Friday, May 14 – Saturday, May 15, 2021
via Zoom
Moving Forward with Hope and Vision
We need to spend time understanding what we’ve been through in 2020. However, when there is a clear vision and a defined direction, hope is more than wishful thinking. It is the driving force of being able to evaluate the current situation, navigate discouragement, adapt to new realities, and renew the vision of what can and will be. Hope keeps you focused on the direction you are moving in the midst of the challenges.
When you are weary it is easier to be motivated by fear than by hope. Fear prompts you to stay with the status quo. It is easier to stay with what you know rather than what you don’t know. There is a level of fear that is reasonable. But, when you let your fears take control, you often become paralyzed and do nothing.
Hope, on the other hand, gently steers you toward making a difference. By keeping your eyes upon your goal, hope helps you manage your fears. You move from weariness to expectation. You can see and act upon a new vision. Come join us as we see this through the lens of the Southwestern Washington Synod.
REGISTRATION https://web.cvent.com/event/8f05d5b3-d87c-4c27-9e46-ed12eb43a846/summary
VOTING MEMBER SELECTIONS:
How many voting members does your congregation get? pdf
NEW THIS YEAR **Online Synod Assembly Registration Information: All information will be on an Attendee Hub for each individual voting member, so be sure that you register each voting member with their own email address. In order to count voting members and votes properly, each voting member needs to be registered with their own email address. This will also be the email address that the individual voting member will log onto the assembly sessions with.
*Each voting member also needs to use a computer to log-on, so that they can vote easily on Zoom. Some cell phones don’t support the online poll voting process that we will be using.
The Synod Assembly is this Synod’s highest legislative authority working with rostered and lay voting members from all of our congregations and mission starts. Each congregation sends at least two lay voting members along with their rostered ministers.
We will have the opportunity to think and plan for the future of the ELCA and your congregation. We will learn stories of congregations already in the renewal process, learn about ELCA ministries, elect many committee and council positions, hear from our ELCA Churchwide representative on the ministry that the ELCA does worldwide, learn things to help our congregations, participate in workshops about moving forward in your ministries and how we can help the Church move into the future in new ways, resource videos and materials plus we’ll have two beautiful and unique worship services for us to participate in together.
Agenda (pdf)
Workshops: (Register for a workshop for each of the 2 sessions during registration.)
Elected Positions:
- Nominees and Positions Open for Nominations– updated 4-16-21 (pdf) (Please note: The Synod Council conference positions are filled by the conferences.) Positions highlighted in yellow- begin in June 2021; positions highlighted in green- begin in June 2022.
- Elected Positions Job Descriptions (pdf)
- Google Nomination Form https://forms.gle/dfbqfrZSCWREx8f38
- 2021-2023 Nomination bios (updated 4-16-21)
Business Items to Vote On:
- Proposed Constitutional Provision Change from the Churchwide Assembly– (needs majority vote at the 2021 Synod Assembly) (posted October 2, 2021)
- Proposed Constitutional Provision Changes from the Synod Council (needs a 2/3 vote at the 2021 Synod Assembly- posted October 2, 2021)
- Synod Budget FY 2023-2024
- (The Synod’s fiscal year is February 1 – January 31. The number for the “Fiscal Year” is the year in which the fiscal year ends. Therefore we will vote on the budget for the Fiscal Years 2023-2024- these budgets for for Feb 1, 2022-January 31, 2023 (FY 2023) and Feb 1, 2023-January 31, 2024 (FY 2024)
ELCA Churchwide Staff Representative: Kristin Opalinski
Bible Study Leader: Bishop Rick Jaech
