Message from Bishop Gronberg

Thank you to all who made our Assembly in Shreveport a successful gathering. We are grateful for the Eastern Conference and all the volunteers who have hosted two consecutive Assemblies (2022 at King of Glory, Dallas, and 2023 in Shreveport, LA). To the synod staff who worked extra hours in the midst of making a transition in office space, we give thanks. To Pastor Joan Iker (Holy Trinity, Shreveport) and Pastor Joel Hicks (St. Stephen, Shreveport), we also give thanks.

As was also announced at Assembly, we are grateful for the 7 years of service Jason O’Neill has given to the NT-NL Synod. In that time, Jason’s role as communicator has expanded to include technology, coaching, assembly planning, and a host of “other duties as assigned.” Jason has been recruited away from us to an exciting Mental Health Coaching position with Lyra Health, with an emphasis on Culturally Responsive Care. For this we give thanks as we also will miss his presence. As Bishop, it is my goal that our staff will grow in their competencies and their capabilities during their time in service to the synod. Jason has done so, and we give thanks that we can send him into new endeavors with God’s blessing and with gratitude for his service.

Over the next few weeks, the staff will be adjusting to a great deal of change. Please excuse a delayed response to email or other requests. For any emergencies, contact me directly at 214-207-1958.

And a friendly reminder to update your records with the synod’s new mailing address:
NT-NL Synod, ELCA
c/o Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
2620 W Grauwyler Rd
Irving TX, 75061

Our phone numbers and email addresses will remain the same.

We are…

#InMissionTogether,
Bishop Gronberg

Testimony HQ Opportunity

From our partners at SMU | Perkins School of Theology:

Applications opened May 1 and are DUE JUNE 26

Testimony HQ, funded by a Lilly Endowment grant and housed at Perkins, works with congregations to develop passion and proficiency for testimony as community engagement. Any church located within a 350-mile radius of Dallas that is ready to devote 2024 to this work is invited to apply for a spot in the third and final cohort of up to 10 churches.

Learn what Testimony HQ is all about:

Join one of our 60-minute Zoom information sessions on

Monday, May 15 at 12:00 PM CST
or
Tuesday, June 13 at 12:00 PM CST

RSVP to testimonyhq@smu.edu to receive the Zoom link.

In the meantime, watch this brief promotional video or visit testimonyhq.com to learn more, because the community needs your story.

ELCA World Hunger’s Domestic Hunger Grants

ELCA World Hunger’s Domestic Hunger Grants are one way this church accompanies communities throughout the United States and Caribbean as they respond to hunger and poverty. This year, we are implementing a two-step process for ELCA World Hunger’s Domestic Hunger Grants, which we hope will increase efficiency, shorten the time for award decisions, reduce barriers to the application process and allow for deeper engagement with partners invited to submit a full proposal. To learn more about the updated process and how to apply, please visit https://elca.org/domestichungergrants.

New Process for Grant Applications

Prior to submitting a full grant proposal, we ask grant applicants to fill out a letter of inquiry (LOI) which briefly describes the project proposal. Registering on our granting portal, ELCA GrantMaker, is not required at this step. Simply fill out the LOI form located here after May 1. LOI submissions are open from May 1 until May 31, 2023. After May 31, our grants team will conduct a review and send invitations and decline letters directly to applicants on or before July 31, 2023.

Applicant Info Webinar

TODAY, May 3, 2023, at 2:00pm CDT, ELCA World Hunger will host a webinar for interested applicants and others to learn more about the process. We will go over the new grant application process and how to submit an LOI, and we will answer questions from grant applicants. To join us for this virtual event, please register here. Participants will be provided with a link once registered. The webinar will be recorded and accessible via the Domestic Hunger Grant FAQ page.

Pulpit Supply List Updates

There have been quite a few updates recently to our Pulpit Supply List. You may request this from kris@ntnl.org.

If you are not currently on the list and want to be added, please also contact kris@ntnl.org.

Update from Laura Slezak

Laura Slezak is the current ELCA missionary to Japan, in partnership with the Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church. Here is her update from April.

Courageous Leadership Series

Dear Faith Leaders,

We are inviting you to bring a spirit of curiosity to these gatherings and to all aspects your life. What are you noticing? Where is Spirit moving? How might you be a part?

ELCA Coaching is experimenting and learning as we continue with our theme of COURAGEOUS LEADERSHIP. Join us WEEKLY on Wednesdays at 1pm Central. There will be time for small groups in breakout rooms so that leaders across the church can learn from each other and leave each gathering with at least one action step.

For May 2023:
Week One (May 3) – Coaching – Choose Your Own Adventure (breakout rooms by topic)
Week Two (May 10) – Mark Molter – Enneagram
Week Three (May 17) – Justin Grimm – Resiliency in Leadership
Week Four (May 24) – Anna Gordy – Neurodivergent Spectrum
Week Five (May 31) – Jill Beverlin & Jason O’Neill – Stories from the Veil

The login information can be found on the ELCA Coaching website: https://www.elcacoaching.org/events/courageous-leadership
Recordings from prior gatherings can be found here: https://www.elcacoaching.org/podcasts/media/series/courageous-leadership

From Survival to Vocation by Wayne Menking

From Survival to Vocation: The Radical and Relevant Call of the Gospel in Times of Chaos and Peril by Wayne Menking

“The powers of death are closer than we thought. Their perils appear in the forms of increased gun violence, racism, economic disparity, and global warming, to name but a few. Faced with these threats, Christians in this self-absorbed culture tend to use their faith as a kind of palliative comfort that protects them from the truths of what these powers are doing to us as a human community, and the sufferings they are inflicting on others, particularly the poor and the disenfranchised. Moreover, it is used to shield them from responding to the gospel’s call to leave survival for vocation. Using Luther’s theology of the cross and the instruction he imparts in his Large Catechism, this book asserts that in the face of the sufferings in which we are situated, the gospel news of Jesus’s resurrection is a call to stand in its hope and power to resist these devastations and the dehumanization, exploitation, and domination they inflict. The hope of God’s life-giving creativity in the face of the powers of death is given witness when Christians leave survival modes of existence to be in their baptismal vocation of loving neighbors as themselves.”

Foreword by Kristin Johnston Largen, President, Wartburg Theological Seminary. Endorsements by Javier “Jay” Alanis, Pastor, St. John Lutheran Church, San Juan, Texas; Cynthia Briggs Kittredge, Dean and President, Seminary of the Southwest; and Craig L. Nessan, Professor of Contextual Theology and Ethics, Wartburg Theological Seminary.

FREE Tithe.ly University Generosity Course

Learn from Dean Sweetman, former pastor and CEO of Tithe.ly, on how you can generate a culture of generosity within your congregation.

https://university.tithe.ly/course/generosity

Invitation for Musicians and Choir Members

Hearts • Hands • Voices | Bach Tage

Zion Lutheran, Dallas

June 3-4, 2023

Come to Zion Lutheran in Dallas, Texas, for a weekend of Bach focused on BWV 137 Lobe den Herrn. Participants will have an opportunity to work with Allen Hightower, Director of Choral Studies at the University of North Texas, learn from Mark Peters, Professor of Music at Trinity Christian College, and enjoy the playing of James Kibbie, Professor of Organ at the University of Michigan. Participants will enjoy an organ recital, help to lead evening prayer, and participate in a Festival Eucharist for the Festival of the Holy Trinity. Church musicians are encouraged to invite choir members to join this event for a reduced registration rate.

Click here for a flyer.

Click here for full details and to register.

“The Social Media Shift Churches have been waiting for”

From our partners at The United Methodist Church:

On this episode of the MyCom Church Marketing Podcast, we are talking to Brady Shearer, CEO of Pro Church Tools, who says the new era of social media that is dawning is one in which churches finally have a massive advantage. FUN MENTION: Rick Steves – Lutheran, Travel writer and TV host. Click here for full details, including a number of additional resources.

Catch Part 2 at: https://www.resourceumc.org/en/content/mycom-podcast-ep-084-social-media-plan