Dear Friends in Christ,
Grace and peace! I am pleased to extend to you a warm welcome to our Twenty-first Annual Northern
Illinois Synod Assembly – God’s work. Our hands. With the Assembly quickly approaching, I find
myself feeling the same sense of excitement as I do every year. I continue to count it a privilege to be
among you and serve as your Bishop. What new ways will we find for sharing our faith with all of God’s
people? I am eager to explore together how we can deepen that faith and how God’s work can be accomplished through Our hands. We have so much to be thankful for as we work and share together as brothers and sisters in Christ!
As we continue to explore new ways to be good stewards of our time and resources, the Bulletin of
Reports is available on the Synod Website (www.nisynod.org) for download. Please take the opportunity
to visit the Website (or read your Bulletin of Reports which was sent to those who paid extra in their
registration fees) to learn about the faithful and dedicated people of God which our Synod has been a part
of in the past year in order to Make Christ Known. The Website also contains resolutions that will be presented and additional Synod Assembly information.
PLEASE REMEMBER TO BRING THIS MATERIAL TO THE ASSEMBLY.
We are blessed to be ordaining three new pastors on Friday evening, June 13 at 8:05 p.m. with Rite of
Holy Communion with Ordinations. In order to welcome our new pastors a reception will follow in the College Center (Dining Room). Please plan on attending and greeting these new members of the Northern Illinois Synod roster.
Synod Assemblies are participatory in nature. Therefore, I encourage you to be involved as much as possible during this time.
Because of the many events that take place at the Assembly, I would like to highlight a few points for you to be thinking about prior to your arrival:
1. To those who are attending their first Assembly, plan to attend the Orientation Forum which is
scheduled for Friday, June 13 beginning at 9:30 a.m. in Bergendoff Hall (Potter Hall). This is a good introduction for voting members to familiarize themselves with the functions and proper procedures of the Assembly.
Also available at this same time is a Resolutions Committee Forum which will be held in
Bergendoff Hall (Larson Hall). Pastor Scott Schmidt, Chairperson of the Resolutions Committee, will lead discussion on the resolutions that were received by the deadline and were included in the Bulletin of Reports.
2. Our Bible Study Leader this year is Dr. Diane Jacobson, Professor of Old Testament, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota. We are honored to have Dr. Jacobson with us and we look forward to her Bible Studies and lunch forums on Friday.
3. We are also pleased to have Ms. Christina Jackson-Skelton, Treasurer of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) as our ELCA Representative at this year’s Assembly.
In addition to Ms. Jackson-Skelton’s presentations from the floor of the Assembly, she will also hold a breakfast forum on Saturday morning from 7:15-8:15 a.m. in the College Center (Wilson Center). Please make her feel welcome.
4. This year's Synod Assembly Offering is designated for Lutheran Campus Ministry (LCM) at
Northern Illinois University (NIU) in support of the Synod’s efforts to increase the campus pastor
position to full-time. Make checks payable to Northern Illinois Synod and note at the bottom of
the check for “LCM Campus Pastor Position.”
5. The Augsburg Fortress Publishing display will be in Centennial Hall - Lower Level. They will have a selection of core books and resources available this year as well as gifts available for purchase.
6. The Social Ministry Committee is asking all of our congregations to participate in the In-kind
Offering which is to help support the “greening initiative” of the NIS! Please bring Green
Cleaning Products for the Lutheran Outdoor Ministries Center. Preferred items are: Clorox Green Cleaning for Windows, Bathrooms, or All-Purpose Cleaner; Ace Hardware Gift Cards; and Menards Gift Cards. You will also find this information in the back of your Bulletin of Reports.
7. Be “Green” — Bring a Mug In an effort to be environmentally friendly and to reduce usage of disposable items, you are invited to bring along your own coffee mug or beverage cup for use during assembly sessions.
8. Physically Challenged Parking will be available in the Centennial Hall parking lot on the East Side of Centennial Hall, on the left-hand side. Golf Carts will also be available during the Assembly to help transport physically challenged individuals.
9. Child Care will be offered off-campus and the cost is $3.00 per hour per child. We are grateful
to St. John’s Lutheran Church, 4501 7th Avenue in Rock Island, for providing their nursery facilities and to members of Faith Lutheran Church in Moline for their kind offer to provide care.
10. Because the temperature in Centennial Hall is very difficult to regulate, please bring a sweater or jacket.
11. If you are staying in Campus Housing, which is in [Duane R.] Swanson Commons (1010 38th Street), please remember: YOU NEED TO BRING YOUR OWN PILLOW AND BLANKET. Sheets are the ONLY ITEM provided.
12. When the Assembly is in session, EMERGENCY TELEPHONE CALLS can be received by
calling Centennial Hall (Art Gallery) at 309-794-7459. When the Assembly is not in session
please call Augustana’s switchboard at 309-794-7000.
If an emergency message is received, we will locate the rostered leader and/or lay voting member immediately. All other messages WILL BE POSTED on the message board in Centennial Hall.
If there is any way that we can be of assistance to you, please contact our Rockford office at 815/964-9934 or Assembly Registrar Nancy Corey at 309/794-4004. We are grateful for your leadership, dedication, and commitment to Christ and the Church.
In Christ,
Bishop Gary M. Wollersheim |
