Report of the Director of Communications

South Carolina Synod of the ELCA BR 7-1 Report of the Director of Communications This is my second full year as Director of Communications for this synod. It continues to be invigorating and eventful. I am grateful for the strong support that I that I continue to receive. I also wish to give thanks for the strong commitment to developing a top-tier, modern communication system for the future. The South Carolina Lutheran has more story participation from around the state thanks to our Synod Communicators program. As I write this we currently have twenty-three wonderful people telling the stories of work happening outside the walls of their congregations. Our goal is to have one Synod Communicator from each congregation. I am continually grateful to the six Conference Reporters who share stories from congregations in their conference. We still have room for three more conference reporters. If you are in the Epiphany, Amelia, or Heartland conference and can gather a paragraph or two from each of the congregations in your conference, please let me know (neal@scsynod.com). If you haven t had a subscription to The South Carolina Lutheran for a while, please do consider renewing or subscribing. Year over year our website continues to grow in use and information. Visitors to our website have more than doubled and those who are visiting are reading more than the one link they clicked in to see. On average visitors to our website are reading at least two stories per visit. The mobile responsive design of our site has made it much easier to use our site on mobile platforms accounting for roughly two-thirds of the websites statistical growth. Facebook continues to make it harder to reach more people for organizations who don t pay for advertising. Despite that we ve increased the number of people who like our page by 34%. Our Twitter and Instagram accounts are also showing consistent growth. Our annual Christmas Eve service on WIS-TV continues to grow. This year it reached roughly 45,000 people throughout the Midlands over the air. Viewership was up about 6% year over year. It was the second most watched show in the time slot. Only the NFL game was higher. The live stream of the worship service was seen online in 36 states and 11 countries. What a great outreach opportunity. The Communications and Technology Table continue to work hard and I am deeply grateful for the support they ve shown me. Respectfully submitted, Neal F. Fischer Director of Communications

South Carolina Synod of the ELCA BR 7-2 Director for Evangelical Mission Report South Carolina Synod Assembly 2017 Unbind him, and let him go. John 11:44 Grace and peace to you in the name of our risen Lord, Jesus the Christ! What blessing to share the Good News of Jesus to this assembly of South Carolina. In the last nine months I have witnessed the power of our risen Lord in all of you. You ask how is that possible? It is through the new mission starts and our renewing and redeveloping congregations. It is a blessing to have such wonderful brothers and sisters in ministry together. Through your partnership, we in South Carolina have been able to support and establish new starts like Christ Mission, Cristo Rey (including Gaston and Pelion), Sagrada Familia, Nuestro Salvador, Sobremesa, New Life, Women with Purpose and our newest community of exploration in the lowcountry that is focused in gathering college students and young adults. In addition to our new starts in South Carolina we continue to explore and provide resources for our existing congregations that are looking to experience vitality in new and innovative ways. In our history we have referred to this area of ministry as renewal and redevelopment. With a sense of urgency to reach the unchurched in our communities and to our neighbors we are looking to use less of the re words and speak more to vitality. What does this mean? Given our 500 th anniversary as reformers, this is a great question. What it means, is we as church together are going to be exploring how we can become more effective in sharing the gospel to all people. That is, we are going to focus resources on congregations that are doing ministry well and also to those that may need a little more guidance. In addition, our goal is to share best practices, in other words, we are going to be church together with congregations helping one another. It is a new time in the church and we are going to celebrate the newness of life that Christ brings to us all. I would like to leave you with this story. Over the last twelve months a task force was established to look at how we can live out our understanding as church together, i.e., congregations, synods, and churchwide. It was understood that we face a great challenge in reaching those who are none and done, the unchurched. It would be important that we face this challenge together and there be consensus in whatever direction we felt the Spirit s calling. To answer the challenge a biblical and theological foundation would be needed. It did not take long before the story of the raising of Lazarus became the story. The verse selected was from John 11:44, Unbind him, and let him go. This would become the foundation to any recommendations. It would not take long before the task force completed their work and a recommendation to unbind and let them go was determined. If God is for us who can stand against us? The mantra became, unbind our congregations and let them go to be the hands, feet and voices of our Lord. With this as our focus, churchwide is committing resources to congregations to engage the world around them and one another with the good news of Jesus. Here is our challenge, can we commit our lives as individuals and congregations to be church together for the sake of the world? What does it take? It starts with lives and communities (congregations) committed to the saving message of Jesus. With such commitment we can begin new starts, help congregations that are in the midst of struggle and strengthen and grow congregations that are doing well. Remember it will take all of us together. Lastly, thank you for your Mission Support. When we tithe to Mission support it does make a difference in the lives of those who have and have not experienced the Gospel! Reverend Richard T. Carter Director for Evangelical Mission South Carolina Synod

South Carolina Synod of the ELCA BR 7-3 2017 Report of the Director for Stewardship God calls us in Holy Baptism to be disciples. It is in Holy Baptism that our stewardship begins. One of the ways we live out our discipleship is stewardship. Stewardship is about all the ways we live out belonging to God. The goal of our Stewardship ministry is to help God s people grow in their relationship with Jesus through the use of the time, talents, and finances God has entrusted to them (us). (Ask, Thank, Tell by Charles R. Lane, page 11) Stewardship Education for Congregations Our stewardship strategies focus on stewardship education, annual response, year-round planning, mission interpretation, missional spending plan and encouraging individuals and families to participate in planned giving. This includes teaching biblical and theological foundations for stewardship, stewardship principles that provide a foundation for the life of a faithful and generous steward, and the best practices for growing stewards in a congregation. Rediscover Macedonia theme materials for education, response and living the mission were launched as a website in July 2012, and are available to all congregations at no cost at www.elca.org/macedonia Stewards of God s Love is a tool produced by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America for doing year-round stewardship ministry in your congregation. Copies of this resource are available at http://resources.elca.org or online at www.elca.org/growingstewards. The Giving magazine, a resource from the Ecumenical Stewardship Center, is available to every congregation online at www.stewardshipresources.org. Embracing Stewardship: How to put stewardship at the heart of your congregation s life by Charles R. Lane and Grace Duddy Pomroy, published in 2016, can be ordered at embracingstewardship.com. Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary Region 9 Council for Stewardship Education A Stewardship Symposium titled Why Give? The Christian Practice of Almsgiving featured Dr. David Downs on January 27, 2017, at the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary (LTSS). The symposium was sponsored by the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary/Region 9 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Council for Stewardship Education. While the symposium is a public event, the symposium also gives seminary students an opportunity for personal growth and learnings in the practical applications of stewardship in congregations. A Senior Symposium was conducted at LTSS on February 17-18, 2017, offering first call orientation, an opportunity to learn about the benefits available from Portico Benefit Services and to hear about the Mission Investment Fund Stewardship Resources. A First Call Theological Education (FCTE) Stewardship Cycle Retreat is scheduled to be held at Lutheranch, Tallapoosa, GA. on February 5-7, 2018. The event includes Rostered Ministers in five of the six synods in Region 9 ELCA. Networking Congregations for Growing Stewards In 2016-17 thirteen congregations participated in Ventures in Growing Stewards, led by Rev. Angela Jennings. Ventures Leader. The congregations included: St. Matthew, Charleston; St. Mark, Isle of Palms; St. Luke, Summerville; St. Johannes, Charleston; St. Paul, Mt. Pleasant; St. David, West Columbia; St. Stephen, Lexington; Pisgah, Lexington; Mt. Hermon, West Columbia; Our Saviour, West Columbia; St. Timothy, Camden; Mt. Tabor, West Columbia; and Bethel, White Rock. Ventures in Growing Stewards involves pastors and lay persons in a series of four workshops over a one-year period. It includes study of biblical and theological foundations, year-round stewardship, annual response and development of a missional spending plan (narrative budget). Stewardship Coaching - Multiplying Leaders In response to a 21 st century vision for strengthening disciples of Jesus Christ and in an effort to encourage coaching as an approach for growing well-formed stewards and leaders, a specialty stewardship coaching ministry has been started in the SC Synod. This ministry is for both rostered and lay leaders. Through this ministry individuals will develop specific competencies and skills in both coaching and stewardship to multiply leaders. This ministry is made possible through the Growing in God s Mission Appeal and a grant from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America generated by the South Carolina

South Carolina Synod of the ELCA BR 7-4 Synod appeal. Over twenty-four stewardship coaches have been trained. In 2016-2017 the coaching project is in the process of evaluation and assessment. Rev. Mark Scott is serving as Stewardship Coaching Ministry Coordinator, South Carolina Synod. Mission Investment Fund Capital Campaign Services The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America offers a capital campaign service, Mission Investment Fund Capital Campaign Services, Ms. Paula Kitt, director. These services assist congregations looking to raise funds for new construction, renovation and repairs. The financial goals for many of these campaigns range from $250,000 to $2 million. The service has also been used for congregation s annual stewardship response program. Mission Interpretation A synod video titled Stories of Reconciling and Renewing Relationships in Christ was developed in 2016. A synod video accompanied by Congregation Council devotion was sent to every congregation inviting a conversation on Mission Support. Each congregation was asked to consider 10% of Regular Giving by Members or Increase of 10% over last year s Mission Support submitted. This is an annual plan to engage congregations in a Mission Support ask that is biblically based, attainable, relational, and based on being the church together. Shepherd Callers follow up to encourage the use of the videos and the devotional. The Mission Support video planned for 2017 will focus on four of the five goals, Called Forward Together in Christ, ELCA Strategic Directions 2025, December 8, 2016. Shepherd Callers Shepherd Callers are a group of persons in the synod who make telephone calls to key congregational leaders to establish caring connections and to deepen relationships. The callers invite the lay chairs of congregations to use the synod video and devotions. Expand Ways of Giving In Congregations: Moving toward Stewardship in the Digital Age Walking together with congregations to move into stewardship in the digital age, an Electronic Giving Pilot Project began in July 2016. Ron Walrath serves as the Project Coordinator. The pilot project includes twelve congregations who have enrolled with VANCO. The project is a new initiative funded by the Growing in God s Mission Appeal. A grant in the amount of $3,000 awarded by the Stewardship of Life Institute, Gettysburg, provides the cost of VANCO services for pilot congregations for one year. Planned Giving The synod is exploring the possibility of a Planned Giving Partnership. This partnership will offer individuals and congregations opportunities for planned giving, endowment funds, wills, estate, and legacy plans. Synod Communicators Each Congregation Council of the South Carolina Synod is asked to appoint a Synod Communicator to share stories of God s mission in two directions. First, the communicator is asked to share the stories of God s mission in the South Carolina Synod and the Churchwide Organization in the congregation. Second, the communicator is asked to share stories of how the congregation is reaching out with the love of Christ in the community. Neal Fischer, Director of Communications, receives the stories submitted by communicators and publishes the stories in the South Carolina Lutheran or Enews. Organizational Structure The work of stewardship is a part of the Deepening Discipleship Table and the Equipping Steward Leaders Network of this synod. Thank You Let me express to you and the congregations of this synod our thanks. First, we give thanks for those with whom we share faith in Jesus Christ. Second, we give thanks to God for your 2016 Mission Support. Mission Support (benevolence) is the portion of your regular giving by members that your congregation shares with your synod and churchwide ministries. God is making a difference in the lives of people through your Mission Support dollars.

South Carolina Synod of the ELCA BR 7-5 I am available to congregations to assist in equipping steward leaders in year-round stewardship, conducting an annual response, developing a missional spending plan or meet with pastors to share the best stewardship practices and principles. For additional stewardship resources, go to the South Carolina Synod website, www.scsynod.com. Select Deepening Discipleship Table and choose Stewardship. Rev. W. Osborne Herlong Jr., Director for Stewardship South Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ovherlong@aol.com