Southwest California Synod Evangelical Lutheran Church in America God’s work. Our hands. Fall 2015 Bishop The Rev. R. Guy Erwin, Ph.D. To the Congregations of the Southwest California Synod bishop@socalsynod.org of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: Assistants to the Bishop The Rev. Marjorie Funk-Pihl Assistant to the Bishop for Grace and peace in Jesus Christ! Congregational Mission & Director for Evangelical Mission The heart of the Christian life is love of neighbor, which mfunkpihl@socalsynod.org we express through generosity of spirit toward others for The Rev. Reginald Schultz-Akerson the sake of God. In the church, we offer ourselves, our Assistant to the Bishop for Rostered Leadership rakerson@socalsynod.org time, and our possessions to God, for we know that we hold these all in trust from God. But our offerings are not Directors empty sacrifices, but active participation in something Andreas Hirsch larger than ourselves: our church’s efforts to alleviate Director for Administration & Finance human suffering, build caring and peaceful communities, ahirsch@socalsynod.org and to spread the Good News of God’s love for Maria Paiva humankind. Director for Latino Ministries mpaiva@socalsynod.org Many people in our synod have assisted with the Support Staff preparation of these Generous Life stewardship Claudia Cuevas materials, and now we offer them to you, our Administrative Assistant congregations and leaders, so that you might use them ccuevas@socalsynod.org as you wish to steer your own efforts to promote a sense Desta Goehner of generosity of spirit and resources in your own Executive Assistant to the Bishop communities. These videos and Bible studies take real Faith Formation Coordinator stories of generosity in the congregations of our church desta@socalsynod.org and turn them into inspiring lessons we can apply to our Sherri Miller own situations. I am personally very grateful to all those Administrative Assistant smiller@socalsynod.org who helped—their work is another manifestation of generosity—and to all those who will use these materials in the months ahead. The of our love of God is our generosity toward others. May blessings abound for you and your community as you work together to grow in grace and generosity! In Christ,
Southwest California Synod Evangelical Lutheran Church in America God’s work. Our hands. Bishop The Rev. R. Guy Erwin, Ph.D. bishop@socalsynod.org Assistants to the Bishop The Rev. Marjorie Funk-Pihl Assistant to the Bishop for Congregational Mission & Director for Evangelical Mission mfunkpihl@socalsynod.org The Rev. Reginald Schultz-Akerson Assistant to the Bishop for Rostered Leadership rakerson@socalsynod.org Directors Andreas Hirsch Director for Administration & Finance ahirsch@socalsynod.org Maria Paiva Director for Latino Ministries mpaiva@socalsynod.org Support Staff Claudia Cuevas Administrative Assistant ccuevas@socalsynod.org Desta Goehner Executive Assistant to the Bishop Faith Formation Coordinator desta@socalsynod.org Sherri Miller Administrative Assistant smiller@socalsynod.org Fall 2015 To the Congregations of the Southwest California Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: Grace and peace in Jesus Christ! The heart of the Christian life is love of neighbor, which we express through generosity of spirit toward others for the sake of God. In the church, we offer ourselves, our time, and our possessions to God, for we know that we hold these all in trust from God. But our offerings are not empty sacrifices, but active participation in something larger than ourselves: our church’s efforts to alleviate human suffering, build caring and peaceful communities, and to spread the Good News of God’s love for humankind. Many people in our synod have assisted with the preparation of these Generous Life stewardship materials, and now we offer them to you, our congregations and leaders, so that you might use them as you wish to steer your own efforts to promote a sense of generosity of spirit and resources in your own communities. These videos and Bible studies take real stories of generosity in the congregations of our church and turn them into inspiring lessons we can apply to our own situations. I am personally very grateful to all those who helped—their work is another manifestation of generosity—and to all those who will use these materials in the months ahead. The of our love of God is our generosity toward others. May blessings abound for you and your community as you work together to grow in grace and generosity! In Christ,
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