Actions of the 2022 Synod Assembly

  • Adopted the 2023 Budget with a 46% proportionate share to the ELCA

  • Adopted the Mission Support Formula for 2023

    “The faithful people who make up the congregations of our SWPA Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America endeavor to live lives of generosity and healthy stewardship. We believe that all we have is a gift from God - ourselves, our time, and our possessions, signs of God's gracious love for us. We aspire to give back a portion of every gift to God through the hands and feet of our local churches. We recognize that our Synod further extends the reach of the church into the lives of people both locally and globally. Our congregations are encouraged to give at least a tithe of gifts and offerings to Mission Support. We challenge each other to give a faithful measure of our congregation's gifts to the work of our Synod. Congregational leaders may request consultation with our Synod Council to assist in determining their proportionate share. We are called to live faithful lives to the bold witness of life-everlasting through our savior Jesus Christ, who sacrificed everything for us and calls us to follow in his footsteps and boldly sacrifice everything for our neighbor. May God work in our hearts and in our congregations to give faithfully so that God's hands and feet never stop serving our neighbors.”

  • Adopted the 2023 Compensation Guidelines for Ministers of Word and Sacrament.

  • Adopted the 2023 Compensation Guidelines for Ministers of Word and Service

  • Adopted the 2023 Interim Ministry Guidelines

  • Adopted a Memorial directing the Synod Council to form a Domestic Violence Task Force to work with the Presbyterians Against Domestic Violence Network.

  • Adopted a Memorial to request the 2022 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Church in America to direct the Church Council to establish a Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church that, working in consultation with the Conference of Bishops and the Church Council, shall reconsider the Statements of Purpose for each of the expressions of this church, the Principles of Organization, and all matters pertaining thereunto, presenting its findings to the 2025 Churchwide Assembly in preparation for a reconstituting convention to be called under the rules for a special meeting of the Churchwide Assembly.

  • Adopted a Memorial to request the ELCA Churchwide Assembly to direct the Church Council to direct the Committee on Appeals to establish a fair, transparent, and uniform process for the investigation of misconduct of officers, rostered ministers (including bishops), congregations, and members of congregations, across the synods of the ELCA with effort to ensure that any such processes take care as to not unfairly affect people of color, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, or members of other marginalized groups.

  • Referred a Memorial calling for A Just Transition to 50% Reduction in US Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2030 to the Committee on Church in Society

  • Adopted a Memorial calling for the Synod to form a Mustard Seed Initiative for each conference to create a minimum of two seed planting missions of weekly Bible Study, prayer and use of Luther’s Small Catechism in communities where ELCA congregations have closed or have never existed along with a funding plan for this initiative.

  • Defeated a Memorial that the Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod Continue to Evaluate its Ministries

  • Adopted a Resolution called “SWPA Synod Guidance for a Jubilee Return of the Land to Those Who Belong to the Land” which calls on congregations to consider giving the building(s) and land to the descendants of those peoples, races, or nations that first lived on that land and also requests the 2022 ELCA Churchwide Assembly to consider doing likewise.

  • Referred “A Resolution Requesting Evaluation of Synod Budget line: Rent & Utilities & Office Admin as Effective Stewardship of the Synod Mission Statement and Strategic Initiatives” to the Synod Council

  • Defeated “A Resolution for the Madagascar Appeal Team to Provide Transparency and Accountability for use of $67,000 contributed by congregations and individuals”

  • Elected the following persons:

    • Synod Council term expires 2023: Rev. Susan Devine

    • Bethesda Board of Directors term expires 2025: Rev. Deborah Byrum and Scott Gettings

    • Lutheran SeniorLife Board of Directors term expires 2025 Rev. Angela Smith, Jeannette Christensen, and Eric Kofmehl

    • Lutheran Service Society Board of Directors term expiring in 2025: Rev. Beth Clementson and Lawrence J. Nugent Jr.

    • Bethesda Board of Directors term expiring in 2026: Chris Jordheim

SWPA Synod ELCA