As we journey towards the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, ELCIC members and congregations have been sharing their stories of mission and hope through their involvement in the ELCIC Reformation Challenge.

One such missional story comes from Rev. Bruce Gelhorn and the congregation of Grace Lutheran Church in Winnipeg, of the Manitoba Northwestern Ontario Synod.

“When we first received the Reformation Challenge invite from the National Office, I felt as though this was something that our church would be able to really help support and embrace,” Gelhorn said. “I am pleased that in just a few months of time, we have been able to contribute towards three focal points: refugees, scholarships and trees.”

Contributing towards three areas of the Reformation Challenge is no easy task either. Under the guidance of Gelhorn, Grace Lutheran has already been able to sponsor three refugees, donate five scholarships and plant many trees in honour of the ELCIC’s latest project. One member – as Gelhorn pointed out – even took the initiative to dedicate the 24 saplings that he planted at his cottage towards the Reformation Challenge.

“I suggested to our members that they consider gathering together with family and friends and planting a tree,” Pastor Gelhorn said. “Then we would ask of them to take a picture beside it and we would post it up in an effort to raise awareness throughout the church. We actually had one member plant 24 saplings at his cottage. We popped his picture up on our slideshow before a service began back in late fall. It’s obviously winter now, so next spring we will encourage people again to gather family and friends together to plant more trees, and hopefully generate more in that regard as well.”

So how did all of this good work begin at Grace Lutheran Church?

“I lifted up the challenges to the congregation on Reformation Sunday through a pictoral sermon,” Gelhorn said. “We went to Europe a few years back, so I showed pictures and talked about where Luther was born and baptized. I ended up doing a bit of a Luther history in a sense. From there I continued on talking about the 500th anniversary and the Reformation Challenge, and then I lifted up the four areas to cover.”

But it wasn’t just in front of his congregation where Bruce urged action towards the ELCIC’s project. He made sure to stay adamantly involved behind the scenes as well.

“So after already agreeing to put money aside for a refugee family and talking about the importance of planting trees, I decided to look into how we might be able to support the other areas,” Gelhorn said. “I knew that we had some money sitting in our memorial fund, so at our November council meeting I proposed that we give 15 percent of that money to the Reformation Challenge. Originally I suggested that we split it evenly between the scholarships portion and the Lutheran World Federation. But we ultimately decided that we felt that the scholarships area could use the most help, so we decided to put all of our money into scholarships for five students.”

Although still waiting upon the arrival of their refugee family, Grace Lutheran Church can be joyful in the fact that they have already contributed five scholarships towards students in the ELCJHL, and are actively pursuing the planting of trees for the Reformation Challenge. And if Rev. Bruce Gelhorn gets his way about it, donating to the LWF isn’t as much of a longshot as it may have initially appeared.

“I still would like Grace to be able to contribute towards all four areas, but for now we are really pleased with what we have been able to accomplish so far.”

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) National Bishop Susan C. Johnson writes to the church following the fatal attack last night at le Centre Culturel Islamique de Québec.

"Our hearts and prayers reach out to the families of those who were killed, those who were hurt, their families, and all who feel the impact of this terrible act of violence. We extend our commitment to stand with Muslims across Canada," says Bishop Johnson.

Text of the letter follows. Read the full letter here: https://www.elcic.ca/Documents/20170130LettertotheChurch.pdf

Inshallah, a 130-plus member choir – based out of Waterloo Lutheran Seminary (WLS) at Wilfrid Laurier University – found its origins during a study tour to Palestine and Israel in 2007. Now it is giving back to that same community through the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada’s (ELCIC) Reformation Challenge.

During the seminary’s study trip, Debbie Lou Ludolph, who is now the choir director for Inshallah, was tasked with coordinating worship. She, along with 20-30 other travellers, sang and worshipped daily, listening to the stories of the Palestinian people.

“At one of the Palestinian churches in Beit Jala, the women gave us 20 song books of music that they had collected from their community for us to take back home to Canada,” Ludolph said. “They told us to go home and continue to sing their songs as a way to help tell their story. So with the help and support of Eastern Synod Bishop Michael Pryse and David Pfrimmer, the Dean of the seminary at that time, we were able to put together the 20-member choir, Inshallah upon our return.”

That trip transformed the ideas of worship and prayer in song for the members of the choir. This continues to brew deep within Inshallah as the choir has since transitioned to become an ecumenical group, even hosting members without a faith background. Inshallah currently gathers once a week at WLS and has travelled and performed across most of synod.

Just this past November, Inshallah celebrated 10 years of singing together. Throughout those years, Ludolph says that the Palestinian Church and, in particular, Bishop Munib Younan of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL) have been extremely important and supportive to Inshallah and its singing.

“When we started getting closer to November and began to wonder what we would do to honour our ten-year anniversary, we thought back to Palestine and them giving us the 20 music books – a commissioning of sorts,” Ludolph said. “So we figured that when we go back on our next study trip this coming May, that we would bring them copies of our new song book, Sing the Circle Wide – a collection of songs that have really impacted us.”

But that wasn’t all that Debbie Lou Ludolph and her choir were able to provide. One objective of the ELCIC’s Reformation Challenge is to raise funds for scholarships to help send children to school in the ELCJHL. As a group, Inshallah embraced that goal and came together to donate money for a cause very close to home.

“We have done fundraisers before for the church, but this one was very different,” Ludolph said. “We ended up collecting enough money for two scholarships. The funds came from an offering that we took from those in attendance on the night of our ten-year celebration. We thought about it carefully and decided that putting the money towards scholarships would be the best thing for us to do.”

Even Ludolph – a seasoned choir director – admits that she is always learning something new from Inshallah. Whether it is something musical, emotional, or even geographical, the experience of Inshallah is ever-changing.  

“It is very transformative experience,” she said. “Sometimes it is very much about how we can equip the church to sing this song, while other times it is very much about how we can partner in the public square towards the human flourishing of being a community. It is not always easy, as it challenges who you are and what you believe, but it is always very rewarding.”

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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is Canada’s largest Lutheran denomination with 114,592 baptized members in 525 congregations. It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, the Canadian Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.

Material provided through ELCIC Information is intended for reproduction and redistribution by recipients in whatever manner they may find useful.

For more information, please contact:
Trina Gallop Blank, Director of Communications
600-177 Lombard Ave. Winnipeg MB R3B 0W5
204.984.9172
tgallop@elcic.ca

Subscribe or unsubscribe to ELCIC Information by emailing info@elcic.ca with a short message.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) is encouraging congregations to participate in the Reformation Challenge throughout the coming year.

As explained by Rev. John Polacok, of St. Matthew’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hanover, Ontario, one of the best ways to keep members engaged in the Reformation Challenge is by setting goals.

“What has worked well so far for our congregation, is to set attainable objectives,” the Eastern Synod pastor says. “For instance, our St. Matthew’s Evangelical Lutheran Women have raised $234 for tree planting in Ethiopia. Their goal is $500. We are also planning to plant five fruit trees here on the property. We don’t have a ton of room here, but we will be helping take part of the program through Canadian Lutheran World Relief. We too hope to help them plant as many trees as they can, but it is really our women’s group and their goals that are helping drive this.”

Polacok has already seen his congregation both answer the call of the ELCIC Reformation Challenge, and deliver on multiple fronts.

Not only has St. Matthew’s contributed to the planting of trees, but they have already put together funding for scholarships, sponsored refugees – who are to be arriving very shortly – and have plans in store to donate financially to The Lutheran World Federation Endowment Fund.

“I am really excited about our planned commitment to the scholarships,” Polacok said. “We are hoping to raise enough money through fundraisers for more than just one scholarship. As one scholarship is $1,400, it would be nice if we could provide two of those; that is our goal right now.”

For a congregation that sees roughly 105-120 members on Sundays, Pastor John Polacok is very pleased with his church’s efforts thus far. But at the same time, he knows that there is the potential for a greater response right down the road.

“We are hoping to kind of piggyback on the joint Lutheran/Catholic commemoration service that had been done in Lund,” Polacok said. “We are working along with our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters here in Hanover to see if we can do a very similar service to that one sometime this coming spring. We would hope to have a free-will offering, in which our half could be used towards scholarships and help with The Lutheran World Federation Endowment Fund. We are really trying hard to embrace all areas.”

Although this potential service is still up in the air, Polacok and his congregation in Hanover have truly embraced the purpose of the Reformation Challenge, demonstrating their thrill towards the theme of being Liberated by God’s Grace.

“We are just really, really excited about this coming year,” he said. “We will be doing some other events as well for the upcoming anniversary, and hopefully if everything goes well, we will be able to provide even more money for the scholarships, and other areas; that is something that we all think is really important.”

Reformation Sunday 2016 saw the congregation of Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, Red Deer, Synod of Alberta and the Territories, planting a new tree as a symbol of their community’s commitment to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada’s (ELCIC) Reformation Challenge. The congregation has kicked off its 500th anniversary commemorations by emphasizing the challenge as a missional priority in the coming year.

Rev. Dr. Marc Jerry of Good Shepherd – who is also a member of the ELCIC’s National Church Council – expressed his delight and appreciation for what his church has been able to accomplish already. “We wanted, as a whole church, to do something very significant for the world in order to commemorate this historic anniversary,” Pastor Marc said.

“The Reformation Challenge has four specific goals: to support 500 refugees, to support 500 scholarships for students in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL), to plant 500,000 trees (either locally, or worldwide in Ethiopia or Palestine through Canadian Lutheran World Relief), and to raise $500,000 to support the Lutheran World Federation Endowment Fund,” he noted. “What is significant about these ambitious goals is that it embodies what it means for us to have a national expression of the church. That is, no one congregation in the ELCIC is likely to meet these lofty goals, but as a National Church we, together, can meet these goals. That’s what it means to have a national church – it is where we can accomplish good work in the world together, that we may otherwise not be able to do individually.”

With the help of many generous donors, church groups and sponsors, the ELCIC has already surpassed their goal of 500 sponsored refugees. To date, the Reformation Challenge has been responsible for 524 new Canadians.

Chris Knelson, a church council member at Good Shepherd, and chair of the Reformation500 committee, pointed out that his congregation has, and will be engaging in a number of activities throughout the year.  Already, Good Shepherd’s confirmation class of 14 students held a servant auction immediately following the Reformation Day service. Over $500 was raised as the youth donated their time for work projects in the community that members bid on. Good Shepherd’s youth also raised another $300 for the reformation challenge as part of their annual cookie walk event. The Sunday School is also planning to raise money for the ELCJHL scholarships.

“We hope that the Reformation Challenge will continue to be our focus for this year’s missional work, Knelson said. “We are looking at making the challenge part of our Lenten discipline programming. In the spring we hope to hold an outdoor service in the local community nature centre in Red Deer, followed by a tree planting event of up to 1000 new trees.”

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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is Canada’s largest Lutheran denomination with 114,592 baptized members in 525 congregations. It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, the Canadian Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.

Material provided through ELCIC Information is intended for reproduction and redistribution by recipients in whatever manner they may find useful.

For more information, please contact:
Trina Gallop Blank, Director of Communications
600-177 Lombard Ave. Winnipeg MB R3B 0W5
204.984.9172
tgallop@elcic.ca

Subscribe or unsubscribe to ELCIC Information by emailing info@elcic.ca with a short message.

The Brockton Area Refugee Team (BART) is eagerly waiting to hear its name called as the newest refugee host team, and first in its community.

Based out of Brockton, Ontario, BART is an ecumenical group of compassionate and caring people who have come together with the common goal of sponsoring a refugee family.

Although the group is currently placed 40th on a waiting list, their hope has not faded.

Dorothy Frook, long-time vice chair of the Eastern Synod, and member of Trinity Lutheran Church, believes that BART will have their refugee family within the coming year.

“We do not yet know how many refugees we will be taking on, but we made it clear that we would take anywhere from one to seven people,” Frook said. “We are hoping to have our family by next July. As a whole, we are attempting to raise $40,000 to support this family; the funds are coming in by way of fundraisers, and we plan to continue in that regard. We have had many donations already – it is a very exciting time.”

Brockton is a rural community made up of two former townships and the town of Walkerton.

So how does such a small community come together to sponsor a family? It works because the people of all faiths and walks of life focus on social justice, and work together with the common goal of sponsoring a family of new Canadians.

“We have about 40 volunteers,” Frook revealed. “Some will do hospitality, and our ecumenical congregations are planning fundraisers. We have a Facebook page, and have been advertising through the churches, local newspapers and by word of mouth. The town of Hanover – which is about 10 minutes east of us – already has two families, and that has served as motivation for us moving forward.”

Along with advertising their campaign throughout churches and other organizations, Frook says that one of BART’s members came up with another great idea that has already helped bring in additional funds for the commitment.

“One of our fundraising chairs made up what we like to call a ‘Fund-O-Meter’,” she said. “So first of all, we took the Fund-O-Meter to Walkerton for our homecoming in July, and we set it up with the faith committee. We had a lot of donations from children in particular, who wanted to put their money in the special Fund-O-Meter.”

But it not just the Fund-O-Meter that is helping out the Brockton and Area Refugee Team. As Frook points out, the support and funding thus far has been “much appreciated”, but there is lots of work left to be done.

“We had an ecumenical service, and the offering that we collected went directly to our refugee team,” she said. “During a parade, our fundraising committee put on a barbeque down by the local butcher shop, and the butcher provided the meat for the hamburgers.”

BART held a major fundraiser on Sunday, October 31st, in the form of an Awareness Dinner and Auction. 128 dinner tickets were sold, the auctioneer donated his time, most of the meal items and all the auction items were donated.

“We have had a lot of support from many different areas, churches, services clubs, business, and individuals, and continue to work diligently on this process,” Frook said. “We are excited and very hopeful.”

Sponsoring refugees is one of four goals of the ELCIC Reformation Challenge. Find out more at: www.elcic.ca/ReformationChallenge

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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is Canada’s largest Lutheran denomination with 114,592 baptized members in 525 congregations. It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, the Canadian Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.

Material provided through ELCIC Information is intended for reproduction and redistribution by recipients in whatever manner they may find useful.

For more information, please contact:
Trina Gallop Blank, Director of Communications
600-177 Lombard Ave. Winnipeg MB R3B 0W5
204.984.9172
tgallop@elcic.ca

Subscribe or unsubscribe to ELCIC Information by emailing info@elcic.ca with a short message.

Communities, congregations and sponsorship teams from coast to coast to coast have teamed up to help the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) meet, and exceed, its Reformation Challenge goal of sponsoring 500 refugees to Canada in just a little over one year’s time.

This significant achievement shows just how much can be accomplished when communities come together In Mission for Others.

Pastor, Brad Mittleholtz, of Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, and New Beginnings Interdenominational Refugee Sponsorship Group in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, has seen his community come together like never before to provide various forms of help to these incoming families.

“We started by sponsoring one family, but after that we realized that we have enough capacity – both financially and our volunteers – to go for three families,” he said. “We have a large group here, but none of it would have been possible without the support from our community.”

Although only averaging a weekly attendance of 75-100 people, MIttleholtz believes that roughly 25 people in the church have since taken on leadership roles in this project. On top of the support from his Lutheran church, additional assistance has come from outside the walls of his congregation.

“Many folks from around the neighbourhood are clearing houses after hearing we could use some help,” Mittleholtz said. “It’s amazing. Obviously Zion Lutheran started the awareness, but we have all sorts of other denominations helping us out financially who had heard of this project, and what we are doing.”

A similar community-style refugee sponsorship team located in Brockton, Ontario, as well as Mount Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Waterloo, Ontario, have also each stepped up to the plate and recently delivered in the form of refugee sponsorship. The Brockton Area Refugee Team has committed to sponsoring a family of refugees, while Mount Zion has received seven refugees.

Although already surpassing 500 sponsored refugees, the ELCIC encourages the continuation of providing support towards refugees coming to Canada. Planting trees, supporting scholarships and donating to The Lutheran World Federation Endowment Fund are additioanl ways to become involved in the ELCIC Reformation Challenge.

To find out more about the ELCIC Reformation Challenge and how you can get involved, visit: elcic.ca/ReformationChallenge

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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is Canada’s largest Lutheran denomination with 114,592 baptized members in 525 congregations. It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, the Canadian Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.

Material provided through ELCIC Information is intended for reproduction and redistribution by recipients in whatever manner they may find useful.

For more information, please contact:
Trina Gallop Blank, Director of Communications
600-177 Lombard Ave. Winnipeg MB R3B 0W5
204.984.9172
tgallop@elcic.ca

Subscribe or unsubscribe to ELCIC Information by emailing info@elcic.ca with a short message.

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) members and congregations have come together to sponsor over 500 refugees!

For over a year, ELCIC members have been engaged in the ELCIC Reformation Challenge as one of the ways to mark the 2015-17 emphasis the church has been lifting up around the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.

The announcement that the goal to sponsor 500 refugees has been achieved was met with great excitement.

"I am delighted we have met the first of our Reformation Challenge goals," said ELCIC National Bishop Susan Johnson.

Bishop Johnson noted that when the challenge was first adopted by the ELCIC’s National Church Council the goals were considered to be ‘stretch goals.’ "Council members thought we would be better off to try to reach more challenging goals and come short, than to set our goals too low and stop before we reached our full potential," said Bishop Johnson. "To be just over one year into the challenge and to have reached the goal of sponsoring 500 refugees is inspiring. This truly is a sign of our church growing In Mission for Others. I’m humbled, joyful and proud of our church!"

As Lutherans around the world prepare to commemorate the Reformation anniversary in 2017, the ELCIC is lifting up themes from The Lutheran World Federation (LWF): Liberated by God’s Grace, Creation – Not for Sale, Human Beings – Not for Sale, Salvation – Not for Sale. The ELCIC Reformation Challenge draws from the themes and provides a way for ELCIC members and congregations to bring Reformation activities close to home and make it possible for congregations and synods of any size to participate.

Through the ELCIC Reformation Challenge, members and congregations are invited to help sponsor 500 refugees, support 500 scholarships for students in schools of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL), plant 500,000 trees in Canada, Palestine and Ethiopia, and contribute $500,000 to the LWF Endowment Fund.

To date, ELCIC members have sponsored 504 refugees, provided 49 scholarships for ELCJHL schools, planted 44,981 trees and raised $125,931 for the LWF Endowment Fund.

ELCIC members and congregations are encouraged to consider how they might be able to get involved in the Reformation Challenge.

They are many creative and innovative ways to engage in one or more areas of the initiative. A Sunday School class in Winnipeg recently shared how they have connected with the goal to provide scholarships to students in ELCJHL schools. Over the past year, 20 children from the congregation have been involved in the challenge and are currently working towards raising funds for their second scholarship (https://www.elcic.ca/news.cfm?article=450).

Further information on the ELCIC Reformation Challenge is available online: elcic.ca/ReformationChallenge

ELCIC members are asked to share how they and their congregations are engaged in the challenge by completing the brief form which is also available at elcic.ca/ReformationChallenge.
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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is Canada’s largest Lutheran denomination with 114,592 baptized members in 525 congregations. It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, the Canadian Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.

Material provided through ELCIC Information is intended for reproduction and redistribution by recipients in whatever manner they may find useful.

For more information, please contact:
Trina Gallop Blank, Director of Communications
600-177 Lombard Ave. Winnipeg MB R3B 0W5
204.984.9172
tgallop@elcic.ca

Subscribe or unsubscribe to ELCIC Information by emailing info@elcic.ca with a short message.

In a letter from Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada National Bishop Susan C. Johnson, Anglican Church of Canada Primate Fred Hiltz and Anglican Church of Canada National Indigenous Bishop Mark MacDonald, the leaders of the two churches call on members to pray for safe, affordable and adequate housing for all on November 22, National Housing Day.

The text of the letter follows.

Download a pdf of the letter: www.elcic.ca/Documents/201611HousingDayletter.pdf

November 16, 2016

National Housing Day 2016: A call to prayer

Dear friends in Christ,

In the spirit of the 2013 Joint Assembly Declaration, we call on members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) and the Anglican Church of Canada (ACoC) to pray for safe, affordable and adequate housing for all on November 22, National Housing Day.

Adequate housing is essential to one’s sense of dignity, safety, inclusion and ability to contribute to the fabric of our neighbourhoods and communities.¹ Housing is a human right.

We live in a country of abundance, yet not all benefit. Among the most vulnerable are the many who are homeless or living in precarious or unaffordable housing, children living in poverty with little hope for a brighter future, and young people who are underemployed and increasingly alienated from the political process.

More than 235,000 Canadians experience homelessness each year, with as many as 35,000 people homeless on any given night. Nearly one in five Canadians spends more than 50% of their income on housing costs, resulting in extreme housing affordability problems.²

Housing in many First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities is currently in extremely poor condition, with many families living with mould, insufficient heating, and overcrowding. Indigenous peoples are more likely than other groups to live in inadequate housing conditions and will often experience systemic discrimination in the housing market.³

The 2013 Joint Declaration calls on our churches to address the long-term challenges of homelessness and affordable housing. Along with prayer, both churches committed to learning about the underlying issues, supporting existing programs, exploring innovative approaches, and advocating for renewed federal funding and a collaborative national strategy on housing.

We invite you to lift up National Housing Day on November 22 and commend to you the following prayer:

God of compassion and hope,

Open our hearts to the needs of our neighbours who are homeless, under housed, seeking refuge or denied the right to water.

Open our minds to the issues that contribute to poverty, homelessness, and substandard housing.

Open our eyes to opportunities for ministry, to partnerships, and to innovative approaches for addressing these challenges.

Open our hands to act with compassion and for justice.

Bless us with time, patience, persistence, and commitment over the long term, So that all may have safe, affordable and adequate housing.

We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord. Amen.

Yours in Christ,

The Most Rev. Fred Hiltz
Primate, (Anglican Church of Canada

The Rt. Rev. Mark MacDonald
National Indigenous Anglican Bishop, Anglican Church of Canada

Rev. Susan C. Johnson
National Bishop,( Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada

    1  Ontario Human Rights Commission (http://www.ohrc.on.ca/)
    2  The State of Homelessness in Canada 2014, Homelessness Hub Research Paper (www.homelesshub.ca/sites/default/ les/SOHC2014.pdf
    3 http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/FS21_rev_1_Housing_en.pdf 1

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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is Canada’s largest Lutheran denomination with 114,592 baptized members in 525 congregations. It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, the Canadian Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.

Material provided through ELCIC Information is intended for reproduction and redistribution by recipients in whatever manner they may find useful.

For more information, please contact:
Trina Gallop Blank, Director of Communications
600-177 Lombard Ave. Winnipeg MB R3B 0W5
204.984.9172
tgallop@elcic.ca

Subscribe or unsubscribe to ELCIC Information by emailing info@elcic.ca with a short message.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) invites members and congregations to participate in a church-wide study and reflection surrounding the Orders of Ministry Study Guide.

The study was produced by the Faith, Order and Doctrine Commmittee (FOD). In May 2015, the ELCIC’s National Church Council (NCC) asked FOD to study orders of ministry with particular attention to diakonia and Diaconal Ministry.

Rev. André Lavergne, Assistant to the Bishop, ecumenical and interfaith, believes this work will not only be beneficial for the ELCIC and NCC, but also for members of the church who want to share a deeper understanding of the roles of their ministers.

“There are a number of different reasons why churches should be participating in this study,” he said, noting that the study will help congregations understand their own church while also lifting up diakonia and Diaconal Ministry. “The Orders of Ministry Study Guide offers us an important opportunity to cast our face outward.”

The study guide, titled To Love Our Neighbours as Ourselves, is broken up into four sections. The first section focuses on a theology of God, mission and church. The second section focuses on the call of the baptized, asking what the vocation of those baptized into ELCIC may be, and how it differs from those set apart for the public office of ministry. The third section talks about the rostered forms of ministry in the ELCIC. The final section describes how the ELCIC sees its place in God’s mission today, acknowledges some challenges before us, and looks at some possibilities for promoting an enthusiastic embrace of everyone’s role in the mission of the church.

For Rev. Marc Jerry, chair of FOD, this study guide will have significant implications on the future usage of, and appropriate training for Diaconal Ministers. Jerry serves as a member of the NCC, and will have a chance to review responses to the study during a thorough evaluation period – an opportunity that he believes will provide many chances to learn, reflect and reassess.

For Jerry, the hope is that this study triggers the same kind of response and conversation that the NCC’s previous study of Word and Sacrament Ministry generated.

“What we did not expect to happen following our most recent study was that there was a real thirst across the church to have good theological discussion about what it means to be Lutheran,” he said. “My hope is that the church is still in the mood to have some of these great conversations.”

The study guide can be found online and downloaded by individual congregations to use as they are able. The due date for responses is April 17th, 2017. Access to the material can be found at https://elcic.ca/faithorderdoctrine/OrdersofMinistry.cfm.