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In this Issue:
- Saving Grace, Over 500 Partners - $1 Million Dollar Challenge is Underway, Mission Endowment Fund - Texts, Titles, and Topics, for Grace Matters Broadcast - Sister Anne Hall Appointed to Board of Directors of the Deaconess Community of the ELCA Links:
Leaders in the News On the Move: Pastor David Tart - Hosanna, Houston to Peace, Pasadena Pastor Kim Little-Brooks - St. Paul’s, Brenham to Our Saviour, Baton Rouge Pastor Don Carlson - Zion, Houston to Sabbatical and On Leave From Call Pastor Eric Klimpel - St. Peter, Bay City to Spirit of Joy, The Woodlands Pastor Luke Bouman – Tree of Life, Conroe to Valparaiso University Pastor Robert Sorenson – interim ministry to (part time) St. Paul, Phillipsburg Pastor Glenn Hohlt – to Shared Lutheran Ministry of Fayette County Pastor Sid Roden – interim ministry to St. Paul, LaGrange Pastor Jeff Alvestad – St. Mark, West Des Moines, IA to Kinsmen, Houston Pastor Tim Norris – Zion, Sunman, IN to Shared Ministry of St. Paul, Lake Charles and Trinity, Orange
One Million Dollar Challenge is Underway
The challenge to congregations to increase the synod Mission Endowment Fund’s permanent balance to $1,000,000 is now underway. This means raising $230,000 by May 31.
Another approach is for a congregation to contribute at least $1,600 ($100 for each of Bishop Blom’s 16 years of service to the synod). With over 125 congregations in our synod, this approach would raise over $200,000.
Raising the Fund to the million-dollar level would make more than $50,000 available for grants each year. Grants are used for ministries not affordable through the synod’s normal operating budget. To date, grants have been awarded to the five ministry objectives as follows: Seminary Scholarships - $ 41,200 Campus Ministry - $ 26,000 New Ministry Projects - $ 39,344 Young Congregations - $ 56,880 New Congregations - $ 2,000 Total $ 165,424
Wouldn’t it wonderful to honor Bishop Blom and his service to our synod and our Church by surpassing the $1 million level by the June 1 recognition event at the synod assembly?
Will you and/or your congregation help? For more information – or to arrange to make a donation - call Lucia at the synod office 281-873-5665.
New Book Explores Theology's Future Through its Roots in Liberal Though
In the brief but programmatic Liberal Theology: A Radical Vision, distinguished theologian Peter Hodgson reflects on the precarious yet vital role of theology today and its nearly lost and sometimes discredited tradition of liberal thought, especially liberal theology. Liberal theology has been the main thread of Christian thinking over the last 200 years, but it threatens to be obscured by a rising tide of conservative and even fundamentalist Christianity, on the one hand, and a secular materialism, on the other.
Hodgson's sure-footed work offers a way of seeing our religious and political situations together. He calls for liberal theology to reinvent itself and to fulfill its crucial historical roles as a mediator between Christian commitment and the cultural situation.
The heart or root of Christian commitment, Hodgson finds, lies in its radical vision of freedom—God's, nature's, and our own. In the end, Hodgson's proposal embraces not only theology but Christianity itself and its relevance to today's most pressing problems.
Peter C. Hodgson is
among North America’s most respected and accomplished theologians. Now
the Charles G. Finney Professor of Theology, Emeritus, at Vanderbilt
Divinity School, Hodgson has been a member of the Vanderbilt faculty
since 1965. His work embraces both historical theology—he is a leading
interpreter of the work of G.W. F. Hegel and nineteenth-century
theology—and constructive theology. Liberal Theology: A Radical Vision By Peter C. Hodgson Item Number: 978-0-8006-3898-6 Price: $20.00
To order Liberal Theology: A Radical Vision call Fortress Press at 1-800-328-4648 or visit the Web site at
New Worship Companion Available: Sundays and Seasons
Sundays and Seasons is the indispensable companion for worship planning as it follows the church year and three-year lectionary. Easy to use and rich in content, Sundays and Seasons will enrich every aspect of worship preparation.
Lay worship leaders and planners, preachers and presiders, worship team leaders, musicians and visual artists, educators, sacristans and altar guilds, and pastoral liturgists will find this to be the perfect resource to ease their work and prepare engaging worship. Dated for Advent through Christ the King Sunday. Cost is $29.00. A worship planning calendar is also available.
This book is available at
Mosiac 2 DVD Sets Offered at Special Rate Mosaic, the ELCA’s video documentary series, is offering a 2-DVD set with “Holy Communion” and “The Holy Spirit,” at the special rate of $29.95 (normally $19.95 each). Order online at www.elca.org/mosaicor call Mosaic at 800/638-3522, ext. 6009. Synod Links:
Synod Web Site - Youth & Family Ministry Web Site - www.soggyshoes.org Disaster Relief Web Site - Churchwide Web Site -
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May 2007 Connections E-Newsletter ...Transition Year Conversation The final transition year topics are Outreach (by Pastor Rob Moore, Assistant to the Bishop) and Stewardship (by Pastor John Boldt, Stewardship Specialist for Region 4). The full articles were mailed to congregations the week of May 7th. Here is a synopsis of these two important topics: Outreach
The Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) - combined with the Great Commandment (to love God and others) - is often considered to be the core of what is means to be the church and of what it means to be evangelical. To think of others first - through the love of Christ - is a sign of being the church.
But this is an incredibly difficult situation to face when it feels like the world is growing more complex and our congregations are shrinking. How can we become more relevant to the world when it feels like we, as a church or as a congregation, are getting smaller - or even dying? How can we think of others when we are not sure of our own survival?
And how can we make the changes we need to make without feeling like we are rearranging the chairs on the Titanic?
The Great Commission - coupled with the Great Commandment - compel us to move forward, to reach out to others. The world is a vastly different place than it was when many of our congregations where born. It is even a vastly different place than it was when the ELCA was born twenty years ago. If the church is to be the voice and hands and feet of Christ in the world - world that today is very different - how will we as a synod and a church adapt to be relevant?
The Great Commission and Great Commandment calls us, as a synod (i.e., a group of congregations traveling together), to “reach out.” So how can we, as a synod, equip ourselves, our synod staff, and our new bishop, to lead this journey into this brave new world? This is a question that we must all be asking of ourselves.
How do we, as a synod, move from membership to discipleship? How do
we empower our leaders, lay and ordained, to equip all our people to
answer the call to be evangelists? Stewardship
I serve the three synods of Texas and Louisiana as an ELCA deployed stewardship specialist and I’ve had some amazing experiences with congregations in the past 19 months. I have been asked to write one of the “cover letters” for the Transition Conversation for this month, so let me start by saying that I use a PowerPoint presentation in most of those settings which begins by simply sharing the word “Stewardship” on the first slide, then asking everyone to share the very first image that comes to their mind when they see that word on the screen. The overwhelming response is “Money.” Sometimes the response is broader than that, but the dominant response is “Money.” Then, I ask them to be honest with the next question: “Is that image energizing for you or draining?” To date not once have I been given the response “energizing.” At the very least, isn’t that interesting?
If the dominant image for stewardship IS “money” then it follows that stewardship becomes a fund raising venture for congregations. Predominantly, that’s what I experience as I work with leaders and pastors of congregations, and I wonder if that is true for you and your congregation as you read this cover letter. Take a moment and discuss that with each other.
Is your congregation anxious about “money?” Is your congregation typically in the “red,” struggling to “pay the bills?” Are you a congregation that has decided in the recent past to lower the level of mission support for the Synod and ELCA? Is your congregation at a tithing level (10%) when it comes to ELCA mission support? Are you, personally and as a leader in your congregation, a tither or beyond? A statistic to ponder: The average giving per household in the ELCA is 1.7%.
Those are just a few questions/stats to talk about when it comes to money. Probably MORE than enough, right? Well, what’s interesting to me is that I often hear that “We shouldn’t talk about money in the church.” But the fact is, we DO talk about money…we talk about it quite often! But more often than not we talk about it in the context of its scarcity, not its abundance. And it drains us.
Maybe I’m strange, but I believe we are hungry to talk about money…openly and honestly. And I have found that when we do, some wonderful insights appear that help us to break through those traditional walls that hold us back from growing in faith and growing the mission of the Church. I have witnessed congregations that have moved from scarcity thinking to abundance thinking and seen the actions to reflect that significant movement.
In the next six years, as a Synod, how would you envision us moving in that direction? What might be your congregation’s part in that movement?
How do we, as a synod, move from a “scarcity” model of stewardship to an “abundance” model of stewardship?"
Synod Assembly May 31 to June 2
There are many important items on our agenda with one of the most important being the election of a new bishop upon the retirement of Bishop Blom. As you prepare for the assembly, I invite you to be thankful to God for Bishop Blom’s service and also begin the process of inviting God to help the assembly discern who God is calling to serve in the important role.
Bishop Mark Hanson (pictured to the above , Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), will be our keynote speaker (and oversee the process for the election of our synod’s new bishop).
Updated information during the assembly will be sent out via email through our general listserv. If you have not yet subscribed to our general listserv, you may do so by emailing the synod office at synod@gulfcoastsynod.org.
Saving Grace - Over 500 Partners
Text, Titles, and Topics for Grace Matters Broadcast
You can listen to “Grace Matters” over the web. www.gracematters.org
Rick Steves – Expanding Your World Luke 3:22
The best way to get to know other people is to meet them where they live their lives. We know this to be true from our local experience. Rick Steves, popular travel host for Public Television, reminds us that it is also true globally. Inspired by the personal belief that “this planet is full of equally precious people,” Steves knows well how to connect his two vocations of being a Christian believer and a travel teacher. It’s a winning combination, as you’ll discover from his passion for being a thoughtful traveler.
May 20, 2007 Rob Owen – The Limits of Celebrity Worship Matthew 20:20-23
Rob Owen is the president of the National Association of Television Critics, a group of journalists who regularly size up the state of television programming, from the appropriateness of individual show ratings to awards for those shows deemed excellent. Owen also sees his fair share of celebrity gossip and celebrity worship. In a world where most of us have a tendency to want to associate with others whose lives appear more exciting and glamorous than our own, celebrity worship has its limits. Life in Christ has its reasons why. That’s all in this edition of Grace Matters.
May 27, 2007 Don Saliers/Emily Saliers– Saturday Night & Sunday Morning 1 Corinthians 2:9
In a day when many people don’t know how to make sense of Saturday night folk, pop, or rock music alongside of Sunday morning sacred music, it helps to hear how one family weaves the two realms together. Both secular and sacred music can have a meaningful place in our lives. One doesn’t have to love one genre of music and hate the other. Emily Saliers, lead singer with the Indigo Girls, and her father, Don Saliers, a church musician and professor of Christian worship, do a masterful job of connecting music and spirituality.
Sister Anne Hall appointed to Board of Directors of the Deaconess Community of the ELCA
Sister Anne Hall, Zion Lutheran Church, Brenham, was recently appointed to serve on the Board of Directors of the Deaconess Community of the ELCA. Her duties on the board include serving on the Committee on Community Life and chairing the Assembly Planning committee.
Consecrated in 1983, Sister Anne has a background in Early Childhood Education and Parish Ministry. At Zion she provides Pastoral Care through Grief Support and Visitation ministries. Sister Anne serves Zion in partnership with her husband, the Rev. David Hall. They have one daughter, Christine.
The Deaconess Community was founded in 1884 and is the official deaconess roster of the ELCA as well as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. ELCA Deaconesses serve the church and the world in a variety of ministries including health care, education, global missions, chaplaincy, and parish work. Members of the community use the title “Sister” to designate their relationship with each other and with Christ. ELCA Deaconesses are theologically trained and professionally educated for their vocations. Their mission statement is “Compelled by the love of Christ and sustained by community, we devote our lives to proclaiming the Gospel through ministries of mercy and servant leadership.”
For more information about the Deaconess Community, check out the website at www.elca.org/deaconess and stop by the display at the synod assembly for a relaxing hand massage and talk with Sister Anne.
By John Hunsicker
Sometimes, donors are reluctant to make an estate gift, feeling they would be "robbing" their children of that amount. They are adamant about passing on their entire estate to their family.
While options vary widely on the subject of inheritance, you may be interested to learn about some fascinating options that can benefit both family and charity, without short-changing or "robbing" either. In other words, it is possible to "leave it all to the kids" and make a significant charitable gift at the same time.
Here are just three possibilities:
1. Revocable Living Trust with Charitable Family Trust Option Upon the passing of the survivor of the donors, all remaining assets pass to the Charitable Family Trust. With payout of the principal in the Charitable Family Trust to heirs in annual installments for let’s say 10 years, the income earned on the reducing principal would create an endowment for charity. Estates as little as $100,000 could gift $27,500 or an estate of $500,000 could gift $137,500 to charity. These are significant gifts...this is what we call making the dollar work twice! Hundreds of Lutherans have taken advantage of this easy arrangement.
2. Charitable Remainder Trust with Extended Payments The donor creates a Charitable Remainder Trust and adds a term of years to the trust payout period. That is, after the donor who has been receiving income from the trust dies, the trust continues to "live" for a period of years.
During these added years, the trust provides the children with income. The accumulated value of this additional income can approximate the value of the asset originally used by the donor to fund the trust.
3. Charitable Lead Trust with Remainder to Children This charitable giving vehicle is the reverse of the Charitable Remainder Trust. Instead of the charity receiving the remainder of the trust, it receives income payments from the trust for a limited period of time. After the specified term, whatever is left in the trust (the remainder) passes to the children.
All three of these charitable gift plans outlined here in very broad terms require the assistance of a qualified professional for specific and authoritative application. There are tax issues that need to be addressed in light of the donor's overall estate plan.
We understand these plans and can assist you by further explaining how these may work for you. Please feel free to contact me (John Hunsicker) at 1-866-542-1349 or e-mail me atjohnh@LFSW.org.
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 All rights reserved.
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Living
in God’s Amazing Grace: Thanks be to God. 
Pictured
here at left are Pastor Phil Blom (cousin to our synod Bishop Paul Blom)
and his wife, standing behind a fountain and plaque that were gifts to
Grace Lutheran, New Orleans from the Blom Memorial for Mission. The
plaque says Christ is the Living Water Welling Up to Eternal Life. It is
the same plaque that adorns the water fountains given to the Village of
Hope, Haiti. 
Pictured
at right is Pastor Blom with a U.S. map showing all the locations of the
Grace Lutheran Churches who have partnered with Grace, New Orleans.
Those churches, and other Grace Partners who have helped restore Grace
Lutheran Church, now number over 500, and come from 26 different states.
For more information visit 
May 13,
2007