Category: Resources
February 25, 2025
Resources from Council Officers Gathering
The PowerPoint Slides and the Handout from the Council Officers Gathering are below. Due to technical difficulties, we are unable to provide the recording. PowerPoint Slides: council officers gathering-2 Handout: Synod Council Officers Gathering-2
May 23, 2023
Compensation, Supply Fee Guidelines Updated
The SEPA Synod Executive Committee has determined the 2023 Unadjusted Minimum Salary for Rostered Ministers to be $64,671 ($46,671 salary and $18,000 housing) for Pastors, and $48,072 for Deacons. For pastors who reside in a parsonage, the minimum is $46,671. These amounts were determined by taking the existing SEPA 2019 amount and applying the subsequent federal...
May 15, 2020
Continually Updated List of COVID-19 Resources
We have been collecting and sharing resources for navigating COVID-19 from faith and government sources. The most recently added items are listed below. To view the entire collection, click the button below. VIEW ALL RESOURCES > Latest Resources VIEW ALL RESOURCES > Photo by Марьян Блан | @marjanblan on Unsplash
January 17, 2018
What is the Most Important Trait of a Leader?
The Rev. Amy Reumann, ELCA Director of Advocacy, answers this question and “What is the best leadership advice you have received?” In this new video, part of Bishop Eaton’s Leadership Initiative. Reumann was previously executive director of Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in Pennsylvania. Watch the video at https://youtu.be/h2bU-Y-v820 Learn more at http://www.elca.org/leaders
May 30, 2017
Call For Coaching In Times of Change
Have you considered coaching to navigate change in the church? Change is happening all around. Old models of ministry are being set aside, and some are experimenting with new ways of engaging in Christ’s mission in their context. How can we work through the swirl of information and emotion so that we can better lead...
November 30, 2016
Updated: Child Protection Webinars
Updated Nov. 30 to add NEW opportunities on Dec. 2 and Dec. 8. What constitutes a legally reportable incident might surprise most people, so having your staff participate if they haven’t been keeping up with the news would probably be a good idea. Earlier this year, the leader of a Pennsylvania-based YMCA was criminally charged for...
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...
February 16, 2016
How To Really Welcome Guests
In 13 years of worshiping in different congregations every week, AugsburgFortress CEO Beth Lewis has seen “the good, the bad, and the very ugly” of church hospitality. In presentations hosted by the Synod and the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, Lewis offered a host of suggestions for congregations that want to enhance their hospitality, in...
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...
September 19, 2014
Dealing with Grief in the Church Community
Grief is pervasive in our communities after death, divorce, loss of employment, diagnosis, incarceration of a loved one and other life milestones. Lutheran Congregational Services hosts “Reconciled with Grief: Shining a Light on Silent Suffering in the Church Community” on Saturday, Nov. 1 at Holy Spirit Lutheran Church, Emmaus. This workshop will help faithfully prepare the...
September 19, 2014
Help for Families Coping With Mental Illness
Navigating relationships can be a challenge for any of us, for those with a loved one suffering from Bipolar, Major Depression or Borderline Personality Disorder it can feel like a wild rollercoaster ride. The Mental Health Association of Southeastern PA is offering its’ Getting Off the Emotional Roller Coaster 10 week workshop beginning October 1 and 2 in...
July 17, 2014
Nurturing Vibrant Congregations
Growing the vibrancy of a congregation is not something that can be imparted by a new pastor or a consultant, but is the result of congregations taking ownership of the need for change, understanding any gaps between where they are and where they want to be, and experimenting with ways to make faith useful to...
May 13, 2014
‘Be Communities of Discernment’
“To do God’s work with our hands, we need to know what God is about,” the Rev. Dr. Mark S. Hanson told the 2014 Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod Assembly in his keynote address. “We need to be communities of discernment,” the former ELCA presiding bishop said. To do that, “we need to be fluent in the...
May 9, 2014
Moving Toward God’s Preferred Future
“Nobody changes before they are ready,” the Rev. Dr. David Lose, consultant with Kairos & Associates, told the Assembly. “This body is ready, and excited, and eager to live into God’s preferred future.” Lose reported on a wide-ranging survey of synod leaders, including clergy, congregation council members and other lay leaders, conducted this spring to...
May 3, 2013
‘We Are Being Watched’
“I went to seminary for four years to do this,” said Jay Gamelin (@JayGamelin), pastor of Pilgrim Lutheran Church, Lexington, SC, as he raised his arms. The second time he did it some people in the assembly stood, recognizing a common pastoral signal in worship. He said he felt uncomfortable for a long time because...
March 15, 2012
Bible Study Explores God’s New Thing
Explore God’s promise of hope and renewal expressed by the Prophet Isaiah in a bible study based on Bishop Burkat’s presentation at last fall’s “God Is Doing Something New” conference events. This bible study, suitable for council retreats, small groups or ongoing bible study groups, will help you look at what central traditions need to be honored in your congregation as well as what “former things” might be clouding the view of what God is doing right now.
March 18, 2010
Congregations make the season sweet
An article in the Colonial-News highlights the once-a-year Easter candy making projects at St. Mark's, Conshohocken, and Prince of Peace, Plymouth Meeting. St. Mark's has been making Easter chocolates since 1918. Link after the jump.
March 9, 2010
Reduce the risks of child abuse in your church
Diakon Family Life Services will sponsor a comprehensive workshop on preventing child abuse in the congregational setting on Thursday, April 15 at Trinity, Lansdale. Registration deadline is April 1. Read on for full information.
February 1, 2010
Discover the Secret with these videos, Bible studies
“People do have a lot on their minds these days, and they don’t mind sharing,” reporter John Rawlins observed introducing the person-on-the-street interview video used at last fall’s “Discover the Secret” conference gatherings. The video, the Bible study used at the meetings as well as a set of four additional Philippians studies are now available on the synod website.
December 16, 2008
New hymn honors Mary
If you would like to use a different hymn to honor Mary on Sunday, feel free to use this hymn authored by the Rev. Kay Braun of St. Petri-Hope Lutheran Church.
