June 29 marks 50 years!

Bishop Eaton writes: “Words matter. Words matter in our Scripture, in our hymns, in our governing documents, and beyond. Fifty years ago, on June 29, 1970, the Lutheran Church in America voted to change the word “man” to “person” in its bylaws and opened the door for the ordination of women. The American Lutheran Church achieved the same thing by resolution a few months later. The church was led by the Spirit to change. At the time it was scary for some. Fifty years later, it is now part of our heritage.”

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Regina Banks: When I Broke

When I announced my intention to go to law school my mother’s family became suspiciously excited. My grandfather was the first Black Genesee County (MI) deputy in the 1950’s. He studied law then finished his career as a magistrate. His only daughter (my mother) was a probation officer briefly. 3 of his 4 sons are, to this day, sworn law enforcement officers. One of them even married a state trooper! Adding a prosecutor to the family would complete the set.

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GCS Tech Lab featuring Music Director Charles Zoll

On Wednesday, July 1, 2020 at 10 am, join Charles Zoll, Music Director for Holy Trinity in Chandler, for a quick conversation on his use of technology and adaptation during this time of change, including livestreaming with multi-camera setups (preview instruction PDF).

Use the link bit.ly/gcstechlab to access the Zoom meeting every Wednesday at 10 am, or email bflatgard@gcsynod.org to get an email invite. Visit gcsynod.org/tech-lab where we’ll archive resources from each week.

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Grand Canyon Synod coronavirus cases: 6/25/2020

For quick comparison, we are using New York Times 7-day average graphs for each state in our synod: Arizona, Nevada, and Utah.

  • Arizona: This week, 63,064 cases, 1,494 deaths. Last week, 43,494 cases and 1,284 deaths.

  • Nevada: This week, 14,893 cases, 495 deaths. Last week, 12,160 cases and 475 deaths.

  • Utah: This week, 19,544 cases and 164 deaths. Last week, 16,015 cases and 152 deaths.

  • Navajo Nation: This week, 7,157 cases and 347 deaths. Last week, 6,747 cases and 322 deaths.

  • Hopi Nation: This week, 256 cases. Last week, 204 cases.

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Web Event: Planning for 2020 Stewardship Appeal

The Grand Canyon Synod Stewardship Team invites you to a web event, Planning for 2020 Stewardship Appeal, which will help you respond to God's call for support of your church's mission in this season of COVID-19.

Join us via Zoom on Monday, July 13, 2020, at 7 pm. Click here to register in advance for this meeting.

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GCS Tech Lab: Pastor David Drach-Meinel

Our first Grand Canyon Synod Tech Lab contributor is Pastor David Drach-Meinel, with Christ the Servant in Henderson. For many years Pastors David and Diane have embraced new technologies, and since March transitioned to full online worship using a recording studio set up in their home. “This is not something we do while we wait to go back,” Pastor Drach-Meinel says. “This is what we’re doing because this is ministry now.”

In this blog post, we share a portion of the video, tips and tricks, and a full resource list.

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Pastor Kristin Engstrom provides early July sermon

Pastor Kristin Engstrom, the Country Coordinator for the ELCA Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM) program in Senegal, provides a video sermon (also in PDF) for use for either Sunday, July 5 or 12, 2020.

Pastor Engstrom will use the texts from the ELCA Global Church Sunday Resources. We encourage synod churches to adapt the resources to celebrate this virtual visit from Pastor Engstrom. View this post for multiple ways to access the video.

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