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Week of December 7, 2014

| NT–NL News By

Ebola Crisis | NTNL.org/ebola-crisis

We are grateful for the good news we have heard coming from Liberia and Guinea, but the situation in Sierra Leone is getting worse. Please keep the people of Sierra Leone in your prayers, and remember them in your giving.

Find out more and make a donation at NTNL.org/ebola-crisis.

“You, too, must show love to foreigners, for you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 10:19, NLT)

Offer hope this holiday season and join Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) in our commitment to write and distribute holiday cards to 1,700 women and children held in family immigration detention facilities by Christmas of 2014.

How can I help?

Give the gift of HOPE this holiday season by joining our mission to send a greeting card to every woman and child in family detention centers this December. We ask all congregations and individuals to write encouraging messages of hope on seasonal greeting cards in Spanish to bring light and joy to families in detention. Find out more information at lirs.org/hopefortheholidays/.

DLA! Special Projects | NTNL.org

The building is nearly complete… but there is still more to be done!

We have listed landscaping, technology, and furnishing needs that still need to be met. Wouldn’t you like to have a garden area named after your family or congregation?

Please visit NTNL.org/donate-now for more information on the new special gifting and naming opportunities for the DiscipleLife Center for Mission at Briarwood.

Stained glass window with images of angelsAngels Heard On High

TLU’s annual Vespers service of word and music featuring the TLU Concert Choir, TLU Women’s Choir, Kantorei Chamber Choir and TLU Symphonic Winds and Percussion will be offered at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 5 and Saturday, Dec. 6 as well as on Sunday, Dec. 7 at 4 p.m. 

Tickets are free but required due to limited seating.  Vespers is also offered at St. Martin’s Lutheran Church in Austin on Sunday, Dec. 14 at 4 p.m. (no tickets required).

This year Vespers explores the role of the Messengers of God (angels) and the experience of “entertaining angels unawares.”

For more information and to reserve tickets, click here.

goodgiftsELCA Good Gifts: the Advent Tree Ornament Pack

Decorate your congregation’s Christmas tree with the ELCA Good Gifts Advent Tree Ornament Pack—goats, pigs, water jugs, fruit trees, and school fees!

One package contains 30 assorted ornaments of 15 different gifts ranging from $10-$500 each. Invite families to select ornaments representing the gifts they would like to give.

Each ornament allows an individual or family to personalize their ornament with their name and the year. They can take their ornament home as a reminder of their generosity!

Order your Advent Tree Ornament Pack here!

View the full ELCA Good Gifts catalog here

2015 Tri-Synodical Theological Conference2015 Tri-Synodical: Love to tell the Story

January 26-28
New Braunfels, TX

God’s Story is a LOVE STORY, and it has captured the hearts of each of us. To tell it is to give life.

The Story is our life blood, yet many have let it flat line. Join us for theological conference this year as we get the blood pumping again!

Registration | Information | Speakers

Several black silhouetted figures wander on a yellow background. On the top right corner is a tree with mostly bare branches, and a red swirl, representingfire, behind it. Two of the figures are turned toward the tree.

Save the Date!

2015 Mission Assembly
¡SINAI!
Family Retreat: Mountains & Valleys

Friday, April 24-Sunday, April 26

Join us as we wander into the wilderness, as we climb onto the holy ground of Mount ¡SINAI!, as we continue to journey with Jesus to discover who we are and whose we are.

Our journey to ¡SINAI! will also lead us to understand how to minister among and with youth, young adults, and families in the new generation.

Concurrent with the assembly, Briarwood will offer a family retreat. This be a time for families to explore together how they can support each other in their faith formation. The retreat will focus on Rich Melheim’s FAITH5 (Faith Action In The Home), and how those tools can help families as they embark on their faith journeys together.

Registration for both events will begin in January.

Lutheran Seminary Program of the Southwest logo: an open book with a red cross above it and a yellow sun rising behind it.Spanish Language and Hispanic Ministry Intensive

Lutheran Seminary Program in the Southwest will be hosting their Spanish Language and Hispanic Ministry Intensive on May 24-29, 2015.

The Intensive is a resource for Lutherans and those of other denominations who recognize the growing need for competency in the Spanish language and an understanding of Hispanic culture in light of the increasing Hispanic population in this country and in the church. The course focuses on the study of the Spanish language and on different aspects of Hispanic culture, ranging from cuisine to dancing.

Download the informational flier here. Download the registration form here.

Please contact Consuelo Reid at lsps@lsps.edu with any questions.

New! Level II Intensive

Building Congregational Capacity for Hispanic Ministry:
Misión en Comunidad/Mission in Community

This new Level II Intensive is designed for congregational leaders in those congregations where consideration is being given to starting Hispanic Ministry in their community.  Teams from congregations are encouraged to attend.  During this week teams will learn:

  • To increase capacity for doing Hispanic ministry
  • To learn several models for engaging in Hispanic ministry in congregational settings
  • To improve facility in Spanish language, especially liturgical Spanish
  • To build a cohort of colleagues preparing for Hispanic ministry within their community

The main presenter is the Rev. Rubén Durán with several outstanding guests sharing models for Hispanic Ministry.

Download the Level II Intensive flier here. For more information about LSPS, visit lsps.edu.

Called to be a Living Voice 2015Worship Jubilee of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Biennial Conference of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians

July 19-21, 2105 • Atlanta, GA

How is God calling the church today? And to what are Christians called?

For the first time, this gathering brings together two major national events in overlapping conferences: the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians will meet Sunday through Wednesday of this week. The third Worship Jubilee for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, following those held in 2000 and 2007, will meet Monday through Thursday.

Participants may register for one or both events, which will feature leading voices, practical workshops, diverse worship expressions in several of Atlanta’s city churches, and rich conversation. Visit LivingVoice2015.org for more information.

 September 13, 2015

GWOH_image

Upcoming Events in the NT-NL Mission Area and Beyond:

Do you have news or announcements to share? Please submit them to Criss Forshay (criss@ntnl.org) for consideration for our next Briefings. Don’t forget to include a picture or logo!