Southwestern TX Synod

#SwTXSynod supports & strengthens 135 South Texas congregations & worshiping communities ♥ God's people, growing in faith, outwardly focused, doing mission! #ELCA

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God's Work, Our Hands Sunday at House of Prayer and other San Antonio partner churches Shepherd King, Hope, St Andrews, Amazing Grace, Gethsemane and Resurrection. Way to go guys! (at San Antonio, Texas)

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God’s Work. Our Hands. [2015]

Thank you to the many congregations who participated in this past Sunday's "God's Work. Our Hands." day of service. We had multiple congregations throughout the Southwestern Texas Synod serve their communities--putting together hygiene kits and school kits, serving meals to first responders, cleaning up neighborhoods, caring for our four-legged, furry friends, and more!

It's not too late to send in your photos! Email photos of your teams in action to [email protected]. Using Twitter or Instagram? Use the hashtag #SWTsynod to share your photos with us! Be sure to include a service project name, congregation name, and city. We will keep adding to this post with more photos as they’re sent in!

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The Installation of Sarah Nye as Pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Robstown was celebrated on August 23, 2015.

About Sarah:

Pastor Sarah was ordained as a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on July 12, 2009 after graduating from Luther Seminary with a Masters of Divinity degree. Her undergraduate degree comes from Luther College where she majored in elementary education with endorsements in special education and teaching English as a second language/bilingual education.

Sarah and her husband Joel are the parents of two girls named Karis and Kidist.

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Welcome to the Lutheran Campus Ministry Interim Pastor

Pastor David Seddelmeyer is serving as the Interim Campus Pastor with the Lutheran Campus Ministry at the University of Texas at Austin. David and his wife Debbie make their home in Leander, Texas. They have 3 grown children and 6 grandchildren.

In recent years Pastor Seddelmeyer has served the church as an intentional interim pastor for congregations. He has gifts for preaching and music. He loves to laugh and be with people. He looks forward to engaging in ministry with the students. In his letter to students Pastor Dave shared: “I consider myself to be a creative person, a passion I like to bring to worship and worship planning. I enjoy many forms of music, photography, travel, and gardening. Stop by and ask about my bonsai trees or orchids!”

Rebecca Guengerich, continuing as part time staff for the campus ministry, is fulfilling a number of roles in this time of transition to support this active ministry.

Pr. Paul Collinson-Streng was called to Christ Ev. Lutheran Church in Fairfax, Virginia this summer. A call committee for the campus ministry is formed and ready to work. We hope that a pastor will be called by the end of the year to serve permanently.

This campus ministry has also been in transition for a permanent ministry center. A high rise is currently being constructed on the former location that will become the home for 500+ students and the new home for the ELCA Lutheran Campus Ministry. Many thanks to the interfaith and ecumenical faith community who have welcomed the Lutheran Campus Ministry to use building space during this transitional time. St. Martin’s Ev. Lutheran Church, Austin, in particular, has provided office space and staff assistance--their hospitality is much appreciated.

We ask for continued prayers during this time and financial support for the campus ministry in Austin is appreciated. At this time, gifts can be sent to the Lutheran Campus Ministry in care of St. Martin’s Ev. Lutheran Church, 606 W. 15th Street, Austin, Texas, 78701.

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Northwestern US Wildfires

A Pastoral Letter from Bishop Martin Wells Eastern Washington-Idaho Synod August 2015

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus, the Great Shepherd, protector of the flock.

Today my heart goes out to those in our synod and region who are suffering from wildfire. Unprecedented conditions have merged to bring a conflagration to our neighbors, our synod. Our hearts, my heart, breaks to see homes on fire and our wild-land aflame. We love this home in the West, but it is burning today.

I ask for prayers for our pastors in Chelan, in Wenatchee, East Wenatchee, in Orofino/Kamiah and across our wonderful country, the deep West, the land of imagination and open spaces. Tonight we watch our land burn, helpless to know how to intervene with fire, paradoxically a sign of the Holy Spirit of God.

But the deepest contest is not creation against fire.  No, the deepest contest is fear against trust.

Do you know the term “vanishing point” from your earliest art classes? It’s the notion that an artist draws/paints with a necessary perspective, the way the eyes see and the brain interprets. This notion teaches artists to draw a picture with a focal point deep in the frame, where otherwise separate and parallel lines converge. The practical effect is that each dimension of an image must account for this deeper perspective.

I propose that we visualize this point in the deep background as God, the place of deepest trust. To imagine in this way insists that all the foreground confusion, all the middle ground despair, is finally brought to focus in a single spot of trust, God our Creator and Jesus the beginning of the New Creation (2 Cor 5:17).

This is one way to think of our deepest trust and it offers an ultimate counterpoint to fear, fear in the foreground for sure, but a deep confidence that ultimately everything coheres—is brought into focus--in God.

And so we address the present and send our gifts to those who are in immediate peril, for relief of suffering. We commit ourselves to the mid-term, when first gifts run dry because more immediate needs demand focus, and we invest ourselves in the deepest vision of God, a new creation—even the product of refining fire—our ultimate focal point, our trust.

Our pastor, Paul Palumbo, (Lake Chelan Lutheran Church) is in the midst of a community and county on fire. Along with Pr. Gail Hart (Ascension, Orofino, and Faith, Kamiah) whose own rural home is threatened, we are leveraged out into danger, for our communities, for our congregational families, and for members as exhaustion looms. The Holden volunteer community waits in exile at Celebration, Wenatchee (Pastors Dave Haven and Misael Fajardo), and community members are keeping them well supplied with food but they yearn to be back in the Village with their pastor, Kent Narum, and reengage in ministry together.

Please be generous as you are able for our family and friends in need. Please stay focused and aware as the first passionate responses wane, and please invest yourselves for the long-term in the vision of renewal of Life which is the ultimate goal of our God. This is our mission as a church, in a season of fire, and in seasons of ordinary time.

We are not afraid. We have what we need from Jesus to know where our ultimate trust resides. This fire is not the end. We look, in confidence, for how it might be a new beginning.

Beyond these fires, this trust is the ultimate vision of our Church.

God bless and keep you all,

+Bishop Martin Wells

Electronic donations may be made at www.ewaidsynod.org.

To send a contribution through your congregational offering mark your checks for “Northwest Fires” and your treasurer will send in your gift with your regular Mission Support, our gifts for the regional, national, and global mission of our Church.

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Palm Valley’s Creative way of Making a Difference

Pastor David Koppel Senior Pastor, Palm Valley Lutheran Church

Stewardship isn’t always about raising money for the church.

We all know that it is a whole life endeavor, a way of thanking God, a way of putting our priorities right, and a way of making a difference in the world.

But what happens when your church receives a large gift or comes into a significant amount of money?

Often our knee-jerk reaction is to say: “Let’s build!” or “Let’s use the money to balance the budget” or “Let’s raise staff salaries!” (Far be it from me to discourage the last one!)

There are so many needs—and often our first impulse is to punch up our ministries or finish a project. But what if you could take that gift and make a huge difference to hundreds of people year after year after year?

That’s exactly what the people of Palm Valley Lutheran church in Round Rock did. After the congregation was given some property, they sold the land to the city of Round Rock for a magnificent park and received $3,000,000 for it. But rather than use it for their own needs, they chose to set up an endowment fund to help others and begin new ministries.

Through wise financial management, they were able to invest the principle and each year make investments in ministry around the city, around the synod, around the country and around the world. Missionaries have been supported.   New congregations have been started. Buildings have been erected. Hungry kids have been fed. Scholarships have been given. A grant is provided to the bishop of our synod each year to help provide for the needs of various congregations in our synod.

Over the years, over $6,000,000 grants were awarded from the fund. You might think that by funding all of these projects that the fund would have been depleted, but it now has a balance over $4,100,000.

Imagine the ministries that would not have begun, the people that would not have benefitted if Palm Valley had chosen to spend the initial sum on their own congregation and ministries in that first year or two.

By having a plan and investing wisely and sharing the interest, the fund has not only grown, but has provided for many ministries and will provide for many more in the years to come.

You many not think that your congregation will ever receive a large gift – but it may—and it is good to have a plan in place so that you have the opportunity to steward the gift to help as many people as you can, for as long as you can.

You can make a difference today and in the years to come.

Perhaps you will be the person to establish a fund like this in your congregation. You can do it now or you can leave funds to your congregation in your will, or even make the church the beneficiary of your life insurance policy. Consider a charitable remainder trust. There are many ways to start a fund like this, and many ways to make use of it to change lives for generations to come.

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#SWTsynod Young Adults in Global Mission Update

The 2 Young Adults in Global Mission with connections to the Southwestern Texas Synod--Josh Stallings and Jonathan Young--will be leaving for their mission assignments on Aug. 19th. They've each shared a small update ahead of their travels to Mexico (Josh) and Hungary (Jonathan).

Jonathan Young:

I’ll officially depart from Texas on August 19th (for Hungary). Things are going well with the fundraising. In fact, there is a church out in Seguin that donated $1,000 to both me and Josh each, which was so nice and gracious. So I’ll be traveling out there in August to meet the congregation and thank them personally.

In the YAGM program we’re required to publish an article once a month for a newsletter that goes out; so that’s one way you can get updates. A more personal way to receive updates would be through a my blog--I will provide the website address once the setup is complete--or by email at [email protected]. In addition to those, you can check my social accounts to stay updated.

Best, Jonathan

Josh Stallings:

If you have not already heard, I will be heading to Mexico with the ELCA's Young Adults in Global Mission program. I will be leaving August 19th to begin this year-long experience that will be filled with service, learning, new challenges, and lots of growth.

I will be living with a host family and volunteering at a shelter for migrants called la Sagrada Familia in Apizaco, a town in the state of Tlaxcala. Sagrada Familia is a very short stay shelter (two days max) where migrants are able to rest, take a shower and get a meal or two before heading out on the road again. Migrants arrive at the shelter primarily by bus or by riding on top of the train.  I will accompany migrants, talk to them, listen to their stories, and participate in some regular workshops. I will also tend to the shelter's garden and chickens, work in the kitchen, and take care of laundry. The shelter is primarily visited by men. Numbers fluctuate anywhere from 3 to 50 individuals.

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Confronting Racism

On September 6, ELCA congregations across the country will take up the African Methodist Episcopal Church's call to recognize that Sunday as a "Day of Confession, Repentance, Prayer, and Commitment to End Racism."

Southwestern Texas Synod churches are encouraged to join in solidarity with the A.M.E. Church and other churches around the country to face, confront, and act on the issue of race.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, 

The hard but undeniable fact of deeply embedded racism in American society has come to the fore in painful ways this past year through high-profile occurrences of racial discrimination, hatred and violence - including racially motivated killings. As Lutheran Christians, what should be our response and witness? As members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, how are we called to confront the sin of racism?

We need to talk and we need to listen, but we also need to act.

Through our church's social statement - "Freed in Christ: Race, Ethnicity, and Culture" - the ELCA collectively has expressed its calling to confront racism and advocate for justice and fairness for all people. You can read this social statement here. In addition, I have made several public statements on behalf of the church recently on this subject. Those statements are available here.

God's intention for all humanity is that we see the intrinsic worth, dignity and value of all people. Racism undermines the promise of community and fractures authentic relationships with one another. As Christians, though, we live in the conviction that the church has been gathered together in the joyful freedom of the reign of God announced by and embodied in Jesus. That reign has not come in its fullness, but the message of God's "yes" to the world breaks down all dividing walls as we live into that promise.

I urge you to deepen your involvement in and commitment to this important work to which we all are called.

Your Sister in Christ,

The Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton Presiding Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America 

Here are some questions to help you get started:

What seems to be the role of racism in our faith life and/or our life together?

What did you learn from the webcast conversation?

What is the value of sharing and hearing one another’s stories of faith and cultural background? Can differences cause tension or division? How might they bring joy?

What next steps could we take?

Worship Resources

Charleston 2015: A Service of Repentance and Mourning -- http://bit.ly/1Ly3kM3 (6/25 revised version) 

Resources about the ELCA’s ongoing racial justice work:

Bishop Eaton’s June 18th Public Statement

Bishop Tiemann’s Public Statement

VIDEO: Bishop Eaton continues call for racial equity

Social Statement on “The Church and Criminal Justice: Hearing the Cries” | Spanish

Social Statement on “Freed in Christ: Race, Ethnicity, and Culture” | Spanish

Listing of ELCA Racial Justice Resources

Talking Together as Christians about Tough Social Issues

Talking Together as Christians Cross-culturally: A Field Guide

Understanding One Another: A Congregational Resource

Racial Justice Ministries 

Downloadable ELCA Resources on Racial Justice Ethnic Specific and Multicultural Ministries

Ethnic Specific and Multicultural Ministries

Downloadable ELCA Resources on Ethnic Specific & Multicultural Ministries ELCA Advocacy Ministries

ELCA Advocacy

Downloadable ELCA Resources on Advocacy

Additional Readings:

Essential Resources for Moving the Racial Justice Conversation Forward (Lutheran Confessions Blog)

It’s time to talk with youth in the church about racism : Since there is not a deep-rooted history of people dehumanizing and terrorizing others with my color of skin, I have the privilege of turning off the news every night and living in my own comfortable bubble without fear or having to acknowledge prevailing racism.Because this is the easy way.However, as a follower of Jesus, I cannot hold tight to this privilege. Because this is not Jesus’ way.

Capturing Quiet Acts of Resistance:  Workaday moments of ordinary black life are often not considered newsworthy. But it is these moments that represent quiet acts of resistance, reclaiming narrative without the need for big gestures or artificial iconography. My aim is to show African-Americans as empowered agents in their own lives, whose humanity doesn’t need explanation or defense.

Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago’s Letter Regarding Campus Racism (May 8, 2015):  No one should ever be subjected to such treatment under any circumstances. It is all the more dismaying when this happens in a Christian setting where love of neighbor, welcome to the stranger, and reconciliation in Christ should be the norm. When such behavior happens at LSTC during my service as president, it is part of my calling to respond, and in ways that I pray will be consonant with our faith and hope. This letter is the first of several such responses in order to begin an institutional process toward amending our ways.

Talking racism on a deeper level: Why does this matter? It matters because it matters to God. It matters because if we refuse to address this darkness, we will be engulfed by it.It matters because we can't continue to live in our communities allowing hate and violence to rule and dominate how we interact with one another as Christians and as human beings.

Of Lions and Men: Mourning Samuel DuBose and Cecil the Lion: When you hear, “black lives matter,” don’t instinctively respond that all lives matter, as if one statement negates the other. Instead, try to understand why people of color might be compelled to remind the world that their lives have value.

YOUNG BLACK WRITERS: REFLECTIONS ON ONE YEAR OF #BLACKLIVESMATTER: Then, a year ago, Michael Brown was murdered in Ferguson, and in the proceeding year, a procession of black bodies were beaten, shot, and strangled before our eyes on film. This incontrovertible proof has forced Americans to realize that these atrocities happen regularly under their noses, they are just hidden from public view. Police brutality has not increased this year, it has just been more visible.

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SWT Synod Treasurer

Brothers and sisters in Christ,

The Synod's Executive Committee needs your help in locating qualified persons to serve as the new Synod Treasurer.  We give thanks for Pr. Bill Irons who capably filled that position over the last two years, but his new call in the Northern Texas-Northern Louisiana synod means that position is vacant.  The Treasurer may be lay or clergy and will serve a four-year term, appointed by the Synod Council.  

We are seeking persons who have experience in accounting, budgeting, and a collaborative work style.  To learn more about the role of the Synod Treasurer and to complete a vita for consideration, please go to www.swtsynod.org/synodtreasurer. We ask that the vita be submitted by Monday, August 17, 2015.

The Executive Committee will interview candidates and make a recommendation to the Synod Council for appointment at their September 12 meeting.  I ask that you keep this process in prayer, and please share names with me of gifted persons for this important synod position.

Peace,

Bishop Tiemann

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Unglamorous yet vital: Our relationship with money is a profoundly spiritual issue

*Reprint information was granted by The Lutheran magazine for this article as it first appeared in the July 2015 issue of The Lutheran.

By Elizabeth A. Eaton

A church in the Northeastern Ohio Synod describes itself as a “50/50” congregation. It gives away half of offerings received. A significant portion goes to mission support, but the congregation also supports local projects and ministries. I visited this congregation on the day it was bringing in offerings for a special appeal. One by one, somber parishioners came forward and placed their offerings in a basket before the altar. Farther back in the congregation I noticed a girl, maybe 5 years old, sitting on her father’s lap. She squirmed and wriggled until he gave her his offering and set her loose. She came tearing down the aisle, check held high, looking for all the world as if she had won the lottery. As she returned to her seat, I pointed out the joy of giving this little girl embodied. Someone from the congregation quipped, “It’s not her money.” I waited for a minute and then said, “No, it’s her Father’s money.”

We have a conflicted relationship with money. We claim that it can’t buy us love or happiness on the one hand but measure our worth and security by it on the other. We don’t like to talk about money in church. We’ve talked about human sexuality in this church for years, but we don’t talk about money. It’s just beyond the pale. I remember an interview with a call committee where I asked to see the treasurer’s reports. I was told: “Oh no, pastor, you worry about spiritual matters and we’ll worry about the finances.” But our relationship with money is a profoundly spiritual issue. Our peculiar relationship with money can hold us in a kind of bondage. Jesus knew this when he encountered a rich man who claimed to have kept the commandments from his youth but still felt something was missing. When Jesus told him to sell everything he had, give it to the poor and follow him, he “was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions” (Mark 10:17-22).  He was possessed.

Giving is a spiritual discipline. It’s a way for us to learn to live by faith. It’s a way to participate in God’s generosity and abundance. It’s a way to move beyond ourselves. It’s also a way for us to be connected one to another. Responding to the grace and prodigal love of God expressed in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, our giving is a communal act. Giving isn’t a private thing any more than worship is. It’s part of our life together. I’m not talking about the ostentatious and self-serving giving that Jesus warns against in Matthew 6:2-4, but the intentional and, in her case, extravagant offering of the widow at the temple (Mark 12:41-44). Hers was a public act of faith and participation in the corporate life of the community. How often does your congregation talk about money? At the annual fall stewardship campaign? In adult forums? Ever? Does your congregation have stewardship education and an annual stewardship program? Your bishops, synod staffs and directors for evangelical mission are ready and eager to work with you. Call them.   Recently, Bishop James Hazelwood of the New England Synod polled rostered and lay members about mission support. He discovered that about 10 percent knew what mission support is. It’s the financial support congregations send to synods to enable and further the work of the greater church. A percentage is forwarded to the churchwide organization to support the ELCA’s work at home and around the world. Some synods send as much as 55 percent of mission support received. All of our synods are generous, even sacrificial, in their giving. This is work we do together—no single congregation or synod could do this alone. And synods also support ministries on their territories—seminaries, camps, colleges, social ministry organizations, new congregations and much more. Giving patterns have changed. I understand that people want to give to specific projects or local causes. That’s great. Keep doing that. In fact, check out Always Being Made New: The Campaign for the ELCA. You can designate to vital ministries to your heart’s content. But be a part of faithful, liberating, connecting mission support. It might not be glamorous, but it makes a difference.

July 2015. “The Lutheran®” | Subscribe to The Lutheran for more articles like this.

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2015 Youth Gathering Wrap-Up

A HUGE thank you to all the synod youth groups for sharing your experiences in Detroit with us using the #SWTsynod hashtag!

As the groups return to their congregations, we encourage you to talk with them and find ways to help support and encourage the enthusiasm they showed at the Gathering in your own communities.

Connect with Youth After the Gathering (Blog: Pastor Joe McGarry)

ELCA Youth Gathering in the News

In case you missed some of the press coverage the Gathering attracted, here’s a small round up of some of the more popular stories:

5 Things We Learn About Lutherans from Their Youth Event (Deadline Detroit)

Detroiters Embrace Visiting Lutheran Teens for 'Your Good Work for Our Area' (Deadline Detroit)

30,000 Lutherans blanket Detroit to volunteer, worship (Detroit Free Press)

Viral Blog Re-Cap:  A Letter To Detroit From A National Youth Gathering Participant

#SWTsynod Gathering Videos

Watch a video playlist created by Pastor Harold Vanicek of St. Peter Lutheran, Marble Falls:

If your congregation produced any videos documenting your group’s time at the Gathering, please email a link to [email protected] so we can include them here.

Our Previous Youth Gathering Posts

Arrival Day

Opening Day

Proclaim Justice Day

Proclaim Story Day

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#RiseUpELCA 2015 Youth Gathering: Proclaim Story & Synod Day

On Friday, our synod joined together for a day of worship, fellowship and reflection using storytelling, music, Bible study, and more!

Bishop Ray also shared with them the synod hashtag #SWTsynod and the result was a massive amount of photos full of smiling faces living our synod mission in Detroit.

God’s people, growing in faith, outwardly focused, doing mission!

(Note: click on the photos above to make them larger)

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#RiseUpELCA 2015 Youth Gathering: Proclaim Justice

On Thursday, July 16, hundreds of Southwestern Texas Synod youth poured into Detroit neighborhoods to serve their Proclaim Justice day. Some groups packaged meals, while others cleaned up neighborhoods and boarded up vacant homes.

Here are a few Day 2 recaps from around the synod:

Gethsemane Lutheran - Austin 

We just finished working at Forgotten Harvest and helped pack food to feed ~7700 people!!

Palm Valley Lutheran Church - Round Rock

Service in Highland Park, MI picking up trash and cleaning up a vacant lot. ‪#‎RiseUpELCA‬ ‪#‎SWTsynod‬

Abiding Love - Austin

The Abiding Love force worked hard and had a blast today rejuvenating a neighborhood in serious decline. The love and gratitude of the neighbors was the greatest reward. These kids understood what it means to be called angels by people who meant it with all their hearts. Parents, you raised em right! -Pr.B

Some of our synod youth even made the local Detroit news!

We’re proud of the hard work our synod’s youth are doing in Detroit!

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#RiseUpELCA 2015 Youth Gathering: Opening Day

Amidst delays and traffic jams, many of our synod youth completed their journey to Detroit for the 2015 ELCA Youth Gathering. Those that were already in Detroit explored and did diaper runs for in-kind donations at the Gathering.

Tomorrow will be our synod’s Proclaim Justice day.

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The Ordination of Kathee Forrest was celebrated on July 11, 2015 at Zion Lutheran Church in San Antonio.

Kathee will serve as pastor at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Beatrice, Nebraska! 

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The Ordination and Installation of Susan Irvin as Pastor of St. Paul Lutheran in Nordheim was celebrated on July 11, 2015.

About Sue:

Sue Irvin grew up in Pennsylvania and spent 11 years in the Bay Area of California, during which time she earned a BA in History at San Jose State University, while her husband, Tim, worked in the tech industry.

The Irvins, their cats Abby and Kate, moved to Houston in 2003. Soon after, the family expanded to include a dog, Reemy. After relocating to the Texas Hill Country, Sue began study in the Parish Ministry Training Program, then began the TEEM program at LSPS in Austin. She served as a SAM at St. Paul, Nordheim, from March 2013 till her ordination and installation there on July 11, 2015. 

Sue can often be seen knitting during Synod Assembly and Theological Conference. The Irvins enjoy traveling and watching baseball and football and suspect they are the only people in Texas who do not care about any of the Texas college football teams.

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ELCA Day of Service: God’s Work. Our Hands.

The date for the 2015 dedicated day of service is Sunday, September 13. Congregations across the country will be pitching in to help make their communities a better place.

Here are some resources to help in planning your congregation’s day of service:

Register your congregation w/ ELCA for Day of Service

Sunday Toolkit

Worship Planning Resource

Bulletin Inserts

Day of Service Poster: PDF | Customizable PDF

Order Congregational T-Shirts

God's work. Our hands. Sunday 2015: Download Video

Day of Service Congregational Coordinators

If your congregation has chosen someone as a Service Day Coordinator, please email their name and contact info to [email protected].