Council

New England Synod FYI June 17, 2022 Message from Bishop Hazelwood and Synod Vice President Donna Kerry To the New England Synod, This past weekend, the New England Synod Assembly was held in Worcester. Together, we engaged in a wide range of challenging conversations and important decisions. You will soon be able to view highlights from the Assembly through links posted on our website, once we have received the digital files from our audio-visual company. We spent the time focused on collaboration via a series of panels describing ways in which our ministries and congregations can partner with other churches, non-profits, community organizations and businesses. In addition, we debated several important resolutions which addressed the ways in which we can more faithfully live out our baptismal calling in daily life. During the assembly we had a meaningful engagement around the subject of our ongoing work of anti-racism in the ELCA and our own New England Synod. The New England Synod Council, including both current members whose terms end on July 31 and the new members elected at Synod Assembly, will be meeting later this month. That meeting of the Synod Council will take up the resolution on Anti-Racism (#2022-4) which the Assembly voted to table. The Synod Council will engage this topic and make recommendations to ensure that it receives the attention it deserves and therefore is not neglected. We believe that this work is important to our life as a church. At the Assembly, multiple voting members who identify as persons of color, spoke to each of us and expressed interest, concern and a desire to be more fully engaged in the synod both in general and specifically in a process working on matters of anti-racism. Therefore, we are holding a meeting next week with those persons who were present at Assembly. Please note that this is only one of many conversations that will need to take place. There will be additional opportunities for everyone to participate, but we wanted to begin with this conversation to center voices of people of color. The Assembly passed three resolutions of which two were memorials (#2022-1 & #2022-2) to the ELCA Churchwide Assembly. Later this week, those memorials will be forwarded to the Churchwide Assembly for consideration. The third resolution (#2022-3) directs the New England Synod Council to communicate to ELCA churchwide leadership regarding the use of non-disclosure agreements. That letter is being drafted and will be sent following the next meeting of the New England Synod Council. A copy of the letter will be made public once approved by the Synod Council later this month. Related to these matters, a motion was made during the budget discussion to divert $100,000 in Mission Support from the churchwide expression to three areas impacted by the events that have taken place in the Sierra Pacific Synod. When that motion failed, Bishop Hazelwood indicated that a letter would be prepared expressing the sentiment of that vote. That letter is being drafted and, once reviewed by the Synod Council, it too will be released publicly. By the end of this month, we will communicate again to keep you informed of our work together. In the meantime, please keep the whole of the ELCA in your prayers as we navigate these challenging times. Sincerely, Ms. Donna Kerry Rev. James Hazelwood Synod Vice President Bishop