Mission Support in NWIM
Below is a letter recently mailed to your congregation along with the 2019 certificate of Mission Support and the giving statement for July 2020. We include it here since many are not meeting in church buildings where these might normally be posted. Please share with your congregations in newsletters and emails.
August 2020
Greetings Brothers and Sisters of the Northwest Intermountain Synod,
Faith and hope in Christ Jesus are very much alive in our synod! Despite the fear, rancor and division that abounds in our country, your ongoing Mission Support sent to our synod is a concrete example that your faith abounds so much more. Although our church buildings may be closed, many of us are more open than ever to seeing what the Holy Spirit is doing among us and through us. Thanks to you, the faith of every one of us is strengthened in these troubled times of pandemic.
Your congregation’s regular monetary gifts to Mission Support have been a blessing in 2019 and 2020. They are reflected throughout our synod in the form of grants given for food distribution, technology updates to be able to offer online worship, day care programs for essential-worker families, a conference on resiliency to help the chronic trauma of people living on the margins, ministries supporting families and veterans and school kids, along with supplies to sanitize the buildings that house all these ministries. Our synod staff and office are also sustained through your monetary gifts by enabling assistance for congregations in Call process or transition, candidacy for future leaders, synod-wide events and communications of all sorts. It supports campus ministries and outdoor ministries and Lutheran Community Services NW. Thanks to you, we can partner together as God’s presence in the four states of our synod.
A portion of your Mission Support (27% for fiscal 2021) is passed along to the churchwide expression of the ELCA, where we see its abundance reflected in both domestic and global ministries such as Lutheran Disaster Response, Domestic Hunger, Young Adults in Global Mission, Lutheran World Relief and many others that diligently work to end suffering for those who live without equal access. Thanks to you, we can partner together as God’s presence in our world.
“Thank you” seems like two such small words in comparison to the huge commitment you all humbly engage in through your prayer support, time commitment and monetary partnership. When you have days of doubt and discouragement, talk with one another about how we are continuing to share in God’s Work, Our Hands; read the Stories of Faith in Action (elca.org/SOFIA) and watch the short videos that lift up our efforts together; or visit elca.org/missionsupport to see what difference our combined gifts are making. Do you think even one large congregation could accomplish all this alone? No! It is through our joint effort and God’s grace, that we in the ELCA are a force to be reckoned with! Thanks to all of us, we are the hands and hearts of our loving God shared with a world needing that as much now as at any time before.
Enclosed with this letter-of-thanks is your congregation’s certificate of Mission Support for 2019 (fiscal year ended 1/31/20) and the giving statement for July 2020. Please share these with church councils and members along with our gratitude for your faithfulness as partners in the Kingdom. Perhaps the best way to do that while we are not widely gathering, is to scan and email it in your weekly email or monthly newsletter.
God’s Peace,
Mary Morrow
Mary Morrow, Director for Evangelical Mission
Tami McHugh, Synod Treasurer
Bishop Kristen Kuempel
Download a copy of the letter here.
“Tech Talks”
First in a new series for sharing ideas and learning about digital ministry will take the place of the Synod Weekly Zoom check in this week.
Thursday, August 20, 2020
9:30 Pacific - 10:30 Mountain
Each Thursday morning at 9:30am PDT/10:30am MDT, lay and rostered leaders are invited to a Synod Zoom meeting.
This week will be a new format called TECH TALKS, facilitated by Mary Morrow. A few people will give a brief overview of technology they have found helpful for online worship, we’ll have discussion about what/how you are using digital technology in your congregation, time for questions and sharing of all we’ve learned these past months.
You do not have to be an expert to join in and benefit! We are all becoming more expert as we live into this new digital mode of being Christ in the world! Watch for future dates of TECH TALKS with trainers in the field of digital ministry.
The zoom meeting link is the same each week. Contact Melody at melody.green@nwimsynod.org if you would like to attend. Contact Mary at mary.morrow@nwimsynod.org if you have questions.
Synod Events
“I’m Still Here” Book Study · Tuesdays
Next Meeting: August 18, 6-7:30PM (PDT) / 7-8:30PM (MDT)
This on-line discussion group will be the first of several offerings around anti-racism, diversity, and equity that we will be engaging in in the Northwest Intermountain Synod. It will not be easy. It will be uncomfortable. Mistakes will be made. Forgiveness will be given. And learning will continue, because We Walk Together. Read More→
Save the Dates! BishCon2020 · October 19-21, 2020
Due to COVID-19 and the danger of gathering in large groups, the 2020 Bishop’s Convocation for rostered leaders will be held October 19-21, 2020 via Zoom. More details will be coming soon!
resources
Considerations for Returning to In-Person Worship
Church Mutual · Webinar
Hear from Guy Russ, Church Mutual’s Assistant Vice President of Risk Control and Aaron McCann, an attorney with Godfrey + Kahn Law Firm as they provide important information and insight on cleaning practices and procedures, how to protect the most vulnerable members of your congregations and legal considerations to take before opening your doors.
Northwest Intermountain Synod Guidelines for reopening