Bishop
CCT's Letter From Birmingham
The annual meeting of Christian Churches Together, an ecumenical gathering of the five Christian faith families in the U.S., ended its meeting Jan. 14 issuing "A Letter From Birmingham" calling on Christians to remember, repentand renew their efforts to end poverty and racism in America.
Liberty Lutheran Celebrates 10 Years
Liberty Lutheran Services will celebrate its 10th Anniversary on Sunday, Jan. 30, with worship, praise and thanksgiving. Bishop Claire Burkat will give the homily at the 3 p.m. service at Upper Dublin Lutheran Church, Ambler.
Faiths Unite as Zones of Peace
“Zones of Peace” seeks to unite houses of worship from all faith traditions in the effort to reduce violence (not only gun violence, but domestic abuse, bullying, uncivil discourse, etc.) in the Greater Philadelphia Area.
Religious Leaders support freedom and understanding
"We live in a Commonwealth that was established on the vision of religious freedom and are committed to striving to actualize that vision. Together, we repudiate discrimination against the followers of any religion and reject violence of any sort," members of the Religious Leaders Council of Philadelphia wrote in an October statement on "Living a Vision of Religious Freedom and Understanding." Click on the headline to read the entire statement.
Synod to Receive Two Pastors onto Roster
The Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will receive two pastors onto its roster of ordained ministers in upcoming congregational ceremonies. The Rev. Jay A. Wiesner of University Lutheran Church of the Incarnation (UniLu) will be received Sunday, Dec. 12 and the Rev. Stephen Keiser of the Lutheran Church of the Holy Communion will be received Sunday, Jan. 2 in services in their respective congregations
Bishop's Convocation on Facebook
If you're attending the 2010 Bishop's Convocation Nov. 15-17, or if you would like to learn a bit more about our visiting speaker Phyllis Tickle and her book "The Great Emergence," you can check out the Convocation's Facebook Page.
One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, One People
"The opportunity to bring the Word of God and to baptize in the name of the Triune God in a place far away, to a people foreign to my culture, in a language not my own, was one of the highlights of my call as a pastor and a bishop," Bishop Burkat writes about her recent safari to visit our compaion synod in Tanzania. "This was truly a time when distance narrowed, offering a glimpse into God’s amazing grace!" Click to read the Bishop's message and a diary of the journey.
Taste and See! at SEPA Fall Gatherings
Join fellow Lutherans for a tasting of ways to form faith, put faith into action, communicate your story and equip people for discipleship (FACE). The 2010 series of fall conference gatherings feature a full menu of experiences that you can take back to your congregation to kick your discipleship program up a notch or two. This year there will be three gatherings, each held on Sunday afternoons from 3:30 to 7 pm: Oct. 10 – St. Luke, Devon; Oct. 17 – Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, Brossman Center; and Oct. 24 – Trinity, Lansdale. Click the image to read more.
Convocation explores Christianity at the Crossroads
Do you feel the ground shifting beneath your feet? Denominational loyalty is disappearing, replaced by new ranks of the “spiritual but not religious.” People mix and match from various spiritual traditions. Christianity is truly at a crossroads. Explore the upheaval around us at the 2010 Bishop’s Convocation with Phyllis Tickle, author of The Great Emergence, and Stephen Bouman of the ELCA’s Evangelical Outreach and Congregational Mission unit, Monday, Nov. 15 to Wednesday, Nov. 17 at the DoubleTree Resort (Lancaster/Willow Valley). Reduced price registration through Oct. 1. For more information visit www.ministrylink.org/convocation.
The FACE of the future
Bishop Claire Burkat challenged the 2010 Assembly to see how the four directions launched at last year’s assembly can lead the synod to embrace five trends that she sees emerging on the missional horizon. Represented by the acronym FACE, the directions are: Faith formation, faith in Action, Connecting and Communicating, and Equipping for evangelical outreach. Read more and view video of the bishop's remarks.
