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The Rev. Emily Harkins.
Emily Harkins was ordained as a Pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in May of 2020 and serves as the Lead Pastor and Founding Developer of this new community of faith, The Dwelling, in Winston-Salem, NC.
She is passionate about faith, service, relationship-building, learning, and love. She thrives on kindness, travel, advocacy and justice, hard work, community organizing, creative and effective communication, organizational systems, fun stationary, and Diet Coke.
In a world that constantly tells people who are living on the margins that they don’t belong, The Dwelling is a church that tells them that the world has it all wrong.
The Dwelling proclaims boldly that there is holiness in the identity as someone experiencing homelessness, that they share a kinship with God who reminds us all that we are all wanderers in search of belonging. It reflects the radical counter-cultural nature of the cross – where shame is glory and identity in Christ replaces the damaging narrative that the world so easily affixes to people in the margins.
Emily made a keynote presentation at the 2024 ELCA Youth Gathering, in which she emphasized the importance of seeing the fullness of each other in the way that God sees our full selves. “To be seen is to know that the full you—the shiny you, the messy you, the confused you, the strong you, the awkward you, the everything you—is so deeply and so wildly loved, and so deeply and wildly enough,” she said. “You were created from love, for love and to love. And to love you is to see you.”
Emily will also lead a one-hour workshop on “Serving all People in the Name of Jesus.”
Workshop Presenter
 Ms. Julia Frank
Director of Community Outreach, Liberty Lutheran and Lutheran Congregational Services
As Director of Community Outreach, Julia collaborates with the Northeastern and Southeastern Pennsylvania Synods of the ELCA, Lutheran congregations, and other faith based and secular partners for not only programs like Lutheran Disaster Response, bereavement counseling and other church programming, offered by Lutheran Congregational Services, but also to help connect those partners with opportunities at Liberty’s other communities and services.
Julia will be leading an hour-long workshop on “Striving for Justice and Peace” which will include practical, hands-on opportunities for congregations to get involved in justice work.
Worship Leader
The Rev. Linda Manson
SEPA Synod Director for Evangelical Mission and Assistant to the Bishop for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Pastor Manson began serving in this capacity in March 2025 returning to her home synod. In this position Pastor Manson serves as a resource for all congregations seeking to be more connected to their communities through new and innovative ministry strategies. Also, Pastor Manson works directly with several of the synod teams and deans to coordinate the vitality, evangelism, congregational renewal and diversity initiatives of the Southeastern PA Synod.
Pastor Manson brings her passion for connecting church and community to her new role in the Southeastern PA Synod. She looks forward to finding and developing ways for this synod to be a source of hope and light for the communities we serve, as well as continuing to serve our larger church body
Schedule for the Day
8:30 am Registration with Coffee
9:00 am Worship
10:00 am Keynote: Who is Our Neighbor?
11:00 am Break
11:15 am Workshops
Workshop 1
Serving All People in the Name of Jesus
Workshop 2
Striving for Justice and Peace |
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