[Gulfcoastnews] June Issue of "Connections" - The TELLing Synod's E-Newsletter

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The E-Newsletter of the

Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod

A newsletter from the TX-LA Gulf Coast Synod, ELCA

June 2007

 Pastor Mike Rinehart Elected Bishop of Gulf Coast Synod

image002The Rev. Mike Rinehart, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church, Conroe,
Texas, was elected June 2nd to be the new bishop of the Texas-Louisiana Gulf
Coast Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America at this year's
synod assembly. He will succeed Bishop Paul Blom, 66, who has served as the
bishop of the synod for the past sixteen years and is retiring in August.

The runner-up in the election was the Rev. Mike Button, pastor of Christ
Lutheran Church, Brenham, Texas. The final vote in the fifth ballot was 219
for Pastor Rinehart and 117 for Pastor Button. Pastor Button led on the
fourth ballot for bishop with 121 votes. Pastor Rinehart received 112 votes
and the Rev. Michael R. Aus Jr., Living Word Lutheran Church, Katy, Texas,
received 102 votes. There were 55 names on the first or nominating ballot.

Pastor Rinehart will assume the role of bishop on September 1st. He will be
installed September 29th at Grace Presbyterian Church, Houston.   

Born in Columbus, Ohio, Bishop-elect Rinehart received a bachelor of music
in organ performance in 1983 at Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Indiana.
In 1988 he received a master of divinity degree from Trinity Lutheran
Seminary, Columbus, Ohio. Valparaiso is an independent Lutheran university;
Trinity is one of eight ELCA seminaries.

Following his ordination in 1988, Pastor Rinehart served as pastor at St.
Paul Lutheran Church, Davenport, Iowa. In 1994 he became pastor at Christ
Lutheran Church, Charlotte, North Carolina. In 1997 he became pastor at
Grace Lutheran Church, Conroe, Texas.

Rinehart serves on the synod's stewardship committee and is mission
interpreter coordinator. He also is a member of the Internal Review Board at
Conroe Regional Medical Center.

Rinehart and his wife Susan are parents of a son, John, and a daughter,
Yuliana.  The Rineharts reside in Montgomery, Texas.

For more information on the synod assembly, the bishop election, and the
ministry of the TX-LA Gulf Coast Synod, go to www.gulfcoastsynod.org.

 Letter from Bishop-Elect Rinehart

Dear Gulf Coast Synod brothers and sisters in Christ,

These last weeks have been a whirlwind.  Saying goodbye to my Grace family.
Coming to terms with this new call.  It's a mix of grief and joy. Your
calls, letters, and emails have meant the world to me. I feel your
compassion and understanding. Most of all I thank you for your prayers which
I am certain are sustaining me in this challenging transition. 

I am looking forward to being a servant of the church in this new capacity,
and pray for the strength to love, to lead, to discern. More than anything I
beg for your support. In particular, I ask your forgiveness in advance for
the mistakes I will surely make this first year as I learn the ropes.
Already I'm mystified by some of the things coming my way, and hope to
foster a synod-wide conversation about where we are going as the church.
More on that once I'm truly in the hot seat.

The survey

I am hard at work with your responses to my survey.  I'm sorry that I don't
have results available yet. Soon and very soon. David Tart is collating
these online. You will be able to read them in their entirety if you wish. I
was surprised and pleased at the responses.  Lots of variety, but also some
common themes. This is what I was looking for.  There were some very long
responses. You took this seriously!  What will be better use of your time
though is to read the summaries I will put together once the surveys are all
in. I'm still getting them. From these I hope to coalesce a vision that
makes sense to most everyone. Then we go after it. 

Summer

Just to keep you appraised, I'm tenaciously hanging on to my planned family
vacation.  Bishop Kanouse (from North Texas-North Louisiana Synod) said to
keep that at all costs.  "You're gonna need it," was his ominous comment. I
am also going to Peru with eight Grace members and folks from other churches
in our synod to help lead a VBS for about 500 kids in Lima. This has been in
the works for the last year. I also have a youth trip that I'm keeping with
our kids here, as a final hurrah. So I'm not around much. Please forgive me
if I don't respond promptly to your communications. 

I officially start September 1. Until then Bishop Blom is still in the hot
seat. Be sure to allow him to enjoy the full weight of his office until he
leaves August 31. J  My last Sunday at Grace will be August 19, exactly ten
years from the date I started there. I will be shadowing Bishop Blom in the
last days of August. 

Installation

Cliff Ackerman and the Transition Team are working on the installation,
September 29. Please send a delegation. I hope it will be a galvanizing
event for our synod. I'd really like to find a concrete way to allow us to
see our synod as 130 congregations in this volatile area near the Gulf of
Mexico. I know for some of you this is a long haul. Please let me know what
I can do to make this possible for you. I want you there. It means a lot.

Priorities

I have prayed about where to start and have come to a couple of
"off-the-block" conclusions. 

First of all Peggy Contos Hahn, Pastor Rob Moore and I are heading to
hurricane alley.  I start officially September 1, and on September 1 we are
getting in the car and driving through Rita territory. I have never been to
some of your churches here. I have much to learn. Then we're going on to New
Orleans to visit with the pastors there. It will be mostly listening and
then charting a course for the future. 

Secondly, I have someone coming in to do a complete audit of our synodical
ministries and staffing.  We have some hard staffing decisions to make.
Joyce is retiring after two dozen years. She takes with her so much of the
organizational memory of this synod.  We must say goodbye to her well. She
will be missed.

Three volunteer members of the Management Team are stepping down as well.
Nancy Froelich, our director of finance is moving to San Antonio.  She's
been a gem.  Dave Morrell has been handling the call process, a very
important component of what a synod office does for congregations. He wants
to retire (again). Liz Stein has been managing a dizzying array of
leadership ministries from First Call Education to the Theological
Conference and much more. She will be hard to replace. 

Our finances don't allow for more staff, so there's much to figure out here.
I'm told we are at 1999 income levels. One of the most important things you
can do is convince your congregation to support all we're doing with your
benevolence dollars. There is a very pragmatic relationship between income
and what can be done for congregations. How much staff time can be offered
to congregations is a function of how much staffing we can afford. I'm
staring at this budget like a Sudoku right now.

Bishop Hanson saw all this and suggested I get a consultant in to evaluate
the ministries of our synod. So that's what we're doing the second week of
September, I believe. I will be very frank and transparent with you about
the results of this audit. Then we will move forward. Trust me, we will move
heaven and earth to do more with less.

Finally, I am going to try to get to congregations I have never visited.
I've started a checklist, and I'm going to visit churches I don't know, one
by one. Hopefully I'll get to your place this fall, if I've never been
there. If I have been to your place, it may be a while. If you need me
sooner, please call.

I cling to the passage in Matthew 16 in which Jesus says to Peter, "And I
tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the
gates of Hades will not prevail against it."  Jesus says that he will build
the church, and even hell can't stop it. 

Fortunately, the way God has ordered things in creation, living things tend
to grow. I believe earnestly that if we get out of the way, the Holy Spirit
will move, and Jesus will build his church, in his time. His way. Let us
pray about this, and remove any obstacles to the Spirit's work, so that we
can live together into the God's future. 

Much love,

Mike Rinehart, pastor

Grace Lutheran Church

Conroe, TX

 Large Number and Variety of Resolutions at Synod Assembly

image003A record number of resolutions where presented at this year's synod
assembly.  Seventeen different resolutions were presented this year.  Some
of these resolutions were combined and one was not brought before the
assembly (based on the recommendation of the Reference and Counsel
Committee).

Of the remaining resolutions, the assembly passed the following:

--To develop an African-American Strategy

--To memorialize the churchwide assembly to change the policies of Lutheran
Disaster Response

--To memorialize the churchwide assembly to change the policy of the Mission
Investment Fund

--A memorial to encourage refraining from disciplining those rostered
leaders in a mutual, chaste, and faithful committed same-gender relationship

--To institute a mission partner relationship between churches in the
western half of the synod and those congregations affected by Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita

--To encourage congregations to take a prayer pilgrimage to New Orleans as
interims in disaster stricken areas

--To create a roster of retired pastors and chaplains to serve as interim
pastors or provide pulpit supply to congregations in disaster stricken areas

--To update the social statement on "Caring for Creation: Vision and Hope"

--To develop an ELCA response plan to assist clergy and congregations
impacted by disaster

--To declare the synod a "Community of Respect"

--To open the door to expanded ministries (Develop financial resources for
new starts and re-starts)

A memorial supporting changes in ELCA policies and regulations to affirm
congregational autonomy regarding regular calls of rostered persons in
committed same-gender relationships was defeated. 

Links to all of the resolutions and the actions taken on them can be found
on the synod web site at www.gulfcoastsynod.org/resolutions.htm.

Assembly Election Results

The following individuals were elected to positions of leadership at this
year's synod assembly:

Synod Council - Pastor David Tart, Pastor Robin McCullough Bade, and David
Hollrah.

Consultation Committee - Jon Holmes, Erma Richter, Pastor Gary
Morgan-Gohlke, and Pastor Karen Liebster.

Discipline Committee - Judy Biffle, Pastor George Brookover, Arvin Holland,
and Pastor Lemae Higgs.

Treasurer - Arwin Strehlow

Secretary - Pastor Cliff Akerman

Thank you to all those who have answered the call to leadership in the Gulf
Coast Synod. The full results of the elections can be found on the synod web
site at www.gulfcoastsynod.org/election.htm.

 Text, Titles, and Topics for Grace Matters Broadcast - July 2007

You can listen to "Grace Matters" over the web.  www.gracematters.org
<http://www.gracematters.org/>  cid:image006.jpg at 01C7931D.76642E00

July 1, 2007  

Robert Seiple - Humbly Engaging the World 

Luke 4:25-30

Bob Seiple has spent his life working to improve the lives of others around
the world.  Former president of World Vision, Inc. and one-time U.S.
ambassador, this global educator now heads up an organization committed to
expanding religious freedom in every country.  Our task as Americans, he
argues, is to model religious freedom by engaging spiritual humility on a
national level, and by delighting in thoughtful forms of religious
expression that may not be our own.  

July 8, 2007  

Robert Franklin - Raise Her for God

1 John 4:21

There is a crisis in the African-American family that will take significant
effort to undo.  It is a crisis of commitment with many features, a good
number of them stretching all the way back to the days of slavery.  Robert
Franklin, social ethics professor, news commentator and college president,
is as well-equipped as anyone to speak with hope about what is needed to
reverse negative social trends.  His words challenge all of us to rethink
where our families are healthy and where they need strengthening.

July 15, 2007

Simba Circle - Making Choices

Joshua 24:15

Growing up on the streets of Chicago's South Side can make for a rough life.
The pressures of gang life, conformity to crime, and drug abuse are more
than most suburbanites know much about.  Simba Circle is an ecumenical
ministry devoted to helping young African-American males live the life God
created them to live, not the hell they see many of their peers
experiencing.  The Simba ministry works through the faith of adult mentors,
spirited rituals, and the woods and meadows of an Iowa camp to make a
difference in these endangered lives.

July 22, 2007 

Ken Medema - Grace, Everywhere We Turn

Matthew 5:43-44

There is nobody quite like Ken Medema.  This composer and pianist, blind
since birth, has a passion for God and people that oozes from his music.  He
fills the big stage and yet transforms the individual heart every time he
performs.  It all happens through an improvisational style and zest that is
truly unique.  Grace permeates the faith and music of Ken Medema in a way
that is changing the lives of all who hear him. 

July 29, 2007

Eric Olsen - Two Conspiracies: Evil & Good

Romans 7:15-20

There is evil in this world, and if it doesn't hurt or kill, it certainly
seeks to dominate and destroy.  Evil does not merely reside in other people;
it cuts through the heart of every human being.  Sometimes it overshadows
the astonishing goodness in this world that we must always seek to prize.
Lt. Col. Eric Olsen, a military chaplain, joins the program to discuss his
tour of duty in Iraq and what it means to minister to young soldiers 

Increase Your Retirement Income

By John Hunsicker

image005It's quite possible you can make a gift to your Texas Lutheran
charities or congregation and actually increase your retirement income.
Take, for example, Mrs. Jones (not a real person).  She is 80 years old and
receives retirement income from various sources, including certificates of
deposit.  One of her CDs is maturing and she's hesitant to take out another
one because of the low rates.

Then Mrs. Jones learns about the Foundation's gift annuity program.  At her
age, she can obtain a one-life charitable gift annuity that would pay her an
annual rate of 8%.

What's more, because a gift annuity is irrevocable, she would receive an
income tax charitable deduction for a portion of her contribution. And,
since her favorite charity(s) will eventually benefit from the gift, Mrs.
Jones would have the satisfaction of helping an organization she cares about
and that needs her support.

She will receive regular payments for the rest of her life.and doesn't have
to worry about renewals as with a CD.

Charitable gift annuities are popular with many of our older folks.  In
fact, some people like this arrangement so well they obtain additional
annuities as the years go by.  The older a person is, the higher the rates.

Younger Donors

Gift annuities, with deferred payment schedules, can also make sense for
younger donors.  For example, a 55-year-old person who creates a charitable
gift annuity with payments to begin at age 65 will receive an annuity rate
of 9.9 %.  Further, an income tax charitable deduction is available when the
annuity is created, making this not only an excellent supplemental
retirement plan, but a current source of tax relief as well.

If you want to learn more about our gift annuity program, just call John
Hunsicker at 1-866-542-1349 or e-mail johnh at LFSW.org

 Please do not send postings or comments to this list.
Its sole purpose is to distribute this newsletter.

Copyright C2007

TX-LA Gulf Coast Synod, ELCA

12707 North Freeway, Suite 580

Houston, TX  77060

Voice: 281-873-5665

Fax: 281-875-4716

Website: www.gulfcoastsynod.org

In this Issue:

- <> Letter from Bishop-Elect Rinehart

-Large Number <>  and Variety of Resolutions at Synod Assembly

-Assembly <>  Election Results

-Text, Titles, and <>  Topics for Grace Matters July 2007 Broadcast

Links:

Anniversaries of <http://www.gulfcoastsynod.org/anniversaries.htm>
Ordinations and Commissions

Congregations in <http://www.gulfcoastsynod.org/call_process.htm>
Transition

Congregation Month of Prayer <http://www.gulfcoastsynod.org/prayer.htm> 

Mission Support <http://www.gulfcoastsynod.org/mission_support.htm>
Information

Prayer List <http://www.gulfcoastsynod.org/prayer.htm> 

Synod
<http://www.mychurchevents.com/calendar/calendar.aspx?ci=L6K5H2F0N8J4N8N8H2>
Calendar

Landmark Explorations of the Environment of the Early Church

In Paul and His World: Interpreting the New Testament and Its Context,
Helmut Koester, one of the most erudite New Testament scholars of our time
brings insight from a career of interpretation and a wealth of
archaeological, historical, and cultural data to illuminate Paul's place in
his world.

Paul and His World is the first of two volumes of landmark essays in New
Testament interpretation from Koester. This volume presents critical essays
on theology and eschatology in Paul's letters, the apostle's religious and
cultural context, and the interaction of early Christianity with its
Greco-Roman environment, as reflected in ancient literature and
archaeological remains.

Charting the religious and philosophical currents of the Greco-Roman world
in which Paul and the early Christians moved, Koester explores Paul's
thought and the Pauline legacy, the religious environment of the Roman
Mediterranean, and currents in and around early christianity

In a final essay, Koester looks back over a career in interpretation that
spans the decades from the exciting theological atmosphere of post-war
Germany to archaeological discoveries today.

Paul and His World

By Helmut Koester

Item Number: 978-0-8006-3890-0

Price: $39.00
Specs: 6" x 9", hardcover with jacket, 320 pages

To order Paul and His World call Fortress Press at 1-800-328-4648 or visit
the Web site at www.fortresspress.org <http://www.fortresspress.org/> . To
request review copies (for media) or to inquire about speaking opportunities
and interviews with the author please call 1-800-426-0115 ext. 234 or e-mail

todd at augsburgfortress.org  

Lutheran Day at the Astros

Support the Lutheran Social Services children'sministries in the Houston
area and catch a great game at Lutheran Night at Minute Maid Park Saturday,
July 28, at 2:55 p.m. Log on to www.astros.com/lutheran to order your
discounted tickets. 

The church/group that raises the most funds for the children above the price
of the tickets will have the opportunity for their pastor to throw out the
first pitch! 

For group ticket purchases of 20 or more, contact Cody Arnold at
1-713-259-8315 or via email <mailto:carnold at astros.com> . Group order
deadline is Friday, July 20th.

Synod Links:

Synod Web Site -

www.gulfcoastsynod.org

Synod Blog - http://tellingsynod.blogspot.

com <http://tellingsynod.blogspot.com/> 

Youth & Family Ministry Web Site - www.soggyshoes.org

Disaster Relief Web Site - 

www.futurewithhope.org

Churchwide Web Site - www.elca.org

Global Mission Event

Living Word, Katy is hosting their annual Global Mission Festival on October
22, 2007 beginning at 3:00 p.m. Mark your calendars now for this great
event. 

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