Around the Synod

Tue Dec 2 14:04:02 EST 2008

Dear Gulf Coast Synod,

Prayers – Jon & Barb Wendt is a Youth Minister at Messiah Lutheran Church in
Cypress, TX.  His younger brother passed away suddenly in Minnesota.  If you
would like to send him an e-mail, his address is jonofmessiah at sbcglobal.net

Pastor Fred de Oliveira’s nephew, Pete Spencer, was found dead on Sunday,
November 30th at his home in Georgia.  Pastor Fred is the Pastor of St.
James Lutheran in Houston is also the Interim Bookkeeper at the Synod
office. If you would like to send Pastor Fred an e-mail, his address  is
deoliwho at gmail.com 

December 4, 2008 -- Youth Ministry Network  will be hosting Katie English
from the ELCA who will lead an event to teach the youth ministers and
volunteers how to best utilize a comprehensive senior high sexuality
curriculum being developed by the ELCA.  If you are interested in
participating in this event, contact Pastor Brad Otto at
<mailto:pastorbrad12 at mac.com> pastorbrad12 at mac.com

December 6, 2008 – The HOW Blessed Houston Project.  This project will be
helping 5 households impacted by Hurricane Ike, the first of many as the
long term-recovery process continues.  The HOW Blessed Houston is a
collaboration between local houses of worship, Interfaith Ministries of
Greater Houston, Houston Local Initiatives Support Corporation and
Neighborhood Center, Inc. For more information or to volunteer, please
contact Jennifer Posten at 713/533-4909 or e-mail her at jposten at imgh.org 

December 14, 2008 -- at The Lodge on Lake Lohr" (AKA "The Lodge") the
address is 8126 Blase Road, Rosenberg 77471, it starts at 2pm, the attire is
business casual.    Please invite family, friends, co-workers, neighbors who
have a passion for water, or are mission minded, or who have a Philanthropic
heart. We will share our mission to provide clean safe water to those in
rural Ethiopia,  Dick Moeller, founder of  W2T and  Donna Berber, GOH 

founder will be speakers . For additional information, please contact Shelia
Woodard, Water To Thrive Rep. at 

281-507-1429 or www.watertothrive.org

December 15, 2008 – Parochial Reports for 2008. Please be on the lookout for
2008 Parochial Reports mailing to congregations from the ELCA Churchwide
office. The on-line filing will be ready January 1, 2009.

January 26, 2009 – Conversation with Board of Pensions Rep for First Call
Leaders and Recent Pension Enrollees A gathering preceding the Tri-Synodical
Theological Leaders’ Conference 10:00 am to 1:00 pm (lunch included)
Sheraton Arlington Hotel (the conference hotel) The program and lunch are
provided at no cost to you by the ELCA’s Board of Pensions.  Please RSVP, no
later than January 10, 2009, with your name, place of service (e.g.
congregation, city and state), email address, and any dietary restrictions,
to Pastor Lynn Schudy Ziese (info at swtsynod.org or 830-379-9900).

January 28-30, 2009 -- No Longer Strangers Ministering Across Cultural
Lines: A quad synod multicultural gathering

Radisson Hotel & Suites Dallas Love Field, 1241 W. Mockingbird Lane, Dallas,
TX.  January 4, 2009 is the deadline to register. For registration
information, please log on to our website which is www.gulfcoastsynod.org
and click on Multicultural Gathering.

February 2-3, 2009 – Leadership in the Splash Zone. This conference will
explore how, when faced with the swirling anxiety in society today, a leader
can position self to use it to aid rather than frustrate his or her
purposes.  Please see attached.

February 27 – March 1, 2009 – LYO Sr. High Community of Service at Camp for
All in Burton, TX.  Sr. High students and adults will venture into the
greater Brenham area to LOVE our neighbors in thru our actions!  More
information:  <http://www.soggyshoes.org> www.soggyshoes.org.  Water to
Thrive, Every year the Lutheran Youth Organization (LYO) chooses a
particular ministry to give all monetary offerings to that are collected at
synod-wide youth gatherings. To learn more, go to www.watertothrive.org

News from Peggy Contos:

ONE Sabbath

The ELCA is calling on all of our congregations to advocate for the hungry
and to make poverty history. ONE Sabbath will run from now through the first
100 days of the next Administration.  ONE Sabbath is a wonderful opportunity
for all of our congregations to become ONE Lutheran Congregations. For
information and resources to help you promote ONE Sabbath, visit the
following links:

*	For more information on how to become a ONE Lutheran Congregation: 

http://archive.elca.org/advocacy/one/06-03-06-cong.html

*	For ONE Sabbath Resources:
http://www.one.org/onesabbath/?id_612-3335964-nlBz3-x
<http://www.one.org/onesabbath/?id_612-3335964-nlBz3-x&t=2> &t=2 

*	For ONE Sabbath Christian materials:
http://www.one.org/onesabbath/christian.html 

*	For local information on the ONE campaign, contact our synod ONE
Lutheran Campaign coordinator, Beverly Davis, at beverlydavis at ctkelc.org 

Financial Planning:  Get the big picture!

Info just released from the Cradle to Prison Pipeline reinforces our synod’s
commitment to children, youth and young adults.  Did you know:

·         The average cost of a mentoring program is $1,000 a year. (Any
size congregation can do this well!)

·         The annual per child cost of a high quality after-school program
is $2,700. (We have models in our synod if you want to start this.)

·         The cost of providing a year of employment training for unemployed
youths is $3,448. (Camp Hope is one effective ministry that addresses
this.  Volunteering in meaningful congregational positions serves a similar
purpose.)

·         The average annual per child cost of Head Start is $7,326. (We
have early learning centers in congregations if you want a model.)

·         The cost for a year of public education in Texas is $7,246 per
pupil.

·         The cost of incarcerating a child in the Texas Youth Commission is
$67,890 a year.  (We can’t afford to NOT do Youth & Family Ministry.)

To view the Cradle to Prison policy recommendations and PowerPoint
presentation, click here:  <http://www.cdftexas.org/>
http://www.cdftexas.org/

Help Wanted – Office Manager at Grace Lutheran in Houston, TX

Grace Evangelical Lutheran seeks an organized, detail-oriented office
manager.  Duties include, but are not limited to, producing materials such
as bulletins and newsletters, answering phone calls and providing
information, maintaining files, data-entry, preparing reports, and assisting
with event co-ordination.  Our candidate must be welcoming and professional,
have excellent computer and communication skills, be dependable and able to
multi-task.  Part time.  We can be flexible with which days of the week you
work, but once set, they will need to remain steady.  We are located in the
Montrose area.  Please email resume and cover letter to lura.groen at gmail.com
. 

Free Organ -- Italian made Viscount Electronic Organ, Model:  Domus D60. It
meets AOG specifications. It has one stop that does not work and one that
sticks occasionally.  Otherwise it works like a charm.  If you are
interested, please contact me, Leon Philpot, Grace Evangelical Lutheran
Church of New Orleans, 504-482-4994 (church), lphilpot at cox.net or
www.gracenola.com

Supply Organist -- Jonathan Mollenkopf, 979-525-1515 (Cell) or
jdmollenk at yahoo.com

Church Council Officers

We are continuing to collect the following information.  Thank you for all
of those congregations who have sent in the list, but we still have half of
the congregations that we need the information.   

Name

Mailing Address

Phone

Email

President

VP

Secretary

Treasurer

Office Secretary

Bookkeeper Position

The TX-LA Gulf Coast Synod Office is looking for a part-time (20 hours a
week) Bookkeeper/Accounting Clerk.  For a complete job description, please
click at http://www.gulfcoastsynod.org/jobs.htm .  Please send your resume
to Reyna Pereira, Administrative Assistant at 12707 North Freeway, Ste. 580,
Houston, TX 77060 or e-mail reyna at gulfcoastsynod.org or fax it to
281/875-4716.

Volunteers

Are you a people person?  Do you enjoy talking to people?  Would you like to
learn new things?  If so, we have a place for you!  We are looking for
volunteers who enjoy answering phones, great visitors and learning new
things. If you or someone you know are interested please, please let me know
by calling the synod office at 281/873-5665 x19 or send me an e-mail at
Reyna at gulfcoastsynod.org 

January 12-29, 2009 --Youth & Family Ministry Certification School at
Lutherhill in LaGrange, Texas

Youth and family ministry requires new and innovative approaches. The
Certification School is a 15-day intensive course in Youth and Family
Ministry for adult leaders, volunteers, clergy, parents, youth and seminary
students in relating and forming Christ's ministry with youth.  This course
provides solid theological education with cutting-edge ministry basics.
Participants learn about faith development, contemporary youth culture,
strategic planning for congregational ministries, and valuable network
building for ongoing ministry support and learning. Certification School
cost $2500 More information and all the Learning Outcomes go to www.tyfi.org
or call Lyle Griner directly at 952-405-7306

January 26-28 – 2009 Tri-Synodical Theological Conference

As a part of our gathering next January for the Tri-Synodical Theological
Leadership Conference in Arlington, we are inviting you to bring to the
conference a bag full of USED CELL PHONES In the spirit of our theme, THIS
GOOD EARTH, we plan to recycle them and use the cash raised to support the
mission of the church. Start putting the word out in the congregation and
community that you are gathering old cell phones. Do the people, the
landfill, and the church a great favor. The TC’09 Planning Team.  2009
TRI-SYNODICAL THEOLOGICAL LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE Arlington Convention Center
/ Sheraton Hotel  <http://www.ntnl.org/2009conference> Information,
Registration and Brochure or enter  <http://www.ntnl.org/2009conference>
www.ntnl.org/2009conference into your browser.

MAY 28-30, 2009 – Synod Assembly 

Outrageous Scandal: Living Like Jesus - Marriott Town Square Hotel in
Sugarland, TX.  More details to come. Our commitment together is for an
efficient, equipping, enthusiastic, evangelism experience.   Please
encourage your key leaders to make this time a priority.  

June 13-July 4, 2009 -- Beyond Belief:  Youth in Mission, sponsored by
Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago June 13-July 4, includes
mini=seminary classes, worship, small group discussions, speakers,  trip to
the Lutheran Center in Mexico City and 4 days immersed in ministries at the
US borderlands.  Cost is $300 deposit and transportation to Chicago.  Call
800-635-1116 ext. 725, or email  <mailto:youthinmission at lstc.edu>
youthinmission at lstc.edu (Heather Wallace) to register. The deadline is
February 18, 2009.

Reyna

Reyna Pereira, Administrative Assistant

Office of the Bishop

TX-LA Gulf Coast Synod of the

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

12707 I-45 North Freeway, #580

Houston, TX 77060-1239

281/873-5665

reyna at gulfcoastsynod.org

www.GulfCoastSynod.org

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