing of Welcome Strangers documentary, Q&A – Sarah Jackson (Casa de Paz) and others

You are invited to join this weekly online gathering designed to provide encouragement and support for ELCA leaders across the church. Participants will hear topical presentations related to how we are called to be Church, as well as have an opportunity to be in small group discussions with an ELCA group coach facilitating the conversation. This is where the magic happens. All of this is designed to help us process our emotions and thus create a space where we can each name our next most faithful step forward in our unique context. You are welcome to share this invitation with any other ELCA leader, rostered or lay. #ELCAChurchTogether

How have we been church, with individuals and with communities? How are we being church? How are we called to be church with all people, with creation, and in an ever-changing world?

We understand a number of folks are unable to make this day and time each week. We record the main session and the wrap-up time. We share each recording with supporting documents here by the following week: https://www.elcacoaching.org/podcasts/media.

You can find the login information and a list of upcoming topics and presenters on the home page of the ELCA Coaching website: https://www.elcacoaching.org/.

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Congratulations to the Ullrichs

Jeremy and Amanda Ullrich welcomed their new daughter, Susanna Lee, on December 26.