LOCAL AND CHURCHWIDE NEWS
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SYNOD LAUNCHES NEW EDUCATIONAL SERIES
Lutheran F.A.Q is a new video series for anyone who wants to dig a little bit deeper into the Lutheran faith. Each video will be about five minutes and answer one Lutheran question. Videos will come with a study guide linked in the description. The videos will be available on our YouTube channel and our website's Teaching Resources page.
The first video in the series asks "What are the 95 Theses?"
PRESIDING BISHOP JOINS OTHER CHURCH LEADERS AT WHITE HOUSE MEETING ON PENDING ECONOMIC LEGISLATION
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLuT3IKAjgc
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton and other members of the Circle of Protection coalition recently met with senior officials at the White House. Eaton and other heads of Christian denominations and organizations are working together to urge passage of the economic bills the U.S. Congress is considering now, along with voting rights legislation this fall. Today's meeting will focus on the family support bill currently being debated in Congress.
In a letter the Circle of Protection is presenting to President Joe Biden and Congress today, the coalition affirms that these pending bills "would strengthen the physical and social infrastructure of our society, cut family and child poverty more than any time in our lives, and ensure the precious right to vote for all people made in God's image.
One Body
Reflecting on the early church, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton writes: “They were one body. We are one body. We are the body of Christ.” Despite cultural and political differences, she reminds us that we can’t dissolve this bond
New Refugee Program
Sept 16, 2021
Lutheran Services Carolinas is opening new refugee programs in Charleston and Greenville , South Carolina. The new programs will serve legal refugees from around the world including Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) holders from Afghanistan, the allies who supported U.S. troops.
LSC will begin providing services as soon as new teammates are hired and office space is secured.
The expansion of services requests were approved by the U.S. Office of Population, Refugees, and Migration. In collaboration with Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS), LSC has a long history of supporting refugees on their journey to self- sufficiency in this country, including welcome at the airport upon arrival, food and shelter, transportation, medical care, school enrollment, employment services, and cultural assimilation.
“LSC is excited to be able to expand to welcome and serve more refugees,” said LSC President and CEO Ted Goins. “We appreciate the hard work of our LSC Refugee and Immigrant Services team in putting together a winning application to expand our services.”
“It couldn’t come at a better time, as people are desperate for a safe home at the same time as the United States is suffering the greatest workforce emergency in modern history. South Carolina needs workers and refugees are eager to participate in the American dream.”
Based in Salisbury, NC, LSC currently operates refugee services programs in Columbia, South Carolina, and Raleigh, North Carolina.
“There has been a tremendous outpouring of support, especially for our allies from Afghanistan,” said Goins. “People are stepping up to love and serve our neighbors.”
1-800-HELPING is LSC’s help line for people who would like to help.
A Pastoral Letter from Bishop Aebischer
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
I am writing to you with a heavy heart and I ask that you join me in prayer. These have been incredibly challenging times for so many reasons, but I’m convinced that we will get through this season of challenge only as we work together and support one another. Please check on each other; listen to one another and pray together.
This weekend we will bury two of our Synod Pastors. Pastor James W. Campbell and Pastor Rick Inman, both beloved children of God and faithful servants to Christ’s church here in the South Carolina Synod. Our hearts break for their families & friends and for the congregations they have served, and for their colleagues across the church who are grieving.
Pray for all those who grieve. Ask God to send us comfort and strength with the hope of the Resurrection so that we can entrust our brothers, Jim and Ricky into God’s eternal arms. Ask Jesus to help us care for one another with the same passion and self-giving love that he models for us from the cross. Ask the Holy Spirit to send us a spirit of gentleness and kindness as we live together in Christ’s beloved community.
We all continue to struggle with knowing the most faithful ways to deal with the rising numbers of COVID19 cases. I trust you to make good leadership decisions within your context and with your council leaders for the safety of your whole community. We know that there are a few people who for medical reasons have been advised by their doctors not to get the vaccine, however, we encourage those who are able, to get vaccinated. We also encourage everyone to wear their mask, especially for any indoor activities in groups.
Our chief concern is for everyone’s safety and well-being. If possible, I encourage you to lead outdoor worship or use online formats. Certainly, if you are indoors, observe social distancing. I pray we can find the way forward working together to see a significant decline in COVID19 cases.
Your Synod Staff takes this virus and rising case numbers seriously. We are once again following more cautious protocols to keep everyone as safe as possible. Our participation in all in-person events for the remainder of September and October with few exceptions, has been canceled . We will continue to monitor the case numbers to determine November activity levels. At this time we are not receiving any visitors in the office and all of our meetings will, once again, be moved back to online formats.
We hope you understand and will follow your Synod Staff’s lead by assessing your own plans and upcoming schedules. Wherever you are able we encourage you to meet using outside or online formats. Most importantly, we pray you will take good care of yourselves as well as those within your community.
My prayers surround you. Thank you for your faithful leadership, and for your bold proclamation of God’s word that we love one another.
In Christ,
Bishop Ginny Aebischer
Sept 9, 2021
A CALL TO ARMS: THE COVID-19 VACCINE
By: David Beam LSC Pharmacy Manager
On December 7, 1941, the American Naval Base at Pearl Harbor was attacked, and the result was 2,403 dead U.S. servicemen and civilians. America had officially joined the war.
A call to arms went out across the land and Americans responded. Americans from all walks of life answered the call. They enlisted in the military or were drafted. They went to work in factories making bombs and other war machines. They bought War Bonds and volunteered to be lookouts along our shorelines, ever vigilant for the possibility of an enemy attack. Every American sacrificed in some way. Food and materials were rationed to support the war effort. Men and women were sent to far off lands to fight and about 420,000 Americans made the ultimate sacrifice, they died, defending their families, their way of life, and America. Today, America is at war again, but this time it is on our own soil.
Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton introduces us to some of our Lutheran family from across the globe
PRESIDING BISHOP ISSUES RESPONSE TO DACA RULING
Elizabeth A. Eaton, presiding bishop of the ELCA, has issued a pastoral message in response to a U.S. district judge ruling to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program on July 19. “Jesus taught us that when we welcome the stranger as a person made in God’s image, we also welcome God,” the message read, in part.
“Our lives, ministries and congregations have been blessed by many immigrants and refugees over the years—from many of our ancestors to those we welcome among us today,” the message continued.
From the SC ELCA
LSC DISASTER SERVICES COLLABORATES WITH NC & SC VOLUNTEERS
Community volunteerism and community passion to serve others is a powerful thing. Multi-agency collaboration is a must.
Lutheran Services Carolinas created a geo-targeted donation network so all communities in need could receive donations. The network goal is for donation distribution to strategically expedite supplies to needed areas all over. Hearts With Hands, based in Western, NC, already does this work in the Western, NC and some SC areas. Hearts With Hands teamed with LSC-Disaster Services so donation distribution could expand. Thank you FEMA Donation Management, Walmart Corporate and Hearts With Hands for allowing Lutheran Services Carolinas to be your positive teammates.
South Carolina ELCA 2021 Assembly
BISHOP'S REPORT
By Sherry Fowler, Martin Luther - James Island
If you are a Star Trek fan, you will be familiar with the phrase, "to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before".
This year’s South Carolina Synod Assembly has adopted the theme, “To Boldly Go… To Proclaim”.
READ MORE >
WATCH VIDEO >
LUTHERAN MEN HELP CLEAR LAND AT CAMP KINARD
In October 2020, timber was harvested in areas surrounding the Camp Kinard lake in preparation for construction of a new chapel, entrance, and pool. Last month, members from South Carolina Lutheran Men in Mission spent the day (Batesburg-Leesville, SC) to help clear leftover timber debris as we move forward with expansion plans.
"We give thanks to all the incredible men who came out from all across South Carolina," shared SCLRC Executive Director Dallas Shealy, "especially Randy Barnes, Larry Ricard, and Johnny Merck who helped put this event together. We look forward to gathering with everyone here in the future as we continue to make this dream into a reality!"
Want to learn more about how your group can help? We invite you to contact Dallas.
WITH PASSION ON THE JOURNEY FROM CONFLICT TO COMMUNION
LWF leaders meet with Pope Francis in the Vatican, look ahead to 500th anniversary of Augsburg Confession
Meeting with Pope Francis in the Vatican on 25 June, both the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) President Archbishop Dr. Panti Filibus Musa and Pope Francis expressed the hope that the 500th anniversary of the Augsburg Confession in 2030 can become common ground on which to strengthen the commitment of Lutherans and Catholics to unity and reconciliation.
BISHOP EATON TALKS ABOUT STEWARDSHIP
In her June/July column for Living Lutheran, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton reflects on what we’ve learned from the Apostle Paul about the deeply spiritual act of stewardship.
Please click here for the article
COMMEMORATION OF THE EMANUEL NINE
As part of the 2019 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, voting members adopted a resolution designating June 17 as a commemoration of the martyrdom of the Emanuel 9—the nine people shot and killed on June 17, 2015, during a Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C.
