Needs Retirement Fund for clergy and other pension plan members. • Asked the 2011 assembly to speak out against bullying and to work to prevent it.
Western North Dakota, June 2-4, Bismarck, N.D. • Voiced strong support of farmers and ranchers in their use of technology to produce safe and bountiful food, asking that the 2011 ELCA Church- wide Assembly do the same. • Raised $54,165 to support the Central African Republic and honored congregation members who raised considerable sums of money toward this effort.
East-Central of Wisconsin, June 3-4, Apple- ton, Wis. • Defeated a resolution that would discourage people who intend to pursue or are pursuing same-sex relationships from seeking a call in the synod or that would call on the synod and congregations to deny them calls. • Rejected a resolution asking the 2011 Churchwide Assembly to revoke the decision of the 2009 Churchwide Assembly that allows individuals in committed same-gender relationships to hold office within the church.
New Jersey, June 3-4, Ewing, N.J. • Asked the 2011 Churchwide Assembly to help put an end to bullying, in part by educating about prevention. • Agreed to teach its congregations ways to be more energy- and environment- conscious; memorialized the 2011 Churchwide Assembly to do so for the denomination.
Metropolitan Chicago, June 3-4, Rosemont, Ill. • Maintained a strong stance against racism and expressed plans to develop an antiracist identity for the synod and to offer support and education to its members. • Formed a task force to help stop bullying within all manifes- tations of the synod and with secular partnerships. • Requested funding to support an anti-bullying task force from various sources, which include
Jennifer S. Hitt (shovel in hand), pastor of Grace Lutheran Church, Needham, Mass., revels in the blessing she is being given during the New England Synod assem- bly. More than 400 voting members and visitors were sprinkled with water from branches dipped in a bowl of water by two people at the head of the escalator. They were heading out to partici- pate in 50 service projects in the Springfield, Mass., area.
Lutheran organizational grants as well as private and governmental funds • Asked the 2011 Churchwide Assem- bly to promote an end to bullying. • Recognized Lutheran Campus Min- istry of Illinois for its work in bringing underrepresented age groups into the worshiping community; memorial- ized that funding should not decrease for a five-year period to Lutheran Campus Ministry as a whole.
Indiana-Kentucky, June 3-5, Fort Wayne, Ind. • Committed to work toward the ELCA’s 2015 goal of raising $15 mil- lion to help prevent and treat malaria, a cause for which the synod has already raised more than $7,000.
Northwest of Wisconsin, June 3-4, Eau Claire, Wis. • Collected offerings of $39,908 for ELCA World Hunger and for food security and sustainability in Malawi. • Began a food drive within each con- gregation by giving each member of the assembly a box of food with which to start.
West Virginia-Western Maryland, June 3-4, Snowshoe,
W.Va. • Asked the 2011 Churchwide Assembly to remove the
segment of the LIFT (Liv- ing into the Future Together) Task Force report that allo- cates the responsibility of theological discernment to the ELCA presiding bishop as it is counter to the information in the unaltered Augsburg Confession. • Supported the proposed social state- ment on genetics, “Genetics, Faith and Responsibility,” and the revisions made to ground the concepts further in religion. • Requested that the 2011 assembly change the mission support process to a per capita basis rather than the current proportionate share system. • Asked the 2011 assembly to encourage congregations to gen- erously support the Special Needs Retirement Fund.
Central States, June 3-5, Kansas City, Mo. • Resolved to build a stronger relation- ship with partner synods in foreign countries. • Declared September 2011 as “Campus Ministry Month” and requested that each congregation cel- ebrate and support campus ministry. • Called upon the 2011 Churchwide Assembly to address the subject of bullying and to help prevent future instances.
Eastern Washington-Idaho, June 3-5, Spokane, Wash. • Asked the church to address the subject of bullying in an
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