We share a letter from Bishop Hutterer and Synod Vice President Barbara Carl, thanking you and our synod’s congregations for continued mission support, half of which is passed to ELCA churchwide for ministry in the larger church.
Please fill out your Statement of Intent (view as PDF in English or Spanish) for your congregation’s plan for 2024 Mission Support by February 15, 2024 so we can plan for the coming year. Return it by to our office at office@gcsynod.org or by postal mail. Thank you!
Dear Partner in Ministry,
Looking back through 2023, this was a year where the theme of transformation rang throughout the Grand Canyon Synod. Together we welcomed new leaders to the synod, started new ministries, celebrated the ministry milestones of congregations and leaders, and gave thanks for the legacy of ministries that discerned to close. In all things we trust in God’s promise in Jesus to work through us to transform the world by sharing the Good News.
In your name, and through our partnership as congregation, synod, and churchwide, together we were able to:
Install 12 rostered leaders into congregations across the Grand Canyon Synod and ordain 6 pastors into their first call so that churches might be served by a faithful and dynamic leader.
Help develop & support the new West Valley Young Adult Ministry so that a generation of people yearning for community might know Jesus.
Provide over $200,000 in project and ACTS grants to 34 ministries and congregations to engage in outreach and ministry in their communities.
Steward over $116,000 to bolster our campus ministry communities in Tempe, Tucson, and Flagstaff so that young people on campus might have a safe place to go in times of joy, discernment, and loss.
Welcome 5 new candidates into candidacy and continue to accompany 23 candidates for Word and Sacrament and Word and Service so that the whole church might be served.
Install the first Navajo leaders of Navajo Evangelical Lutheran Mission and House of Prayer, Rock Point so that the Navajo Nation might hear the Word of God in their own language.
By supporting ministries across the synod and churchwide, you magnify your impact in ways that you could not accomplish on your own. Thank you for your faithful partnership as we work together.
As you vote on your congregation’s mission spending plan for 2024, we ask that you prayerfully consider an increase in your mission support to the Grand Canyon Synod. It’s your generosity that allows us to journey together in Christ for the sake of a broken world. Would you please fill out your congregation’s Mission Support Plan for 2024?
It is vital for us to receive this information in the synod office so your Synod Council can plan for the coming year. After completing the form, please return it by February 15, 2024, to our office at office@gcsynod.org or by postal mail. As always, we are here if you have any questions.
Your stewardship of the vast array of gifts God has entrusted with this community makes our impact as church together. Thank you for empowering us, the Office of the Bishop, to show up in transitions, in conflict, and in celebration. It is truly a blessing to be church together. Thank you for embodying our shared mission for the sake of the world.
The Rev. Deborah K. Hutterer
Bishop
Grand Canyon Synod of the ELCA
Ms. Barbara Carl
Vice President
Grand Canyon Synod
of the ELCA
For every dollar that your congregation sends to the Grand Canyon Synod in mission support…
25 cents is shared with our local missions and ministries like Native American Urban Ministry, Lutheran Campus Ministry, Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest and Nevada, California Lutheran University, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, the Lutheran Church of Senegal, the Mexican Lutheran Church, and congregations across the synod through over $160,000 in grants which encourage faithful and innovative ministry.
25 cents funds the Office of the Bishop’s staff in equipping the saints (that’s you!) in proclaiming the gospel. In supporting your synod’s Office of the Bishop, you empower the staff in their work and travel, permit streamlined administration, and sponsor leadership programs that impact every corner of the synod such as the Synod Council.
50 cents is tithed to churchwide for ministry as the larger church. Here your gifts are added to the other 9,100 congregations across the ELCA to impact ministries across the country and the world. You see this most clearly though the call of Pastor James Dew as our Grand Canyon Synod Director of Evangelical Mission, the Young Adults in Global Mission program, the National Youth Gathering, ELCA World Hunger, and so much more.