One of the important pieces of work approved at the January 2024 Northwest Intermountain Synod Council meeting was an updated Misconduct Policy. God intends for the Church to be a safe place for all people to experience God’s love and mercy, grow in faith, and equip themselves for ministry in the world. And yet at times the church has not been a safe place and sexual misconduct has caused injury and pain to individuals and communities.
Bowen Spring Conference
Bowen theory engages a wide audience. Many in traditions of faith have found the theory central to how they think about themselves and their relationships with others, offering insights into theology and the practice of care and counseling, leadership, teaching, and research.
The two-day Faith, Functioning, and Bowen Theory conference will explore the implications of Bowen theory specifically for communities of faith. It is intended for anyone with a professional or personal interest in this area.
How Do You Love Your Mother (Earth)?
My passion to be an advocate/actor for creation care and justice for Earth and all life that lives here has been ignited. I’d like to hear your stories of what excites you to speak and act for creation care and Earth justice.
So, I invite you to join several of us who have been meeting over Zoom as a NWIM Synod Nurturing Creation Care group (a “working name,” for now) since November 2023. You can learn more about us here. We welcome anyone who is curious or already an advocate for creation care. Our next Zoom meeting will be April 18 6:30 PM PDT/7:30 PM MDT. (Note that this is the third Thursday for this month only.) Please contact our facilitator, Deaconess Katrina Martich, at contact@katrinamartich.com for a Zoom link for the meeting and/or any questions about the group that you may have.
BibleProject
New Health Care Partnership
Discerning Your Call
Electronic Carillon Available
Purpose and Goals
In early December, Cathy, Liv, Phil, and I had a two-day retreat facilitated by two staff from Gonzaga University. We had several pieces of pre-work to do in advance of the retreat: identifying our personal values (the things that motivate us or give us direction) and social styles. You can imagine already that the facilitators accelerated our getting to know one another on a deeper level. They also facilitated conversations in which we identified the work we must do as the synod staff and who should be doing what. They helped us create our staff purpose and our goals for at least a few years. For this work, they lifted up our synod mission and vision statements and the ELCA’s Future Directions work. They also guided us as we talked about the gifts and needs in our synod.