TELLING THE STORY OF PARTNER MINISTRY: LEAD – Living Every day As Disciples

Twenty-two congregations in six cohorts have participated in our synod’s LEAD Journey over the past several years. Through their learnings about adaptive leadership, which undergirds the whole LEAD Journey, many have been inspired to boldly experiment in ministry. The story below is what happened when The Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd in Wilmington, Delaware put their new tools to work!

  The Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd was one of the original congregations that entered the LEAD process in the Delaware-Maryland Synod. They learned so much during that time and believe that the things they learned about themselves as a congregation, their values and how to see neighbors positioned them to respond when COVID-19 struck and be a partner and advocate in addressing hunger. 

 This is their LEAD journey story:

 We have worked hard to center our church on our discerned values of Serving Joyfully, Connecting Gratefully and Growing Faithfully. Our Council was restructured and aligned around these values, in teams that work together. For example, our Serving Joyfully team has a council steward for well-established ministries within the congregation, a steward for service opportunities that ‘pop up’ and we can be a part of, and a steward that looks for wider connections in the community, something we might never have looked to before the LEAD journey. This structure allowed us to quickly see that needs were going to shift in our community with so many people newly unemployed and needing assistance. We have a long history with Lutheran Community Services and St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church, supporting the food pantry located there. As one of our adaptive experiments in the LEAD process we started a garden that supplies fresh vegetables to the pantry during the growing time.

 We built a donation cart to receive vegetables from the wider community as well. When it became apparent that many more people would need food assistance, we were able to quickly use our food cart as a neighborhood donation point for the food St. Stephen’s needed. Working with St Stephen’s, we use various social media and good old-fashioned signs to let our neighbors know what to drop off.

Each Wednesday our church and other volunteers from our community garden tend the cart in shifts from 10 am – 2 pm as neighbors from all over North Wilmington drop off donations. We thank them and answer questions.  Most of these donations come from people with no direct connection to Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd. They thank us for the opportunity to help others. Over the 14 weeks we have been collecting food, we have been able to deliver over 8000 items to the pantry.

Now that it is harvesting season with our community garden, more people in the community are bringing fresh produce as well. This all started with the question of how we can still support our ministry partners in a time of pandemic, and a whole new community was born. LEAD helped us to see that we can adapt what was to what is.”

 Our Connecting team began the Shepherd’s Vine during the second week of the pandemic. This is a ministry to connect in some way (call, email, text) with every member/friend of our congregation. We have stewards of this ministry that have a list of people to touch base with every 3-4 weeks. Initially, this we thought that this would help us identify anyone who might fall ill and need support, but we found that we are making new friends, finding out about life events and sharing with the pastors if there is a pastoral concern for them. The callers change periodically so that no one feels overburdened by the commitment. This has been a way to keep our congregation together in this most unusual time.

Our Growing Faithfully team planned around the value of being a community together to worship live throughout the pandemic. We looked at the process in small steps, debriefed and added new features each week. Technological problems have occurred but with grace, we work through them and continue to move forward. Technology shepherds helped some of our congregants get online and experience our zoom worship. Devices were gathered and shared with those who did not have access. Experiments with song, spoken hymns and individual musical offerings have enhanced our services and given us as much of a ’normal’ feeling as possible. As our re-gathering team meets, the value of community together continues to drive the plans.

 We have been able to respond this way because the LEAD process helped us identify our core values and organize ourselves around them.

Another way the LEAD process helped position us for success during this time, was looking at our building as an asset and updating the parts that we felt would serve us in the future. In late 2019 our property folks undertook an upgrade of our Wi-Fi system throughout the building. All areas became Wi-Fi accessible. We, of course had not foreseen how big of an improvement that would be in 2020, but we are positioned to be online from all areas. This has helped us in our online worship currently and will continue to help us as we determine how to re-gather in person and online. Social distancing protocols can be maintained with various areas of our building space being able to have live services streamed. We do not know exactly how this will play out, but with the core value of Growing Faithfully, we know we can do it.

We additionally benefited from our LEAD learning by having an online giving portal. We embarked on updating our website to make it a secure site at the end of 2019 and began using the Tithe.ly app during Advent of 2019. Having this portal has allowed the generosity of our members to continue in this virtual time. We are blessed to be able to continue to support our ministries through these times. We also uploaded our Church software to work over the cloud. At the time we did not know how advantageous this would turn out to be but work from home orders could be easily met with this change. We also began going green. We put all LED lights in the buildings, replaced our refrigerator and freezer with energy efficient models and put our old blower air and heat system on timers. This really allows control of our energy use. We have seen savings in our energy bills that has allowed us to divert money to programs now.

Just before the shutdown, we at Good Shepherd held a 1-day retreat, led by Synod Vice-President John Auger. We followed the Annual Roadmap for Congregations published by LEAD. This process helped us define 3 specific goals and accountable actions associated with each. This was our first time doing the Roadmap, and we shut down right after. But due to having leaders in place for each goal, we are still working toward them, albeit in different ways.

The community aspect of the Shepherd’s Garden continues to expand. In this time of stay-at-home, the garden has provided a safe place for people to get out and do something for others. Each community gardener (we now have 30 beds) grows their own produce and is asked to give 10% to the food pantry we support at St Stephen’s Lutheran Church. What started as a small LEAD adaptive experiment has grown in ways we never imagined.

 The outward focus and connection to our values has been an immense help to us. We are thankful for the work we did during our LEAD journey and look with hope to the future.

 

There has never been a better time to boldly experiment, being church in new ways. Reach out to learn more about LEAD – Living Every day As Disciples – in our synod. LEAD is our synod’s main tool for growing disciple-leaders who learn to listen to God in scripture and prayer, within the church and within the neighborhood to discern where God is calling and what to do about it!

 

 For more information about our synod’s LEAD Journey, contact Cindy VanVliet, Associate for Community, at cvanvliet@demdsynod.org, for more information about our synod’s LEAD Journey!

 

 

 

TELLING TO STORY OF PARTNER MINISTRIES: UNITED LUTHERAN SEMINARY

This is a wonderful letter from Rev. Dr. Angela Zimmann Interim President United Lutheran Seminary Gettysburg & Philadelphia, sharing the story of United Lutheran Seminaries ministry and work throughout 2019 and sharing a new initiative called United Partners.

 

Every Student. Every Day.

In our third year of raising up leaders for the church and world, United Lutheran Seminary is building on our rich heritage while faithfully educating future church leaders.

 We are grateful for the wisdom and ministry that the former Interim President, Dr. Richard Green, brought to our school during the past year. We are blessed with over 350 students from over 28 denominations who learn and live on two campuses and all over the world. We celebrate the gifts of our faculty as they teach and converse with our students, equipping them for the work of ministry in a myriad of contexts. This Spring, we conferred degrees on 70 students, of which 47 were Masters of Divinity and Master of Arts in Ministerial Leadership recipients. In addition 14 students received certification from the Urban Theological Institute. Other degree programs included the Doctor of Ministry, Masters in Public Leadership, and Masters of Sacred Theology.

Our financial picture is hopeful. The ULS endowment is strong thanks to the legacy gifts and contributions of saints past and present. Because of this, we are able to offer up to full tuition for all degree-seeking students. Our annual fund goals are aspirational, yet we are continuously amazed by the generosity and passion of seminary supporters.

Much of our annual operating funds come through direct synodical support. In the last fiscal year, over $1.2 M was received from the fourteen synods of ELCA Regions 7 & 8. This is a significant portion of how we provide for every student, every day. Individual congregations have also made significant contributions. In the last fiscal year, 219 congregations gave a total of $147,305.00 in support of theological education. Funds went to our food pantries, libraries, worship facilities, and other areas to enhance the faith formation of all students. 

This year, we want to continue lifting up and celebrating those congregations that are already contributing to the ULS scholarship and general fund on a regular basis and make a special invitation to your congregation to join in the ranks of those who support us through prayers and gifts. Through the United Partner Initiative, your congregation can journey with seminary students as they experience faith formation, learning, and finding their own unique way to answer God’s call for them in a broken world. Information about this new initiative is available at www.uls.edu/UnitedPartners or by speaking to the representative from ULS at the assembly.

 What do United Partners gain?

 Invitations to an annual summit of partners with the President and Cabinet on either campus

 Periodic zoom meetings to share information and ideas with the Director of Church Relations

 Discounts on overnights at campus facilities and lifelong learning opportunities

 Visits from guest preachers associated with United Lutheran Seminary (subject to availability)

 A partnership certificate, Advent Star, Lenten Devotionals, etc.

What does ULS gain? 

 A better understanding of the congregations for whom we seek to provide rostered leadership

 A possible resource/think tank of people from different walks of life who have a passion for the church and its ministry in the world

 Monthly financial contributions from member congregations

How do congregations determine their contribution?

 Partner monthly gifts are determined by the church’s weekly attendance. Thrivent members are also able to allocate their Thrivent Choice dollars for this program.

o 0 – 50  –  $25 – $50

o 50 – 100  –  $50 – $100

o 100 – 150  –  $75 – $150

o 150 – 200  –  $100 – $200

o 200 +   –  $200 – $500

I hope that as a representative from your congregation, you will prayerfully consider sharing this second mile giving information with your church council. Folks from the advancement team at ULS are available to zoom conference with your church council, and a YouTube video about the program is available from the web page. We already have over 70 congregations from all over ELCA Regions 7 & 8 that are actively partnering with us. A “United Partner Press Packet” is available by request. Please join us in the journey!

 As we move into the next academic year, I am filled with a deep sense of humility and gratitude for the great cloud of witnesses who make Lutheran theological education possible here in the Northeastern United States. Thank you for your partnership and prayers.

  

TELLING STORY OF PARTNER MINISTRY: Lutheran Campus Ministry at The University of Maryland

Lutheran Campus Ministry at The University of Maryland sets out to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. That’s why we’re called The Humble Walk on campus. We help students connect with God, each other, and the larger community, as they discern who God is calling them to be and what God is calling them to do— not just in the future related to a job, but as a disciple of Jesus Christ each and every day.

We have weekly worship, student-led small groups, three weekly service programs connecting college students as mentors and tutors with at-risk Elementary school children in the neighborhood (including the CARing Project), and a praise team that visits churches once a month. We have regular retreats, including an annual international trip and alternative Spring Break trip, do regular stream clean-ups where we adopted one nearby, play intramural sports together, and have regular fellowship events like game nights.

Throughout this pandemic The Humble Walk has continued to support students and the community by gathering virtually in worship, bible study, interfaith and justice conversations, as well as continuing the tutoring and mentoring programs with elementary kids in a latino community nearby. We hope you will take a a few minutes to watch this wonderful video highlighting the ways The Humble Walk has impacted current students and alumni in solidifying their relationship with God, each other, the community and global partners as disciples doing the work of love and justice. 

For more information or to support our ministry, please visit www.lutheranterps.com

TELLING THE STORY OF OUR PARTNER MINISTRIES: Diakon

Helping residents maintain an active spiritual life

As chaplain of Diakon Senior Living in Hagerstown, the Rev. Stephanie Steele has a singular goal—to engage residents in living the fullest spiritual life they desire. She helps them do that in so many ways.

“Residents tell me about their faith, about the beginnings of their faith,” she says. “Maybe their grandmother took them to church for the first time and maybe they couldn’t get there in later years. I want to provide that spiritual life again.”

Pastor Stephanie leads worship services for residents of all levels of care and at all locations, adapting the service as needed. Diakon Senior Living – Hagerstown consists of two locations, the Ravenwood and Robinwood campuses, and offers independent living accommodations, assisted living, memory care assisted living and skilled nursing and rehabilitation.

Services, she says, may simply be a Bible reading, a prayer and one hymn. Or they may include a short sermon, Communion, more readings, and more hymns. Plus she leads Bible study groups in each location.

“We have healthy discussions and plenty of laughter,” Pastor Stephanie says. “Residents say ‘I never knew that’ or ‘I never thought of it that way.’ They look at things anew.”

With an emphasis on seeing the whole person, Pastor Stephanie also believes it is important to connect the spiritual with some level of activity. For example, she knows that many residents were involved in charitable work through their church before they came to Diakon Senior Living. That led her to organize what she calls “Knitting for charity,” which benefits various organizations in the Hagerstown area.

“People need to continue to give as they did at their church, to have that purpose,” she says. “They are so eager to help. Men even come to help wind the yarn; anyone can get involved.”

Sometimes Pastor Stephanie is called upon at the end of a resident’s life, which she describes as an honor.

“You know, we live until we can’t live anymore,” she notes. “And we believe our spiritual life is the last thing to go.”

In recent months, as the COVID pandemic hit the country, activities had to be modified at all Diakon Senior Living communities. When residents couldn’t come together for worship or Bible study or the knitting project, Pastor Stephanie created “Doorway Devotions.”

“Residents come to their doorway or staff members bring them,” she explains. “I offer a simple liturgy and we sing one hymn. We recently were able to have a worship service in our dining room, with 12 people. But we are continuing Doorway Devotions.”
Pastor Stephanie has high praise for the Diakon staff, noting that through the COVID quarantine, she has gotten closer to many of them, further witnessing their devotion to residents.

“There are many staff members who have been here for years,” she says. “They are so dedicated. You know that expression, Heroes Work Here—that’s true here!”

She adds that “I offer hope to our residents and staff. I remind them that we are all in this together, that this, too, shall pass and they are never alone. They have the Holy Spirit with them always.”

Diakon: Many Hands, guided by One Heart, that daily transform the lives of thousands of children, youths, families, and older adults through programs ranging from adoption, foster care and at-risk youth services to counseling and comprehensive senior living communities. Dating to 1868, Diakon aids people of all faiths through compassionate service, gracious hospitality and charitable care. To find out more: https://www.diakon.org/

CONNECTED IN PRAYER: Centering Prayer

“Centering Prayer is a receptive, deep method of silent prayer that prepares us to receive the gift of contemplative prayer, prayer in which we experience God’s presence within us, closer than breathing, closer than thinking, closer than consciousness itself. This method of prayer is both a relationship with God and a discipline to foster that relationship with God.”*

Here are steps to practicing Centering Prayer*:
1. Find a quiet place. Then choose a sacred word as the symbol of your intention to consent to God’s presence and action within.
2. Sitting comfortably and with eyes closed, settle briefly and silently introduce the sacred word as the symbol of your consent to God’s presence and action within.
3. When engaged with your thoughts, return ever-so-gently to the sacred word.
4. At the end of the prayer period, remain in silence with eyes closed for a couple of minutes.

For more details, you might check out this sight: https://www.contemplativeoutreach.org/centering-prayer-method/

*https://www.minnesotacontemplativeoutreach.org/centering-prayer.html

CONNECTEDNESS STORY: THE SHEPHERD’S GARDEN

It all started with a request from the now retired director of Lutheran Community Services (LCS) Delaware, “Please plant a strip for LCS”.  Lutheran Community Services supply of fresh vegetables had been drastically cut and the various churches supporting LCS were being asked to plant vegetables to help fill the gap.  This request, along with the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd in Wilmington, DE being involved in the LEAD (Living Everyday as Disciples) process, pushed Good Shepherd, a suburban church with ample green space, to reconsider how we use and steward our resources.

With an ideal location for a garden, funding by grants from partners including the Delaware Dept. of Agriculture and the New Castle County Conservancy and a Girl Scout working on her Gold Award project, Good Shepherd built three 4’x16’ raised beds in the spring of 2017.  The Shepherd’s Garden had been born.  A blessed growing season and many excited hands to work the beds allowed Good Shepherd to deliver 675 pounds of fresh produce to St Stephens Food Pantry (one supported by LCS).  Feeling like we could do more, Good Shepherd received a grant from the our Delaware-Maryland Synod through the Creation Care team and expanded the garden to seven beds in 2018.  We were able to increase our supply to the food pantry to 780 pounds.

At this point Good Shepherd had reached the maximum amount of beds that the congregation alone could tend, but there was still ample space.  We looked into the possibility of creating a community garden space where beds could be rented out to the public.  Another grant from the Delaware-Maryland Synod’s Hunger Task Force and two Eagle Scout candidates working on their projects, allowed Good Shepherd to build fifteen 4’x8’ raised beds.  They were quickly claimed by local neighbors with a desire to try their hand at gardening.  The requirement on the community gardeners was that they donate 10% of their harvest to the food pantry.  They well exceeded that requirement.  We are happy to report that through the this growing season, the Shepherd’s Garden was able to donate over one ton of food to the food pantry!

God’s abundance is on full display in the garden.  It is not only about the number of pounds donated, but also the wide-ranging ministry this project created.  Many local businesses donate to the garden, area high school students are involved, and congregation members devote hours to tending the garden.  Not only is it a place for hard work, but a place of relaxation and building dreams.  We have sponsored an internship for a college student in the garden, and a small business was born there.  Our community gardeners gather and share stories, and have a desire to do more.  The leaders of the ministry have been asked to speak about faith based community gardens at the Delaware Horticulture Society by the University of Delaware.  And, our congregation is once again connected in a tangible way to our immediate community.  We don’t know where the garden ministry will lead next, but following the lead of the Holy Spirit has been a wonderful experience.

For information on how you might begin a garden ministry please contact the Shepherd’s Garden at shepherdsgardenlcgs@gmail.com The Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, Wilmington, DE.   Nov, 2019

To support either or both of our Delaware-Maryland Synod Creation Care Team or Hunger Team, feel free to Give online! At https://demdsynod.org/. Just choose the ministry you wish to fund!