Weathering the System
POSTPONED - Due to inclement weather, this workshop has been rescheduled for January 28 (so you still have time to register!) Are you beset by the storms of conflict and change? The Upper Bucks Conference invites you to learn about “Weathering the System” in a one-day workshop on Saturday, January 28 (rescheduled date) at Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Souderton. Presentations will help you manage stress and learn skills to keep your footing when the storms are raging, find growth in conflict, understand your personality type and communicate more effectively, all in the context of Christian community. Keynote speaker is Sylvia Havlish, owner and founder of Inside Out Counseling and Seminars in Alburtis, PA.
Silesian Bishop to be Installed
Pastor Jan Waclawek will be installed as Bishop of the Silesian Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession (SCEAV) on Sunday, January 29 in Cesky Tesin, Czech Republic. Joanne Carlson, assistant to the bishop for global vision and events, will attend the installation representing Bishop Burkat. Your prayers are requested on that day for Bishop Waclawek and the people of SCEAV. See prayer petition after the jump.
2012 Synod Assembly Nominations
Each synod in assembly elects both clergy and lay voting members to the Churchwide Assembly. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod has been allocated eighteen (18) voting members, including the Bishop and the Vice President, at the 13th Churchwide Assembly, planned for August 12-18, 2013, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Accordingly, at its 2012 assembly, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod will elect sixteen (16) Churchwide Assembly voting members in the following categories: four lay female voting members; one lay female youth voting member; four lay male voting members; one lay male young adult voting member; and six clergy voting members.
Lutheran Night at the Phillies June 1
Corrected information. The information distributed in the Jan. 19 SEPANews is incorrect. Please use this information instead. Mark your calendar for Lutheran Night at the Phillies on Friday, June 1 at 7:05 p.m. vs. Miami. This is the 37th consecutive year for Lutheran Night. A portion of each ticket cost will support Synod youth ministry programs. Ordering information will be available soon. Plan on ordering promptly, as Phillies tickets go fast. A block of tickets has beenreserved for Lutheran groups on June 1. If those tickets sell out there will be an additional block available on an alternate date.
Diakonia Retreat Feb. 11
Diakonia(TM) graduates (there are 1200 in SEPA Synod) and persons interested in Diakonia(TM) are invited to the program's annual retreat on Saturday, Feb. 11 from 9-3 at St. Luke, Devon. "21st Century Mission Opportunities: Congregations on the Cutting Edge of Community Ministry" will feature Rev. Dr. Karl Krueger of LTSP on "Henry Melchior Muhlenberg: Have Call Will Travel." This day of learning, worship and fellowship costs $20 per person.
LTSP Women's Retreat 3/17
"A Great Cloud" is the theme for LTSP¹s annual Rest, Refreshment and Renewal Women's Day 2012. The retreat on Saturday, March 17 at the Seminary, will center on the celebration of the 300th birthday of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, the patriarch of the Lutheran church in North America, and the great cloud of women witnesses from Katie Luther and Anna Muhlenberg to all women who will gather on March 17. Registration deadline is Monday, March 12th. Open to women of all faiths! Learn more at the LTSP website.
Congregation Audits Due June 30
Janet Huber Neff, Treasurer of the Southeastern PA Synod, wants to remind your congregation that your reviews or audits are due for 2011 by June 30, 2012. If you are in need of the audit guidelines, please contact the office and we will mail one to you. If you have any questions, please send them to Janet at
Worship: Rehearsal for Meeting God
More and more Christians report a growing disconnect between their faith lives on Sunday morning and the rest of their lives throughout the week. How and why has this occurred, and what can we do about it? Join David Lose, Marbury Prof. of Biblical Preaching at Luther Seminary, as he suggests that we need to reconsider the nature ofSunday morning worship and preaching. Sunday morning, he contends, isn't the major Christian performance of the week, it's the rehearsal...a rehearsal for meeting God in everyday life. Sunday, January 29th from 12 noon to 3 pm.
Start Lent Searching for the Holy
On the First Sunday in Lent, February 26, from 1 to 3 pm, Ascension Lutheran Church, Washington Crossing, will host a seminar entitled “Searching for the Holy” with the Rev. Leslie M. Richard. She will use lecture, dialog, and experiential pieces to explore what God is like, personal encounter with God, and how to recognize the presence of God. Learn more after the jump.
No Injuries in Hatfield Church Fire
A New Year's Eve fire heavily damaged the old church building at Grace Lutheran Church in Hatfield. The current church and two adjacent homes were spared through the efforts of several local fire companies. The former church was used as a daycare, educational space, and home of the Laymen Playmen theatrical group. "The lost building represents many years of memories and ministry for so many people of the Hatfield area," the congregation said on its website. "The congregation is grateful to the brave firemen and other emergency responders who put out the fire and prevented damage to other structures."
The Man With No Shoes
Most people know him as the man with no shoes. He lives on the street and plays the piano. Some of us know him as Raymond, the English name he shares because most of us can't pronounce his Chinese name. I have heard Raymond speak of Communist China, and there is something about living in an institution where he was forced to wear ill-fitting shoes that tortured his feet; but Raymond speaks to us through the piano, the instrument he learned to play by developing a mathematical system to translate the notes....
Furaha ya Krismasi!
"We would like to send our warmest wishes for a Joyous Christmas and Happy New Year to all of the congregations of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod and to the Bishop and staff," missionaries Tom and Susan MacPherson write in their Christmas message from Tanzania. "Our Christmas tree (pictured) is made of pine cones, tissue paper and construction paper."
"The Grace of God Has Appeared"
In his 2011 Christmas message, ELCA presiding bishop Mark S. Hanson draws on Titus' announcement of God-with-us. Christ's nativity reminds us that "God creates with deep beauty and profound mystery," the bishop writes. God's grace has appeared for a yearning and hurting world and for you, no matter how weary, worried or wondering you may be.
