Congratulations!
We are pleased to pass along the good news that the NT-NL Mission Area achieved the 65% goal for participation in the Mayo Clinic health assessment. As a result, all of the congregations in the mission area who are participating in the ELCA Health Plan will receive a 1% discount on health premiums retroactive to January 1. We are grateful for your partnership in encouraging our leaders to take this step toward greater well-being. ELCA organizations will collectively save $1.25 million for ministry!
Encourage your plan members and spouses to finish their GO! Challenge — they’ll create healthy lifestyle change and earn all their wellness dollars. (For those who did not take the assessment, it is not too late to take it and join the challenge.)
See the GO! Challenge for members
Upcoming Events
For a full and current list of events in, and important to, our Mission Area, you can access our
online. Here are some highlights:
- Lutheran Seminary Program in the Southwest Summer Intensives
- Level 1 Intensive, Spanish Language and Hispanic Ministry, May 29-June 3, Austin TX
- Level 2 Intensive, Building Congregational Capacity for Hispanic Ministry, June 12-17, Austin TX
- ELCA Churchwide Assembly, August 8-13, New Orleans LA
- ELCA Grace Gathering, August 10-13, New Orleans LA
- “God’s Work. Our Hands.” Sunday (ELCA Day of Service), September 11
- Installation of NT-NL Bishop: Pr Erik Gronberg, September 17, Fort Worth TX (note location change)
Reminders
- The 2016 Prayer Partners list is available at ntnl.org/2016prayerpartners.
- Share your (or your congregation’s) blog with NT-NL! Add your info to the RSS feed
Highlighted Resources: Lutheran Disaster Response. Thanks to a generous donor, all gifts now will be matched – dollar for dollar – until they reach $100,000.
Important ELCA Updates
Congregation Observers at the 2016 ELCA Churchwide Assembly
Take advantage of the opportunity for one member of your congregation to attend the 2016 ELCA Churchwide Assembly as a congregation observer. Click here to read the notice received from the ELCA. Deadline: May 31
A process to decide the ELCA’s future directions
The ELCA is a young church at only 28 years old. It is a good time to take a look at where we are as God’s people and try to understand what God has in store for us. And we think it is an exciting time to be looking forward together as we approach the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017.
What does the future of the ELCA look like to you?
Roster/Lay Leader Feedback
Be a part of the discussion, contribute your ideas today!
Select the appropriate button below and complete the survey.
There’s a wealth of information, resources, and opportunities in the ELCA newsletters. Do you receive them?
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“As a key leader in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, we know there are a lot of people and organizations competing for your attention. And we know that your time is of the essence.
That’s why we’ve created Seeds Monthly. This e-newsletter will feature the same type of information found in the print publication, Seeds for the Parish, but with more frequent, timely content. Our goal is to equip you, as a leader of our church, with important updates from the ELCA, helpful resources, ideas for ministry and more – all in one place.”
The first issue was sent on April 22. You can subscribe by emailing constituent.care@elca.org and ask to be added to the “Seeds Monthly” list.
Wartburg Theological Seminary Opportunities
June 5-8: In the Name of Jesus: Baptized and Called, Fed and Sent (Open to ALL)
June 6 – July 31: Exploring Faith courses (English and Spanish available)
June 20-30: Luther Academy of the Rockies (for Rostered Leaders and their families)
Alban at Duke Divinity School Opportunity
JOIN VISUAL ANTHROPOLOGIST / FILMMAKER MARLON HALL FOR “SOURCING INNOVATION”
Chances are good that your institution needs to change in some way if it’s to thrive (or even survive). You know it. You embrace the idea. But you don’t know what to do, or even where to begin.
Join visual anthropologist and filmmaker Marlon Hall and a community of other Christian leaders for this five-week online course as we move step by step through the process of learning from a community.
June 6 – July 12, 2016
No class during the week of July 4
Registration deadline: June 2
Save the Date
“Seeds That Change” Dinner / Fundraiser for the Mission Endowment Fund
(Hosted by St. Luke’s and Oromo Ministries)
4-7pm, Saturday, October 15, 2016
St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, Richardson, TX
Items needed for the silent and live auctions. Can you help? Contact hattie.hammer@sbcglobal.net or 972-296-3703.
Lombard Mennonite Peace Center Opportunity
Peacemaker’s Pilgrimage to the Holy Land
January 11-23, 2017
Download a 15-page Brochure that includes:
Daily Itinerary
Arrangements & Travel Information
Booking Form
Costs and Fees
Option: Exclusive Jordan Extension
Contact Lombard Mennonite Peace Center with questions and to be included on the Update List for developing information. Call 630-627-0507 or email peace@LMPeaceCenter.org.
Book Recommendation
Reviving Old Scratch: Demons and the Devil for Doubters and the Disenchanted
By Richard Beck
Paperback, 200 pp, ISBN: 9781506401355
“A must-read for skeptics and thinkers, Reviving Old Scratch surprises in all the right ways. I couldn’t put it down!” — Rachel Held Evans, author of A Year of Biblical Womanhood
“While I’m not sure if I believe in spiritual warfare, I’m certain I’ve experienced it, and Reviving Old Scratch allowed me to come several steps closer to reconciling these seemingly irreconcilable statements. Richard Beck manages to take demons, the devil, and spiritual warfare and pull them into the reality we live in today, and for that I am grateful.” — Nadia Bolz-Weber, author of Pastrix and pastor of House for All Sinners and Saints
(As promoted by Theology for the People, a division of Ausburg Fortress)
Communications Policy
If you have an event you would like the Mission Area office to help publicize, please send us the information at MissionOffice@ntnl.org.
Events organized by an individual congregation will be publicized through social media. If you have a Facebook event created, please forward the link to MissionOffice@ntnl.org to be shared on the NT-NL Mission Area Facebook page. If your congregation does not have a Facebook page, please contact us so we can set up the event on NT-NL’s page, if appropriate.
Looking for information in past Leader News emails? Find Leader News archives here!