Important Update: 

After much prayer, conversation and tears, the ELCA has made the difficult decision to cancel the 2022 Gathering, MYLE and the tAble due to the ongoing pandemic, the recent COVID-19 surge and public health considerations.

Registered congregations can visit their registration accounts starting Monday, February 7, to select their desired refund option. Please log into your accounts before March 4. For more information and FAQs, please visit elca.org/Gathering.

The ELCA Youth Gathering for high school aged youth takes place every three years and is about faith formation, worship, study, fellowship, service, and play. It is an opportunity for youth to engage with peers from across the United States and the world who share a common commitment and faith in Christ.

The 2022 ELCA Youth Gathering will be held July 24-28, 2022, in Minneapolis, with the two pre-events, the Multicultural Youth Leadership Event (MYLE) and the tAble, scheduled for July 21-24, 2022.

Our Synod Coordinator, Pastor Dan Schewe, will be sending out resources and information as we prepare for the event. Sign up for emails and join the Facebook Group to stay informed!

Additional resources and information is available on the ELCA Youth Gathering Website: https://www.elca.org/YouthGathering/

The Churchwide Assembly Planning Team has made the decision to convene voting members in-person for the 2022 ELCA Churchwide Assembly held in Columbus, Ohio, Aug. 8-12, at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.

For Churchwide Assembly COVID-19 related questions, please visit the frequently asked questions page.

The ELCA Churchwide Assembly, the primary decision-making body of the church, is a process of communal spiritual discernment. When the ELCA Churchwide Assembly convenes, its voting members meet with confidence in God’s grace around word and water, wine and bread, to carry on their work on behalf of the entire church. Over the course of the assembly, voting members:

• Hear reports and review the work of churchwide officers, leaders and units;
• Receive and consider proposals from synod assemblies;
• Elect officers, board members and other leaders as specified by the constitution or bylaws;
• Establish ELCA churchwide policy;
• Worship together;
• Adopt a budget; and
• Conduct other business related to the ELCA churchwide organization.

Learn More.

“God’s work. Our hands.” Sunday is Sunday, September 11, 2022.

This day is an opportunity to celebrate who we are as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America – one church, freed in Christ to serve and love our neighbor.

Service activities offer an opportunity for us to explore one of our most basic convictions as Lutherans: that all of life in Jesus Christ – every act of service, in every daily calling, in every corner of life – flows freely from a living, daring confidence in God’s grace.

Learn More.

Equipping Leaders for Mission and Ministry presents

Exodus, Covenant, and Wilderness with Professor Rachel Wrenn of Trinity Lutheran Seminary at Capital University.

This event will be held September 16-17, 2022.

Learn More.

The Ecumenical Community of Michigan (ECM), formerly LARC, will be holding a retreat October 10-13, 2022 at the Augustine Center of the Sacramentine Monastery in Conway, MI.

The retreat will be centered on the theme “Beholding God in Creation” and will be led by Steve Thomas, M.Div. The retreat will include interactive sessions, conversations together, exercises in nature, time for solitude, visual presentations on the wonders of God’s Earth and the place of trees in God’s creation, and services of daily prayers and Eucharist inside and outdoors.

Learn More and Register.

Equipping Leaders for Mission and Ministry presents

Prophets Before the Exile with Professor George C. Heider.

This event will be held October 14-15, 2022.

Learn More.

The North/West Lower Michigan Synod’s Disability Ministries Task Force will be hosting a learning day on October 22, 2022 at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Portage, MI.

More information coming soon!

Equipping Leaders for Mission and Ministry presents

A History of God’s People with Professor George C. Heider.

This event will be held November 11-12, 2022.

Learn More.