Bishop Patricia Davenport, the Fifth Bishop of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the ELCA, opened the Synod’s 2019 Assembly (her first as Bishop) with a reading from Psalm 34: 1-3. “… O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt God’s name together.” From the excitement of her election at the 2018 Assembly, to...
Category: Assembly
May 10, 2019
Bishop Davenport: “We are co-creators of our joint mission”
Bishop Patricia Davenport, the Fifth Bishop of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the ELCA, opened the Synod’s 2019 Assembly (her first as Bishop) with a reading from Psalm 34: 1-3. “… O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt God’s name together.” From the excitement of her election at the 2018 Assembly, to...
March 12, 2019
Assembly 2019: Building Beloved Community
The 2019 Synod Assembly will meet Friday and Saturday, May 3 and 4, under the theme Building Beloved Community. Registration is now open . Our keynote speaker will be the Rev. Nicole D. Diroff , associate director of Interfaith Philadelphia. A number of learning opportunities will explore various aspects of the beloved community theme,...
May 5, 2018
Rev. Patricia Davenport Elected Bishop
Pastor Patricia A. Davenport was elected the next Bishop of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Saturday, May 5, at Franconia Mennonite Church. Pastor Davenport is the first African-descent woman to be elected a bishop in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. On the fourth ballot, Bishop-elect Davenport, currently our...
May 26, 2017
Assembly 2017 Report
Many voices offered perspectives on racism and reconciliation at the 2017 Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod Assembly May 5-6. Bishop Claire Burkat encouraged those gathered to be “more open to engage, to explore, to repent, to be humbled, to align ourselves with this incredible and abundant new life in Christ.” She called on congregations and leaders to take...
May 5, 2017
Openness, Humility Needed to Address Racial Justice
In her address to the 2017 Assembly, Bishop Claire Burkat broke open possibilities to embody racial reconciliation in the work of congregations and the synod at large. Drawing from themes introduced in her sermon, the bishop encouraged those gathered to be “more open to engage, to explore, to repent, to be humbled, to align ourselves...
May 26, 2016
Living Gospel: A Firm Foundation
Pastor Linda Manson and Living Gospel Ministries, our newest faith community, are giving people newly returned from incarceration a sense of self-worth and help re-integrating with society. “It’s important to me that the people who come to be in ministry with us feel loved and cared for,” Pastor Manson says. Building up self-worth undergirds the work Living...
May 20, 2016
Still Reforming Assembly Highlights
“GOD IS STILL REFORMING!…” …Bishop Burkat declared to the 2016 Synod Assembly. More than 500 Lutherans gathered from across Southeastern Pennsylvania to worship, pray, and discern in community explored how we can go outside our doors and listen to our neighbors in ways that are faithful to our 500-year Reformation heritage. Read on for...
May 20, 2016
$22K Raised For Flint Water Crisis…So Far
_rfisher@sepa.org-sepia-150x150.jpg" class="alignleft wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" loading="lazy" /> The offering at the 2016 Synod Assembly Communion Service of more than $5,400 was directed to the work of our domestic partner synod in Southeast Michigan in response to the Flint water crisis. This brings the total raised so far from our Synod to $22,655. Bishop Donald Kreiss called the gift “a true indicator of...
May 16, 2016
Balanced 2017 Budget Approved
The Assembly approved a balanced budget for fiscal 2017 that reflects the continuing decrease in Mission Support contributions from churches. In 2015 Mission Support totaled $1.97 million, a decrease of $180,000 from 2014, reported Treasurer Janet Neff, CPA. The Synod has been responsible managing with diminishing resources, she said. Since 2010, Mission Support has declined...
May 13, 2016
Reformation 500: ‘Explore, Empower and Be Energized’
The upcoming 500th anniversary of the Reformation is a gift to the church. It’s an opportunity to explore, empower, and be energized. It’s a chance to reconnect to our deepest tradition of freedom and to reform stale and stagnant observations of a tradition that began with Luther’s fresh reading of the scriptures and the new...
May 13, 2016
‘A New Dawn for Christ’s Church’
When Martin Luther seized the changes made possible by the printing press, he couldn’t have begun to imagine the exponential changes of our Internet age, Bishop Claire Burkat said in her address to the 2016 Synod Assembly. Despite the stresses posed by constant connectivity, racing schedules and financial pressure, “the Holy Spirit is bringing a...
May 13, 2016
Forward Together in Faith: A Doable Goal
From Bishop Burkat’s presentation to the 2016 Assembly: For a year now, we have used some start up money to begin piloting initiatives for the Forward Together in Faith Campaign. We are confident that together we will equip our clergy and lay leaders with the tools, insights, resources and navigation needed for future Lutheran witness....
May 7, 2016
Forward Together In Faith: New Ways of Being Church
In our 21st Century, post-9/11, globalized world full of “nones” and “dones,” what draws people to church? “This is a Kairos moment,” says the Rev. Bryan Penman, when God’s grace leads us to new ways of being the Church. The Forward Together in Faith campaign focuses on supporting congregations as they reform and become networkers,...
May 7, 2016
In the Midst of Fear, Love Prevails
What shapes our lives and ministry? How do we respond to the formidable forces that threaten to pull us into the whirlpool of fear that has formed around us, reflected in public debate and in how people are treating each other? In her sermon at the assembly’s opening worship, Bishop Claire Burkat pulls together threads...
June 4, 2015
2015 Assembly Highlights
At the 2015 Assembly, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod articulated a new vision for what it means for the Synod, congregations and leaders to move Forward Together in Faith and launched a three-year capital appeal to allow us to live into that vision. The Assembly also heard that congregations’ mission support increased for the second year...
May 29, 2015
Forward Together in Faith Launches
Are we as a synod ready to make changes for the sake of the gospel? Are we ready to network, collaborate and share ideas? Are we ready to take risks and even fail? Are we ready to equip and empower congregations? The 2015 Assembly answered an enthusiastic “Yes!” to these questions from Forward Together in...
May 12, 2015
Bishop: Embrace Our Shifting Culture
Bishop Claire Burkat is excited about the sense of excitement and renewal she is hearing all around the synod. She is excited about what we are building together and the response to the Forward Together in Faith campaign. She feels refreshed that we are becoming less attached to bricks and mortar and more to building...
May 12, 2015
Outgoing Secretary Miller Honored
Bishop Burkat and Vice President Tracey Beasley honored outgoing Secretary the Rev. Raymond Miller for his 16 years of service to the Synod including as many assemblies and 80 Synod Council and executive committee meetings. “He may look quiet and unassuming sitting on the podium at Synod Assembly or taking notes at Synod Council, but he...
May 12, 2015
Joanne Carlson Honored at Last Assembly
The Assembly gave a long, standing ovation to Joanne Carlson, assistant to the bishop for global vision and events, who is retiring in July after coordinating 25 Synod assemblies. “Joanne has a truly missionary heart,” the bishop said of her service representing SEPA to companion synods in Tanzania and the Czech Republic. The extended Carlson...
May 12, 2015
Tanzania Missionaries Welcomed Home
Plant it. Water it. Watch it Grow. The theme of the 2012 Synod Assembly perfectly expresses the partnership of SEPA Synod and the Northeast Diocese of Tanzania. This fruitful partnership was spotlighted at the Assembly on May 9, as we celebrated The Sebastian Kolowa Memorial University (SEKOMU) and missionaries Susan and Tom MacPherson. Watch the session...
