Reflections on the May 2012 Meeting of the Southeastern Synod Council

Reflections on the May 2012 Meeting of the Southeastern Synod Council

By Michelle Angalet, Associate in Ministry

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Woodstock, GA

The Southeastern Synod Council met for the second time this year on May 31 at the Renaissance Waverly Hotel, just prior to the 2012 Southeastern Synod Assembly.  Our agenda reflected the spirit of this year’s Synod Assembly theme, “What in God’s name are we doing here?” as it was full of discussion and presentations about topics bound together by the common theme of future mission and ministry here in our Synod and throughout our ELCA.  The Rev. Matt Simpkins, Campus Pastor, Lutheran Campus Ministry at Georgia Tech, shared a progress report and the vision for Lutheran Campus Ministry in the metro-Atlanta area.  Currently Lutheran Campus Ministry has a growing presence at the Georgia Tech, Emory University, Agnes Scott College, and Georgia State University campuses.  In March, Grace House, the “home” of Lutheran campus ministry at Georgia Tech, became Grace (coffee) House as free coffee and homemade baked goods were offered during high traffic times Monday-Friday.  This, and the growing campus ministry presence, has resulted in a healthy problem – space.  Drawings for the addition of a 1,000 square foot outdoor deck which can be used year-round have been completed and funding is almost complete. To find out more about the great ministry being done in this place and how you can provide support, visit www.gracepeople.org. 

Diaconal Minister Rebecca Kolowe, Director for Evangelical Mission and Assistant to the Bishop, and the Rev. Darrel Peterson, Assistant to the Bishop, facilitated a discussion of the ELCA Macedonia Project.  The Southeastern Synod has been awarded a $10,000 grant by the ELCA, which will be matched by $5,000 from our Synod, to intentionally develop substantive conversations in our congregations and rostered leader groups about mission and ministry at the local, synodical and churchwide levels.  Leaders and congregations will be hearing more about our Macedonia Project in the coming months.  The funding it provides will make it possible for council members to visit congregations, for rostered leaders to intentionally meet with fellow rostered leaders from around the synod to talk about what it means to be engaged in shared ministry, and for Mission Interpreter training to happen throughout our Southeastern Synod.  Specifically, we’ll be practicing together what it means to be story tellers in our contexts.  Telling the stories of our congregations and the stories of ministry that our ELCA is engaged in around the country and around the world, and helping one another see that our own stories are intimately woven into the fabric of who we are as church, as the body of Jesus Christ in the world, is one of the goals of the Macedonia Project.  Such sharing of stories helps not only to create vision of what we can do together, but also helps us to see how the Holy Spirit calls and equips us as bearers and doers of the Gospel for the sake of the world.  Council members engaged in a spirited discussion of how this can and should play out in our Southeastern Synod.

Along the same lines, the Rev. Mary Frances, Assistant Director for Development of New Congregations in the ELCA, shared with us a snapshot of how the ELCA has shifted its vision and approach to developing new evangelizing congregations.  In response to the number of new mission starts which have failed in the last decade and to the changing church culture in which we find ourselves today, there is a renewed emphasis on partnership between the churchwide office (in this case with the Congregational and Synodical Mission, or CSM, Unit) and the 65 ELCA synods in identifying and nurturing both mission opportunities and rostered leaders who can lead them.  The role of Director for Evangelical Mission (our Synod has two of them) is one way this partnership is lived out.  Other ways are through focused stewardship education, focused effort to increase mission support, and intentional congregational mission planning.  Does this sound like the Macedonia Project all over again?  It just might as the ELCA Macedonia Project is one tool that our churchwide organization is using to facilitate such nurturing in many of our synods.  Other ways in which synods are promoting identification of new ministry opportunities and leaders is through multicultural networks, our ecumenical partner network, intentional conversations with seminaries, and promoting out-of-the-box thinking and visioning around fresh expressions of the church.  One example of this latter idea is what the ELCA calls “New Wine” expressions.  Here, new ministries have formed out of congregations that recently disaffiliated from the ELCA.  Truly we are being encouraged to look around and see what the Holy Spirit is calling us to do in the places where we are, even if this means it looks completely different than it looked before. 

To support missional outreach, the Southeastern Synod currently offers a number of grant and loan opportunities to congregations and individuals. The Great Commission Fund is one such funding opportunity.  This fund is set up on an endowment basis; the current spendable amount is about $130,000.  It awards either grants or loans of up to $3,000 for mission outreach projects to congregations or conferences.  For more information about the Great Commission Fund and other funding sources in our synod, visit http://www.elca-ses.org/Grants-Loans.html.  Please note that the award criteria for these grants and loans is currently under evaluation in the hope of encouraging more applications and may be changed at the September 2012 synod council meeting.  In the meantime, we encourage you to become familiar with what is available as you move forward in reimagining your congregational mission plan.

Dr. Everett Flanigan, Director for Evangelical Mission and Assistant to the Bishop, updated the council on the Lutheran Theological Center in Atlanta (LTCA).  Working closely with the ELCA Congregational and Synodical Mission Unit, LTCA has a new vision and is being retooled to support the ministries our congregations and synodical, national and global expressions are engaged in.  A schedule of programs for 2012-14 was presented which includes, but is not limited to, a Missional Leadership School, seminary level course offerings, and classes for TEEM candidates.  LTCA is also working toward providing many of these offerings in Spanish, Korean and Kiswahili so that our brothers and sisters from other cultures can participate.  A Lecture and Preaching Series for the coming year will include the following:  lecture(s) on criminal justice; a Global African Diaspora Symposium; an African American Spirituals, Spirituality and Healing course; and possibly the Hein-Fry Lecture Series.  The annual Hein-Fry Lectures are sponsored by Luther Seminary and identify key theological issues facing the church. The lectures are designed to stimulate inquiry and discussion at the eight ELCA seminaries and throughout the church.  Additionally, the Council approved the Covenant of Agreement for the LTCA and its operation as a ministry and program of the Southeastern Synod in partnership with the ELCA CSM Unit and Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, authorized Bishop Gordy to sign the agreement on behalf of our synod, and appointed Dr. Everett Flanigan as Administrative Dean of LTCA.  This is a half-time appointment funded by the ELCA.  Dr. Flanigan will also continue to serve as a half-time Director for Evangelical Mission and Assistant to the Bishop in our synod. 

The council also received an update on the Standing on the Promise Campaign by Ms. Libby Bedenbaugh of Lutheridge-Lutherock, Ministries, Inc.  At this time, congregations in the Southeastern Synod are receiving council visits by members of the campaign and are being asked to discern their commitment to it.  A major portion of the proceeds from this campaign will be used to equip Lutheranch as an outdoor ministry site right here in our own synod.  The Synod Council also forwarded to the Synod Assembly a resolution to protect Lutherock by requesting that Mountain Electric Company find an alternate route for its electric transmission line outside of Lutherock and The Lutherock Natural Area. 

In answer to the question, “What in God’s name are we doing here?” the Synod Council can answer that it is intentionally and enthusiastically having ongoing conversation about how it can facilitate and support God’s work that needs to be done in our Southeastern Synod.  But our conversations are incomplete without your input.  Please reach out to a member of the Synod Council and ask questions, provide input, tell us what you think.  Or, gather together with your conference neighbors, your cluster friends, or other congregations that share your ministry goals and talk about ways that you can work together. You can find your conference representative and all the contact information for synod council members under the Synod Info tab on the synod website homepage or use this direct link:  http://www.elca-ses.org/Synod-Council.html.