The 2024 Synod Assembly was held Saturday, May 18 at First Lutheran Church in Janesville, with a pre-Assembly worship service and gathering held on Friday, May 17. Thank you to all who attended, all who volunteered your time and effort, and all who leaned in to hear and receive all that the day offered to all of us.

Click the button below for a printable recap bulletin insert. If you need a PNG version, please email Rev. Jen Christenson, Associate to the Bishop for Candidacy and Community.

Registered assembly attendees - watch your email inbox for a brief feedback form regarding this year's assembly.

Read on for all the details!

Dear Partners in Ministry,

What an incredible Synod Assembly! We began by coming together on Friday evening for a time of worship and blessing - a holy reminder that those who are called to proclaim need to hear words of blessing and grace pronounced over them too.

On Saturday, our keynote speaker, the Rev. Dr. Lorenzo Lebrija, Executive Director of the TryTank Research Institute, provided a message that was both concerning and hopeful. We have all witnessed on some level or another the changes and declines in church membership that the Rev. Dr. Lebrija described. And yet, as he also reminded us, the God we worship is still a God of abundance.

I left our assembly feeling energized by not only what I heard from our keynote speaker, but by having had the opportunity to be in community with so many of you that day. Together we processed the uncomfortable truth about declines in church attendance and the rise of distrust toward anyone who calls themselves Christian. Together we heard about God’s abundance. Together we were introduced to a new way of approaching our ministry – but one that at its root maybe isn’t all that new after all: Just Try Something!

I want to invite you, as you have now returned to your own faith communities, to remember that we are still in this work together. You don’t have to “just try something” on your own! The Rev. Dr. Lebrija is thrilled to be in conversation with any SCSW congregation or ministry through Cohort Mentoring. (Click here for more details.) In addition, as your bishop, I am looking forward to being in conversation with you about where you sense the Spirit at work. The rest of the Office of the Bishop are also delighted to partner with you, dream with you, lament with you, TRY with you. Part of God’s abundance is the gift of each other. Let us rejoice in that gift through partnership, mutual trust, and conversation.

Siblings in faith – we are in so many ways in uncharted territory as the Church, as God’s holy people gathered around Word and Sacrament. Yet the love and abundance of God remain the same. The gift of community in Christ remains the same. The empowerment of the Holy Spirit, who daily calls, gathers, and enlightens us, remains the same.

We are the synod and the synod is us. Together, let us move forward, let us TRY boldly in faith.

Alongside you,

Bishop Joy Mortensen-Wiebe

Click here for a PDF of this letter to print and share with your congregation or ministry.

The Rev. Dr. Lorenzo Lebrija has extended an open invitation to all SCSW congregations/ministry sites to join him for monthly conversations and support via Zoom. Fr. Lebrija has also made his presentation slides available to us on a dedicated page: www.trytank.org/janesville.

We strongly encourage you to visit the website, review the presentation notes, and sign up for the cohort mentoring. This offer is definitely a part of the abundance of God that Fr. Lebrija spoke of in his time with us! Use the link above or the button below to learn more.

Part-way through the assembly - but there was still more to come!

And that's not even all of it!

This year's Synod Assembly offering was designated for the Bishop's Discretionary Fund. This fund helps to support rostered leaders and congregations through a variety of ways including small grants for new ministry ideas, assistance for rostered leaders who need time away for medical or mental health care, and other unanticipated needs and opportunities that aren't otherwise covered by the synod budget.

Donations received at the Assembly totaled just over $2200! We will send a final total once the donations made via the synod website have also been added.

If you would like to support the Bishop's Discretionary Fund, you can make a donation online here or via check made out to SCSW with "Bishop's Discretionary Fund" in the memo line.

Thank you again for your generosity!

During the business portion of the Synod Assembly, the assembly took the following actions:

• Approved the 2025-2026 Spending Plan.
• Approved a resolution regarding the war between Israel and Hamas. Click here to view the version of the resolution that the assembly passed.
• Approved a number of changes to the SCSW constitution. Visit the 2024 Assembly page and click on the "Resources" menu to view the changes.
• Approved the 2025 Compensation Guidelines.
• Elected leaders to a number of positions. Please view the Assembly Recap Bulletin Insert (see link above) for a complete list of those elected.

You can find all of the latest news and information about this year's Synod Assembly on the Synod Assembly page of the synod website.