2010 Northwest Washington Synod

By The Rev. Wm Chris Boerger (from the March 2010 Soundings)

For those of us in the Synod office and on the planning committee it is time to think about the 2010 Synod Assembly. This year we will gather on May 14 and 15 at the Comcast Arena in Everett. Our theme will be Living the Good News of Gods Welcome. Dr. Amy Oden from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington D.C. will be our speaker. Dr. Oden presents the theme of hospitality in a way that would be consistent with the author of the book of Hebrews.

It is time now for the rest of the synod to begin preparations for the assembly. Resolutions for that will be acted upon need to be submitted by March 1. Nominations for Synod Council and the 2011 Churchwide Assembly are also due by March 1.

I have frequently heard, since last summer's Churchwide Assembly, that our members do not know how to affect the decisions of the larger church. It is through resolutions and memorials that issues are place on the Synod Assembly agenda and on the churchwide assembly agenda. The people who will represent us in 2011 will be elected at this synod assembly. One half of the Synod Council, the Vice President and the Secretary of the Synod will also be elected at this assembly.

I ask your prayerful consideration of who you would recommend to the nominating committee. I hear people say that no one is listening to their point of view. I would ask them to consider being nominated to one of these offices so that their point of view might be represented and so that they could listen to the other points of view that are being presented.

Representative government is messy. It involves looking at the whole picture and not just at one's own interests. It does require listening and maybe some compromise. There are many possible structures that the church could have chosen as a means of organizing our life together. Representative structures are not mandated by the scriptures. They are the method we in the ELCA have chosen.

I invite your nominations and your resolutions. Your concerns will be addressed if they are presented on time. If you need help in writing a resolution or in finding the proper forms for submittal to the nominating committee please call the Synod Office.

I read the book of Hebrews to be saying that we need to be showing hospitality to each other as we come together in this year's Synod Assembly. That hospitality begins now as we prayerfully plan for this assembly and as we support each other in anticipation of how God will use our work this at this Assembly.