We are still collecting donations to continue to send food and medical supplies to Sierra Leone and Liberia. Visit ntnl.org/ebola-crisis for updates on NT-NL’s relief efforts.
As of Nov. 6, your generous donations totaled $85,700. This has funded three 40-foot containers of medical equipment and supplies for Sierra Leone and Liberia, and two feeding programs for the people of Sierra Leone. We will send a fourth container of medical supplies in December.
You may make a donation by check or via PayPal. See ntnl.org/ebola-crisis to donate.
Hope & Health
Looking for a change of pace after Turkey Day and Black Friday?
The IDEA Foundation presents
Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars
in concert to benefit health in Sierra Leone
Saturday, November 29 – Doors at 7 pm
Lakewood Theater, 1825 Abrams Road, Dallas, TX
Family friendly, Upbeat music, Basket Raffle, Live Auction
Proceeds will help small clinics treat non-Ebola patients
and feed quarantined people in small villages where the church can reach
better than the large international agencies.
You can make a difference.
$13 children, $25 general admission, $40 VIP
theideafoundation.org
From NPR: Sierra Leone’s Refugee All-Stars are Refugees Again—from Ebola
As of October 31, donations pledged and received for the DiscipleLife Alive! campaign total $2,669,498. Thank you!
We are still striving to reach our $3,000,000 goal by June 30, 2015 in order to be able to move into the new facilities debt-free. Please continue to remember DLA! in your giving.
Check the DLA! Special Giving page for new opportunities to donate landscaping, technology, and furnishing needs.
Angels 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.
ELCA 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
Draft of a Social Message on Gender-Based Violence
The Draft of a Social Message on Gender-based Violence is available for reading and for public comment on the ELCA website until November 26.
Esta información también está disponible en español.
For information about the full span of work being done by the Women and Justice task force, visit the Women and Justice page.
The task force wants to hear from as many people as possible: men and women, adults and youth.
If you have any questions about how to hold a listening event, what materials are available, or how to provide feedback to the Task Force, please email criss@ntnl.org or call 214-637-6865.
2015 Tri-Synodical Theological Conference
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
January 7-9, 2015
San Antonio, Texas
The National Conference for Sacred Music is a unique conference designed to provide the practicing Church Musician with fresh new ideas to help create a vital, growing music ministry. The emphasis of this conference is to provide a wide variety of new approaches to revitalize and reinvigorate the Church’s passion for music in worship.
For more information, see the registration link (scroll down for event details).
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.
Worship 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.
Upcoming Events in the NT-NL Mission Area and Beyond:
- Dec. 7: Briarwood’s Christmas Brunch
- Dec. 13-14: Advent Retreat at Briarwood
- Jan 7-9: National Conference of Sacred Music
- Jan 16-18, 2015: High School Extravaganza
- Jan. 24-25, 2015: Lumberjack Retreat at Briarwood
- Jan. 26-28, 2015: Tri-Synodical Theological Conference
- Feb. 20-22, 2015: Peer Ministry (for youth in grades 9-12)
- Feb. 21-22, 2015: Lenten Retreat at Briarwood
- Mar. 27-29, 2015: Father-Son Retreat at Briarwood
- Apr. 21-May 8, 2015: In Search of Paul: An Aegean Odyssey A LEAD pilgrimage for rostered leaders and church professionals
- Apr. 24-26, 2015: NT-NL Mission Assembly
- May 24-29, 2015: LSPS’s Spanish Language and Hispanic Ministry Intensive
- Oct. 17, 2015: MEF “Seeds that Change” Dinner
- Nov. 2, 2015: Portico Pre-Retirement Seminar
- Nov. 3, 2015: Portico Early/Mid-Career Financial Wellness Seminar
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!