Kathy Haueisen is the ELCA Stewardship Key Leader.  After serving as an ELCA pastor for over 20 years, she now helps congregations put together capital campaign projects.  In the latest Giving magazine, she highlights things that parents can do to influence their children’s attitudes and actions as co-stewards of the family household.[1]

1)       Let your children see you giving donations to charitable causes, and doing random acts of kindness.  Talk about why you support organizations you do and why you help others.

2)      Teach and model the 10-10-80 concept:  share a tenth, save a tenth, spend the rest wisely.

3)      Take your children shopping for people that they will never meet – other children, new mothers, elders, those with special needs.  Talk with your children about why these people may need additional support.

4)      Share age-appropriate stories about generous people from your congregation, neighborhood, or community.  What was their motivation?

5)      When you grocery shop for your family, let your children pick out food items that they would like to share with others who are hungry.  Explain how the food will be distributed.

6)      Give your children catalogs from nonprofit organizations, (such as ELCA Good Gifts) and let them pick out a project they would like to know more about and support.

7)      Teach children how to write thank-you notes (email and text messaging counts).  Talk with your children how expressing gratitude helps us all grow and thrive.

8)      Help your children learn the difference between a “need” and a “want.”  Teach your children ways to make a list of what they want, and learn about what to resist buying.

9)      Take children with you to visit new neighbors, residents of health care facilities, or those from your faith community who may need some extra TLC.   What can be learned from nurturing a wide range of steward relationships?

10)  Encourage your children to practice being stewards of your congregation’s well-being.  How can your children participate in cross-generational ways throughout the life of your congregation?

As we continue to grow faithful steward leaders in our families, congregations, and communities,

Sandy Chrostowski, Director for Evangelical Mission, Greater Milwaukee Synod

Photos

Sermon by Rev. Kenneth Wheeler

Rev. Jim Barsch, Church of the Resurrection, Racine

“We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
-“Letter from a Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King Jr., April 16, 1963

Even though Dr. King wrote these powerful words 50 years ago today during the civil rights movement in our country, I feel they take on a new meaning in today’s world, especially since we experienced another act of senseless violence with yesterdays bombings in Boston. This act of terror and cowardice by the perpetrators has the same results in Boston as they do in Iraq, as they do in Afghanistan, as they do in Pakistan, and as they do in any other country that experiences this type of violence; innocent people are killed and wounded, families are sent into mourning and coping, and once again our souls release tears as we deal with evil in the world.

Yes, the evil force probably smiled yesterday when this first happened, but not for long. People who were near the finish line in Boston rushed to the wounded alongside the first responders to help in any way they could; moving wreckage to help get to the wounded, carrying the wounded to safety, just trying to help in whatever way. They did so disregarding their own safety in a very unstable situation. As President Obama said, we stopped being Democrats and Republicans, and became Americans.

And we who are Christians should take our inspiration and action from this type of community response. When we see this type of horror happen wherever in our world, we must follow the teachings of our Risen Christ, and really live Jesus’ edict of loving one another. And we must keep doing this every day as we pray for those who suffer, no matter what their spiritual practices may be. Last year after the shootings at the Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, WI, I went to an interfaith vigil at a church in Whitefish Bay. We weren’t Lutheran, or Catholic, or Jewish; we were people of faith who gathered together to show support in the best way we knew how to-we prayed for peace.

So we still hurt. But let us give our hurt to the source of comfort and strength in our lives. Let us turn to the one who is Risen, giving us the hope of eternal grace. Let us turn to Christ, the one who will heal our wounds.
Let us do so in prayer.

Lord Jesus, we pray that you lay your healing hands and tender mercies on all those who mourn the loss of loved ones and worry about the recovery of the injured, not just in Boston, but wherever evil has struck down the innocent. You are our strength in these difficult times. Help us show others the love and caring that we have learned from you. In your most Holy name, we pray.
Amen

- Mike Herold

• Attend synod council meetings held on Thursday evenings or Saturday mornings in odd numbered months. In September there is an all day meeting at church wide offices in Chicago.
• Read and affirm the required policies that have been adopted by the synod council
• Attend church regularly.
• Pray for the ministries of our church, and specifically for the work our synod.
• Practice generous giving of yourselves, your time and your possessions as a spiritual discipline.
• Be willing serve a four year term.
• Prepare for and faithfully attend each meeting of our synod council (usually 6 per year) and the annual synod assembly.
• Within your first two years of office, attend the Crossroads 2 ½ day anti-racism training. The cost for this training will be paid for by our Greater Milwaukee synod.
• Work to support the final decisions of our synod council and seek to promote the mission of our church with those with whom we come in contact.

If you have any questions please contact Mary in the synod office at 414-671-1212.

THANKS to the 90 congregations who fulfilled their Commitments

SPECIAL THANKS to 26 of those congregations who exceeded their Commitments by $89,290 and put us at 100.7% of our Commitment of $2,150,000. This more than covered the 36 congregations who were unable to fulfill their Commitments.

With these facts our Director of Finance reported that our Synod Staff made careful use of the $2,155,870 Mission Support we provided so there was a surplus that enabled us at the end of the year. January 31, 2013 to……

1. Send $25,000 as seed money from our GMS to the ELCA Malaria Campaign
2. Set aside $20,000 to initiate a Young Adult Ministry Program in the GMS
3. Send an extra $18,275 to the ELCA which exceeds the $1,182,500 (55%) that we had Committed for 2012
4. Set aside a small amount for the GMS’ Staffing Reserve Fund

We Give Thanks to the Lord for the faithful Financial Support from our congregational members sharing with the Synod and ELCA to carry out the Great Commission that our Resurrected Lord gave us just before He ascended “Go – Make Disciples – Baptize – Teach”

Retired Pastor Richard Warber
Member of GMS Stewardship Committee

P. S. Looking forward to seeing you at the STEWARDSHIP FAIR on Saturday, April 13 at St. Luke’s Lutheran in Greendale as we grow to be more faithful STEWARDS!

Join us as we confess:
·        Our inability to put God first in our lives
·        Our love of comfort at the expense of others
·        Our lack of gratitude for the saving love of Jesus Christ

We thank and praise God:
·        For his redeeming love made real in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
·        For partners and a community of faith that helps us love God and one another
·        For the people of the Diocese of Meru who teach us to be more faithful

We ask for:

• Strength for our leaders, Bishop Jeff and Bishop Akyoo,  for all the pastors of the synod and the Diocese.
• Guidance for the students in the Diocese who have been called to become pastors, bless their studies and their families.
• Help them to find funding to finish their education and serve the growing church.
• Food for your hungry people in the Diocese of Meru and the Greater Milwaukee synod.
• Rains to fall gently and often so that the water of life is in good supply.
• Open and trusting hearts to pass on the love you have given us.
• The Holy Spirit to be alive in us and our congregations and parishes.

All this we ask in Jesus name who blesses us daily through his redeeming power.   Amen

Why a mutual day of prayer?   One of the blessings of the companion synod program is that we in the American church come to know Christians in another part of the world.  Since its’ beginning in 1997, the Meru Partnership has recommended that the third Sunday of Easter be designated as a day of mutual prayer.  The growing church in Tanzania and our partners in the Diocese of Meru have held us in prayer for these fifteen years.  We look to the growing church of Tanzania to renew in us the vibrancy of a church that is filled with young people and hope.  At its January meeting the synod council affirmed April 14 as this year’s day of prayer.

For your action:
1.      Please include the Diocese of Meru in your prayers on this Sunday.
2.      If you are in partnership with a parish in Tanzania write to them, get their prayer requests, send them your prayers.
3.      Include music, creeds or other African influenced liturgy in your worship.
4.      Consider a special offering to benefit the Pastoral Education Fund of the Diocese or the Hunger Relief Fund.  Funds collected should be sent to the synod and designated with a transmittal form.
5.      Invite a member of the Meru Partnership Committee to speak at your adult forum or a temple talk.
6.      Attend a Meru partnership committee meeting.

Pdf’s of worship resources are available from Aleta Chossek,
achossek@gmail.com or Janet Mcginty , smcginty@wi.rr.com.

Asante sana, thank you for all your work in the name of our Risen Savior, Jesus.

Opening worship

Time of prayer

Communion

lunch time!

More photos

Keynote by Rev. Dr. Stephen Bouman

The Rev. Dr. Stephen Paul Bouman, currently serves as the Executive Director of the Congregational and Synodical Mission unit.  Pastor Bouman began his ministry in the churchwide organization when he was called to the position of Executive Director for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Evangelical Outreach and Congregational Mission unit in February 2008.

He previously served as bishop of the ELCA Metropolitan New York Synod from September 1996 through January 2008.  The Metropolitan New York Synod embraces the five boroughs of New York City, Long Island, and several counties north and west.  It includes 236 member congregations, and worships in over 20 languages.

Pastor Bouman was born in Melrose Park, Illinois on April 14, 1947.  He graduated from Concordia Theological Seminary/Seminex in 1973.  He received his Master of Sacred Theology from New York Theological Seminary in 1978 and his Doctor of Ministry degree in 1980, an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church in 2001, and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Wagner College in 2008.

He began his pastoral ministry in 1973 at St. Jacobus Lutheran Church, Woodside, Queens.  He then pastored Atonement Lutheran Church, Jackson Heights, from 1974 until 1981; and Trinity Lutheran Church, Bogota, New Jersey from 1982 through 1992.  He is founder of the Diakonia ministry education program, which trains lay people for ministry in local congregations. His parish ministry also included building strong multicultural outreach, the launching of two parochial schools, leadership in several church based community organizations, and a variety of ministries of assistance and advocacy among the poor.

Pastor Bouman served as Assistant to the Bishop from 1992 until his election as bishop in 1996.  He also served as Chair of the ELCA Board of Higher Education and Schools, and as a Trustee for Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services and Wagner College in New York City.  He currently serves on the board of Interfaith Refugee and Immigration Ministries in Chicago, Illinois.

Pastor Bouman is a published author of a number of scholarly articles, books, curricula and devotionals.  Two recent books are They Are Us: Lutherans and Immigration, co-authored with Ralston Deffenbaugh, published in 2009 and Grace All Around Us (an account of ministry in the time of the September 11, 2001 attacks) published in 2007.

He is married to the former Janet Luce, and they have three grown children and three grandchildren.  They reside in Chicago.

Each of you already devote your time and talent to help God’s work throughout our Greater Milwaukee Synod and the world. Thank you for your dedication.

We have a new need: Consecration Guest Leaders

There is an emerging need within our synod for a new ministry, and we are asking for your help and participation.  Over the last few years, many of our congregations have found the Consecration Sunday program to be an effective annual response method.  For this reason, we have been receiving an increasing number of requests for Guest Leaders. Our goal is to create a team of 12 Consecration Sunday Guest Leaders.

In order to achieve this goal, we have scheduled specialized training on Tuesday April 30th, 2013, 6pm to 9 p.m. at Gethsemane Lutheran Church, 13200 W. Greenfield Ave in Brookfield. If you can envision yourself – after participating in training – leading an orientation for members of a congregation Consecration Sunday steering team; conducting a special Leadership Event for congregation church council members, other church leaders, and their spouses; and preaching in the morning Worship Services on Consecration Sunday; this ministry is for you.

Why this is so important to our Church

This important ministry is an integral and essential part of the annual stewardship program, Consecration Sunday, by Herb Miller.  According to Eugene Grimm, former ELCA stewardship specialist for Ohio, Consecration Sunday, “. . . is one of the finest stewardship programs ever developed.”

Consecration Sunday is a stewardship education program based on our Christian acceptance of God’s unconditional love and our need as stewards of God’s Word to make a faith commitment by giving a percentage of our income to God’s household, the Church. It is a spiritual growth program that teaches giving as a response to God’s love, and part of the worship act. The program focuses on the need of the giver to give, and invites everyone to consider growing in faith through growing one step closer to tithing and beyond in their personal stewardship as a disciple of Christ. The emphasis is not on paying the bills of the church. Instead, members are asked to consider what God is calling them to give in thanksgiving for the blessings they have received. It encourages joyful giving rather than fund-raising to meet a budget.

This annual financial campaign takes place over a period of at least six weeks from an initial meeting of the steering committee to the date of Consecration Sunday. The campaign involves an Outside Guest Leader who conducts that initial meeting with the steering committee, a special Leadership Event for church council members and other church leaders, and the Consecration Sunday worship services.  This Outside Guest Leader is essential in conducting the Consecration Sunday program for several reasons:

1. people work harder,
2. more attention and serious consideration is given to the subject,
3. congregation members are far less likely to take shortcuts,
4. fewer mistakes are made since the congregation can “check-in” with the outside leader, and
5. the presence of an outside leader makes a 10 to 30 percent difference in the total results.

What we are asking of you

For those of you who see yourselves in this roll, our synod is willing to:  1) subsidize the cost of this training event to keep the cost at $10/person; and 2) provide you with a copy of Herb Miller’s Consecration Sunday program; in return for a commitment from you to serve as an outside guest leader in our synod at least twice over the next two – three years.

Register here for the April 30th event. Pre-registration is necessary for participation in the training to provide enough training material.

Blessings to you and your ministry,

Pastor Grant Quever
Synod Stewardship Team
Greater Milwaukee Synod

and

Pastor Sandy Chrostowski
Director for Evangelical Mission
Greater Milwaukee Synod

Register here »