Rebeccas Guengerich, Spiritual and Wellness Director, represented Shepherd of the Hills as a delegate to the SouthWest Texas Synod Convention. Here are some of the highlights and exciting new ministries.
- We voted and approved two memorials that will be forwarded to the National ELCA and discussed at the church-wide assembly in August: 1) calling for a just transition to 50% reduction in US greenhouse Gas emissions by 2030 and call for the ELCA to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030
- I was elected to Chair the Synod Leadership Team for a 3-year term. Our mission is to care for the Rostered and Lay Leaders of our congregations. Lay Leadership will be the emphasis – creating a program to equip participants to follow their own callings to serve in the community and the specific needs of the church
- The pandemic has changed many things in the church and a new vision has emerged: Be(come) a network of Spirit-empowered communities of Disciples Called and Sent to Live out the radically inclusive Gospel of Jesus through the promises of our baptism.
- In addition to the network of congregations, campus ministries, and camping ministries, some exciting new ministries are being explored:
- Pláticas de Santa Sofia – A Synod Authorized Worshiping Community (SAWC) was established in 2015 with a mission of providing welcome and belonging to women, particularly Latinas, in San Antonio who have been harmed and excluded by the church. The ministry creates space for healing and empowerment of women through “Pláticas,” which means real talk, through art, food, and authentic conversation.
- Palabra de Vida (SAWC) Prince of Peace Lutheran closed in East Austin and created a void in that area. Pastor Lea Walker Clark will lead the community to cultivate spiritual growth and community transformation through a multicultural, multiethnic, bilingual, boundary-crossing worshiping community for new, young, and diverse people to experience the community, justice, and love of Jesus.
- Technicolor Ministries (SAWC) – Technicolor ministries is a new ministry for the LGBTQIA+ community and those that love them. A large portion of our territory has no ELCA representation and no LGBTQIA+ faith representation. Equally pressing is the reality that many LGBTQIA+ people are living lives in the closet in small rural Texas towns where they do not have the sort of community that can literally be lifesaving and lifegiving as they wrestle and reconcile faithful questions about who God has created them to be and why. Many of the most faithful lay leaders in our congregations and in our synod are LGBTQIA+ people who are legalistically allowed but not relationally invited to be their full selves in their service. Many more are the family members of LGBTQIA+ people who equally deserve to find expressions of faith that can bear and celebrate all parts of their life and their families. This ministry focuses on support, accompaniment, education, and creating local communities and is led by mission developer Katy Miles Wallace;
- Lutheran Apostolic Network of South Texas (Exploration) – We are living in an apostolic age. No longer is the culture consistently sending dedicated, church-going, monocultural Lutherans into buildings. The gospel outreach methods that worked in previous eras to develop and sustain new congregations are no longer effective nor sufficient. The organizational legacy of those methods has been in steep decline leaving vast territories with no representation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s witness, particularly in areas with higher degrees of ethnic and socioeconomic diversity like the southern sector of the Southwestern Texas Synod. This ministry exploration is dedicated to supporting the discipleship and evangelism efforts of existing congregations, discovering opportunities for mission collaboration, and identifying strategic partnerships and possibilities for launching new churches across the territory, particularly among the Latine and Spanish-speaking populations of our synod territory.