Synod Assembly Report

June 2012

The 25th annual Upper Susquehanna Synod Assembly took place on June 15-16, 2012 at Selinsgrove University.  Three St. Mark's delegates were among the 253 voting members of the Assembly.

Attending for St. Mark's were current and immediate past Congregation Council presidents Ray Huff and Gary Weber, and Pastor Elkin.  For our delegates, the Assembly was both fascinating and frustrating. 

The high point of the Assembly was the ordination service for Pastor Gary Shumway.  He was called as a second career to serve God.  Pastor Shumway will serve several Jersey Shore congregations.

The business of the Synod was conducted by Bishop Robert Driesen during 5 plenary sessions taking place during the 2 day gathering.  Each day allowed for work sessions, with the individual delegates choosing the topics.  A new feature of the Assembly was to gather several church delegations into small groups to discuss ideas for improvement.

In addition to the Ordination service on Saturday, Holy Eucharist was celebrated on Friday.  Rev. Donald McCoid, an ELCA representative preached the sermon.

At the business sessions, the delegates received reports from the Bishop and the various Synod organizations and officers.  The reports on the health of the Lutheran churches in the Synod were not good.  Last year, the Synod was struggling financially, which required mid year adjustments to the budget.  A somewhat improved picture later in the year allowed for some of the budget cuts to be restored.  Mission support is down, with fewer churches supporting missionaries.  Seven churches closed or disaffiliated from the ELCA. 

Most significantly, the delegates received a report that half of the churches in the Synod are having financial difficulties.  Membership continues to drop at many churches.  It was disturbing, then, that the only new initiative put forward at the Assembly dealt with the natural gas industry in Pennsylvania.  The delegates debated and then approved establishing a Synod task force to study "horizontal slickwater hydraulic fracturing."  A second resolution declaring the Synod's support for a moratorium on issuing new permits for hydraulic fracturing passed on a vote of 110 to 92.  Finally, the delegates passed a memorial to the ELCA encouraged national action on the same issues.  St. Mark's delegates voted against each of these resolutions, believing that they were an unwarranted distraction from the conduct of the necessary business of the church.

In the small group session, St. Mark's was paired with Messiah of South Williamsport.  We batted about the possibility of a Saturday service.  Discussion focused on a single service shared by multiple congregations.  We also discussed ways to reach out to gas workers migrating into the area.

The hallways were filled with many interesting displays and offerings.  The delegates were tempted by popcorn, free pens and tee shirts, and lots of reading material.

All-in-all, a fascinating yet frustrating experience.