Registration fee waived for MYLE and tAble
Registration fee waived for MYLE and tAble

Over the weekend, the ELCA Youth Gathering team announced that "the registration fees for the first 1,000 registrants for the ELCA MYLE and the first 200 registrants for the tAble will be waived by the Gathering for the 2024 cycle." These events are in New Orleans, 7/13-7/16/2024.

The Multicultural Youth Leadership Event (MYLE) is a gathering for youth of color that happens just before the ELCA Gathering, and The tAble is a gathering for young people who live with a range of physical, cognitive and emotional disabilities. Be on the lookout for more details coming soon!

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ELCA, Grand Canyon Synod, NewsBrian Flatgard2024 ELCA Youth Gathering, Youth and Young AdultComment
Rostered minister reports are due February 28, 2023
Rostered minister reports are due February 28, 2023

The annual Report to the Bishop is an opportunity for you to connect directly with Bishop Hutterer. She looks forward to your responses and feedback. Completion of this required report is one of the commitments rostered ministers are invited to make upon entering the synod. 

The report is due back to Bishop Hutterer by February 28, 2023. Access the report in this post or on our rostered minister report page.

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Grand Canyon Synod, NewsBrian FlatgardComment
An Interfaith Zoom Prayer Gathering: Finding Hope In New Beginnings
An Interfaith Zoom Prayer Gathering: Finding Hope In New Beginnings

You are invited to join us for an Interfaith Prayer Gathering of inspirational stories of hope. Experience “Finding Hope in New Beginnings,” a virtual zoom community bringing people of different faiths and perspectives together to share stories of hope and inspiration.

Wednesday, 2/15/2023, noon MST, 11am PST, featuring Susan Masood with Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest.. Click here to register and get the Zoom link. Hosted by Northeast Valley Consortium & Fountain Hills, AZ, Interfaith Alliance. More info in this post, as PDF, or email HopeInOurWorldNow@gmail.com.

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Grand Canyon Synod, NewsBrian FlatgardEcumenical and Inter-Religious Relations, Northeast Valley Conference, Northeast Valley ConsoritumComment
PLTS Keynote Lecture: CRISPR Revolution in Science, Religion, and Ethics
PLTS Keynote Lecture: CRISPR Revolution in Science, Religion, and Ethics

This lecture will present an overview of the CRISPR revolution and the various uses of CRISPR, a  powerful gene editing tool. The questions and issues raised by the scientific, ethical, and religious communities amidst this CRISPR revolution are more important than the answers provided.

Wednesday, February 15, 2023, 10am-12pm MST, 9-11am PST. If you are planning to attend in-person, please register at this link. If you are planning to attend online, please register at this link. Presented by Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary and California Lutheran University.

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Region 2, NewsBrian FlatgardPacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, California Lutheran UniversityComment
Congregation Statements of Intent due 2/15/2023
Congregation Statements of Intent due 2/15/2023

Please share your congregation’s plan for 2023 Mission Support by February 15, 2023 so the Synod Council can plan for the coming year. Thank you!

In this post, we share a letter (English, Spanish) 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.

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Bishop Hutterer, Grand Canyon Synod, NewsBrian FlatgardComment
Grand Canyon Synod active rostered ministers Boundary Training course last day is 2/15/2023
Grand Canyon Synod active rostered ministers Boundary Training course last day is 2/15/2023

All active Grand Canyon Synod rostered ministers are required to participate in professional boundary training every three years. Retired rostered ministers are not required. The Office of the Bishop has partnered with CongregationU to provide Boundary Awareness Training for $29.00.

Click here to take this course by 2/15/2023, and email your certificate of completion to office@gcsynod.org by 2/28/2023. Learn more in a letter from Bishop Hutterer in this post.

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Grand Canyon Synod, News, Leader ResourcesBrian FlatgardComment
Arizona Faith Network's February 2023 newsletter
Arizona Faith Network's February 2023 newsletter

The Arizona Faith Network’s February, 2023 newsletter is available online, featuring Black History Month and AFN's Stone of Hope web page; meeting schedules; a Simplicity and Interfaith Gathering; Environmental Day at the Capitol; Black History Month Film Festival; Faith Rooted Advocacy Leadership Series; Human Trafficking Awareness Webinar; the Connection to Nature Interfaith Family Event; and much more.

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Grand Canyon Synod, NewsBrian FlatgardArizona Faith Network, 2023 Black History Month, Ecumenical and Inter-Religious RelationsComment
ELCA Foundation's giving tip and verse for February, 2023
ELCA Foundation's giving tip and verse for February, 2023

Our synod’s ELCA Foundation planners—Lisa Higginbotham and Josh Kerney—share a monthly bible verse and charitable giving tip. This month’s verse is Galatians 6:6-10, and we explore planned giving.

Also known as Legacy Planning, Estate Planning, and Gift Planning, Planned Giving is a proactive action of love and consideration to include our beloved charities and congregations in our end-of-life plans. 

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News, Grand Canyon SynodBrian FlatgardStewardship, ELCA FoundationComment
SOFIA: UP Wild Brings Worship Outdoors
SOFIA: UP Wild Brings Worship Outdoors

As part of the latest Stories of Faith in Action, we share UP Wild Brings Worship Outdoors (view online or as PDF). Located in the town of Marquette in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, UP Wild Church is among the newest ministries in the growing movement of “wild” outdoor worship communities.

View all the Stories of Faith in Action here, and how your offering becomes mission support.

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ELCA, NewsBrian FlatgardStories of Faith in Action (SOFIA), 2022-2023 Sofia, Outdoor MinistryComment
11th Asian Lutheran International Conference held
11th Asian Lutheran International Conference held

The 11th Asian Lutheran International Conference (ALIC) was held in Chiang Rai, Thailand, Jan. 12-17, with the theme “Comfort, Comfort My People: Prophetic Justice and Healing.” Sivin Kit, Lutheran World Federation interim director for the Department for Theology, Mission and Justice, spoke to this theme by asking, “Have we lost touch with the experience of pain and suffering in our churches and our world?”

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ELCA, Global Church, NewsBrian FlatgardAsian and Pacific Islander Association of the ELCAComment
Luther Seminary's Faith+Lead Bookhub for February, 2023
Luther Seminary's Faith+Lead Bookhub for February, 2023

Luther Seminary's Faith+Lead Bookhub for February, 2023 is 2/16/2023, entitled Work that Means Something: Experiencing God’s invitation in the ordinary. Learn more and sign up here, and check out the three featured books:

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Grand Canyon Synod, NewsBrian FlatgardLuther Seminary, faith+leadComment
Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church nominations
Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church nominations

At its November 2022 meeting, the ELCA Church Council authorized the establishment of a Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church (CRLC) to consist of no more than 35 voting members and directed the Executive Committee of the Church Council to initiate the process of forming the Commission.

Each synod is being asked to submit two nominees. Read more in this post about this process and how to nominate yourself or others.

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ELCA, Grand Canyon Synod, NewsBrian FlatgardCommission for a Renewed Lutheran ChurchComment
2023 Lutheran Day at the Legislature Recap
2023 Lutheran Day at the Legislature Recap

What a day! For photos and a full recap, please visit lamaz.org. Highlights below.

  • Nearly 100 advocates from 23 of Arizona’s 30 districts gathered at the State Capitol for a day of advocacy on January 30, 2023

  • Sen. Raquel Terán (D), Senate Minority Leader from LD26 and Rep. Tim Dunn (R) from LD25 (Yuma) were featured speakers, along with Ashley St. Thomas, Arizona Food Bank Network; Jessie Gruner, Pinnacle Prevention; and Connie Phillips, Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest.

  • Participants met with their legislators in support of anti-hunger bills HB2211 and HB2142

  • Bishop Hutterer led the invocation in the Senate, advocates were introduced in the House gallery by Rep. Jennifer Pawlik (D), LD13 and in the Senate by Sen. Raquel Terán (D), LD26.

  • Advocates attended the Health & Human Services Committee to hear testimony in support of HB2211, which received a 9-0 due pass recommendation.

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Bishop Hutterer, Grand Canyon Synod, NewsBrian FlatgardAdvocacy, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry Arizona (LAMA), Hunger Comment