Applications for the 2025 Lay Ministry Academy cohort are open now through September 9. This is the formation process for Commissioned Lay Preachers and Synod Authorized Ministers (SAMs) for the Virginia Synod. 

The Lay Ministry Academy offers to those discerning a call to serve in worship and ministry leadership a community, and the education, training, support, supervision, authorization, and continuing education to enable them to serve. Applicants can indicate whether you feel called to serve as a lay preacher or a SAM or are unsure.

Commissioned Lay Preachers are persons who have been equipped and formed through the Lay Ministry Academy to formally proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ in the congregations of the Virginia Synod. They serve at the endorsement and commission of the bishop, after completing training and practicum work. They provide occasional worship leadership and preaching to congregations and worship communities; not serving as the essential pastor or deacon of the congregation. Commissioned Lay Preachers may share their gifts in both their home congregations and in other worship settings.

Synod Authorized Ministers (SAMs) are identified and equipped persons for service in congregations as described by the ELCA constitution (7.31.09) and administered by the ELCA Conference of Bishops. SAMs are assigned by the VA Synod bishop and authorized for certain leadership functions in specific synod-related locations for a specified length of time. SAMs are paired with a supervising pastor for as long as they serve. SAMs must attend annual boundary training, complete continuing education, and abide by ELCA guidelines.

Click below to learn more about the LMA and to apply!

On August 11-25, four pastors from the Virginia Synod will join others from the ELCA on a trip to Papua New Guinea (PNG), as we enrich and deepen our relationships with our global companions in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Papua New Guinea. PNG is a stunningly beautiful place in Oceania, just north of Australia. The Virginia Synod’s companion district (like an ELCA synod) is the New Guinea Islands District (NGI). 

Traveling from the Virginia Synod are: Pastor Kelly Bayer Derrick (Assistant to the Bishop), Pastor Derek Boggs (Salem, Mt Sidney), Pastor Wanda Childs (Floyd-Willis Parish), and Pastor Michael Church (Our Saviour, Warrenton). 

We will spend the bulk of our time together with our NGI District partners - building and strengthening our relationships together. We will also spend time together in Lae, PNG, with the other three ELCA synods with global companion partners in the ELCPNG (North Carolina, Central States, and North/West Lower Michigan synods) and ELCPNG partners from all four companion districts. Companion church relationships enrich and deepen our ministries by exposing us to global challenges and perspectives as we seek to work with one another to build up the body of Christ and the world. 

It has been 5 years since the last Virginia Synod trip to PNG in 2019. Pastor Kelly is very excited to renew our relationships with our NGI partners, to see old friends, and to make new friends. “I give great thanks for our partnership in the gospel with our companions in PNG! I am always amazed by the Spirit’s work in and through us as we follow Jesus together - each in our own contexts and communities. I learn so much from our partners and can’t wait to see them again!” Pastor Kelly shared.  

We invite your prayers for all of us from Virginia and the ELCA as we travel. We invite your prayers for our companions in the New Guinea Islands. We invite your prayers as we strengthen our relationship as siblings in Christ! 

Mi amamas bilong God long God mekim yumi kam bum wantaim na kamap famili bilong God. (I give thanks to God because God brings us together as one family of God!)



-Written by Rev. Kelly Bayer Derrick

Feeding the Multitude:

World Hunger 50 Bible Study 

Led by Pastor Kelly Bayer Derrick

September 16 & 23, 2024

7:00pm - 8:15pm ET

“Everyone ate until they were full. They filled twelve baskets with the leftover pieces of bread and fish. About five thousand had eaten.” (Mark 6.42-44 CEB)

All four gospels writers record the miracle of Jesus feeding the multitudes - with just five loaves of bread and two pieces of fish! From the everyday staples of bread and fish, provided by the crowd from what they already had, Jesus fed the multitudes - with food, with compassion, and with community. God is a God of abundance! 

Join Pastor Kelly as we engage this miracle story together. Let’s explore the ways that Jesus invites us into this great picnic, joining in God’s mission of abundant life as together we also share food, compassion, and community. 

Effective Practices for Innovative Congregations (EPIC) is a one-day leadership development conference that is designed to strengthen congregational leaders for their ministry in the congregation and in the world. There will be four separate opportunities to attend the event at four locations spread throughout the Synod, including one hybrid event.

During EPIC we will explore what it means to have Strong Connections with topics that explore how to have:

• Strong Connections in the Congregation
• Strong Connections in the Community
• Strong Connections in the Synod
• Strong Connections in the Wider Lutheran Expression
• Strong Connections in God

The event will feature times of worship and large-group presentations as well as small-group breakout sessions covering a variety of topics led by members of the Synod staff as well as local leaders from each hosting area. We are hopeful that attendees will also share ideas and resources with one another for some holy cross-pollinating!

Click the event brochure below for more information which will include event dates, times, locations, and workshop descriptions.

Contact Pr. Liz Radtke at radtke@vasynod.org with any questions.

The Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), will join congregations in the Caribbean, Florida-Bahamas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Southeastern and Virginia Synods on Tuesday, Aug. 13, at 12 p.m. Eastern time for a regional conversation on God’s Love Made Real. The Rev. Pedro M. Suárez, bishop of the ELCA Florida-Bahamas Synod, will host the online conversation.

God’s Love Made Real is a movement encouraging the ELCA to create a world experiencing the difference God’s grace and love in Christ make for all people and creation.

During this discussion, the presiding bishop will share why God’s Love Made Real is meaningful to her and the future of the church. Participants will have the opportunity to share experiences and ask questions.

“The Spirit is calling us to move together as one church to share the grace and love we experience every day,” said Eaton.



More conversations about God’s Love Made Real will be scheduled with regional groups in the future.

I have known about the YAGM program for a while. Some amazing people from this synod are alumni. After hearing their stories, I was inspired but never thought it would actually work out for me. Last summer, YAGM began to grow into a real possibility for me after college as I leaned into exploring my call to ministry. The way YAGM works is that volunteers are assigned a country. After interviewing for the UK and Cambodia, I was hoping to be placed in the UK, a place I have been before and speaks a language I am familiar with. Well, the Holy Spirit had other ideas. Now, I am looking forward to spending a year in Cambodia and experiencing a culture I had almost no idea about a year ago. I expect to be working with the Lutheran Church in Cambodia’s City Church and Rainbow Hostel in the captiol, Phnom Penh. This hostel is for youth who need a place to stay in Phnom Penh as they further their education. This collaboration between the church and hostel also provides English classes and Sunday school programs. I will also be working with a traveling music ministry. I just finished my degree in Music Education at Valparaiso University, so I am especially looking forward to what that ministry could look like.

My faith has been indelibly shaped by the ministries of this synod from youth events to Caroline Furnace. I am so thankful for your support in prayers and encouragement as we work together to share God’s love with the world. 

Tim and I are both in the process of fundraising for our year. If you are able to support this ministry of the church and our year of service financially, we would greatly appreciate it. You are welcome to give online by going to www.elca.org/yagm/give and selecting both our names or either one from the dropdown menu.

I am so thankful for a God that challenges me to get outside of my comfort zone and a church that provides us with ways to put our faith into action.

-Written by Carolina Bowen

What does it mean to be Lutheran in an election year?

As our faith informs our day-to-day lives, Lutherans recognize that “faith is active in love [and] love calls for justice in relationships and structures of society” (ELCA, Social Statement on Church in Society, 1991). We also know the church is called to be a community that prays, deliberates, and acts together when it comes to complex social issues. In this election year, how might our Lutheran faith shape our thinking, acting, and voting on major issues? United Lutheran Seminary invites you to learn and ponder timely social teachings of the ELCA and to learn tips for leading discussions in your own community. 

This six part series began in June, and there are five more session. All sessions are being recorded.

The Virginia Synod Justice for Women Tapestry Thread invites your participation in the following two sessions:

• September 10: Abortion Dr. Caryn Riswold, Professor of Religion/McCoy Family Distinguished Chair in Lutheran Heritage and Mission at Wartburg College
• September 24: Faith, Sexism and Justice Dr. Mary Streufert, Director, Gender Justice and Women's Empowerment, and Heather Dean, Program Coordinator, Theological Discernment, ELCA 

Rewatch LSM 2024 in the LSM Livestream Archives

Did you miss LSM 2024? Don’t worry! You are invited to revisit over 30 concerts, recitals, and worship services from LSM 2024 on demand in LSM’s livestream archive. With so many great performances and inspiring services, you don’t want to miss out.

A Cup of Unconditional Love: 2024 All Lutheran Women's Retreat

Our world feels more divided than ever. Polarization, racial violence, and inequity leave us asking, Is it even possible to heal? Award-winning author and theologian Dr. Jacqueline A. Bussie believes it is. The retreat will focus on her book Love Without Limits – Jesus’ Radical Vision for Love with No Exceptions. She challenges us to practice a love so deep it subverts the social order, so radical it scandalizes the powerful, so vast it excludes no one.

This retreat will take place on November 7-9, 2024, in Glen Allen, Virginia. Registration deadline is October 11.

Roanoke College Lutheran Visit Day

As the Lutheran College of Virginia, Roanoke College is inviting your family to attend a day designed to assist you with the college search process. Roanoke College Lutheran Visit Day will be held on Saturday, August 31, 2024 from 10am to noon. Any young person who is discerning whether higher education may be in their future after high school is invited to attend.

PRE-REGISTRATION is not required but encouraged to help us plan space and supplies for the day.

Many families of Minnick School students face financial challenges. To lighten their load, we provide essential supplies for all our students. Your donations make this possible, and we invite you to join us in this annual tradition of community support.

You can make a difference today! Explore Minnick Schools' Amazon Wish Lists and send a gift of supplies or equipment directly to the school!

If your church or community group would like to organize a school supply drive, EnCircle would love to hear from you! Please reach out to thier team at philanthropy@enCircleAll.org