In This Issue
Lead Chapel for Synod & Briarwood Staff
NT-NL Easter Appeal (Fund for Leaders)
Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI)
LSPS Hispanic Ministry Intensives
3 Practical Tips for Leading Your Staff
Assembly Nominations due ASAP
2018 Mission Support Form
Congregational Remittance Form
Annual Report to the Bishop
Upcoming Events
Lead Chapel for Synod & Briarwood Staff
If you did not already know, our weekly chapel service at Briarwood is on Wednesdays at 11:00am. You are welcome to join us anytime.
If you are interested in leading chapel one of these dates this year, please email office@ntnl.org for details. If you have another date you would like us to consider, please let us know. We sometimes have cancellations, or we might be able to switch you with someone else already scheduled.
May 16
June 27
July 4
August 29
September 19
October 24
December 12
NT-NL Easter Appeal (Fund for Leaders)
The Always Being Made New: The Campaign for the ELCA is now in its fifth and final year. The emphasis for this year is on growing gifts for the Fund for Leaders in Mission. This fund provides 40 full-time scholarships each year for seminarians in the ELCA. Additionally, the NT-NL has its own Fund for Leaders, which allows us to give scholarships locally as well. NT-NL has benefited from these gifts in many and various ways. Throughout the Easter Season, testimonials about the Fund for Leaders will be included in our weekly communications.
Bishop Gronberg and the NT-NL Synod Council invite congregations to support the NT-NL Fund for Leaders by considering a special offering this Easter season. Giving thanks for the hope of the resurrection, we encourage congregations to support those discerning a call to ministry and help us keep student debt to a minimum. Generous matching gifts have been secured for this appeal that will make your dollars go farther. Thank you for considering support for the ELCA Campaign and Fund for Leaders. (Gifts may be brought with you to Synod Assembly or directed to the Synod office; please specify Fund for Leaders).
Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI)
3 month opportunity to serve as a human rights observer.
Right now, EAPPI-US is offering full scholarships for this opportunity.
Persons must be 25 or older.
How to apply to be an accompanier.
EAPPI accompanies Palestinians and Israelis in nonviolent actions and carries out advocacy efforts to end the occupation. Participants monitor and report violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. They offer protection through a nonviolent presence and stand in solidarity with the churches and all those struggling against the occupation.
LSPS Hispanic Ministry Intensives
Spanish Language and Hispanic Ministry Intensive
May 27 – June 1
The Summer Language and Hispanic Ministry Intensive is a resource for Lutherans and those of other denominations who recognize the growing need for competency in the Spanish language and an understanding of Hispanic culture in light of the increasing Hispanic population in this country and in the church. The course focuses on study of the Spanish language and Hispanic culture.
Building Congregational Capacity for Hispanic Ministry
June 10-15
This new Level II Intensive is designed for congregational leaders in those congregations where consideration is being given to starting Hispanic Ministry in their community. Teams from congregations are encouraged to attend. During this week, teams will learn:
- To increase capacity for doing Hispanic ministry
- To learn several models for engaging in Hispanic ministry in congregational settings
- To improve facility in Spanish language, especially liturgical Spanish
- To build a cohort of colleagues preparing for Hispanic ministry within their community
- To avoid cultural violence in mission development.
You need not have completed the Spanish Language and Hispanic Ministry Language Intensive.
3 Practical Tips for Leading Your Staff
3 Practical Tips for Leading Your Staff (echurch.com article)
“Church leadership is vital. Its development is one of the most important things you can do to lead your church to healthy growth. But it’s hard to find the time. There’s always a sermon to tweak or a family to visit.
But carving out the time for leadership development, you can help every ministry in your church. And as a pastor, your staff looks to you for leadership.” Click here to continue reading.
Assembly Nominations due ASAP
Elections at the Assembly
Synod Treasurer (4 year term)
Synod Council Positions (nominees come from the related conference – 4 year term)
Heart of Texas Conference – Lay Male and Lay Female (one 35 or under, and one 36 or over)
Conference Out West – Lay Male and Lay Female (one 35 or under, and one 36 or over)
Eastern Conference – Ordained
Latin@/Hispanic – Ordained
ELCA Churchwide Voting Members
Rostered Minister of Word and Sacrament – Female
Rostered Minister of Word and Sacrament – Male
Lay Female (preferably 35 or younger)
Lay Female (36 or older)
Lay Male (preferably 35 or younger)
Lay Male (36 or older)
To be considered for the slate of nominees for the ELCA Churchwide Assembly by the Synod’s Nominating Committee, please submit your vita ASAP. Please note the Nominating Committee will be building a slate that will hopefully represent all areas, ethnicities, and genders of the Synod. If you do not make the slate, you have the right to have your name submitted by a registered voting member of the assembly to the assembly floor, and a vita and photo will be needed at that time.
The next ELCA Churchwide Assembly will be August 5-10, 2019, in Milwaukee, WI.
ELCA Church Council Members (nominees to be then voted on at the 2019 Churchwide Assembly)
TWO Rostered Ministers of Word and Sacrament
The NT-NL Synod is paired with the Arkansas Oklahoma (AOK) Synod in continuing resolution 19.02.C05. for the purpose of nominating two persons to the ELCA Church Council to be elected by the 2019 Churchwide Assembly. The nominating committee has assigned the category of Minister of Word and Sacrament to our synod for nomination.
We are looking for people who would bring a commitment to the work of this church in all of its expressions. It is important that those nominated can work with the other members of the Church Council in assuming the governance role that has been assigned to the council.
This means that our 2018 Synod Assembly will select two persons who fit this category. These persons will then be nominated to the Churchwide Assembly, which will elect one to a six-year term on the Church Council, beginning upon the conclusion of the 2019 Assembly.
The process that our synod uses to identify and nominate these people is not described in the constitution. What is required is that the Synod Assembly nominates them. That means there will need to be a vote of the assembly to place these two people in nomination. Once these names are presented to the assembly in Milwaukee, there is not provision for nominations from the floor for this position. The two people we nominate from our 2018 Synod Assembly will be the only two on the ballot for the 2019 Churchwide Assembly.
2018 Mission Support Form
The 2018 Mission Support Form is available on our website as a printable document and as an online form. Please submit after your congregational meeting.
Congregational Remittance Form
Please use the Congregational Remittance Form on our website and submit directly to the Synod office. You may also access a printable form here. We transitioned on February 1 from MIF processing back to internal processing to continue to be good stewards of our resources.
Annual Report to the Bishop
The Annual Rostered / Authorized Leader Report for 2017-2018 is available online and should take no longer than 15-20 minutes to complete. Please file your report by April 15.
Upcoming Events
Here are leadership highlights:
Mar. 9-10: The Role of the Church in Undoing Racism
Mar. 17: PLMA, Spring 2018, Course 1
Apr. 3-5: Pathways to Generosity: Signs of Hope
Apr. 6-8: Pre-Gathering Event (youth)
Apr. 20-22: Family Retreat (all ages)
Apr. 21: PLMA, Spring 2018, Course 2
Apr. 21: 2018 Regional Interfaith Conference, Lubbock, TX
Apr. 27-28: 2018 Synod Assembly, Temple, TX
May 19: MEF Board meeting
May 19: PLMA, Spring 2018, Course 3
May 27-Jun. 1: Spanish Language and Hispanic Ministry Intensive, Austin, TX
For a complete list of upcoming events in, and important to, our Synod, you can access our Calendar of Events online.