SYNOD Events
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Boundary Education for Rostered Leaders
ELCA Region 5 (the synods of Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and the Northern Great Lakes) will gather in satellite locations in our synod for a combined boundaries education day for actively serving rostered leaders.
We will be holding Boundary Education on November 7th, 2024 at two locations in our synod. Please register to reserve your spot. The link to register is HERE The deadline to register is October 24th. There are limited seats available, so register early.
This is part of a 3-year cycle for professional development. The entire Region 5 will be holding this education the same day and utilizing a hybrid model for our presenter.
Region 5 is committed to Boundary Education. Our focus is on creating professional ministry leadership and for safety in our communities of faith.
Region 5 | Boundary Education | Professional Development
November 7th, 2024
9:00am - 3:00pm
Choose between attending at either:
Saint Andrew, Wausau OR Christ the King, Combined Locks
Cost $100 includes lunch
Deadline to Register: October 24th, 2024
Synod Learning Day
Join others for a day of connection and learning to nourish, inspire, and strengthen your ministry! This event is for church people of all kinds: those interested in connection, rostered ministers, council leaders, parish staff, and those engaged in any kind of ministry in a congregation.
Registration caps at 120 participants. REGISTER HERE
$40/person includes lunch, materials, and learning.
Workshops & Keynote
Holy Conversations and Church Vitality with Pastor Dara Clifford
It’s no secret: the world is changing, and the church is changing right along with it! In this workshop, Pastor Dara will offer some background information to support the trends church folks are noticing and feeling, and will share language and framework for possible pathways forward for congregations who are finding themselves in a new era of life together.
Evangelism and Holy Experiments with Lynette Stoneburner and Pr. Karoline Schwantes
New ideas for ministry can be hard to get off the ground. When Lynette Stoneburner began to envision an inclusive community park that was a space where everyone could play, regardless of age and ability - she wasn’t sure how it would all happen. Through prayers, supportive leadership, the vision of Emanuel in Seymour, and generosity from the wider community the dream for ministry became an impactful reality. Hear from two leaders in our synod who have experience and understanding of resources, including the synod mission table, that can help turn prayers for new ministry into a reality.
Transitions, Trends, and Leaders with Pastor Asher O’Callaghan
Transitions are a time when God invites us to let go of what has been for the sake of what could yet be. It is often a time when both anxiety and expectations are high. Clarity can often bring peace of mind during times of uncertainty as the Holy Spirit calls and sends leaders in the Church. This workshop will provide attendees with current trends in church transitions and a detailed overview of both the process and resources available for your congregation during times of transition. While this workshop will not provide space to advise leaders on specific calls or congregations in transition, it will share the best way to be in touch when support is most needed.
Cultivating Community Partnerships with Pastor Jim Honig, Pastor Matt Sauer, and Deni Kuchler
In this panel discussion, hear from three leaders who developed impactful ministries with the help of partnerships in their communities. Learn how the inception of a ministry idea turned into a reality through partnerships that were established across denomination lines and the public sector. If you're wondering about making a difference through feeding and housing ministries and more, please join the conversation.
Healthy Pastor/People Relationships: Why Pastors Stay with Pastor Libby Howe will share factors that make an impact for creating a sustaining, healthy relationship between pastor and people. This workshop would be great for council leaders, mutual ministry members, personnel committees and pastors alike.
Church Treasurers and Administrators Benefits Workshop, with Jennifer Prinz
As an ELCA ministry, Portico Benefit Services offers health, flexible spending, retirement, disability, and survivor plans to help rostered leaders and lay employees strengthen their well-being. As the benefits administrator for your organization, your pastors, deacons, and lay staff, rely on you to help them navigate their ELCA benefits. In this session, discover the resources available to help you effectively sponsor your employees in Portico Benefit Services. Join Regional Representative, Jennifer Prinz, as she leads this interactive session.
Smooth Sailing: Becoming a Resilient Leader in Turbulent Times, with Jennifer Prinz
Resilience is not perfection, but the ability to move forward in imperfect realities. Whether it's leading the church, dealing with difficult situations, or navigating the inevitable bumps and setbacks of life, it is possible to not just survive, but thrive. Discover how to cultivate your God-given strengths and develop healthy practices that will give you the stamina, confidence, and inner peace you need to be a resilient leader.
Keynote
Self-care and the Care of Others: Ministry and Trauma in the Wake of the COVID Pandemic
Synod Learning Day is fast approaching and we’re shifting gears! We realized one of our workshops was just too impactful to not make it a keynote. Join others for this day of learning in November complete with workshops and time learning from our speaker, Sally Hudson, BSN, MS, MSW, LCSW, who will share the presentation, Self-care and the Care of Others: Ministry and Trauma in the Wake of the COVID Pandemic. With over 38 years of experience in the health sciences, with 20 years as a mental health therapist, Sally will provide a basic understanding of trauma for Pastors and Lay Leaders, so they will better understand the effects of the COVID pandemic in the Church community; to recognize the signs of trauma; and to find ways to promote spiritual care and healing.
Schedule
8:00 - 8:30 | Registration
8:30 - 8:45 | Welcome + Devotion
8:45 - 9:45 | Keynote 1
9:45 - 10:45 | Workshop 1
10:45 - 11:00 | Break/Transition
11:00 - 12:00 | Keynote 2
12:00 - 12:45 | Lunch
12:45 - 1:45 | Workshop 2
1:45 - 2:00 | Break
2:00 - 3:15 | Cohort connections
3:30 | Closing and Sending
4:00 | Depart
ad+minister Gathering
ad+Minister gathering
Parish administrators, secretaries, and office professionals are invited to three gatherings at Imago Dei village to connect for mutual support, networking, and professional development. Learn more from the letter below!
Youth Worker Dinner
Connecting Youth Worker Dinners
A chance to get together to talk, share and support each other Watch for details by subscribing to The Weekly Wave www.ecsw.org.
Lay School
Equip people to share Christ’s mission and to live more deeply into what it means to be a follower of Jesus through core program courses and continuing education classes. https://ecswlayschool.org/
Lay School
Equip people to share Christ’s mission and to live more deeply into what it means to be a follower of Jesus through core program courses and continuing education classes. https://ecswlayschool.org/
Youth Worker Dinner
Connecting Youth Worker Dinners
A chance to get together to talk, share and support each other Watch for details by subscribing to The Weekly Wave www.ecsw.org.
Lay School
Equip people to share Christ’s mission and to live more deeply into what it means to be a follower of Jesus through core program courses and continuing education classes. https://ecswlayschool.org/
ad+minister Gathering
ad+Minister gathering
Parish administrators, secretaries, and office professionals are invited to three gatherings at Imago Dei village to connect for mutual support, networking, and professional development. Learn more from the letter below!
Lay School
Equip people to share Christ’s mission and to live more deeply into what it means to be a follower of Jesus through core program courses and continuing education classes. https://ecswlayschool.org/
Lay School
Equip people to share Christ’s mission and to live more deeply into what it means to be a follower of Jesus through core program courses and continuing education classes. https://ecswlayschool.org/
Lay School
Equip people to share Christ’s mission and to live more deeply into what it means to be a follower of Jesus through core program courses and continuing education classes. https://ecswlayschool.org/
Lay School
Equip people to share Christ’s mission and to live more deeply into what it means to be a follower of Jesus through core program courses and continuing education classes. https://ecswlayschool.org/
Fall Conference
“There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”
Letting go without giving up
A fall retreat for rostered ministers in beautiful Door County with Keynote Speaker, Jennifer Hockenbery (Biography Below)
The Landmark Resort once again hosts our fall retreat for pastors and deacons.
Together we will discuss how to let go of the idols of Being Good, Appearing Beautiful, and Knowing Truth as well as the need to let go of the guilt that is tied up with pursuing those idols. But that doesn’t mean just, as Kierkegaard once said about Lutheran morality “lightening up a little,” which actually can make us just feel more guilty and anxious about still feeling guilty and anxious! What it does mean is finding a new freedom in faith in the God who pursues us in love, cloaks us in righteousness, and teaches us through the Spirit. Living in this faith allows us to Love Joyfully—the very opposite of Giving Up.
The verse Galatians 3:28 is going to be the framework for the discussion. In each session we are going to discuss how systemic class divisions about who is valuable create false idols of goodness, beauty, and truth that bind us to cycles of guilt and anxiety. We will think about Paul’s (and Luther’s) theological argument against the categories themselves and our own possibilities for teaching, preaching, and living more freely in our churches, institutions, and individual lives.
Keynote Speaker - Jennifer Hockenbery
Keynote speaker, Jennifer Hockenberry
Jennifer Hockenbery is the interim executive director of WELCA and the current editor of Journal of Lutheran Ethics. She was dean of Humanities at St. Norbert College from 2020-2024 and Professor of Philosophy at Mount Mary University from 1998-2020. Her edited volume, The Devil's Whore: Reason and Philosophy in the Lutheran Tradition, brought together philosophers, theologians, and historians to discuss how Lutheran theology was influenced by the philosophical traditions of Greece, Roman, and Medieval Europe and how Lutheran theology influenced and incfluences the philosophy after Luther. Her books, Thinking Woman: A philosophical approach to the quandary of gender and Wisdom's Friendly Heart:Augustinian Hope for Skeptics and Conspiracy Theorists, both explore dialogue as a way to help us find consensus and ethical paths forward in issues surrounding gender and politics. A lifelong Lutheran who has enjoyed all the stages of church life, from being in Christmas pageants to directing them, from sitting in Sunday School to teaching it, and from enjoying Luther League to participating in mostly older adult education, she is now a member of Grace Lutheran Church in Green Bay.
Lay School
Equip people to share Christ’s mission and to live more deeply into what it means to be a follower of Jesus through core program courses and continuing education classes. https://ecswlayschool.org/
Youth Worker Dinner
Connecting Youth Worker Dinners
It's time to CONNECT! Our synod's Youth Worker Dinners will be starting up again on Thursday, October 17. All events this year will take place at Pine Lake Crossways Lutheran Camps in Waupaca from 6pm-9pm. These events are for all adults who work with Youth, Children, and Families in congregations, whether you are paid staff, volunteer, or pastor/rostered minister. All are welcome and encouraged to come and connect! The meal will be a Potluck and the main course will be provided. Please bring a side dish or dessert. Please RSVP to wendy.black@ecsw.org with a note on what you might bring for the Potluck. We know it's important to support each other in this hard work by conversation, a meal, sharing, connecting, laughing, and praying together. Please share this information with others! The dates for these CONNECT meals will be:
Thursday, October 17
Thursday, November 14
Thursday, January 16
Synod Youth Event - Little Farmer
Synod Day at Little Farmer
Join with others from across the synod for a day of fall fun at Little Farmer (N9438 Hwy 151 Malone, WI) on Saturday, September 28th.
Meet at 11am in front of the farm by the parking lot. Look for the lady with the pink noodle! Each participant should bring money for hay rides and the corn maze, cost is $5/each. Caramel apples start at $4/each.
Each congregation is responsible for their own payments and supervision.
Groups please RSVP to Patty, pkoplitz@our-saviors.org
ad+minister Gathering
ad+Minister gathering
Parish administrators, secretaries, and office professionals are invited to three gatherings at Imago Dei village to connect for mutual support, networking, and professional development. Learn more from the letter below!
Lay School
Equip people to share Christ’s mission and to live more deeply into what it means to be a follower of Jesus through core program courses and continuing education classes. https://ecswlayschool.org/
New to the Synod Gathering
Gathering for rostered leaders to meet with the Bishop and synod staff.
WELCA Fall Retreat
Featuring Gaye Lindfors | Speaker and Author
With a unique blend of faith, encouragement, humor, and stories, Gaye invites women to experience a faith that is refreshed and a joy that is contagious! Learn more about her work at GayeLindfors.com
Visit https://www.ecsw.org/welca for more details.
God's work. Our hands.
This day is an opportunity to celebrate who we are as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America — one church, freed in Christ to serve and love our neighbor.
Service activities offer an opportunity for us to explore one of our most basic convictions as Lutherans: that all of life in Jesus Christ – every act of service, in every daily calling, in every corner of life — flows freely from a living, daring confidence in God’s grace.
More information HERE
Lay School Student Orientation
ECSW Lay School of Ministry Student Orientation
Learn More about Lay School Courses
Meet fellow students
Q&A time
Orientation is hosted on Zoom, email layschool@ecsw.org for the link.
Hearing on Social Statement Draft
Synod Hearings on Draft Social Statement, "Civic Life and Faith," Scheduled
The ELCA is developing a social statement on civic life and faith, the relationship of church and state, and related matters, as called for by the 2019 ELCA Churchwide Assembly.
Social statements are the ELCA’s primary documents to address significant social issues. They are intended to aid reflection, shape conscience and set forth the ELCA’s teaching and policy on the major social issues and questions of contemporary life. Social statements are developed by task forces, using an established process of study and widespread participation across the church to guide theological and moral deliberation.
At this time the task force encourages you to study and give feedback on a draft version of the social statement. You can participate by filling out a survey, found here, or by participating in one of the hearings offered in our synod. Hearings are public gatherings where participants share their specific affirmations or concerns about a draft statement. The feedback period will be open until Sept. 30, 2024.
Youth Gathering
Every three years, thousands of high school youth and their adult leaders from across the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America gather for a week of faith formation known as the ELCA Youth Gathering. Through days spent in interactive learning, worship, Bible study, service and fellowship, young people grow in faith and are challenged and inspired to live their faith in their daily lives.
An important part of the Gathering’s ministry are the two pre-events, the Multicultural Youth Leadership Event (MYLE), a faith formation and leadership development event primarily for youth of color, and the tAble, a gathering that brings together, blesses and empowers youth with disabilities.
The ministry of the Gathering is excited to partner with Young Adult Ministries to host the first-ever ELCA Young Adult Gathering for individuals who will be 18-35 at the time of the Gathering.
Congregational EventS Submission Form
Send the synod office your event details to be added to the ECSW calendar.