Synod Assembly voting members were sent an informational email on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. If you are a voting member and did not receive this email (and you have checked your spam folder!), please call Theresa at the Synod Office at (602) 957-3223.
We’ve also included the information in this post.
Read MoreAfter a long assembly week, the Office of the Bishop will be closed on Monday and Tuesday, June 13-14, 2022.
Read MoreThis week we celebrated the following ordination anniversaries:
Rev. Jon Clutz, who celebrated 58 years on May 27.
Rev. Benjamin Bergren, Community, Las Vegas, who celebrated 24 years on May 28.
Rev. Nicholas Mays, who celebrated 56 years on May 29.
Rev. Norene Smith, who celebrated 39 years on May 29.
Rev. Leroy Rehrer, who celebrated 45 years on May 29.
Rev. Ronald Glusenkamp, who celebrated 41 years on May 29.
Rev. Randall Olson, Honor Health, Scottsdale, who celebrated 46 years on May 30.
Rev. Dennis Nelson, who celebrated 51 years on May 30.
Rev. Andrea Cain, Desert Cross, Tempe, who celebrated 14 years on June 1.
Rev. Brian Cain, Spirit of Joy, Gilbert, who celebrated 14 years on June 1.
Rev. Richard Lawrence, who celebrated 38 years on June 1.
Rev. Eugene Perry, who celebrated 64 years on June 1.
Rev. Carol Breimeier, New Spirit, Tucson, who celebrated 22 years on June 2.
Rev. Ronald Pechauer, who celebrated 59 years on June 2.
Rev. Roland Harder, Our Saviour’s, Buckeye, who celebrated 56 years on June 2.
Rev. Ellis Eskritt, who celebrated 57 years on June 2.
Rev. Gary Benson, who celebrated 48 years on June 2.
Rev. James Lundeen, who celebrated 57 years on June 2.
Rev. Lloyd Wallace, who celebrated 59 years on June 2.
Rev. Ernie Larsen, who celebrated 59 years on June 2.
Rev. Fred Nelson, New Spirit, Tucson, who celebrated 22 years on June 2.
It’s all hands on deck as the Office of the Bishop prepares for our 2022 Assembly!
Read MoreInfections and hospitalizations are increasing quickly across much of the South and Southwest. Average daily case reports have more than doubled in the past two weeks in Arizona, South Carolina and West Virginia.
According to the CDC’s COVID-19 Community Levels, Clark County is the first to be at medium level after months of low levels in our synod. All of our synod’s remaining counties are low level: Apache, Cochise, Coconino, Gila, Graham, Greenlee, La Paz, Maricopa, Mohave, Navajo, Pima, Pinal, Santa Cruz, Washington, Yavapai, and Yuma.
Read MoreThe New and Renewing Team of the Grand Canyon Synod is excited to announce the 2nd round of Lilly 3E Vital Right Shaped Ministries Vitality and Innovation Grants. Apply using this Word document.
Applications are due by June 10, 2022. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Pr. Miguel Gomez-Acosta at miguel.gomez-acosta@elca.org.
Read MoreGrace Lutheran in Phoenix is gearing up for their summer heat respite program, which will run 6/13 – 8/26/2022, Monday-Friday, 9:00 am-4:30 pm. This will be their 17th summer of providing heat respite!
Their mission during the summer months is to provide a space for heat relief while building community through the sharing of community resources, meals, water, and ourselves in a place of being, belonging, and becoming. Volunteers and donations of food and items requested.
Read MorePastor Karn Carroll shares news and photos from their new mural on Glendale Avenue and 12th Street. The mural was on a recent Channel 12 new report (starts at 12 minutes into the video).
Read MoreJoin Deacon Janice Zimbelman in a journey of learning to lead more effectively. Deacon Janice will be participating in Excellence in Leadership, offered online through the Rocky Mountain Synod of the ELCA, starting this coming September. She is looking for rostered and lay leaders to join her in this journey of learning and growing. For more information about Excellence in Leadership: rmselca.org/excellence-in-leadership
Read MoreThe Hunger Advocacy Fellow will participate in a year-long transformative experience that combines leadership development and faith formation with impactful advocacy that moves us toward an end to hunger and a just world where all are fed.
The 2022-23 Hunger Advocacy Fellow placed with Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in Arizona (LAMA), will serve as a member of the staff of this ELCA-affiliated SPPO as a full-time contract employee.
Read MoreVoting members at the 2022 assembly are encouraged to review two proposed updates to our synod constitution.
By SC20.02.07 the Synod Council recommends the Synod Assembly adopt the non-required amendments as approved by the 2019 Churchwide Assembly. Click here to access the recommended provisions as PDF.
The S7.11.01 bylaw change comes as a recommendation of the 2022 Synod Council, click here to access as PDF.
For rescue, recovery, and cleanup efforts in Mexico following Hurricane Agatha…
For survivors, victims, and loved ones affected by recent mass shootings across the United States…
For safety, justice, and freedom from fear for all who live with the threat of gun violence in their communities…
For homes, communities, nations, and international relationships to be filled with peace and understanding…
For our Jewish neighbors as they celebrate Shavuot and the gift of God’s law to Moses…
With thanksgiving for the gifts of LGBTQIA2S+ people in the church and across our society…
For an end to homophobia, transphobia, and gender-based discrimination…
Fund for Leaders alum Meredith Kesely has served as the head pastor at Abiding Presence in Burke, Va. since 2010. In 2021, the congregation called Kelsey Kresse, another Fund for Leaders alum, to serve as its associate pastor. Both pastors reflect on their leadership journeys and the ways Abiding Presence is fostering future leaders. Your support for Fund for Leaders will allow more pastors like Meredith and Kelsey to say “yes” to God’s call. ELCA.org/FundforLeaders25
Read MoreThe Rev. Rachel Eskesen, Area Desk Director for Europe, introduces three people she met on her travels in Eastern Europe. They represent the work of ELCA partners in the region that are accompanying refugees from Ukraine. For more information about Lutheran Disaster Response and the ELCA’s work in Eastern Europe, visit: ELCA.org/Ukraine.
Read MoreThe Rev. David C. Nagler, San Diego, was elected May 20 to serve a six-year term as bishop of the Pacifica Synod of the ELCA.
Read MoreRecent research about Gen Z from the Springtide Research Institute suggests that a combination of three things leads to young people, aged 13-25, feeling like they belong in school: being noticed, named, and known by a community. Paying attention to someone, noticing rather than ignoring them, increases that person’s sense of connectedness. Greeting someone, holding the door for them, blessing them after a sneeze—all are simple ways to notice.
Read MoreWe pray for Rev. Joaquin Garcia, Joaquin Garcia and the people of Iglesia Luterana Vida Nueva in Glendale, part of the Capital Conference. Visit their site at facebook.com/Ilvidanueva.
Read MoreStirred up in the Spirit, the theme of the 2022 Grand Canyon Synod Assembly, draws on the common work we do as Synod.
In a world where we can easily provoke each other in unhelpful and even harmful ways, this assembly focuses on the ways we get to provoke each other in good and Spirited ways. We challenge each other to recognize that we are called to be public witnesses of God’s love and hope in the world. I pray this assembly renews our enthusiasm and confidence to provoke actions of love and good deeds.
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