Introducing The Wild Web!
A monthly series highlighting stories from across the wild web of relationships and ministries that make up the Oregon Synod. Each month we will share examples of how Christ’s love is being embodied in ministries just like yours. We are excited to highlight the amazing life emerging across Oregon Synod congregations, ministries, & relationships!
Courageous Love Goes Camping: Compass at Camp Lutherwood
Compass, at Camp Lutherwood Oregon, provides a healing experience for middle-schoolers affected by wildfire related trauma.
Ruah in Astoria: Peace First Trusting the Spirit during Uncertainty
In 2020, Peace First was born from the merger of First Lutheran and Peace Lutheran Churches as the result of a changing congregational landscape across the state. While a challenging journey, Peace First is learning to trust their newly formed muscle memory: there is opportunity in transformation and beauty in expanding community.
A New Generation of Leaders: The Oregon Fellowship
It’s no secret that younger generations are finding new and different ways of expressing their spirituality and faith in today’s world, that may look a little different from what many of us are used to. Many congregations and faith communities have noticed a lower level of denominational affiliation by people under the age of 40, but despite what it may seem at first glance, there is profound and deep hope for our future. Between 2014-2017, a few Portland-based clergy, young leaders, and ministry partners like Leaven Community & Together Lab, noticed a pattern while developing relationships with their local communities: [...]
The Faithful Rebirth of a Village
We’ve all heard the saying “It takes a village to raise a child,” but when was the last time we seriously considered the implications of this for our faith communities and relationships? ReVillage, a ministry of the Storydwelling community in Bend, is doing just that. Storydwelling is a young faith community born out of a shared commitment to centering relationships and building community power for love and justice in the world, in partnership with the Oregon Synod of the ELCA and the United Methodist Church. In 2019, after Storydwelling community members began having children and struggling with costs of childcare, Storydwelling and [...]
SALM: Empowering Lay Leadership Across Oregon
For years, congregations, lay leaders, and clergy across the state of Oregon have planted seeds for new ways of stewarding faithful emergent lay leadership. These seeds, cultivated, watered, and nurtured by many, bore the growing fruit that is the new SALM (Synod Authorized Lay Ministry) & Lay Education Program of the Oregon Synod.