2019 Synod Assembly Summary
Our heartfelt thanks to Calvary, Richland Hills, Pastors Phil Heinze and Kyle Rouze, and the “yellow vest brigade” of volunteers who supported us in a successful Synod Assembly! We are incredibly grateful for their hospitality and plethora of “nibblies” throughout! We give thanks to the many volunteers of Calvary, Umoja, Fort Worth, and San Gabriel, Alvarado who provided a feast of international proportions for our Friday banquet! We worshipped together and celebrated many congregation and ordination anniversaries!
A huge thanks to Janelle Miller (Calvary, Richland Hills) for coordinating an NT-NL reunion of Youth (from the Youth Gathering in Houston), which included a service project and leading the closing worship for Assembly! We also want to show our appreciation to Rick Bidne for serving as our Parliamentarian again this year.
The Rev. Wm. Chris Boerger, ELCA Secretary, joined us and highlighted several updates, accomplishments, and new resources of the Church from last year. Those full reports can be found under Part D of our Assembly Reference Materials, and the videos will be available and uploaded by the end of May.
The Synod Council honored Tyna Oslie, former Synod Administrator, and Deacon Stephanie Varnum, retiring Vice President, with Resolutions of Appreciation (found in Part C of the Assembly Reference Materials).
The Assembly elected the following positions and approved the following resolutions this year:
Synod Vice President: Tom Blaney (term begins July 1)
Synod Council:
Male Minister of Word and Sacrament from Metroplex North conference: Ernie Hinojosa
Lay Female from Panhandle conference: Carolyn Klaus
Lay Male from Metroplex West conference: Jeff Manthei
Lay Female from Metroplex West conference: Ann Hafften
Consultation Committee: Ronald Gubrud, Deacon Stephanie Varnum, The Rev. Norma Cooper, The Rev. Franz Schemmel
Discipline Committee: Angie Krug, The Rev. Mark Hadley
Attendees had a wide range of choices for the three workshop sessions on Saturday!
Rev. Kendra Mohn, PhD, of Trinity, Fort Worth, led us in thoughtful and engaging Bible studies throughout! Those recordings can be found on the NT-NL Synod YouTube channel in the 2019 Synod Assembly library, or here are the direct links:
If you missed Assembly this year, you can access all the 2019 Synod Assembly Reference Materials here. Mark your calendar for next year and join us on April 24-25, 2020, in South Dallas (location to be determined)! (Our Synod Assembly date is assigned by the ELCA and always falls on the last weekend of April.)
What is Mission Support?
Maybe we should say, “God’s work. Our hands … and our money!” Church is not, and should not, be all about money, yet financial resources are necessary to accomplish the important work God calls us to do in our communities, our nation, and the world. Mission Support flows from congregations to synods and to our churchwide organization, funding the ministries we all value so highly. For a better explanation of Mission Support, download this PDF with an article from Living Lutheran and a related study guide.
In explaining the significance of Mission Support, [director Victoria] Flood finds a valuable teaching tool in Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton’s four emphases for the ELCA: We are church. We are Lutheran. We are church together. We are church for the sake of the world.
“Mission Support really touches all of those,” Flood said. “[It] is foundational to us being church together, and it is what allows us as individuals within the ELCA to make a difference beyond just our local congregations and to really be church for the sake of the world, in all parts of the world, and in ways that we couldn’t do just in our own congregational settings.”
African-Descent Lutheran History
By most accounts, the black Lutheran church began as early as 1620. In a recent episode of the Three Sides Podcast, host Shanna Crawford speaks with Lutheran historian Dr. Richard Stewart, Pastor Lucille Mills, and Pastor Albert Starr about the early years of African-descent Lutherans, what’s happening in the church today, and what the future holds. Listen now at LivingLutheran.org/podcast.
Featured Resources for April
Lament and Hope: A Pan-African Devotional Guide
Commemorating the 2019 Quad-Centennial of the Forced Transatlantic Voyage of Enslaved African Peoples to Jamestown, Virginia
Edited by Rev. Dr. Angelique Walker-Smith
Recent Blog Posts
Bishop Gronberg:
(https://www.ntnl.org/a-wedding/ – published Apr. 24)
Where in the world is?
Bishop Gronberg:
- Apr. 28-May 4: Anniversary Trip w/ Spouse
- May 4: Briarwood Gala, Euless
- May 5: St. Stephens, Shreveport
Pastor Totzke:
- Apr. 29: Call committee orientation, St. Matthew, Waco
- Apr. 30: Zion, McGregor,
- May 4: Meeting with Bosque County leaders, Our Savior’s (Norse) Clifton, then Briarwood Gala, Euless
- May 5: Holy Trinity, Shreveport
Pastora Bañales:
- Apr. 29-May 2: Generosity Transformed Stewardship Conference, Indianapolis, IN
Upcoming Events
- May 4: Briarwood Annual Gala: A Night Under the Stars, Euless, TX
- May 11: PLMA, Spring 2019, Course 3, Briarwood
- May 11: Public Witness Team monthly meeting, Arlington, TX
- May 19: Lutheran Campus Ministry at Denton Golf Outing, Frisco, TX
- Jun. 8: Public Witness Team monthly meeting, Arlington, TX
- Jul. 13: Public Witness Team monthly meeting, Arlington, TX
- Aug. 5-10: ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Milwaukee, WI
- Aug. 10: Public Witness Team monthly meeting, Arlington, TX
- Aug. 31: ELCA Generosity Project workshop, Keller, TX
Access our full online Calendar here. Updates made regularly.
Do you have news or announcements to share? Please submit to the Synod office (office@ntnl.org) for consideration for upcoming NT-NL News.