News Update from the Western Iowa Synod-ELCA

Help get everyone in the Spirit!

Please forward this e-Spirit to church Councils, staff, congregations,

community partners, church members in military service, college or wherever they may be.

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June 11,2020

e-Spirit

For Reflection

“I am about to do a new thing, now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?”

                                                                                                      - Isaiah 43

For reflection and conversation -

·  What is the mission of the church?

·  What does the church need now?

·  What is God calling the church to be?

·  What is exciting about the future of the church?

·  Why should the church work for social justice?

·  What are the difficult conversations that need to happen in the church?

·  What does the church do to equip members to share their faith with others?

·  What might the church do to interact with the local community?

·  What is done to help members live out their faith in daily lives?

Let us not squander these days!

People are hungry for bread, healing, life…and Jesus!

Lean into God - read scripture daily, spend more time in prayer -

be of good courage.

Looking forward the Western Iowa Synod is -

· Building Relationships

· Renewing Worship

· Learning Together

· Growing Stewardship

Lorna

Rev. Lorna H. Halaas, Bishop
Western Iowa Synod, ELCA

ELCA Commemoration of the Emanuel Nine — June 17

As part of the 2019 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, voting members adopted a resolution designating June 17 as a commemoration of the martyrdom of the Emanuel 9—the nine people shot and killed on June 17, 2015, during a Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. An ELCA Prayer Service for Commemoration of the Emanuel Nine will be available for online viewing at 12 noon Eastern Time on June 17, the fifth anniversary of the evening nine people were shot and killed during a Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. The service will include leaders from around the ELCA and ecumenical partners, including episcopal leadership from the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton will preach the sermon. We join in a time of repentance, mourning and prayer as we remember these nine martyrs and renounce the sins of racism and white supremacy. The service can be viewed at ELCA.org.

As the ELCA works toward a more authentically diverse future, congregations have been tackling this issue head-on in their contexts. This article shares the learning, uncomfortable conversations and growth happening at Cavalry Lutheran Church in Minneapolis through the personal reflections of two women leaders—Yolanda Denson-Byers and Shari Seifert. Read the

Living Lutheran article and the study guide here.

LSI is seeking compassionate, dedicated Host Homes. If you have room in your heart and in your home, visit LSIowa.org/HostHomes. Contact Deb Whitford at: Tel. 563-676-2065 or Email Deborah.Whitford@LSIowa.org.

LSI’s Services for People with Disabilities 

Becky, an LSI Direct Support Professional, supports her client every day through LSI’s Services for People with Disabilities. During the COVID-19 crisis, Becky has spent her shifts adding extra safety measures and precautions so she and her client could safely go to the grocery store for food and supplies when the time came. Learn more at LSI Services for People with Disabilities.

PRAYER CONCERNS

ROSTER CHANGES

Rev. Charles (Chip) Borstadt, Jr., to St. John Lutheran, Dunlap, & Bethesda Lutheran, Moorhead

John Jorgensen, Ordination, Sept. 19, St. Mark Lutheran, Sioux City

James (Jim) McColley will be ordained in Fall 2020.

Some of us – maybe most of us – were taught at an early age that feelings are unreliable.

Girls are told to “not be so sensitive” and boys are told that “big boys don’t cry.”  Emotions, feelings, are dismissed as signs of immaturity and “lack of self-control,” and we develop a preferential trust in reason and intellect.  We become good at thinking.

Some of us become so good at it, that we lose awareness of our feelings altogether: we point outside ourselves, to some disturbing situation, rather than identifying what it is that is going on inside of us.  If I can see the problem as external, then the resolution can also be safely external, and I remain blind to my own internal landscape.

Or we may be aware of our emotions, but we censor them: telling ourselves “I shouldn’t feel…”  Our rational mind recognizes the dissonance within, and tells the feelings to go away: “I’ll deal with this later” or “I shouldn’t let this bother me” or “I understand why this person did what they did, so I should just get over it” or (my personal favorite) “this is an old pattern, I thought I already dealt with this: why is this coming up now?”

We cannot think our feelings away. 

And when we dismiss those feelings as awkward or unhelpful, we are actually shaming ourselves for having them.

Feelings can be awkward – they can get in the way of what we are trying to accomplish. When people are acting and speaking out of their woundedness or fear or defensiveness, it becomes more much more difficult to have constructive conversation.  I am not suggesting that we should say or do whatever we feel like. But our feelings need to be recognized: they are telling us something important about who we are and what we need.  And ignoring them, denying them, or attempting to suppress them, just creates further distress: it actually gives them more power.

Feelings need to be processed: they need to be mined for their meaning, owned for their honesty, and then released.  Then real conversation, and constructive action, can begin. 

If I can be part of that conversation, please contact me by email judyj7377@msn.com or call 605-881-2241.

A Research Project on Ministry Practices Online

Dr. Troy Troftgruben,

Associate Professor, New Testament, Wartburg Seminary,

Rostered Minister Western Iowa Synod

The survey is designed for church ministry leaders (of any tradition), but may be taken by anyone who has invested significantly into forms of online ministry , such as worship and faith formation during the pandemic.

The survey addresses four areas:
1. You and Your Context
2. Worship (longest section)
3. Faith Formation
4. Pastoral & Community Care

The survey entails just over 50 questions, although some may be skipped, depending on how you answer. Budget 15-30 minutes. All participants who finish will be eligible for a host of raffled Amazon gift ecards (to be distributed in August 2020) -- and will earn my deep gratitude.

WHEN:

7-9 p.m., Aug. 5 and

Aug. 12 via ZOOM

HOW MUCH:

Only $25 per person for both sessions.

Register online at SAM Preaching Class.

WHO:

Current SAM - These classes are required for SAM annual authorization.

Future SAM - Interested in becoming a SAM? These classes are a first step.

PRE-READING:

For Aug. 5 class, read

"A Lay Preacher's Guide.

How to Craft a Faithful Sermon" by Karoline Lewis. Preaching date(s) will be scheduled during class. 

Resuming Care-filled Worship & Sacramental Life

The coronavirus pandemic has challenged churches to continue being the Church without gathering In person.....Now churches face another challenge. As states “re-open,” how will we resume worship gatherings in person while the pandemic is still with us? A care-filled response to that challenge is much more than unlocking the church doors and inviting all to come, sit, sing, and greet one another as had been our custom. Here's a helpful best practices for congregations returning to worship in person.

The coronavirus pandemic has challenged churches to continue being the Church without gathering In person.....Now churches face another challenge. As states “re-open,” how will we resume worship gatherings in person while the pandemic is still with us? A care-filled response to that challenge is much more than unlocking the church doors and inviting all to come, sit, sing, and greet one another as had been our custom. Here's a helpful best practices for congregations returning to worship in person.

Additional Considerations

As ELCA congregations face difficult decisions regarding when and how they will be able to gather again for worship, this resource offers general guidance. This not a comprehensive, one-size-fits-all resource; it will need to be interpreted and adapted for your local context. In many, if not most contexts, it will not be safe or advisable to gather for in-person worship for some time. National, state and local medical and legal guidelines will need to be consulted and followed. While risk is not avoidable, this guidance is presented with the aim of reducing the level of risk for your community. Your pastor and congregational leaders will want to carefully review these considerations for Return to In-Person Worship from the ELCA.

WESTERN IOWA SYNOD STAFF CONTACT INFORMATION

The synod staff continues to social distance and for the most part works from home. Office hours are 9 a.m. - 3 p.m., Mon.-Fri. To contact synod staff members, see email addresses below. For staff roles and responsibilities, visit Western Iowa Synod Staff.

News Update from the Western Iowa Synod-ELCA

Help get everyone in the Spirit!

Please forward this e-Spirit to church Councils, staff, congregations,

community partners, church members in military service, college

or wherever they may be.

SUBSCRIBE