Inspiring Generosity: NT-NL Stewardship Team Highlighted in Living Lutheran

Members of all ages from the Northern Texas-Northern Louisiana Synod Latino network participated in the Generosity Project workshop.
Our synod is featured in this Living Lutheran article: Inspiring generosity: New stewardship project engages toddlers to centenarians.
…In the years since its introduction, the Generosity Project has grown legs, expanding from Alaska to Delaware and points between.
In the Northern Texas-Northern Louisiana Synod, the resource has taken off in a big way, particularly in the Latino community. Rev. Irma Bañales, the synod’s director for evangelical mission, helped launch the initiative in the Panhandle Conference. The response was so positive, she suggested they take it to other Spanish-speaking congregations, reaching as far as Chicago, where she helped launch a pilot program.
Bañales sees the resource not only as a means to open eyes and hearts to stewardship, but also to connect congregants who can bring something special to each other’s lives. She relates her own experience of not having a close relationship with grandparents, and those of members whose children and grandchildren live far away, filling a void in their lives through the cross-generational fellowship.
“It’s another way to experience the pieces we haven’t had in our childhood,” Bañales added. “And the children have the opportunity to feel really welcome and like, ‘They care about us.’ It’s not a lecture—it’s really listening and putting it into practice in the moment with games and activities.”
Bañales is working with Staats and others to create a Spanish version of the Generosity Project to launch later this year….
Click here to read the full article.
The Church’s Identity
What’s really causing church decline … and what we can do about it? Watch the insightful keynote address from Luther Seminary’s Faithful Innovation Summit this past summer:
Dwight Zscheile (VP of Innovation, Luther Seminary) and Michael Binder (Affiliate Professor at Luther Seminary and Co-Lead Pastor at Mill City Church, Minneapolis) ask what we can do to renew the church’s identity and help it join God’s work in the 21st century in this keynote address from the Faithful Innovation Summit, July 24-26, 2019, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Download Slides from the Presentation.
Season of doubt | Temporada de dudas
In her November column for Living Lutheran, ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton compares doubt to winter—it can seem long, cold, barren, isolating and lonely. But she reminds us that doubt is part of faith—and God will carry us through the winter. Read her column in English: Season of doubt o lee su columna en español: Temporada de dudas.
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
Bishop Gronberg:
Men in Mission, Our Saviors Smorgasbord, Briarwood Hoops and More: #Milesandmiles
(https://www.ntnl.org/men-in-mission-our-saviors-smorgasbord-briarwood-hoops-and-more-milesandmiles/ – published Nov. 9)
(https://www.ntnl.org/rick-steves-at-smu-travel-as-a-spiritual-act/ – published Nov. 11)
(https://www.ntnl.org/campus-ministry-fundraiser-at-briarwood/ – published Nov. 14)
Where in the world is?
Bishop Gronberg:
- Nov. 17: Trinity, Posey and Grace, Slayton
- Nov. 20: ELCA Churchwide Leadership Director Interviews
- Nov. 21: Joy, Rockwall Church Council
Pastor Totzke:
- Nov. 20: First Sagrada Familia council meeting, Garland
- Nov. 21: Lutheran Campus Ministry Thanksgiving dinner
Pastora Bañales:
- Nov. 20: Ministry Review
- Nov. 21: Stewardship Team meeting
Upcoming Events
- Nov. 18-22: Mediation Skills Training Institute for Church Leaders, Arlington, 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. 15: ESET (SSTE) Módulo 6 (Día 3 de 5), Argyle, TX
- Feb. 22: ESET (SSTE) Módulo 6 (Día 4 de 5), Argyle, TX
- Feb. 28-Mar. 1: NT-NL Peer Ministry Leadership Training, TBA
- Feb. 29: ESET (SSTE) Módulo 6 (Día 5 de 5), Argyle, TX
- Mar. 14: Public Witness Team meeting, Arlington, TX
- Mar. 14: PLMA, Spring 2020, Course 1, 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.