Your Synod Staff

I am feeling a little bit guilty. Our last two staff meetings have had to be rescheduled due to commitments I had. Of all of the synod staff, Bishop Wollersheim has the most complex schedule, but our synod staff’s meeting dates are cleared with his calendar before they are ever scheduled. Changing a date isn’t all that easy because it impacts lots of people. Do you know the synod staff?

Bishop Wollersheim, Sandy Musch and I all work full-time from our office in Rockford. Bishop is the synod’s pastor and CEO. Sandy serves as assistant to the bishop and handles the complex administrative matters. She has worked for the synod from the very beginning of the ELCA, so she carries a lot of history. I coordinate call process for the synod, work with the North Conference and cannot begin to describe everything else I do. I am sure this is true for any “generalist.” Pastor Kurt Nordby, our Director of Evangelical Mission and Assistant to the Bishop, works full-time out of our Rock Island office. He is the staff liaison to the East Conference. As DEM, he also works in the areas of mission development, stewardship and mission strategy.

If you have called the synod office, you have no doubt spoken to Judi Fields, Julie Lewis, June Cain or Nancy Corey. They provide the support that the full-time staffers need to do their jobs. I want to be as responsive as possible to people’s needs, so I often tell them that if they call and I am not available to be sure to speak with June. She makes sure that I get my messages and responds in a timely fashion. June is also the synod’s bookkeeper. Judi is our receptionist and assistant to Sandy. Julie is the office manager and is executive secretary to the bishop. Nancy is the Rock Island office manager and assists Kurt.

We also have six part-time assistants for the remaining conferences. Pastor Tom Larsen relates to the Southwest Conference, Pastor Mike Clark to the West Conference, Pastor Kurt Hansen to the Northwest Conference, Deaconess Cheryl Erdmann to the Northeast Conference, Pastor Chris Stienstra to the Central Conference, and Pastor Tim Kenyon to the South Conference. They provide much needed assistance in the call process and pastoral care in a cost effective way.

The synod staff is rounded out by a part-time assistant for candidacy, Pastor Barb Rapp, a part-time communication director, Associate in Ministry Karin Graddy, and a part-time youth coordinator, Mary Lasits.

I have the privilege of working with all of these folks on a daily basis. That is a gift to my life and work. A tremendous amount of work is done by our support staff and part-time assistants without much recognition. They are a gift to the synod.

Comments? Go to http://niselca.blogspot.com/. Need help from the staff? Just call! We look forward to working with you. Pictured is the staff at worship just prior to our last meeting. --JC

"The Lutheran"

In terms of media use, I suppose I reflect my generation. I was born right in the middle of the baby boom. As such, there are times when I reflect the generation ahead of me and at other times I act a bit like the generation that has followed.

I still watch the evening news on TV and I read two daily newspapers. If I miss watching the news, I do not worry about it. If a paper sits for a day or two before I read it, there is still enough current content to warrant my picking it up. I subscribe to two weekly news magazines, but only because I get a really good deal. Actually, I do not read the one as much as I used to and the other has been doing a yearlong series on my hometown. I also subscribe to one religious magazine and to one baseball publication. I read these more carefully than anything else.

I must admit, however, that I do get a lot of news from the Internet. I use high speed Internet both at the office and at home. I depend on the Internet to do my job and it provides news and recreation at home. I also have two email accounts and I am on Facebook. But, I do not tweet.

Unlike most who are younger than I, I use my cell phone mostly just for phone calls. I cannot access the Internet with it, cannot transfer photos I take with it, and do not text with it because my plan charges me extra for text messaging. I still have a landline phone on the wall at home, but lately we have been questioning why we pay for something that we use so little.

When my copy of The Lutheran arrived in the mail this week, I was sad to see the editor note that subscriptions had fallen 13% in 2009. The prediction for 2010 is the same or worse. I am sure this reflects what is going on in our culture with regard to the delivery of news and information. No doubt these tough economic times have also taken a toll.

I have always enjoyed reading The Lutheran and still depend on it to provide church news that I do not receive elsewhere. As a parish pastor, I always encouraged my congregations to continue their every member subscriptions. I felt the expense was justified by keeping everyone informed. I believe it helped keep our members connected to the work of the wider church.

Is reading the print version of The Lutheran just another “old-fashioned” thing to do? I think it still serves an important purpose for many of us. Is the electronic version of The Lutheran attractive enough to get people to pay for subscriptions? I do not know. If you are not currently reading The Lutheran, how do you keep up with ELCA news? I think this church would be well-served by an informed membership.

Comments? If you are not already there, go to the blog site: http://niselca.blogspot.com/. --JC