On August 18, 2024, St. Andrew member Jan Smith, who serves on the Oregon Synod Council, spoke to the congregation about how and why churches support the synod:
Good morning! I’d like to start with a prayer.
Loving God, we give you thanks for the work of the church. We ask your blessing upon the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and its bishops, including Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton and Bishop Laurie. Bless the work of all those serving with us in the Oregon Synod, especially Taiwan Lutheran Church and Zion Lutheran in Oregon City. Be with our ecumenical and interfaith partners in ministry. Grant all of us strength, wisdom, and endurance in being Christ in the world. Merciful God, receive our prayer.
We pray a version of this every week. What does this prayer look like in practice?
My name is Jan Smith. I am a member of St. Andrew and I have been serving on the Oregon Synod Council for the last year. The Council consists of volunteers who work with Bishop Laurie Larson Caesar and her staff, leading and guiding the ministry of the Synod and Bishop’s Office.
We gather regularly as a Synod Council to help support our ministry here at St. Andrew and the Synod at large. The purpose of the Synod is to help us tap into Christ’s Spirit of courageous love and generous grace — in our lives, our church, Beaverton, and God’s world.
The reason I am here today is to go to church … AND to say THANK YOU for being a part of the Oregon Synod, and for your financial gifts of regular benevolence or “mission support.”
We need one another to be God’s hands and perform God’s work. And the Synod is ALL of us — St. Andrew and all 115 congregations, campus ministries, outdoor ministries, and new starts.
In our Council work, we hold many administrative responsibilities.
- We work to support spiritual leaders, like our own Pastor Allison, to be healthy and whole for the sake of us, our church, and our Synod.
- We visit congregations across the state to help unearth the history of our land and the histories of its occupants.
- We have started new work in the past few years, like lay-led cohorts around the challenges of climate justice, racism, youth, land and housing, and mental health such as Reckoning with Racism, Wrestling with the Truth of Colonization, Land and Housing, and Climate Resilience, in which many St. Andrew members have participated. New sessions begin again in October.
- We gather together our musicians, congregational presidents, and treasurers like Deacon Susan Reiser, Council President Liz Hardy, and Treasurer Tim Duggan, in quarterly sessions with others from all across the state, to support them as they strengthen their skills and discipleship to better support us here at St. Andrew.
- We hold an annual assembly with voting attendees from all 115 congregations, wherein we gather as a group to meet and discuss the Synod vision for the future of “embodied spiritual friendship,” to vote on resolutions to direct the mission of our Synod, to vote on the Synod budget, to elect new Council members, and to elect our Bishop as we will at the 2025 assembly in Portland.
In truth, the Synod is not the Bishop or her staff. It isn’t me or the Synod Council. It isn’t the offices in Portland. It is all of us, together, all across the state.
Here in Oregon, we are 25,000 members strong and we are much better working together.
In April, I joined other Synod Council members to visit Zion Lutheran in La Grande and to hear their stories and listen to their needs as a partnering congregation.
Your faithful financial support helps us take steps into the future, imagining anew what church can look like for our children, grandchildren, and Godchildren. It helps us feed those who hunger, house the houseless, and help to create a more peaceful and just world.
The Synod offers regular Days of Learning where we can take short courses like Peaceful De-escalation Training which some St. Andrew members will attend in September.
Financial support further helps us walk with congregations in times of congregational challenge, crisis, or pastoral transition. For example, the Synod selected and provided Pastor Laurie Newman as Interim Pastor at St. Andrew after Pastor Mark Brocker retired. Our Call Committee worked side by side with Melissa Reed, our Synod Liaison, to select a slate of candidates for our consideration and finally, to call Pastor Allison Bengfort. The Bishop will be here in October for Pastor Allison’s formal installation.
Congregational financial support binds us together in the promises that God has offered us in Christ.
Just as St. Andrew provides benevolence to the Oregon Synod, the Oregon Synod provides benevolence to ELCA Churchwide. Contributions to Church-wide provide for the Lutheran World Relief infrastructure and World Hunger projects. They support the seven ELCA seminaries and 26 colleges and universities, offer events and leadership opportunities for youth like the recent Youth Gathering, and provide administrative support for churchwide ministries and ecumenical relationships like full communion partnerships with other Protestant denominations, which is how Pastor Laurie was able to serve as our interim pastor.
If you are interested in what the Synod is doing, you can sign up for the Synod newsletter at OregonSynod.org.
Come and see me after service in the Narthex. I’d love to learn more about how God’s Spirit is moving in you, and I would be happy to answer any questions I can about the Oregon Synod or the ELCA or the work we are engaged in together! I would love to speak with you one-to-one about Synod programs and benevolence.
Thank you.
Jan Smith