At the May 2015 Synod Assembly a resolution was passed asking that we as a Synod express our solidarity with our sisters and brothers in Christ around the world who are experiencing persecution for professing the Faith. At its December meeting the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod Council adopted the following statement: The Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of...
January 29, 2016
Solidarity With Persecuted Christians
At the May 2015 Synod Assembly a resolution was passed asking that we as a Synod express our solidarity with our sisters and brothers in Christ around the world who are experiencing persecution for professing the Faith. At its December meeting the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod Council adopted the following statement: The Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of...
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 4, 2016
Bishop Eaton: Putting the Pieces Together
In her January column for The Lutheran, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton notes that “we are church together” — that is, “some days.” But “many days and in many ways we aren’t.” This year, she says, will be dedicated to looking at the future directions and priorities of this church. The complete column follows: Putting the...
December 8, 2015
Religious Leaders Respond to Mosque Vandalism
Area religious leaders have expressed dismay at the desecration targeting Al Aqsa Islamic Society in Philadelphia, where a severed pig’s head was discovered outside yesterday (December 7). “This is a despicable and disturbing act of hatred,” said Bishop Claire Burkat, who knows and respects Imam Mohamed Shehata in their work together on the Religious Leaders...
November 19, 2015
Bishop on Refugee Crisis
“Lutherans across this nation have welcomed more than a half million people fleeing violence and persecution,” Bishop Claire Burkat writes in a letter to The Philadelphia Inquirer. “As a Pennsylvanian and Bishop of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, I am proud of Governor Tom Wolf’s decision to continue to work with the Federal...
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...
October 15, 2015
Bishop Eaton: What is ‘Lutheran’?
What is ‘Lutheran’? Presiding Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton asks this question in her October column for The Lutheran. What we eat, what hymns we sing, what jokes we tell, what color we are … none of this binds us together or makes us Lutheran, she says. Our theology must define us. And it’s all about God’s grace, and...
September 18, 2015
Bishop Participates in World Meeting of Families
Bishop Burkat will join other Christian and interfaith leaders in participating in the opening ceremony and Mass for the World Meeting of Families on Tuesday, Sept. 22. Archbishop Charles J. Chaput extended the invitation on behalf of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Many Lutherans are helping to welcome Catholics from all over the world to Philadelphia...
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 26, 2015
Tanzania Diocese Celebrates 125th
Congratulations to our companion Synod, the North Eastern Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania, on its 125th Jubilee, to be celebrated in early July. On June 30 Bishop Burkat and Assistant to the Bishop Joanne Carlson leave for Tanzania, where the bishop will preach at the Jubilee worship service on July 6. Please...
June 25, 2015
A Day of Repentance and Mourning
“As we mourn and remember” the six Christian martyrs murdered at Mother Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston last week, “it is also a time to repent of the sin of racism that continues to plague our nation and our church,” Bishop Burkat wrote in a pastoral message June 25. She joined Presiding Bishop Eaton’s call...
June 19, 2015
PA Bishops Support Anti-Discrimination Bill
Harrisburg, PA — The seven Pennsylvania bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America released a letter June 18 in support of legislation that would amend the Pennsylvania Public Relations Act to prohibit discrimination in areas of employment, housing and public accommodation on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity or...
June 15, 2015
Save Dates for Bishop’s Convocation
Save the dates! This year’s Bishop’s Convocation will be held November 18 – 20, 2015 (Wednesday through Friday) at Bear Creek Mountain Resort and Conference Center, 101 Doe Mountain Lane, Macungie, PA 18062. (Not to be confused with the Camp in Northeastern PA Synod.) “Thinking outside the walls: Surprising spaces to be the church” will feature Bryan Berghoef and...
June 10, 2015
Governor Announces Fee Waivers for Volunteers
Governor Tom Wolf announced today that fees for child abuse clearances and criminal background checks required by the Child Protective Services Law will be waived for volunteers working with children. Additionally, the Department of Human Services (DHS) and the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) will be reducing the cost of both the child abuse and criminal...
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...
