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A communications service of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod, ELCA copyright 2007.
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Dear Friend,
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Spread the word about SEPANews!
SEPANews has updates and resources to enhance the ministry of all of the leaders in your congregation. Please encourage staff, council members, committee chairs and other key leaders to sign up for SEPANews. We've made it easy for you to quickly share e-news with other leaders. Just click the "Forward email" link below.
Bob Fisher
Assistant to the Bishop for Mission Interpretation
610.278.7339 | sepanews@sepa.org
Please make sure that sepanews@sepa.org is in your email contact list or your safe senders list.
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Faith Worship Center celebrates first anniversary
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Faith Worship Center, a new mission with persons of African descent in East Lansdowne, celebrates its first anniversary with special events the weekend of July 27-29. Please keep this new community in prayer as they celebrate this important milestone! Read more. Download a flyer.
Faith Worship Center is housed at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 65 Penn Ave., East Lansdowne (19050). For information call 267.259.0538 or 610.259.4113.
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LDR thanks volunteers with Sept. 8 celebration
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 On September 8 Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) wants to thank God for the many hundreds of volunteers who have made their way from Southeastern Pennsylvania to the Gulf Coast and the many thousands more who have contributed to the eight truckloads of food and supplies that have left Christ Lutheran Church for victims of Katrina. Many others have helped relieve suffering along the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers following terrible flooding. Some have been Lutherans, but many others served through other faith-based organizations, the Red Cross and governmental efforts. All are an act of God. Each is a miracle.
On September 8 from 2 until 6 p.m. there will be a gathering at Christ Lutheran Church, 2211 Sumneytown Pike, Kulpsville (19443) to celebrate all these miracles. Read more!
Please contact Linda Frey at 610.847.5775 or lwfrey@epix.net so organizers can have an idea of the numbers of folks planning to attend, or to find ways your congregation can be involved in helping.
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Tanzanian Lutherans elect presiding bishop
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 Rejoice with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania, which has elected Bishop Alex Malasusa, the youngest of its diocesan bishops, as presiding bishop. Bishop Malasusa, who has served the Eastern/Coastal Diocese for two years, was elected on the first ballot. Read more!
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History Detectives sleuth LTSP collection
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An artifact - a pastor's robe - from the historical collection of The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP) is one of the "cases" investigated by PBS television's History Detectives. The episode will air Monday, July 23, 2007 at 9 p.m. on many PBS stations. Detectives investigator Elyse Luray and a camera crew from series co-producer Lion Television came to the LTSP campus in March to film part of the investigation and to reveal their findings.
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Ministry resources
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Get in touch with LAMPa
Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in Pennsylvania (LAMPa) has moved to new offices in the Pennsylvania United Church Center. The new address is:
900 S. Arlington Avenue
Suite 117
Harrisburg, PA 17109
Phone: 717.545.3500
Fax: 717.545.3501
email: lampa@lamp.org
If you're interested in public
policy advocacy on the state level, sign up for LAMPa's Actionet Alerts by email. You'll receive immediate notification when your help is
needed to share a faith perspective in vital issues with your elected
representatives. Sign up at http://www.lamp.org/Actionet.htm.
Free training for disaster response volunteers
As part of its efforts to build its local volunteer network and skills base, Lutheran Disaster Relief (LDR) is offering free training in volunteer coordination, disaster assessment and estimating, and case management. The sessions will be held at Trinity Lutheran Church, 1000 W. Main St., Lansdale (19446). Read more!
Download a flyer
Registration required by Aug. 13. For information contact Linda Frey at 610.847.5775 or lwfrey@epix.net.
Amazing Grace festival supports Stand With Africa
Come to a night of great music and preaching Sunday, July 29 at The Lutheran Church of God's Love, 791 Newtown-Yardley Road, Newtown (18940). The Rejoice! praise band and gospel choir of Greater Exodus Baptist Church will provide music, and Pastor Herb Lusk II of Greater Exodus will preach. A free will offering will support Stand With Africa.
Learn more at the church website or email them.
Augsburg Fortress Music Clinic Aug. 9-10
Augsburg Fortress's annual Music Clinic will be held August 9-10 at St Paul's Lutheran Church, 415 E. Athens Ave., Ardmore (19003). This annual free event will feature David Cherwien, Mark Sedio, Jeff Reeves and Martin Seltz. Read more!
For driving direction, pre-registration and complete schedule visit their website or call 1.800.328.4648
Marriage Preparedness Series in Pottstown
The dates for Lutheran Congregational Services' final Marriage Preparedness Series of 2007 are quickly approaching. The series is scheduled for September 12, 19 & 26 at Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Hanover and Walnut Streets, Pottstown (19464). Each session in the series is from 7-9 p.m.
Pastors and/or couples can request registration materials by calling 610.770.9205, or register online.
DHS training for church property managers
The Department of Homeland Security and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency are providing training to raise awareness of the issues facing places of worship as "soft targets" of terrorism. The training will be Aug. 8 at the Montgomery County Public Safety Training Center in Conshohocken.
For information contact Julia Menzo of Lutheran Disaster Response at 215.424.3741 ext. 203 or via email.
Save the date
The next sexual misconduct prevention seminar for rostered leaders will be held Dec. 4, 2007, 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Trinity Lutheran Church, 1141 West Chester Pike, Havertown (19083).
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| ELCA News |
Get updates from Grace Matters
 Did you know that you can receive regular updates and promos of upcoming broadcasts on Grace Matters, the radio ministry of the ELCA with Peter Marty? This coming Sunday you can hear an interview with musician Ken Medema. Grace Matters airs at 7 a.m. Sundays on WNTP, 990AM. To sign up for the Grace Matters newsletter visit the website or send an email request.
"Centripetal Worship" - A New Book from the Faculty of LTSP
When
the ELW was released in October of 2006, the community at the Lutheran
Theological Seminary in Philadelphia commemorated the event with a
lecture by Dr. Timothy Wengert, entitled Centripetal Worship. This presentation became the impetus for a new book in the
"Lutheran Voices" series published by Augsburg Fortress. Centripetal Worship examines
how worship is, and should be, at the center of the assembly.
Contributors look at the historical and contemporary factors that
influence how and why we worship the way we do. The contributors
from LTSP include: Timothy J. Wengert, Mark Mummert, Dirk Lange, and
Melinda Quivik.
To order a copy of this new book, contact Augsburg
Fortress at 215.967.1112. Or email PhiladelphiaStore@AugsburgFortress.org.
Christmas in July at Augsburg Fortress
During
the week of July 23-28, the Augsburg Fortress store on the campus of
the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia will be celebrating
Christmas in July! Christmas cards and holiday gifts will be 50% off.
Recorded Christmas music from the St. Olaf Choir and others will be 25%
off. And as a special treat for musicians, Christmas and Advent music
will be 20% off. The store is located at LTSP on the lower level of
the Wiedemann Center. New risk management resource from ELCA
"Church Safety Solutions" is a new electronic risk management resource for congregations from the ELCA. The newsletter deals with a variety of risk management and safety issues to aid you in protecting your congregation. The current issue covers sexual abuse and misconduct. Past topics include emergency planning, building maintenance, and church camp safety issues. Check out the online archive.
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