In This Edition
Message from Bishop Gronberg
NT-NL Mission Endowment Fund (MEF) Updates
NT-NL Youth Ministry Updates
FREE Training: Pastoral Care for Suicide Prevention
Book Study: Atlas of the Heart
Update from Laura Slezak
Courageous Leadership Series
LTSS Spiritual Direction Certification
Upcoming Ordination and Installation
Upcoming Events
Message from Bishop Gronberg
Dear NT-NL Leaders:
We are fully into the fall now with the passing of Labor Day. It may not feel like fall weather-wise. But all the fall activities are firing up again, in the new ways of course these are done in our time. As I have commented before, we are not going back to simply the same things. Life has changed, we have been changed. But change is not the enemy. We have a God who makes change. Who brings life from death. Who changes hearts and calls us to lives of service and love.
As we move into September I want you to be aware of a few key things…
- Our partners in Sierra Leone are in need of our support. Flooding has wrecked devastation in communities. Please consider a special gift to our disaster response.
- We are grateful for your mission support faithfulness. So far in 2022 we are tracking at almost 2021 levels. For your gifts, know we are grateful and those gifts go directly to fund mission and ministry.
- On Saturday Oct 1st we will celebrate and give thanks for our Mission Endowment Fund. Please join us for this evening and give thanks for the way we have stewarded these resources for mission.
- On August 29th we received a surprise visit from Pastor/President Pedro Bullon of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Peru. Pastor Bullon was stranded at DFW airport due to cancelled flights. Our Conferencia Latina stepped up to assist, and we provided lodging and an opportunity for DEM Irma Bañales and I to meet and get to know Pastor Bullon. Thank you for your generosity that makes us able to offer such immediate hospitality.
- We will be taking this fall off from having a Leadership Convocation. Please note Synod Assembly (April 28-29, 2023) will be held in Shreveport, LA. Location TBD.
- This fall we will be celebrating the 75th Anniversaries of Beautiful Savior-Amarillo and Calvary-San Angelo. I look forward to being present with them on these joyful weekends and encourage your prayers as we give thanks.
As your synod council meets this weekend (Sept 10th) know we will be grateful for your continued faithfulness that enables us to continue to do the mission we share. Thank you for that work, and I pray your fall brings a harvest of abundance. Please consider joining us September 10th at 4pm at Central in Dallas for the ordination of Veronika Czutor. Ordinations remind us again of the new things God is doing in our midst.
In Christ,
Bishop Gronberg
NT-NL Mission Endowment Fund (MEF) Updates
The 2023 Mission Endowment Fund (MEF) grant application process opened on September 1: https://www.ntnl.org/ministries/mef/grant-application/. Click here to review the updated grant guidelines. For consideration for funding in 2023, the Mission Endowment Fund (MEF) grant application is due by October 31, 2022.
Grow the Good. The 2022 Seeds That Change annual fundraiser will be held at TWO locations on Saturday, October 1, 6-9pm: Christ, Dallas, and Faith, Fort Worth.
NT-NL Youth Ministry Updates
From Janelle Miller, NT-NL Youth Ministry coordinator (ntnlyouthleaders@yahoo.com):
NT-NL Youth Leaders & Pastors,
We are excited to announce that we are collaborating to host two NT-NL events this year! We will be offering PEER MINISTRY LEADERSHIP TRAINING (limited to 6-7 per congregation) in January. This is an event where Pastors / Youth Leaders identify young people and invite them to attend. We will also be hosting a JUNIOR HIGH & SENIOR HIGH YOUTH GATHERING in February.
On Monday, September 12, pastors & youth leaders will gather at 10:30am at Jam & Toast (3351 Regent Blvd, Suite 140, Irving, TX) for brunch to brainstorm for the February Youth Gathering. It will be in person with a Zoom option (not ideal for a public location, but available).
Click here for a flyer with more details.
FREE Training: Pastoral Care for Suicide Prevention
Invitation from our partners at Texas Health Resources:
My name is Rev. Hazel Thomas, and I serve as the Director of Pastoral Care with Texas Health Resources. My husband, Phil Thomas, is Director of Administration at King of Glory Lutheran Church in Dallas. I would like to share with you a virtual educational event Texas Health Pastoral Care will be providing in mid-September.
As a leader in this synod and community, the unfortunate odds are you have been called to help a family devastated by a suicide attempt or even death by suicide. Sadly, in the United States, deaths due to suicide have increased by 30% over the past two decades.
In an effort to support you and your congregation compassionately prevent suicides, Texas Health Pastoral Care and Behavioral Health departments invite you to a virtual presentation of Pastoral Care for Suicide Prevention. This September 15 session will be led by certified instructors and chaplains trained in suicide prevention. Utilizing the evidence-based program, QPRTM — Question. Persuade. Refer. – you will gain confidence and skill to help a vulnerable people get professional help. Upon completion you will receive a certificate of successful training and CEUs are available for those to whom they apply.
Click here for an informational flyer about Pastoral Care for Suicide Prevention, which also provides a telephone number or QR code for registration. We hope you will join us! Most of all, we hope you will partner with us in preventing suicide so that all may know the fullness of life God desires for God’s children.
Advance registration required by TOMORROW, September 8. If you have further questions, please reach out to me at (817) 250-3264 or HazelThomas@texashealth.org.
Book Study: Atlas of the Heart
You are invited to join Rev. Kelsey Fitting-Snyder (St. Matthew, Waco) and Jason O’Neill (Synod Communicator and ELCA Coach) for a 13-week (one chapter per week) book study on Dr. Brené Brown’s Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience on Tuesdays at 7pm Central, running October 4 – November 15 and January 10 – February 14. There is no charge to participate, and these will not be recorded. Advance registration required.
“If we want to find the way back to ourselves and one another, we need language and the grounded confidence to both tell our stories and to be stewards of the stories that we hear. In Atlas of the Heart, we explore eighty-seven of the emotions and experiences that define what it means to be human and walk through a new framework for cultivating meaningful connection. This is for the mapmakers and travelers in all of us.”
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 August: https://www.ntnl.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Laura-Slezak-August-2022-Newsletter.pdf
Courageous Leadership Series
Dear Faith Leaders,
ELCA Coaching is mixing things up in 2022 as we continue to experiment and learn. You are invited to join us WEEKLY on Wednesdays at 1pm Central to hear from various leaders across the Church. We will continue with our theme of COURAGEOUS LEADERSHIP. We have invited various ministries to host these gatherings through this next year, so it will be different each week. There will usually be time for small groups in breakout rooms so that leaders across the church can continue to learn from each other and leave each gathering with at least one action step.
For September 2022:
Week One (September 7) – Coaching – Choose Your Own Adventure (breakout rooms by topic)
Week Two (September 14) – TBA
Week Three (September 21) – TBA
Week Four (September 28) – TBA
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?
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
LTSS Spiritual Direction Certification
The Center for Lifelong Learning at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary (LTSS) provides ongoing theological education for clergy and laity in their lifelong work that is engaging and relevant. It is a multi-faceted program grounded in theology and research-based practices to provide transformational learning for courageous leadership in today’s society.
One of the programs offered is Spiritual Direction Certification. You may also click here for an info sheet with full details. Application deadline for the next cycle is November 15. Click here for the application.
For more information about this program, please contact Pastor Melanie Dobson at melanie.dobson@lr.edu or 919.724.3557.
Upcoming Ordination and Installation
Veronika Czutor, called to serve Central, Dallas, will be ordained and installed on September 10.
Upcoming Events
With the ever-changing guidelines and recommendations in our world right now, as we maintain physical distance in social solidarity, please keep in mind these events may be moved online, postponed, or cancelled:
- Sep. 7: Courageous Leadership – Coaching – Choose Your Own Adventure (breakout rooms by topic), Zoom
- Sep. 10: Synod Council and MEF Board meetings, Hybrid (Briarwood and Zoom)
- Sep. 10: Parish Lay Ministry Academy, Fall 2022, Course 1, Hybrid
- Sep. 14: Courageous Leadership – TBA, Zoom
- Sep. 17: Public Witness Team meeting, Zoom
- Sep. 21: Courageous Leadership – TBA, Zoom
- Sep. 28: Courageous Leadership – TBA, Zoom
For a complete list of upcoming events, you can access our Calendar of Events online.