2020 Fall Leadership Gathering Update

The synod board met via ZOOM recently and discussed the upcoming Fall Leadership Event and the Conference Fall Gatherings.  The decisions made are below.

  1. Fall Leadership Event (scheduled for Gloria Dei Lutheran, Redwood Falls for Sat., Aug. 22, 2020)   This event is CANCELLED.
  2. Conference Fall Gatherings……the synod board strongly recommends that you as conferences CANCEL the Fall Gatherings.  Crow River, Scenic Valley, Lakeland, Prairie and Shetek Conferences have already cancelled.

These recommendations come in light of Gloria Dei not being available to outside groups due to the COVID-19.  Also, churchwide organization strongly suggests that NO in-person EVENTS be held through the end of the year for the synods.  And the synod board members were just not comfortable putting the health and safety of our women in jeopardy.

There will be NO LWR COLLECTION in our synod through the end of the year.  So, if units or conferences have been collecting LWR items and you want them to get to St. Paul warehouse – that has to be up to each individual group to figure that out.  Your other option is hang onto the items and bring them to the 2021 Convention. Go to LWR.org and search for the phone number of the St. Paul warehouse.

We thank you for your understanding and patience as these decisions do not come easily or lightly. We all continue to pray for the health and safety of all people during this pandemic.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

Out of an abundance of love for neighbors, the Synod Board made the difficult decision to cancel the 33rd Synodical Convention scheduled for May 2nd.

As of March 25th, eight of the conference spring gatherings have also cancelled their events. Please check in with your conference president for further updates on those events.

Due to the changing news around COVID-19 and the ways Minnesota is doing all it can to slow down the spread, we are unable to guarantee future plans. However, the Synod Board is hopeful that a special convention to handle our elections and budgeting will take place in the near future. We also hope to utilize the fall leadership gathering on August 22nd to handle things such as installation of officers and in kind offering drop offs. Much is still to be worked out in the coming weeks. Please check back on our website for future updates!

We all pray for your continued health, safety and care in this painful and uncertain time.

God Bless,

SWMN WELCA Synod Board

A Learning Opportunity with Cherish All Children

Cherish All Children will be hosting an event at LSS on Saturday, January 26, 10am-noon, called “Raising Healthy Boys and Young Men: Ending Exploitation.” We will focus on what we can do in our everyday lives and communities to affect changes in society to raise a generation free from exploitation.

We’d love to have you, members of your WELCA groups (and spouses!) and church members come to hear from amazing speakers on this topic, and how you can bring new knowledge and resources back to your church to make a difference in the lives of young people! The St. Paul Women’s Synodical Organization is one of our sponsors, supporting us with treats that morning and money toward honorariums for our speakers. This helps keep this ministry going – many thanks! If your group or any of the individual WELCA groups are able to support us as well, it would be greatly appreciated. Gifts of all amounts keep us moving forward to keep children and youth safe from exploitation and trafficking.

Please visit
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/raising-healthy-boys-and-young-men-ending-exploitation-tickets-53613172442 to register!

Synod Convention Day 1 Photos are Live!

We had such a wonderful convention weekend! Thank you to all who made this a very successful event. Day one was filled with in-kind offerings, business sessions, bible study, an amazing guest speaker and MORE!


If you would like to see more photos from day one, please click the link here: Day 1 Photo Album

 

 

Stay tuned for more photos and recaps of Synod Convention!

Communicator Delayed until August 1

Thank you all for such a wonderful convention this weekend! Our hearts are full to bursting. However, due to the convention just ending on June 30th, the summer edition of the Communicator will not be published until August 1st. This is to allow us time to publish the recap of convention. Thank you for your understanding. We will see you in August!

Registration Ends on Friday!

Ladies–

The 31st Annual Synodical Convention is this month! We are well on the way to finalizing the materials, food and accommodations for what will be a transforming weekend. If you haven’t yet, please click here to download the publicity packet for our convention. In it you’ll find the registration form that is due this Friday! It is very important to register as soon as possible, so we can have enough food and materials available to all attendees. Thank you and we look forward to hosting you in just a few short weeks!