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July 2, 2008 | Enews Archives | Contact Us |



July 1-3
Leadership Training School in the Gorge
Begins 1 p.m. on July 1, concludes by noon on July 3rd.
 Youth entering 9th - 12th grade this fall are invited to attend training school to develop their leadership skills, make new friends, and network with other youth leaders.

A Change in the Process of Giving to the Allert Fund for Leaders
Your leadership matters to the ELCA and to future generations of pastors and rostered lay professionals. Through the Allert Fund for Leaders, you support new leaders and make an investment in the mission of this church so that every potential leader may have the opportunity to become an ambassador for Christ.

Gifts and checks that are received at churchwide without instructions designating the Oregon Allert Fund for leaders will be place into the general ELCA Fund for Leaders Endowment. Since we know that you desire to support the Oregonian seminarians please indicate on your gifts that funds are for the Oregon Allert Fund for Leaders and include #E270799 on your contributions.

A coupon for your use with this information can be downloaded at Oregon Synod Allert Fund page at http://www.oregonsynod.org/faithinaction/give/allert.htm or download now.

For more information on how to give to this fund contact
Director of Planned Giving of the Oregon Synod
Dr. Patricia Larsen
Regional Gift Planner of the ELCA
Blessed2Give@cs.com
503-244-4102

There is ONE website for the Book of Faith initiative and Book of Faith resources!  You may reach it at any of these three URL’s…they all take you to the same place!

www.elca.org/bookoffaith or www.augsburgfortress.org/bookoffaith or www.bookoffaith.org 

For now, the design isn’t perfect.  What was on the ELCA website and what was on the Augsburg Fortress website were two different designs.  The entire thing will be redesigned into a much more attractive and user friendly, interactive format in the next month.  But, for now, based on what we have heard from you, we thought that it was better to have one place for people to find information and sign up to be Book of Faith congregations rather than two!  Stay tuned for more!

Sign Up to be a Book of Faith Congregation!
The goal is to have 75% of ELCA congregations signed up by the end of 2010. This is such an exciting, energizing, initiative of this church and the more people who are engaged, the better it will be for all of us and, ultimately, for the individuals who participate and become more fluent in the first language of our faith, scripture

 

A list of current and forthcoming Augsburg Fortress resources to support the Book of Faith initiative. 

  1. Opening the Book of Faith:  Lutheran Insights for Bible Study is available now (this is the book that was being given away by Augsburg Fortress at all of the spring 2008 synod assemblies)
2.       The free, downloadable assessments to accompany Opening the Book of Faith is available now on the AF website. 

3.       The downloadable leader guide for Opening the Book of Faith is available now on the AF website.  It is $9.95 or when a congregation or individual purchases 10 or more copies of the book, they will be able to download it for free.  This is to encourage small group use of this small, unintimidating book this summer or fall. 

4.       In August, we will publish a curriculum to accompany Opening the Book of Faith (flexible format of 3 to 7 sessions)

5.       In September, we will publish another brief curriculum, Rediscovering the Book of Faith, that will help people learn about when/where/by whom the Bible was written. 

6.       The Lutheran Study Bible will be published in February 2009.

7.       The Book of Faith 40-day Lenten Journey, will be published in February 2009.

8.       Several comprehensive adult Bible Study resources (in various formats) will be published in spring 2009.

9.       Lutheran Study Bible Field Guide ( a “travel guide” for the Bible for lay people) will be published in spring 2009. 

10.   A companion website to accompany/support the Lutheran Study Bible will be launched in the summer of 2009.

11.   While not directly a part of the Book of Faith initiative, we will also publish three new children’s Sunday School resources in spring 2009.  One will be in a fairly traditional “Bible story” format that we think will complement the Book of Faith initiative.  There will be new age-appropriate children’s Bibles as a core component of this Sunday School curriculum.  In addition, we are publishing a lectionary based Sunday School curriculum and a rotational Sunday School curriculum. 

Position Openings/ Other Offerings
To view a complete listing of position openings around the synod visit: www.oregonsynod.org/equip_support/positions.htm.
 
 

Other Highlights
To read the complete description of events, please visit www.oregonsynod.org/equip_support/events.htm

Please note: listings will be dated upon posting and will appear only three times. After this point events will appear on the events page at www.oregonsynod.org/equip_support/events.htm.
This publication policy does not apply to synodical and churchwide postings.

 

(07.02)
July 24 – July 27
How does worship relate to my daily life? Community Through Liturgy
An experiential event for high school youth.
Bethel, 5658 N Denver Ave., Portland
Download PDF brochure and registration

This event is open to high school youth from congregations in the Oregon Synod and high school youth from their communities.

The focus is to give the youth an understanding of how Sunday Liturgy connects to their daily lives. Our objectives are for them to see themselves as:
Called Children of God, The Body of Christ, and Gifted by the Spirit.

Youth will learn and grow through experiences:
• Assisting at the Bethel Drop-In Center’s Summer Program
• Visiting organizations in the Bethel Community and Portland
• Helping out a member of the Bethel Community
• Time spent traveling, eating and Cosmic Bowling
• Creating Sunday morning worship at Bethel that reflects their gifts and experiences.

Community Through Liturgy is for High School youth including youth who will be in 9th grade this fall. Cost is $25 and is limited to 15 youth. If you have questions, please contact Tammy Gover at 503-201-8633 or by email at goverclowncar@yahoo.com.

 

(07.02)
September 13
Camp Lutherwood
Faith Builders' Challenge
A dinner and auction to support the ministry of Camp Lutherwood. This event is taking place at Our Savior's Lutheran in Lake Oswego, OR. Camp Lutherwood is asking for donated items that can be auctioned off. Visit www.lutherwood.org for more information.

 

(07.02)
September 29 – October 2
“Foundations for BeFriender Ministry” Workshop
Community Congregational United Church of Christ,
525 N.E. Campus Ave., Pullman, WA
8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. each of the four days

The workshop is for leaders who want to implement and maintain a listening ministry of lay pastoral care in their churches, healthcare institutions, or long-term care facilities.
Community Congregational United Church of Christ is hosting the ecumenical workshop,
which is being conducted by the national office of BeFriender Ministry–A Listening
Presence. This national, ecumenical organization provides leadership training and
program support for a listening ministry of lay pastoral care. Who should attend: A team of 2 to 5 leaders from a church or organization. The team includes clergy and/or at least one paid staff person, as well as one or more lay volunteers.

Cost: $649 for the first registrant from a church or organization; $150 less for each
additional registrant from the same church or organization. Deadline for registration and
payment is September 7. To register or for more information: call toll free 1-866-468-8708
or email: info@befrienderministry.org or visit www.befrienderministry.org

  
     
 

Last Week's News

Journey Together Faithfully was an effort begun by the ELCA in 2001. The goal was a Social Statement on human sexuality, speaking to our church and the broader community from a Biblical/Lutheran perspective. see the synod web page>

The Book of Faith...What Are You Doing?
The synod office encourages congregations to put information on your websites explaining how others you are involved with the new ELCA initiative, Book of Faith.. Please let the synod office know so that we can include your links on the synod Book of Faith page.
We have our first response from this request. Please visit the Book of Faith web page at http://www.oregonsynod.org/bookoffaith/openbookoffaith.htm

July 17 - 20
2008 ELCA Global Mission Event
The University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, Wisconsin,
For event details please visit www.elca.org/gme
If you’ve never been to a Global Mission Event, you’re in for a wonderful surprise. At a GME, Lutherans of all ages from all over the world meet to celebrate God’s mission, equip themselves for more effective ministry, and connect with one another through the gifts of global music, story telling and dance.

August 16
Women of the ELCA-Bible Study Event
“The Hidden Hand of God: Wisdom stories from Ruth, Daniel and Esther”
by Rev. Gwen Sayler and Rev. Ann Fritschel
Trinity Lutheran Church, 507 W. Powell Blvd. , Gresham, Oregon
9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Join Oregon Synodical Women of Oregon (Women of the ELCA) to meet co-author Rev. Ann Fritschel and learn more about the new 2008-2009 LWT Bible Study. The cost is $10.00 for the day and includes lunch served by the women of Trinity Lutheran Church. Contact Margrethe Farnstrom at gefarn@yahoo.com or 503-526-1025. Download registration form.

Message from ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson
June 20, 2008
Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,
With a swiftness that we could not have imagined only weeks ago, the waters
have brought chaos to a large area of the central United States.  The flooding that is moving south in the Mississippi River valley follows unusually
destructive tornadoes in several states and the humanitarian crisis after
an immigration raid in Postville, Iowa.  The scope is broad.  Tornadoes have caused fatalities in fifteen states, and at least eleven synods currently are involved
in relief operations with ELCA Domestic Disaster Response, an unprecedented
number in our history.

In the midst of these disasters, Scripture speaks to us.  "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult." (Psalm 46:1-3)  God remains faithful.  God's Spirit is at work, moving over the face of the waters to renew life and hope.   This hope will not disappoint, because God's love is being poured out through the Holy Spirit.

I write to ask you to join me in prayer and action.  Please pray for all who are facing adversity, including the hidden challenges that seep in after media attention leaves: the destruction of this year's crop and the productivity of cropland for years to come; the loss of homes and neighborhoods; the severing of ties from each other and histories in particular places; and the troubling emotions and thoughts that erode
confidence and faith.  Pray that God's Spirit sustain them in the hope of God's faithfulness, shown to us in Jesus Christ.

An ELCA Disaster Alert is being sent to you as I write with information about how you can help in recovery.  Please join me in an outpouring of love that is equal not only to the depth of the waters, but even more to the fullness of Jesus' life in us and to the Spirit's renewing work in the world.  We will be the body of Christ to those who yearn for a comforting presence.  We will be the gentle hands that hold those who yearn for the healing that Jesus brought. Through our service God will speak their names and hold them as a treasured possession.

"But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed
you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior." (Isaiah 43:1-3)

Mark S. Hanson, Presiding Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America


(06.24)
August 17
“Atonement Variety Show”

--Participants Needed

--No Talent Required

--Exceptions Welcome
Fellowship Hall (Adult Forum), Newport
9:30 am
There’s one aspect of being a Lutheran that I’m ever grateful for, our acceptance that our ever-changing understanding of the Bible is normal and ought to be encouraged. For example, there’s a verse in the Old Testament that says something like, “Make a joyful noise for our Lord.” I initially thought this was there to cover for kids and the noise accompanying their very existence but now I believe it was put there specifically to cover church variety shows – often referred to as “Untalent Shows.”
Here is an example of a creative and humorous announcement to inspire your own event notices ...provided by Paul Amundson, Atonement, Newport >



(06.24)

September 22 - 25
A Week of Rich Fare at Holden: Food in the Wilderness
We are setting the table for conversation, song and feasts of every kind. All are welcome!

Presenters include: Fred Niedner: Dining and Dying with Christ: Meal Stories for the Year of Mark; Dorothy Bass: Practicing Our Faith in the Wilderness; Martin Wells: Water and Rock: A case study in a congregation's place in the world; Susan Briehl: A Trinity of Tables: Breaking Bread as a Christian Practice; Paul Hinderlie: Five Pasta Sauces you will meet in Heaven, and some fine meals from Holden's kitchen; Mary Preus and Tom Witt: Music. This program is cosponsored with the Valparaiso Project on the Education and Formation of People in Faith.

(06.24)
June 15-18, 2009
“Being the Church in the Pacific Northwest:
Fostering a Public Voice on Critical Issues ”
Campus of Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, WA
While media may divide Christian communities into "liberal" and "conservative" camps, many Christians hold another view: virtue of their baptism, Christians are called to be public vocation that is a bit more complex than any neat category. At this conference, participants will explore and discuss the Christian sources of public witness, the theological foundations of social engagement, and the pastoral means to nourish a congregation focused on service in the world.

Keynote Speakers: Cynthia Moe-Lobeda, Seattle University, Assistant Professor, Theology and Religious Studies, Associate Professor, Environmental Studies;

Kevin O'Brien, Pacific Lutheran University, Assistant Professor of Christian Ethics.

For more information and to sign-up for future direct mail and e-mail updates and registrtation material, call Rev. G. Lee Kluth, Director of Congregation Relations at 253-535-7423 or e-mail crel@plu.edu.