With a winter storm set to deliver significant snow, sleet and ice to our region again, we urge you to be prepared for the possibilities of heavy snowfall, limited travel and potential power outages. Congregations can play an important role by checking on vulnerable people in the community and opening as a “comfort station” to provide...
January 22, 2016
Winter Storm Preparations for Churches
With a winter storm set to deliver significant snow, sleet and ice to our region again, we urge you to be prepared for the possibilities of heavy snowfall, limited travel and potential power outages. Congregations can play an important role by checking on vulnerable people in the community and opening as a “comfort station” to provide...
January 15, 2016
Lutherans Join Mayor’s Prayer Service
On his third day as the newly inaugurated 99th mayor of Philadelphia, Mayor Jim Kenney joined an interfaith gathering of Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists and Hindus for a moving and inspirational Interfaith Worship Service, hosted at the Salvation Army Croc Center in North Philadelphia. After a procession of nearly 100 pastors, priests, imams, and...
January 14, 2016
Upgrade Your Congregation’s Hospitality
As a visitor to a different congregation every week for over a decade, Beth Lewis (president and CEO of AugsburgFortress) has developed a strong sense of what helps congregations reach out to visitors. She’ll share that wisdom with us on Monday, Feb. 1, noon to 3 pm at the Seminary’s Brossman Center, co-sponsored by the...
December 8, 2015
Get the Facts About Syrian Refugees
Lutheran Children and Family Service is the largest refugee resettlement organization in PA, and is involved in resettling Syrian refugees in Allentown. Did you know that refugees are the most scrutinized and vetted individuals entering the U.S.? Or that the process takes on average two years? LCFS has created an online resource center so that...
December 8, 2015
Refugees Welcomed in Allentown
As Christians celebrated Christ the King on Nov. 22, 500 people gathered in Allentown, Pa., to stand in solidarity against the face of fear and hatred at an interfaith event to welcome refugees from Syria. Those in attendance included young and old, the mayor of Allentown, clergy from the community, and people of many faiths...
November 9, 2015
Sacred Conversations for Racial Justice
The Synod is co-sponsoring live webcasts of “Listen for a Change: Sacred Conversations for Racial Justice” featuring New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, actor Anna Deavere Smith, and Vanderbilt Divinity School Dean Emilie Townes on January 21-23, 2016, at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. The webcasts from Trinity Wall Street’s annual theological conference will...
September 22, 2015
Celebrating the Parkway as Home
While tourists strolled and workmen set up huge video screens for Pope Francis’ open air Mass, Welcome Church celebrated the “sacred ground” along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway as home to a number of Philadelphia’s unhoused persons. Participants sprinkled the ground with water that had been taken from the Logan Circle fountain and blessed. The Rev....
September 22, 2015
Collaborating Through God’s Grace
Three Northeast Philadelphia congregations have agreed to share clergy and some ministries in a collaboration known as God’s Grace Lutheran Community. St. John (Mayfair), Redemption and St. Petri-Hope congregations voted by large margins Sept. 13 to enter into the new collaboration. The move is not a merger – congregations retain their own councils and buildings....
September 18, 2015
Trinity Models Conversation About Race
Asks “Can we talk?” about Black Lives Matter After a post of “Black Lives Matter” on the church sign sparked community controversy, Trinity Lutheran Church seized the opportunity to bring members and Lansdale neighbors together to talk about issues of race in the community. “Even though this was not what we were looking for...
August 27, 2015
Emergency Contact Systems For Your Church
By Bob Fisher Assistant to the Bishop for Mission Interpretation/Communication The school/program year is fast approaching – which means that winter isn’t far behind. Remember last year’s sudden Sunday morning icing event? Does your church have a plan for notifying members in case of foul weather schedule changes or other emergencies? The tried-and-true phone...
July 27, 2015
Confronting Racism
Join ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton and William B. Horne II, an ELCA member from Clearwater, Fla., for a live webcast conversation on the complexity and implications of racism Aug. 6 at 9 p.m. EDT (8 p.m. CDT). Through its social statement – “Freed in Christ: Race, Ethnicity, and Culture” – ELCA members have expressed this church’s calling to confront racism...
July 13, 2015
Tell Your Story Through Images
We live in a visual culture, so you’re missing a big opportunity if you don’t use images to tell your church’s story. People respond to images. Facebook posts, web pages, e-mails and even print pieces draw more attention and shares when there is a compelling image. Recent research shows that the average person has an attention...
July 1, 2015
Lutherans Raise Voices For School Funding
Lutherans from around the state raised their voices in Harrisburg at a rally for fair education funding June 23. Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in Pennsylvania (LAMPa) started the day by leading a prayer service on the steps of the capitol, joining other faith groups fasting there to protest Pennsylvania’s distinction of being the least equitable state...
July 1, 2015
Presiding Bishop on Supreme Court Marriage Decision
The Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), offered a pastoral letter June 30 to the 3.8 million members of the denomination in response to the recent Supreme Court ruling that same-sex couples may now exercise the right to marry. The full text of the statement follows: Dear...
June 29, 2015
Bishop’s Reflection on Marriage Equality
Last Friday’s Supreme Court decision striking down bans against same-sex marriage “knocks the power out of long-standing assumptions that most but not all people are equal,” Bishop Claire Burkat writes in a pastoral message. “For our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters, as well as all those who have worked for marriage equality here 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...
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 18, 2015
Bishops Call for Education Equity
“The area I serve, the five counties of Southeastern Pennsylvania has the distinction of having the highest spending district per student and also the highest poverty district,” Bishop Claire Burkat said at a press conference in Harrisburg in which three Pennsylvania bishops called on the legislature to find an equitable way to fund schools in the...
May 12, 2015
VP: Congregations Doing “A Great Job”
“Despite fewer people who may be engaging in our churches, less money to work with, and closing of some of our congregations, we are still reaching out to change the lives of people and make a difference in our communities,” said Vice President Tracey Beasley. She raised up ministries that contribute to the work of...
May 9, 2015
Richard Elected Secretary
Pastor Karl Richard loves history and scripture. He will utilize both in his new role as synod secretary, to which he was elected Saturday, May 9. “The secretary is not writing scripture, of course, but as we gather together I feel I would be recording the Acts of the Apostles of this day,” he says....
