FRIDAY, JUNE 14: 9:30 AM - SATURDAY, JUNE 15: 12:30 PM
In Person at PennWest California (Formerly Cal-U)
Convocation Center, 250 University Ave, California, PA 15419
Directions PennWest California Convocation Center >>
Voting members from your congregation have an important responsibility on behalf of all the members of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. This assembly is the highest legislative authority of our synod; they will be making decisions that impact 143 congregations covering 10 counties in southwest PA.
We each make thousands of decisions daily that impact, not just ourselves, but our families, congregations, and communities. It can be hard to hear God’s whisper guiding us to faithful decisions and holy outcomes amid the noise of the world. St. Ignatius of Loyola gifted us with EXAMEN, a five-step method of reflection that invites God's presence in our daily lives and discernment.
Thanksgiving, Petition, Review, Response, Look Ahead
In the coming year, between this Assembly and the next, our synod will experience many changes and our leaders will be entrusted to follow God’s will in making decisions… not the least of which will be the 2025 election of a new Bishop. This Assembly will teach the method of Examen so that we may build new skills, engage in sacred practice, and set out for the year ahead with confidence and clarity. Together, we will learn how to transform discernment from a merely theoretical concept to a lived reality that can profoundly shape our shared future.
Agenda
(At Convocation Center unless otherwise noted.)
FRIDAY, JUNE 14
8 AM: Registration Opens
9:30 AM: Plenary One
10:40 AM: Presentation of the Budget >>
11 AM: Worship
@ Natale Student Center Performance Center
All female rostered ministers are invited to vest and process; the color of the day is red.
12:30 PM: Lunch
@ Goldrush Dining Hall
1:15 PM: Plenary Two
First Ballot
ELCA Representative
3 PM: Break
Deadline for Amendments >> to the Budget
3:10 PM: Plenary Three
Bishop’s Report
Ordination Anniversaries
Second Ballot
Forums
6 PM: Deadline for New Business >>
6:10 PM: Dinner
@ Goldrush Dining Hall
7:10 PM: Hymn Sing & Social Time
@ Natale Student Center Rotunda
SATURDAY, JUNE 15
7:30 AM: Breakfast
@ Goldrush Dining Hall
8:45 AM: Worship
@ Natale Student Center Performance Center
10:20 AM: Plenary Four
Budget
Third Ballot
12:30 PM: Closing
Important Numbers
Assembly Nurse: Amy Schultz, 724-757-5887
Tech Support: Pastor Brian Bennett, 412-748-0501
Priority Motions (Online): Pastor Brian Bennett, 412-748-0501
Registrar: Pastor Eric Damon, 724-568-7811
New This Year:
Invite your congregation to participate in the Assembly offering. Each year our collected offering supports a ministry special to the heart of our synod; we encourage congregations to take a special offering to send along with its voting members.
2024 Offering Designation: Leaders from the Malagasy Lutheran Church in Madagascar will be visiting the United States to encourage the connections between companion synods. This includes our own companion synod from Tulear, Madagascar! All money collected in the synod assembly offering will be used to offset travel expenses for their long journey to be with us.
Forms
Downloads
Memorial
Positions to be Elected
Proposed Compensation Guidelines
Reports
Roberts Rules Cheat-Sheet
Vevox Voting App Download: Apple >> | Android/Google >>
WiFi Instructions for Penn-West Cal >>
If you feel unwell or need to
switch from in-person to online:
Email registration@swpasynod.org to notify us and Pastor Eric Damon will forward online voting credentials to you.
Speakers
ELCA Representative
Deacon MaryAnn Schwabe
ELCA Executive, Synod Relations
In addition to her role in Synod Relations, Deacon Schwabe is also the ELCA’s Natural Systems Coordinator. She previous served as an assistant to the bishop in the Northeastern Ohio Synod, as well as in congregations with a focus in church music, religious education, and family ministry.
Chaplain
Pastor Caroline Mendis
Celebrating 50 Years of Ordained Ministry
Pastor Mendis is the longest serving ordained woman in our synod’s history and the first to reach a 50th anniversary of ministry. Ordained on June 9, 1974, Pastor Mendis served in the Upstate New York Synod before joining us in Southwestern Pennsylvania in 1989.