2007 Southeastern Minnesota Synod Assembly
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2007 Synod Assembly >
News > Second Plenary
Camp staff commissioned,
report of presiding bishop
By Barb Anderson
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Bishop Usgaard prays
for the summer staff of Good Earth Village
Photo by Katie Butler |
The second plenary opened with
the Commissioning of the summer staff of
Good Earth Village. There are
41 summer staff, over 25 from our own Synod congregations. Five staff are
international staff – one from the Southeastern Minnesota's companion synod
in Colombia. They are expecting over 1,000 kids at Good Earth Village this
summer as well as over 1,200 kids at day camps at the various synod
churches. Dave Herder, Executive Director, highlighted the summer
programming for adults as well as the Youth
Servant Leader Institute for high school students this summer. There are
still a few spots open. Bishop Usgaard told the newly commissioned summer
staff, that many future church leaders come from Bible camp staff. He said
they should be careful, that the Holy Spirit is there at camp. They may be
“caught” to serve the church in the future.
Report of the Presiding
Bishop
Rev. Kathie Bender Schwich,
brought greetings from Bishop Mark S. Hanson and Churchwide staff in Chicago
through a video with the theme of “Living in God’s Amazing Grace.” Our
church network is spread around the world doing work on our behalf, doing
ministry in places we can’t even imagine.
Mission Support is what
provides the infrastructure that allows our church to respond in awareness,
and service, building bridges for peace with justice. The ELCA needs leaders
of faith to work in the world.
(this video is available for
download or purchase online)
Kathie’s top 10 things to be
thankful for about the ELCA:
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We are joyful witnesses and
we spread the Gospel through evangelism and outreach. There are 172 new
congregations under development. 38% of our new starts are among the
working poor. Each Synod received $10,000 from Churchwide to use
creatively for outreach.
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We are Christ centered
disciples who serve others like the wonderful way we responded to Root
Prairie Lutheran Church in Fountain, and the way Lutheran Disaster
Response responded to students at Virginia Tech after the terrible
shootings there.
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We are becoming an
inclusive, diverse and multicultural church.
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We are a church that focuses
on Scripture. We’ve developed a 5 year initiative called Book of Faith –
Lutherans Read the Bible.
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We focus on learning –
teaching the faith to our children. We created a social statement that
advocates for the full funding of free and public education.
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We focus on youth and young
people. There is a new position of Director of Young Adult Ministries at
Churchwide.
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We value our church leaders.
She named many of our local leaders and had those who have been on the
Synod Council stand for recognition. Future focus is to provide full
tuition funding for first call pastors.
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We value public service and
public leaders in a church where we can talk about issues and engage in
discussion without rancor while still supporting each other. We especially
value those serving in the military.
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We are a globally connected
church. Our Synod has companion synods in Tanzania and Columbia. The ELCA
is in 60 countries and have 300 missionaries worldwide. There are 140
international Lutheran church bodies with 66 million Lutherans around the
world!
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We are a generous church
giving over 20 million dollars to World Hunger. Eighty percent of our
worldwide work begins with dollars collected in local congregations.
Recognition of
Anniversaries
Ten pastors celebrated their
50th Anniversary of ordination, one pastor celebrated his 55th anniversary
and one celebrated his 65th anniversary. They told some wonderful stories!
Following the first installment of Rev. Dr. Elaine Siemsen's
Bible study,
the second Plenary ended with six pastors and one Associate in Ministry
being recognized for their 25th anniversary of ordination.
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