Emmanuel Lutheran Church

Marilyn and I wish to thank the members of Emmanuel Lutheran Church for letting us, along with Pastor Alan, represent you at the Northeastern Ohio Synod meeting. This year’s theme for the assembly was “God’s Work, Our Hands, Building Community in the 21st Century.”

The speaker, the business issues and the various displays were very interesting. The major pleasure to us was the interacting with a large group of people who, like us, share the same beliefs and are working to improve their relationship with God.

Bishop Elizabeth Eaton was our leader during the session. She was extremely good at bringing up and overseeing the elections and other issues that needed to be resolved. Her enthusiasm kept us all interested.

Thirteen Synod council members were elected from a slate of 22 nominees. The nominees were all very qualified. It would be difficult to not get excellent representations no matter which of the 22 nominees won. Also, there were three members elected to the Consultation Committee and one to the Trinity Seminary Board.

There were three resolutions passed, in short:

Encourage proportional giving by congregations to mission support.
Encourage each congregation to participate in the ELCA Malaria Campaign.
This resolution details efforts for congregations to exhibit how we serve companion churches in Africa and around the globe by respecting and affirming cultural diversity.

Also two minor amendments were acted on.

The budget for the coming year was presented and acted upon. The financial resources have been decreased in the past couple of years due to the loss of some congregations and the current recession. Belt tightening has been taking place.

Marilyn and I attended the workshop on the Malaria issue. This is a scourge that can be reduced considerably with a relatively small amount of dollars.

The disease is particularly prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria kills nearly one million people per year, especially pregnant women and children.

A child under five dies every 45 seconds. This disease can be controlled by something as simple as: A $10.00 mosquito net, $25.00 for two applications per year of indoor spraying, $50.00 for 25 people for medicine.

The NEOS has been selected as a Pilot Synod for this project for 2011. Our Synod goal is $250,000.00. This can be accomplished if each worshipping member would contribute $3.00 per year for 5 years or $15.00 by August of this year. Please pray about it.

God Bless you,
Marilyn and Bob Roberts