February 10, 2012
Dear Friends in Christ,
At a recent gathering in Venice of congregational leaders interested in Together in Mission 2012, a long-time pastor in our synod said: “people are hungry to be part of a church that is making a difference. Our congregations are starving for something to unite us.” Others in the room agreed. He made these comments by way of endorsing the vision of Together in Mission (TiM), while at the same time expressing the concern that “people in my congregation have no real idea what this is.”
We are grateful for his endorsement and his candid assessment. That’s why the 2012 plan for TiM is branching out beyond the Synod Assembly, clergy meetings, and visits with potential donors. As TiM co-chairs, we are very much aware of the need to bring greater clarity to the TiM vision and to the capital funding appeal that seeks to raise resources for the vision. This letter is part of that effort, as is Together in Mission Sunday 2012.
In spite of the difficult economy, the obstacles to communicating with the 188 congregations across the state, and the challenges of engaging congregations and individuals in the work, TiM has made steady progress. In the materials provided to you with this letter, you will find evidence of that progress, including a list of the eleven mission projects that TiM is funding. You will also find an FAQ that is being broadly circulated around the synod to respond to the real questions we have been hearing about TiM.
The main purpose of this letter is to ask you to involve your congregation in Together in Mission Sunday 2012. We suggest that you incorporate four key elements into your worship services on the weekend of March 25. See the back of this letter for information on these elements.
One of the great joys of TiM for us is the new collaborations that are emerging between pastors and lay leaders, congregations and the communities they serve, our synod and the Lutheran Church in Haiti. We realize, more than ever, that TiM is much more than a funding appeal or a program of the synod. It feels to us like the wind of the Spirit, blowing where it will, picking up energy and motivation as it goes. The word “grassroots” is probably overused, but the great conversations about new ways of being together in ministry are keeping us rooted in the inspiring mission that the synod already embodies: Sharing Christ + Making Disciples + Doing Justice.
Please join us on the Together in Mission 2012 journey and participate in Together in Mission Sunday 2012.
Yours in Christ,
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Scott Pinkerton
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Bill Horne
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Tom O’Reilly
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Co-chair, Together in Mission
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Co-chair, Together in Mission
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Co-chair, Together in Mission
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Recommendations for Together in Mission Sunday 2012
We are asking every congregation in our synod to incorporate these four elements into your worship services on the weekend of March 25. We understand that you may have unalterable plans already made, but we hope you can participate to the fullest extent possible.
- Use the litany for Together in Mission 2012 as a bulletin insert. Please ask people to take it home with them after the service. A copy of the litany is posted in the synod web site.
- Distribute TiM offering envelopes with the litany. At the beginning of the service, invite people to make a gift or pledge and place the envelope in the offering plate or, if they wish, take them home for another time.
- Sing this year’s TiM signature hymn “Let us Talents and Tongues Employ” as the offering hymn (if at all possible).
- Incorporate a “mission moment” at the time of the offering, which could be a testimony from you or someone in your congregation about the value of TiM to our shared ministry, use of a three-minute You-Tube video (link to be sent soon), or perhaps a unique prayer that the church continues to respond to the opportunity to reach out in new ways to the communities we serve.
Preachers may be interested in weaving the story of TiM into the texts for the Fifth Sunday of Lent.
In early March, you will receive a packet with litanies and offering envelopes. We used your congregation’s average worship attendance as a guide for the numbers of litanies and envelopes to send. If you need additional materials, please call Ileana in the synod office. The litanies, along with the FAQ and the hymn, can be downloaded from the TiM page on the synod’s web site.
Note: Additional efforts for Together in Mission Sunday are being made in several congregations. Throughout 2012, we will be sharing information about these efforts and helping to organize comparable efforts in other congregations.
A Special Note About the Offering Envelopes: We ask that congregations please forward one check to the synod office from the cash collected for this appeal. Checks made out directly to the Florida-Bahamas Synod and all response envelopes should also be mailed to the synod office. Thank you.
