Giving Tuesday with Briarwood and Thrivent
Join Briarwood Leadership Center and Thrivent for this in-person Giving Tuesday event on December 3, 6-9pm!
Thrivent will donate $1 for every $2 raised* at this event or through online donations here: https://thrivent.cotribute.co/events/323500/detail.
*For Giving Tuesday 2019, Thrivent will donate up to $20,000 total in matching funds to organizations featured by the Thrivent Member Network – Texas Region.
MEF “Share the Harvest” Recap
In this season of THANKFULNESS, the Mission Endowment Fund Board is exceedingly grateful!
SHARE THE HARVEST worked very well as the theme and the goal of the 2019 Mission Endowment Fund Board FUNdraiser last month. The Board wishes to express appreciation to Advent Lutheran Church for hosting the annual Seeds that Change celebration with special thanks for the delicious food prepared and served by Adviento Luterana. The Latinx Conference also donated funds to support the exciting and talented Mexico Lindo dancers.
Our proceeds from the event continue to grow and are currently over $21,000! These gifts will be used to grow the principal balance of the Endowment Fund so the MEF can provide financial support to deserving ministries and organizations within NT-NL. In fact, we currently have 28 applications for grants in 2020, and have been able to increase our total for disbursement to $82,000. The grants will be finalized and honored by March 2020.
Read the full thank you letter, with more photos, here.
LIRS Hope for the Holidays
The holidays should be a magical, wondrous time, but this year in America, hundreds of children and families will be spending the holiday behind bars — because they crossed the United States border seeking protection.
You can bring joy and hope to families in immigration detention, and to children who crossed our borders alone, by joining LIRS’s Hope for the Holidays annual campaign to send cards and gifts to families impacted by immigration detention. With your help, LIRS will ensure that every family in immigration detention receives a Christmas gift and thousands of other immigrants awaiting safety and protection in the United States receives a Christmas cards. Together we can remind our brothers and sisters that they are not alone this holiday season.
Visit LIRS.org/Hope to:
- Watch the 2019 Webinar and learn more about the campaign
- Access the toolkit with details and sample messages for card-writing
- Donate to purchase gifts for families in detention
Link to website: https://www.lirs.org/take-action/hope-for-the-holidays/
Link to toolkit: https://www.lirs.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/2019-Hope-for-the-Holidays-Card-Campaign.pdf
To ensure delivery to children and families in time for the holidays, cards and donations must be sent in by December 6, 2019.
Featured Resources for November
Growing in God’s Grace Generation to Generation
The Generosity Project is an intergenerational, household-focused approach to stewardship. Its goals are to connect generations, create centers for the faith practice of generosity, and grow in God’s grace generation to generation.
The Generosity Project is a new stewardship resource for ELCA congregations that uses innovative approaches to promote generosity across generations and in households. The goal of the program is not to increase giving by a certain percentage but to change the culture of how a congregation views and understands generosity and stewardship.
Some of The Generosity Project resources may be downloaded for free. The six-session 5G Curriculum with planning guide and take-home resource is available for just $39. Learn more about The Generosity Project.
Save the Date
February 11-13, 2020
Orlando, FL
Get inspired, encouraged, challenged and warmed up at the Ignite the Church Conference in Orlando, Florida, February 11-13, 2020. In addition to large group gatherings on Congregational Vitality, there will be electives on Reaching Younger Generations, Expanding Kingdom Impact, Church Renewal and Discipleship, Renewing Music, Vitality through Mission, Engaging Your Neighborhood, Evangelism, Social Justice, and Raising Up Leaders, along with a visit to Orlando’s Castle Church Brewing Community.
A $99 discounted rate, including 2 meals and snacks, is available until November 30th.
All proceeds benefit the ELCA Fund for Leaders.
For more information, go to IgniteTheChurch.net. #IgniteTheChurch
Recent Blog Posts
Bishop Gronberg:
Hwy 84, almost to Lubbock: Immanuel, Posey and Grace, Slaton
(https://www.ntnl.org/hwy-84-almost-to-lubbock-immanuel-posey-and-grace-slaton/) – published Nov. 19
Accompanying Our Partners in the Holy Land: Changes in US Policy
(https://www.ntnl.org/accompanying-our-partners-in-the-holy-land-changes-in-us-policy/ – published Nov. 19)
(https://www.ntnl.org/remembering-transgender-lives-lost/ – published Nov. 21)
(https://www.ntnl.org/briarwood-winter-carnival-and-thrivent-giving-tuesday/ – published Nov. 21)
Pastor Totzke:
(https://www.ntnl.org/thankoffering-in-shreveport/ – published Nov. 18)
(https://www.ntnl.org/welcome-pr-ben-dueholm/ – published Nov. 18)
Where in the world is?
Bishop Gronberg:
- Nov. 26: Trinity Lutheran Thanksgiving Feast Volunteer
Pastor Totzke:
- Nov. 27-Dec. 1: Vacation
Pastora Bañales:
- Nov. 25-29: Vacation
Upcoming Events
- Dec. 3: Giving Tuesday | Briarwood’s Winter Carnival, Argyle, TX
- Dec. 14: Public Witness Team meeting, Arlington, TX
- Jan. 11: Public Witness Team meeting, Arlington, TX
- Jan. 17-19: NT-NL High School Gathering, TBA
- Jan. 25: ESET (SSTE) Módulo 6 (Día 1 de 5), Argyle, TX
- Jan. 25: PLMA Graduation, Arlington, TX
- Jan. 31-Feb. 1: Synod Council meeting, Argyle, TX
- Feb. 8: ESET (SSTE) Módulo 6 (Día 2 de 5), Argyle, TX
- Feb. 8: Public Witness Team meeting, Arlington, TX
- Feb. 11-13: Ignite the Church Conference, Orlando, FL
- Feb. 15: ESET (SSTE) Módulo 6 (Día 3 de 5), Argyle, TX
- Feb. 16-18: Texas Interfaith Advocacy Days, Austin, TX
- Feb. 22: ESET (SSTE) Módulo 6 (Día 4 de 5), Argyle, TX
- Feb. 22: Discovering Hope: Building Vitality in Your Congregation, Lubbock, TX
- Feb. 28-Mar. 1: NT-NL Peer Ministry Leadership Training, TBA
- Feb. 29: ESET (SSTE) Módulo 6 (Día 5 de 5), Argyle, TX
Access our full online Calendar here. Updates made regularly.
Do you have news or announcements to share? Please submit to Jason (jason@ntnl.org) for consideration for upcoming NT-NL News.