Greater Milwaukee Synod, ELCA

We're almost a third of the way our $150K goal for our Family Ride Run Walk fundraiser on 9/21!

THANK YOU to all the church teams and individuals who have donated and fundraised in support of our Ministry Partners in the Greater Milwaukee Synod, ELCA. Go, , go!! 🙌🎉

Here's how you can help in the home stretch:
💚 Register for the event online
💚 Make an "extra mile" donation
💚 Join your congregation's fundraising team
💚 Invite 5 friends to register and/or donate

Learn more, register and donate at OFHRRW.org!

Are you a young adult between 23 and 35? Would you like the church to better understand how it might meet you within the longings of your life, your hopes for the world, and your desire to deepen and live out your faith?

Then join our synod's Youth and Young Adult Listening Team for a listening session and dinner on 9/15! Meet other young adults of faith in the area, and help empower the gifts of young adults in the church.

⛪🤔💡 RSVP: https://forms.gle/TiV2BrgbrifKAuVb9

A reminder that our office is closed on Monday for Labor Day. Have a safe and healthy holiday weekend!

In time for Rally Sunday, we just dropped three new impact stories from across our synod! 🎉🙌

Each story can be downloaded in both print and digital formats (including bulletin inserts) to make them easier to share with your congregation in worship, adult forum, social media, email and more.

💒 Get inspired: https://milwaukeesynod.org/stories/

🌎💒 Congregations, check out this upcoming event hosted by our synod's Immigration and Refugee Task Force: https://milwaukeesynod.org/event/who-is-my-neighbor-2/

Join hunger ministry leaders from across our synod to discuss how we can all support hunger and food justice in our communities! You'll leave energized, connected, and united in our common goal of building a world in which all can feed themselves.

🌱🍽️💒 Learn more + register: https://milwaukeesynod.org/event/community-food-conversations/

God's grace is a gift, given through Christ and received by faith. Through this gift of God, we are led by the Holy Spirit to love and work for justice and peace.

In the ELCA we believe in a loving and inclusive community that reaches out to all. We're dedicated to service, guided by our faith to love and support each other just as Jesus did.

"As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. ...Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony" (Colossians 3:12, 14)

The first of what we hope to be many listening sessions with youth in the synod.

The feedback period is open until Sept. 30, 2024, for the ELCA social civic life and faith social statement in development "on civic life and faith, the relationship of church and state, and related matters, as called for by the 2019 ELCA Churchwide Assembly." Find a draft and more information, including a feedback survey at https://www.elca.org/Faith/Faith-and-Society/Current-Social-Writing-Projects/Civic-Life-and-Faith.

“Beautiful music is the art of the prophets that can calm the agitations of the soul,” wrote Martin Luther. “It is one of the most magnificent and delightful presents God has given us.” Praise God for the gift of music in your daily life and when you gather for worship. — Prayer Ventures

From “shall” to “will” - Living Lutheran The promise fulfilled by the death and resurrection of Christ—that we are a new creation—turns the Ten Commandments into promises.

Our Family Ride Run Walk isn't just about fundraising $150K for grants to our Ministry Partners... It's also a great way to build community in your congregation. 🚶🚴
Nothing puts the "FUN" in fundraising like teamwork! 🎉

💚 Learn more: https://mailchi.mp/outreachforhope/rrw2024-fundraising

Youth and young adults + ministry leaders, check out this upcoming event organized by our partners at LOPPW!

Learn more: https://www.loppw.org/resources/youth-advocacy/

Our Inspired for Mission Zoom gatherings for rostered and lay leaders are back! Get inspired each month by a new story about where God is leading the Church, and talk about what’s inspiring you.

🌊 9/24: “Navigating Partisan Waters – Resources for the Journey”
🎨 10/22: “Creating As a Spiritual Practice”
🗺️ 12/3: “Community Mapping as a Tool for Spiritual Renewal”

Learn more: https://milwaukeesynod.org/inspired-for-mission

GMS church members and staff, council presidents, pastors and deacons: Join us for a time of learning and renewal this fall! 🍂

In a time of uncertainty and division, our mission to live and love like Jesus has never been more important. Rev. Canon Stephanie Spellers will help us explore how our core ministries – evangelism, racial justice, authentic diversity, and compassionate conversation across difference – powerfully reflect this calling. 💒

LEARN MORE + REGISTER: https://milwaukeesynod.org/event/fall-leadership-conference-2024/

Are you a young adult between 23 and 35? Would you like the church to better understand how it might meet you within the longings of your life, your hopes for the world, and your desire to deepen and live out your faith?

Then join our synod's Youth and Young Adult Listening Team for a listening session and dinner on 9/15! Meet other young adults of faith in the area, and help empower the gifts of young adults in the church.

RSVP: https://forms.gle/TiV2BrgbrifKAuVb9

Have you ever wondered about theological education? The ELCA seminaries would like to help you learn more about your seminary options and explore with you where God might be calling you next. Join all seven seminaries of the ELCA on Sunday, September 15th from 1:00-3:30 (PT), 2:00-4:30 (MT), 3:00-5:30 (CT), or 4:00-6:30 (ET) for a Joint Virtual Discernment Event. Click here to learn more and register: https://buff.ly/4cz7rX4

Meeting with the ministry partners and board of Outreach for Hope. Grateful for the energy, skill, and passion of the ministries in the room.

Are you interested in what you can do as a non-partisan influence in this election cycle? Take your energy to the network - an opportunity for individuals and our congregations to share in our communities love in action.

ELCA Election Activators from various parts of our ELCA faith community are invited to a call once-a-month to for updates and to hear from each other about local initiatives. Because the ELCA does not endorse a particular candidate, party or form of government or strive for a Christian one, participation requires sign-up and a non-partisan pledge. "Lutherans care about government because it is a gift from God intended for the safety and flourishing of human life" (from ELCA social message "Government & Civic Engagement in the United States: Discipleship in a Democracy").

Our first virtual meeting is July 23. Learn more today! https://blogs.elca.org/advocacy/elca-election-activator-network/

Happy Birthday to Dr. Joyce Caldwell, our Synod Council Vice President. We are grateful for your love and care for the people and congregations of the Greater Milwaukee Synod!

Thank you to Dr. Joyce Caldwell, Vice President of the Greater Milwaukee Synod, ELCA, for joining us in worship today to bring us greetings from the synod and share a thank you for the more than $6,000 our congregation contributed to the Equipping the Saints Mission Appeal as a tithe from our “60 for 60” anniversary mortgage reduction campaign! We are church together!

Friends in Christ:

I am forwarding here a pastoral statement on the killing of Sonya Massey, written by Bishop Greg Busboom of the Central/Southern Illinois Synod of the ELCA, where this killing took place. I encourage you to read it and share it, and to hold all those impacted by this senseless tragedy in prayer. I also invite you to remember that events like this impact many more than those who may have known Sonya Massey or live in the community where it happened. Too many of our siblings in Christ, especially members of the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color community, have seen and experienced violence and abuse by those in power who are sworn to protect and serve, and events like this can open old wounds and bring fears and anxieties to the surface. I invite us to listen to one another, to hold space for the sadness, fear, anger, and whatever other emotions might surface, and then I call upon us all to work together to create the beloved community that we so desperately need and so deeply long for.

In Christ,
Bishop Paul Erickson

A Pastoral Statement on the Killing of Sonya Massey A statement from Bishop Busboom.