This last weekend Sharon, Darryle and I spent our Friday and Saturday at the Grand Canyon Synod Assembly: Stirred Up in the Spirit.  We were good Lutherans and sat at the back of the assembly hall.  I’d like to use my weekly letter to share with you some of the highlights I had during our assembly.
First, I wanted to let you know who all was sitting at our table because it was not only a great group of people, but it was also full of diversity.  Besides Sharon and Darryle, there was a young intern sitting next to me.  He is on his last 6 weeks of internship and then he will go back to his home synod and await his first call as a pastor of our church.  He was an great guy to chat with and I am excited for whatever church happens to call him to serve them as their pastor.
Next, we had Pastor Gary who is at University Lutheran Church and campus pastor for ASU whom I have known for a few years.  He brought with him a college student and he had some wonderful thoughts and insights as we had guided conversations at our table.
Last, but certainly not least, we sat with a leader from a Sudanese worshipping community in the Phoenix area.  He is one of the Lost Boys of Sudan.  It was incredible to hear him share some of his story and all that they are doing as a Sudanese Lutheran congregation.
Some highlights from the Assembly:
1.     We heard from the President of Iglesia Luterana Mexicana (Lutheran Mexican Church) speak, and he shared all the strides and struggles they are making as a church.  We as a Synod signed a letter or commitment with them to be a partner in ministry as we continue to reach out to be members of a global community.
2.     A representative from churchwide of the ELCA spoke of many of the things happening around the ELCA both domestically and globally.  She highlighted that of the $40 million dollars that was given to Lutheran World Relief $900,000 came from the Grand Canyon Synod (there are 65 synods in the ELCA). She also highlighted that $9 million has been raised to help the refugee crisis in Eastern Europe caused mostly by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  Finally, we are working as a church to reach out to 1 million new people so share the gospel with.  I think this is a bold goal and one that we will be exploring ourselves (though not 1 million).
3.     In our own home synod, we had a campaign to: Connect People, Communicate Jesus, and Create Possibilities.  A part of that campaign is to raise money to allow these three areas to do as much as possible.  The original goal was $500,000 which was met (it’s both good and sad that we met our goal; sad because some of the money we received was due to a congregation that closed its doors).  Since the campaign isn’t over the synod is trying to stretch out to reach $750,000 to do even more.
4.     Finally, the assembly passed a resolution calling on congregations to honor and promote diversity in our congregations.  That we are called to break down barriers of oppression and seek to help those who are marginalized.  We should do this in our ministries, work and worship.
There are lots of other wonderful things that happened during the assembly and I encourage you, as I did on Sunday, to have a conversation with one of us to learn more about what else happened at the assembly.
Thank you for all that you do and for all the ways that you help support the ministries of the this church, our synod, and the global church so that we can carry the love of God to the world.
Blessings,
Pastor Brian