Keys to Congregational Vitality - Part2
Some
weeks ago, I began a four-part series regarding congregational
vitality. Last
time, I focused on what I consider to be the most fundamental
key - the theological
grounding of the congregation.
A second
necessary key for vitality is contextual. That is, your
congregation's connections with the people living in the
surrounding neighborhood and community. "Reading" your
potential audience is an important step for a realistic vision
and relevant program.
Sadly, a
number of our ELCA ministries have become what some have
described as "donut hole" congregations. That is, over time as
the population in the neighborhood changed, the congregation
membership did not.
The church then, becomes the "donut hole" existing in
the center of a neighborhood often populated by residents
vastly different from the church members who often live away
from the community.
Consider
taking a fresh look at your community by walking the
surrounding streets.
As you go, pray for the neighborhood and wonder how the
area might look through God's eyes. Then, look for these
things:
Housing - What does
the housing of the neighborhood tell you about the daily
issues and concerns of the occupants? How might these issues
be addressed in the worship, education and advocacy life of
the church?
Associations - Who
participates in the clubs, community centers, and nonprofit
centers? What
relationship does the church have with these centers? Is there potential for
exploring such a relationship?
Transportation - What
is the flow of traffic around the church? How available is
public transportation?
Are people walking or driving? Are there ways to
promote several means of transportation to your
church?
Institutions/Organizations
- Look for the hospitals, schools, government buildings, parks
and gardens. Who
makes use of these?
Could relationships be built with any of these
institutions and organizations?
Businesses - Note the
location of retail shops, malls, restaurants, motels,
etc. Look for the
languages used on the signs and in the newspapers. Investigate what foods
the restaurants and grocery stores sell. Are there ways to make
connections with any of these businesses?
People - This is the most important
element of contextual mission. Who are the people living
near your church? What is their age, gender, and
enthnicity? Do any know your congregation? What
are their hopes and dreams?
All of
this implies that churches begin engaging the community to get
a "feel" of the area.
It means after all, opening the windows of the church,
not so that people in the community see you, but so that
members of your congregation see in new ways the people who
live near the church.
It will help you
understand the situations they face. In all of this
consider where God might be at work in your neighborhood. That is the starting
point for a faithfully contextual ministry.
Pr.
Harvey Blomberg
Director
for Evangelical Mission
|
 |
We remember in prayer .
. .
The family and friends of Pastor Franklin "Del"
Kjorvestad, who died on April 1st. A memorial service is
being held Thursday, April 8, 10:30 a.m., at Faith
Lutheran Church, Reno.
Pastor Ginny Bishop, Mariposa Lutheran,
Mariposa, and family, grieving the death of her
father
Pastor Melissa Lundquist, Faith, Elko, preparing for
rotator cuff surgery
Pastor Jack Lundin, retired, dealing with ongoing
health issues
Mary Lou, mother of Pastor Roger Bauer, on leave from
call, recovering from the effects of a stroke
The youth of Grace, King City, working on a mission
project in Mexicali, Mexico as the earthquake struck.
All are safe and are completing their
mission project.
The people of Mexico and Southern California, recovering
from the effects of the
earthquake
|
|
|
SPECIAL ASSEMBLY
INFORMATION
Greetings to all Voting Members, Pastors,
AIMs, Diaconal Ministers and Visitors to the 22nd Assembly of
the Sierra Pacific Synod. We will be gathering Thursday
through Saturday, May 6-8, 2010, in Reno. The Assembly
is a time for us to do Synod business, including elections,
but also a time to worship together, learn about each other's
ministries, see old friends, make new ones, and learn about
all the ways God is working through our
ministries.
To help
you get ready for the Assembly, here is information that will
be helpful:
- Every
congregation is asked to bring TEN DOZEN
cookies (or some other non-perishable, healthy
alternative) for the hospitality area.
- Please
note that the dinner for Thursday night and a box lunch for
Friday are included in your registration fee. Guests
must register for the meals to be included.
- There
will be two types of offerings: monetary and in-kind.
The monetary offering will be divided between local and
international ministries. Please encourage your
congregation councils to support these worthy ministries and
send a check with your voting members. The
international ministries are Lutheran World Relief for their
work in Haiti and Darfur and the Lutheran Malaria
Relief. The local ministry is a new prisoner re-entry
program that LAMN (Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in Nevada) is
working on closely with RAIN (Religious Alliance in Nevada).
- The
in-kind offering will be new, packaged socks, underwear and
toiletries for boys and girls K-12. We are asking
people to bring these items which will be given to the
Washoe County School District in Reno. There is a
great need for these items for the hundreds of needy and
homeless children.
- Onsite
check-in will be at the Silver Legacy on the lower
level. There will be no "packets" this year as we are
trying to be "green." Please bring a cloth bag to
carry items for the Assembly. Information from
ministries/agencies will be available in the Display Area.
- In the
process of becoming "green" we encourage all attendees to
bring their favorite coffee and water containers to be
refilled at the refreshment area or in their rooms.
- There
will be a breakfast on Friday morning sponsored by LAMN and
LOPP and featuring Nevada Supreme Court Justice James
Hardesty. He will discuss the prisoner re-entry
program supported by LAMN, the recipient of our local
monetary offerings. Tickets at $20 each will be
available at registration.
- Woven
Image, our music group, is going to present
a concert on Friday night at 8:00 p.m. A free will
offering will be received that will help support their
mission in India enabling women to have an
independent means of support.
Please
remember that the costs for the Assembly are "balanced" among
the total number of voting members who are
expected to attend; each
congregation is obligated to register and pay for the
same number of voting members which was listed in the
registration letter you received from the Synod
office.
We look
forward to seeing you in Reno!
Kathryn
Beck, Chair
Synod
Assembly Planning Committee
|
|
|
HEIN-FRY LECTURE AT
PLTS
On Wednesday, April 21, 2010, PLTS will host
the twentieth annual Hein-Fry Lecture. The lecture series
continues to engage with the Book of Faith initiative. This
year, the topic is "Hearing the Word: Teaching the Bible in
the Parish and Beyond."
The lecture at
PLTS will be given by the Rev. Dr. Richard P. Carlson, Philip
H. and Amanda E. Glatfelter Professor of New Testament
Language, Literature, and Theology at Lutheran Theological
Seminary in Gettysburg.
A
response will be given by Dr. Carol R. Jacobson, PLTS
Associate Professor of Practical Theology: Youth and Family
Ministry and Christian Education. The day will start at 9:30
am.
Please note that the regular Wednesday chapel
service will not take place this day.
Registration
is required. The fee for early registration is $20 ($10 for
students). On-site registration is $25. You can register early
and pay online at http://www.plts.edu/heinfry.html.
It helps
us tremendously if you don't wait until the day of the event
to register.
| |
|
| Quick
Links |
|
|
ELCA.org
|
|
|
Upcoming Events
|
|
2010
April 14 "The Power of
Endowments" - PLTS
April 16-18 SPSYC Elementary
Retreat - Sly Park, Sacramento
April 17 Roy Oswald Workshop
"Managing Polarities in
Congregations" 9:00 -
1:00
St. Mark's, San Francisco
April 21 Hein-Fry Lecture
PLTS - 9:30
Registration
April 22 Mt. Cross Shalom
Camp Meeting for Pastors/
Youth Directors
10:00 - 2:00 pm
Advent, Citrus Heights
April 26-28 LSA Annual
Conference - Sacramento
May 5 Synod Council
May 6-8 Synod Assembly
Silver Legacy Hotel
Reno, NV
May 27 Council of Deans Meeting
Trinity, Pleasanton
June 25-26 Synod Council
July 11-16 Mt. Cross
Shalom Camp
September 18 District B Fall
Assembly 10:00 - 3:00
Resurrection, Granite Bay
September 24-25 Synod
Council
September 30 - October 5
Conference of
Bishops
October 12-14 Professional
Leaders Conference
Granlibakken Resort, Tahoe City
October 16 District E Fall
Assembly 10:00 - 3:00
Shepherd of the
Valley, Merced
October 17 District C Fall
Assembly 2:00 - 5:00 pm
St. Mark's, San Francisco
October 23 District A Fall
Assembly 10:00 - 3:00
Our Savior's, Lafayette
November 6 District D Fall
Assembly 10:00 - 3:00
Advent, Morgan Hill
2011
January 5-9 Bishop's
Academy
January 19-20 Council of
Deans Retreat - Christ the
King Retreat Center,
Citrus Heights, CA
February 28 - March 1 Retired
Clergy/Spouse/Lay
Rostered//Widows/Widowers
Retreat
March 3-8 Conference of
Bishops
May 12 Synod Council
May 13-15 Synod Assembly
Hyatt Regency Airport
Burlingame, CA
August 14-20 Churchwide
Assembly - Orlando,
FL
September 29 October 4
Conference of Bishops
2012
January 5-9 Bishop's
Academy
January 18-19 Council of Deans
Retreat - Christ the
King
Retreat Center, Citrus
Heights
July 18-22 ELCA Youth Gathering
New Orleans, LA
|
|
ASSEMBLY
REGISTRATION NOTICES
Automated
reminders were e-mailed today by RegOnline, our system
for Synod Assembly registration. PLEASE
NOTE:
Registration fees will increase after April
19, so please register by that date.
ALSO, if you have already registered for the
Assembly, you may disregard these reminders. We
apologize for any confusion.
|
|
HOW TO TALK ABOUT MONEY IN THE
CHURCH
The Presbytery of Sacramento's Congregational Support
Ministry Group and Davis Community Church are
sponsoring a stewardship event, "How to Talk about Money
in the Church," on Saturday, April 24, in Davis.
Lutherans are welcome!
Bob Sheldon, a national steward-ship speaker, will be
addressing tradi-tional and not-so-traditional ways of funding
church ministry. Deadline to register is April 19.
For more information, go to Sierra
Mission. |
|
MANAGING
POLARITIES IN CONGREGATIONS
A
special workshop presented by
Roy
M. Oswald
Saturday,
April 17,
9:00
am - 1:00 pm
St.
Mark's Lutheran Church
1111 O'Farrell St.
San Francisco
Please
register by Wednesday, April 15, 2010
at info@spselca.org
|
|
ASSEMBLY
BREAKFAST WITH NEVADA SUPREME COURT JUSTICE
The Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in Nevada and the
Lutheran Office of Public Policy - California are featuring
Nevada Supreme Court Justice James Hardesty, Vice Chair of the
Nevada Commission on the Administration of Justice, on Friday
morning, May 7, at the Synod Assembly in Reno. For a
downloadable flyer to copy, share, and return, go to
|
|
SYNOD
ASSEMBLY REGISTRATION
On-line
registration for the Synod Assembly is available
on the synod website. The link for
hotel reservations at the Silver Legacy is also
active and on the Synod website. Enter "ELCA10" in the
group name to get our special rate. The Assembly
Handbook is now posted on the Synod
website.
Please note the following deadlines:
April 19 - Registration fees due;
reduced rate hotel reservations close
May 1 - Deadline for Issues of
Conscience
The Resolutions deadline has
passed.
|
|
SECOND
MILE GIVING
The Second Mile Giving recipient for the
month of April is Pacific Lutheran Theological
Seminary.
Please lift up this important ministry partner for
extra support in your congregation.
| |
Sierra
Pacific Synod 