Mount Carmel LC (8424 W Center St., Milwaukee) welcomes the Rev. Susan Briehl for their Theologian in Residence Weekend, January 23 and 24.  On Saturday, January 23 from 9:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. she will lead the workshop "Preaching in the Year of Luke."  The workshop will trace themes and images that run like threads through Luke and Acts, weaving together a masterpiece.  She will ask how Luke challenges us to best welcome, trust, embody, and proclaim the "good news" of Christ Jesus that "turns the world upside down" and causes "no little disturbance" in our lives.

All who will be praying, preaching, and teaching Luke in the Greater Milwaukee Synod are welcome. Participants are encouraged to read Luke and Acts to prepare for the workshop, and to bring their bibles with them.  This is a wonderful opportunity to hear one of the brightest theologians in the ELCA today.  There is no cost for the workshop.

Rev. Briehl will preach at the Saturday evening Holden Vespers worship service, and both Sunday services at 8:15 and 10:45.  Between services, she will lead the adult forum "At the Table with Jesus: The View from Emmaus", beginning at 9:30 a.m.

A Lutheran pastor since 1981, Rev. Briehl is currently part of the Valparaiso Project on the Education and Formation of People of Faith and serves as Distinguished Professor of the Art of Ministry at Wartburg Lutheran Seminary, Dubuque, IA.  She is the co-author of Practicing Our Faith: A Guide for Conversation, Learning, and Growth and contributed to the Way to Live Leader's Guide.

Click here for more information about Susan Briehl and her visit to Mount Carmel

>> Individual ballot results

Ballot #5

Jeff Barrow	209
Susan Tjornehoj	185

Ballot #4

Jeff Barrow	166
Susan Tjornehoj	142
Joseph Crippen	93

Ballot #3

Jeff Barrow		99
Joseph Crippen		89
Susan Tjornehoj		85
Jim Stein		46
David Dragseth		41
Greg Van Dunk		38
Viviane Thomas-Breitfeld		19

Ballot #2

Jeff Barrow	70
Joseph Crippen	70
Susan Tjornehoj	62
David Dragseth	51
Greg Van Dunk	41
Jim Stein	28
Viviane Thomas-Breitfeld	27
John Horner Ibler	23
Jon Jacobs	21
Sandy Chrostowski	6
Gary Liedtke	5
Mark Knappe	3
Kent Raddatz	1
Joe Ellwanger	1
David Raben	1

Ballot #1
    

Jeff Barrow	50
Joseph Crippen	41
Greg Van Dunk	33
David Dragseth	32
Susan Tjornehoj	30
John Horner Ibler	24
Jim Stein	24
Viviane Thomas-Breitfeld	24
Jon Jacobs	18
Sandy Chrostowski	14
Larry Clark	13
Ken Wheeler	7
Harvard Stephens	6
Mark Knappe	3
Steve Bouman	3
Kelly Chatman	3
Mary Moller-Gunderson	2
Kent Raddatz	1
Rod Rescheske	1
Jennifer Arnold	1
Chris Berry	1
Joe Ellwanger	1
Stan Hanna	1
Mark Hanson	1
Gary Heath	1
Janis Kinens	1
Gary Liedtke	1
David Olson	1
David Raben	1
Gretchen Weller-Mertes	1
Elias Kitoi Nasari	1
Gail Rautman	1
Amy Reumann	1
Mark Thompson	1
Michelle Townsend de Lopez	1
Norene Smith	1

"Where does the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America stand?  Together we stand in God's grace," says Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson in a video message released this week, addressing concerns in light of the church council's decision to reduce the church-wide budget by 10%. "Diminished budgets do not diminish our resolve in commitment to be engaged together in the life of the world."

Bulletin Insert (PDF): English | Espanol

The following is an update on Lutheran Campus Ministry in Greater Milwaukee, provided by the iterim LCM-GM board, on the transition and redevelopment of programming at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Marquette University.

Board updates

·      House inspection completed by Thomas Building Consulting Corp. to address immediate and long term needs of The Corner House property.

·      LCM-GM is in the process of applying for a Thrivent $15,000 matching grant.   The grant will be successful if we receive matching funds by December 1, 2009.  Approximately $13,000 is still needed.

[Read more...]

In a letter to rostered leaders, Interim Bishop Olson gives an update on interim staffing at the synod office, Lutheran Campus Ministry, and benevolence in difficult times.

Click here to read the letter

Child care will be provided at the Special Synod Assembly, Friday through Saturday December 4-5, 2009.  Please contact Geri Murtaugh (geri@milwaukeesynod.org), our synod's Youth and Family Coordinator if you plan on bringing children to the assembly so we can adaquately prepare enough caretakers.  This will be provided at no cost.

Are you or a close one grieving with a loss? Are you struggling to move on or wish you could help someone experiencing this kind of pain?

Please join us for "Grieving our Losses and Living with Hope", a workshop lead by Dr. Dudley Riggle, Professor Emeritus at Carthage College and renowned speaker on issues of grieving and dying. Two workshops have been scheduled in the Milwaukee area as part of the Carthage College Outreach Series, this Saturday, Nov. 7 from 10 a.m. - 12 noon at Wauwatosa Presbyterian Church (2366 N 80th St., Wauwatosa), and Tuesday, Nov. 10 from 7-9 p.m. at Mt. Zion LC (12012 W. North Ave., Wauwatosa). The workshops are intended for those dealing with person grief of many types and for professionals who work with the grieving.

There is no cost for the workshop. Advanced registration, by remitting the workshop brochure, is preferred but not required. Contact Chris Bremer (cbremer@mtzionlutheran.org, 414-258-0456), Office Manager at Mt. Zion for more information.

The Greater Milwaukee Synod will elect a new bishop for a six-year term when voting members gather for a special assembly, Dec. 4-5 at Our Savior's Lutheran Church, 3022 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, Wis.  The assembly will begin with worship, followed by the first ballot on Friday, Dec. 4.  Registration will open at 5 p.m., with worship beginning at 7 p.m.  Presiding Bishop  of the ELCA, the Rev. Mark Hanson will preach. 

Click here for information on the Bishop Election and our identfied leaders

Please join the Meru Partnership Committee of the GMS in welcoming thirteen partner guests from the Diocese of Meru.   This large delegation is a combination of delegates representing the Diocese of Meru as well as parish–to-congregation partner representatives.  Your prayers for their safe travels and meaningful visit are requested.

The Diocese of Meru and the Greater Milwaukee Synod have identified several priorities to guide our walk together.  The four delegates representing the Diocese, each bring individual expertise in a priority area plus a first hand knowledge of the impacts of drought and hunger. 

[ Read more ... ]

The synod council of the Greater Milwaukee Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) affirmed the selection of the Rev. David Olson, Clinton, Conn., to serve as interim bishop of the synod effective Oct. 1.  Olson is the former bishop of the ELCA Minneapolis Area Synod, and served as interim bishop of the ELCA Metropolitan New York Synod during transition from February through August last year.  He will assume the role of the Rev. Paul Stumme-Diers, who will leave to become pastor of Bethany Lutheran Church in Bainbridge Island, Wash. in October.

[ Read more... ]

Dear Partners in Ministry,

"Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ."  Galatians 6:2

I greet you in the name of Christ from the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Minneapolis, where the voting members of the Greater Milwaukee Synod have served with grace and dedication, with worship and prayer, with considered attention to the business at hand, and with joy and imagination.  We are grateful for your prayers that have accompanied us in our work, and for the interest that has been shown by those who have followed this Assembly on its web-cast.  We are grateful as well for the prayers that will continue to support and encourage this church in the months ahead.

This week at its 2009 Churchwide Assembly the ELCA has has asked itself, "What will be our witness?" and in response to this inquiry has committed itself to even more deeply bear one another's burdens, according to the instructions of the Apostle Paul.  This commitment has taken many shapes over the past week, faithfully responding to the love God first showed to us in Christ.  True to this faith, our time together has been centered in worship each day, constant in prayer, focused upon Scripture, and mindful of our life as the church in all its expressions, including globally and ecumenically. 

We adopted an HIV/AIDS Strategy, which resonated with the stated priorities of our global companion churches in El Salvador and Tanzania in combatting the scourge of this pandemic, even as we are made aware of the pain it has inflicted within our own geography.

In solidarity with these same partners, and along with partners through Lutheran World Relief and the LCMS, we committed ourselves to bearing the burdens of those inflicted by malaria through the Lutheran Malaria Initiative, as we collectively seek to eradicate this disease.

"Bearing one another's burdens" takes the form of unifying the church, and breaking down the walls that have divided denominations from sharing the meal of grace, as we overwhelmingly voted to ratify a full-communion agreement with the United Methodist Church.

We recognized the burdens of our neighbors who are new arrivals to this country as we, with a strong majority adopted a resolution seeking Comprehensive Immigration Reform, and gave thanks for ministry of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, and Ralston Deffenbaugh, who has so capably led this work.

The 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly also adopted the Social Statement entitled, "Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust," and the subsequent ministry policy decisions.  In the debate and in the decision to change ministry policy concerning the rostering of those who are in same monogamous, life-long, publicly accountable, same gender relationships, the themes of "loving one's neighbor" and "bearing one another's burdens" were cited as we recognize we are a church that is not of one mind on this subject.  (I strongly encourage you to read the text of Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson's remarks following these votes at http://www.elca.org/assembly on the Web).  The months ahead will be required to bring shape and focus to the particular implementation of this decision (the ELCA Church Council meets in November to consider this work), and even then the system for the rostering of our leaders and the extension of congregational calls will fundamentally be the same, with congregations finally determining whom to call as their pastor in a process guided by the Holy Spirit. 

I am grateful for the spirit of communal discernment in our church, and at our Churchwide Assembly.  Through it all we have come to recognize the deep love people have for this church, even as our views might vary as to how best live this out.   This love was evident in the tears in the eyes of everyone in the Assembly hall upon the announcement of the critical votes.  There were tears of joy and tears of sorrow.  I found the tears in my own eyes to be a mixture of the two.  As we "bear one another's burdens," let us do so in such a spirit, as a church united in witness to Christ, who himself wept, but who was raised from death to new life...for our sake.

In Christ, Our Peace,

Bishop Paul Stumme-Diers

We will gather for a service of celebration for the ministry of Bishop Paul Stumme-Diers on:

Sunday, September 20, 2009 at 3:00 p.m. at
St. Luke's Lutheran Church
300 Carroll Street
Waukesha, WI

Preaching is the Rev. Gary Erickson from St. Matthews Lutheran Church, Wauwatosa.  The Rev. Kathy Boadwine from St. Luke's Lutheran Church, Waukesha, will preside.

Offering during the service will be designated for our global partners in El Salvador and Tanzania, causes dear to Bishop Paul. If you wish to contribute a gift, make checks payable to the Greater Milwaukee Synod and indicate that it is for the Bishop's gift. 

A reception at St. Luke's will follow the service.

The 2009 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) voted today to open the ministry of the church to gay and lesbian pastors and other professional workers living in committed relationships.  

The action came by a vote of 559-451 at the highest legislative body of the 4.6 million member denomination. Earlier the assembly also approved a resolution committing the church to find ways for congregations that choose to do so to "recognize, support and hold publicly accountable life-long, monogamous, same gender relationships," though the resolution did not use the word "marriage."      

The actions here change the church's policy, which previously allowed gays and lesbians into the ordained ministry only if they remained celibate.

[Read more]

Bishop Paul Stumme-Diers, 48, the second-term Bishop of the Greater Milwaukee Synod, accepted a call to Bethany Lutheran Church in Bainbridge Island, Washington on Sunday, August 9, 2009, and has announced his resignation as Bishop effective September, 30, 2009. Bethany Lutheran is a mid-size congregation worshipping 200 weekly on the city island in Puget Sound, a community of about 25,000 directly west of Seattle. “When elected to the office of bishop,” writes Stumme-Diers in a letter to synod pastors, “this role of pastor takes a different shape, but there is always the love of the parish that tugs at us as we conduct our ministry. Over the past seven years this attraction to congregational ministry has always been present for me, and recently has become strong enough for me to pursue a parish call.”

   [Read more ...]

• Bishop Paul's letter of resignation
• Council Vice President Sue Cyr's letter to the synod

The Tour de Revs is nearing the end of their 100 day, 13,000 mile journey, and our about to make their long-anticipated stop in Milwaukee.  Bishop Paul, an avid recreational biker himself, will be joining Pastors Fred Soltow, David Twedt, and Ron Schlak from the West Virginia – Western Maryland Synod at Glacial Drumlin Train in Dousman, before making stops at three Greater Milwaukee Synod congregations this Tuesday, August 11.  Milwaukee is one of their last stops on a 65 city tour that ends at the Churchwide Assembly in Minneapolis.  

Click here to download the final minutes from this years' GMS Synod Assembly.  Many thanks to Pr. Karl Nelson,  the Secretary to the Synod Council, for his ministry and work in putting this together.  

There are 42 Congregations and 706 students and adult mentors from the Greater Milwaukee Synod attending the ELCA National Youth Gathering. (Bishop Paul Stumme-Diers is also attending the Gathering and will be meeting with many of our synod groups.) They will be experiencing many new things as they travel together, learn about Jesus and Justice, while serving and getting to know the people of New Orleans!

Please keep all of the attendees in your prayers!
You can sign up to help pray around the clock by clicking on this link and choosing your prayer time:
http://www.mysignup.com/g09prayersignup

>> Click here to view pictures from New Orleans!

The synod office will be closed this Friday, July 3 for the Fourth of July holiday. The office will continue our normal hours from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Monday, July 6. 

Pastors, Youth Leaders and other Adult Mentors:

We need your assistance! Please recommend and invite 2 High School Students from your congregation to attend the PRISM Leadership Retreat which will be held at Lutherdale Bible Camp from July 7th - 11th, 2009. This retreat is collaboratively offered by the South Central Synod and the Greater Milwaukee Synod Youth and Family Ministry Leaders Network.
 
This is one of several opportunities to help "Raise Future Leaders" for the ELCA and our world!  The retreat will equip students with knowledge and tools for leadership to be used in your congregation and in their lives.  
 
Your observation of the leadership qualities these students possess, along with a personal recommendation on the attached registration form is required.  (If you have a student that attended last year and wants to return for a second year, please give them a registration form as well!)   A confirmation letter and instructions on how you and your congregation will help them complete their Mission Action Plan will be sent to you by the end of June.   The registration deadline date is June 22, 2009.  Thank you for helping us reach our future leaders!

Click here for the PRISM Brochure

Please join us in celebrating the ordination of Catherine Ann Daharsh on Sunday, June 28, 4 p.m. at First United LC, Sheboygan.  Ms. Daharsh has been called to serve as the Associate Pastor at Gilbert LC, Gilbert, IA.  Bishop Paul Stumme-Diers will preside.  Clergy are invited to process; the color of the day is red.  A reception will follow the service.

Win a $5,000 ministry grant for your congregation



Have you seen the new God's Work. Our Hands. TV ads? These are just two stories from ministry in the church, and now is the time to share yours.  From June 15 to July 15 congregations and individuals can submit 30 to 90 second videos of exciting and inspiring ministries in your community.  Once your video is submitted, tell everyone you know!  The top 10 most popular videos will be finalists for prizes, including a $5,000 ministry grant for an ELCA congregation or a $2,500 cash prize for an individual. 

For complete rules and registration, visit www.elca.org/videocontest/.

The 2009 Assembly affirmed the ministry of Ms. Susan Cyr, electing her to a second 4-year term as the Synod Council Vice-President.  Speaking to the assembly, she shared the faith and promise of many thriving ministries in the synod, and was encouraged by the enthusiastic participation by many through the "Fresh Expressions" missional work in the synod.

With the departure of Roger Schroeder who faithfully served as Synod Treasurer for 8 years, the assembly elected Mr. Lee Johnston, a member of synod finance committee and a member of Redeemer, Milwaukee.  Mr. Johnston brings accounting experience through Robert W. Baird company and has served on his congregation's church council.

Prior to the assembly, mission clusters in the Greater Milwaukee Synod elected lay and clergy to new 4-year terms for Synod Council.  The new term begins on September 1, 2009.

Mr. Wayne Pratis and Mr. Gus Barnes from the Milwaukee Coalition

Ms. Esther Rusch from the Northern Lakeshore Cluster

Ms. Patricia Anderson from the Northwest Cluster

Rev. Tracy Polzin from the Racine Cluster

Rev. Eric Silberschmidt from the Kenosha/W. Racine Cluster

The 2009 Greater Milwaukee Synod Assembly adopted all of the resolutions presented during plenary sessions on May 28-30.  This included Resolution 3, which pertained to the Human Sexuality Social Statement and Recommendations on Ministry Policy.  The Assembly voted against a proposed amendment on the floor to require a 2/3's majority to adopt the statement at the Churchwide Assembly in August.

While Resolutions 1 and 4 were passed without change, additions were made Resolution 2 on Ending Poverty and Raising Dignity.  Resolution 3 on Human Sexuality was divided into Resolutions 3A and 3B and were passed separately.

Click here to review all of the adopted resolutions and memorials.

Our keynote speaker, Tana Kjos from A.R.E. introduced the Greater Milwaukee Synod mission statement and mission directions as she spoke to the Assembly.  You can find all of her presentation notes below.

• Minutes from the Open Floor Discussion and 'Parking Lot' Items (revised 4/6/09)
  
• A Historical Timeline of Campus Ministry was compiled by Pastor David Dragseth with accounts taken from current and former campus ministry pastors and board members.
• Powerpoint slides (.pdf) of the LCM-GM current circumstances, highlighting the decision-making process by the board of directors
• Comments on the Synod Listserve regarding Campus Ministry and Monday's Forum