A special thanks to the TLCS representatives at this year's Northwest Washington Synod Assembly, that took place at Grace Lutheran Des Moines on Saturday, May 18: Ruth Lee, Kasey FH, EdnaMae Olufson-Smith, Bill Rankin, Van Hutton, and Pastor Hector.
Below is their report, submitted by Ruth Lee, and find a recap of the assembly here.
The recent one day synod assembly was held at Grace Lutheran Church in Des Moines with our voting members being Ruth Lee, Kasey FH, Edna Mae Olufson, Bill Rankin, and Van Hutton in addition to Pastor Hector (who also serves on Synod Council). We joined around 270 voting members from across the synod. The theme was “We lift our eyes” based on Psalm 121.
After opening worship with communion, we settled into work on elections, reports, and some basic constitutional amendments which brought us into alignment with church wide.
Interspersed between business were ministry moments and spirit stories, often in the form of short video clips. We found the video clips inspiring, and they fleshed out activities of the synod, partners, and individual congregations. They may give us ideas for areas that Trinity wants to explore in the future! We highly encourage viewing the videos which can be found at lutheransnw.org/synod-assembly.
There was a voting member amendment to the proposed budget which was passed. The amendment authorizes using current budget surplus to bring synod staff up to recommended salary guidelines.
Next year’s convention will be two full days in May. It will be a bishop election assembly. Bishop Shelley Bryan Wee’s term will end next year. She shared that she was open to being renominated next year for a second term, and she received loud applause.
It was meaningful being a part of the larger church. Thank you for trusting us as your voting members.
~ Ruth Lee
If you have any questions, or are interested in representing Trinity at next year's assembly, please reach out to Pastor Hector.