Mission Support connects us! STORYTELLING ENGAGEMENT Unidad — Unity A story out of our Metropolitan New York Synod for our ELCA stewardship ministry, in celebration of the Peterman Award Have you ever met a person of faith who shines with the light of Christ even in the hardest of times and places? After meeting the...
Author Archive
February 3, 2025
January Mission Support Memo
Mission Support connects us! STORYTELLING ENGAGEMENT Unidad — Unity A story out of our Metropolitan New York Synod for our ELCA stewardship ministry, in celebration of the Peterman Award Have you ever met a person of faith who shines with the light of Christ even in the hardest of times and places? After meeting the...
January 29, 2025
Equipping our Synod for the work of ministry..
FROM THE OFFICE OF THE BISHOP Dear SEPA Family and Friends, Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus Christ. I am writing to share some important updates about staffing changes within our Synod. When I began my term as bishop this past September, I committed to holding off on staffing changes until after February 1. Now,...
December 23, 2024
Christmas Message from Bishop Penman
December 23, 2024 Grace and peace to you this Christmas season. At the heart of the Christmas story is a journey—a journey of a young couple, Mary and Joseph, searching for a place to stay. When they arrived in Bethlehem, there was no room for them. Yet in the kindness of a stranger, they found...
December 19, 2024
December Mission Support Memo
Mission Support connects us! STORYTELLING ENGAGEMENT Companion Connections A story from our Oregon Synod bishop Each of our ELCA synods engages with at least one companion synod in another country, a global accompaniment funded by your Mission Support. In this time of Advent wonder, we want to share with you an edited version of a...
December 11, 2024
December Message from the Bishop
December 11, 2025 Dear Beloved in Christ, December often feels like a whirlwind in the church. The steady progression from Advent to Christmas overlays the festive chaos of the secular holiday season, making this time especially busy. Those who’ve worked with me over the years know that I’m a “special kind of crazy” when it...
December 11, 2024
A Pastoral Message from the ELCA Bishops of Pennsylvania
Advent 2024: A Season of Waiting and Hope Dear Pennsylvania Lutherans and Partners in Ministry, As we begin the season of Advent, we are reminded of the holy call to wait with hope and expectation. In this time of preparation, we recall the promise of God’s presence among us—Emmanuel, God with us—and the call to be attentive...
November 19, 2024
ELCA congregations, the time for clean energy is now.
A Message from the Mission Investment Fund: As faith communities, we are not merely bystanders in a transition to clean energy—we are leaders. Guided by our shared values of care for one another and the Earth, we have the potential to drive significant change. By leveraging new federal programs and financial incentives, we can make...
November 15, 2024
November Mission Support Memo
Mission Support connects us! STORYTELLING ENGAGEMENT A story from the West Virginia-Western Maryland Synod: Mission Support shared with the churchwide organization allows us to create partnerships with preferred vendors that make things like online giving and having a web presence easier and more affordable for congregations. These partnerships allow the churchwide organization to use some...
November 15, 2024
All Saints Appeal
“Give thanks for those whose hope is clear, beyond mere mortal sight: who seek the city God has planned, the true, eternal promised land, and steer on toward that light, a beacon ever bright..” – Give Thanks for Saints (ELW 428) Dear Faithful Saints of Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod, Thank you, saints, for witnessing to God’s extravagant love...
November 1, 2024
Why should you donate to charities directly from your IRA?
Our Synod Generosity Team is sharing the following article as a way to help you use your money wisely in saving and in giving. If you are over 70 years old and have an IRA, here is some good advice. Why should you donate to charities directly from your IRA? Do you donate to Churches or...
November 1, 2024
November Message from the Bishop
Dear Friends in Christ, As we enter November, many of our congregations celebrate the Feast of All Saints—a time rich in tradition across our synod. Some congregations honor the saints who have died in the past year by reading their names, tolling bells, lighting candles, or pausing in silence to remember those we’ve loved and...
October 24, 2024
The SEPA Synod Urban Ministries Application for Grant Funds
The SEPA Synod Urban Ministry Team is pleased to announce the availability of a total of $163,000 for distribution to eligible congregations in its 2024 grant funding cycle ($63,000 comes from the ELCA Innovations Team and $100,000 is from SEPA Synod). Of the $163,000 in available grant funding, up to $100,000 is earmarked for Building...
October 14, 2024
October Message from the Bishop
Dear Friends in Christ, Did you know that Clergy Appreciation Month has its roots all the way back in Paul’s letters to the early church? Paul encouraged believers not to grow weary in their ministry, and that same spirit of encouragement continues today through Clergy Appreciation Month. Gaining momentum in the 1990s (thanks in large...
October 14, 2024
October 2024 Mission Support Memo
STORYTELLING ENGAGEMENT Hallelujah! A story from the Indiana-Kentucky Synod Imagine entering a sanctuary, hearing the joyful sounds of a praise band, the drums, keyboard, guitar and voices singing “Hallelujah,” dresses and jackets full of bright color, mostly young adult leaders, and the congregation swaying with the music. Then, you realize the words are not in...
October 8, 2024
What Really Matters? A SEPA Youth Event
Join us for an overnight adventure at Bear Creek Camp! Open to youth in grades 6-9 and their leaders, we’ll hike, play games, get closer to God and more! Make connections with peers! Grow closer to Jesus! Love GOD and love others! Registration opens: October 10! Last day to register: October 24 $65 per person...
October 4, 2024
Praying for Peace Amid Ongoing War in the Middle East
In observance of the one-year anniversary of the start of the current conflict in the Holy Land, amid times of escalating conflict and pain, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton offers prayers for peace, healing and justice for all people in Israel and Palestine, and the regions where the war has escalated. “We grieve this violence and loss of...
October 2, 2024
Lilly Endowment Inc. Funds Faith Alive
For Immediate Release The Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has received a $1,249,933 grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to help establish Faith Alive. The program is funded through Lilly Endowment’s Nurturing Children Through Worship and Prayer Initiative, a national initiative designed to help Christian congregations more fully and intentionally...
September 20, 2024
Bishop Penman Installed Sept. 14, 2024
On Saturday, September 14th hundreds of people gathered in the sanctuary of the Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral and across sacred cyberspace to celebrate the installation of the Rev. Bryan Penman as the sixth Bishop of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod! More than one hundred people shared their time and talent in the service and in...
December 5, 2024
2025 Nominations
How does the work of Jesus get done in Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod? By faithful members of our congregations who love Jesus, love the Church, and are willing to take leadership positions in our Synod. At the upcoming Synod Assembly, May 30 & 31, 2025, we will be electing leaders to serve on the Synod Council....
September 18, 2024
Registration Open: Live Faithfully – Synod Wide Learning Day & Love Revolution Launch
Saturday, October 19, 2024, 9:00 am-3:00 pm St. Luke Lutheran Church 203 N Valley Forge Rd, Devon, PA 1933 How are you living out your baptismal call? Congregations and their leaders are invited to spend a day exploring how we are called to live among God’s faithful people. Bishop Dwayne Royster from Power Interfaith will be...
