News and Publications

Congregational Leadership Training Opportunities in Lent

The synod office is offering, at no cost, six different congregational leadership training opportunities during Lent 2012. One opportunity is available on each of the six Saturdays of Lent from 9:00 a.m. to noon. The February session will be held at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, 205 N. Prospect Ave., Park Ridge, IL 60068. The five March sessions will all be held at the Lutheran Center, 1st Floor, Augsburg Room, 8765 W. Higgins Rd., Chicago, IL 60631.

The six training opportunities are: Church Council Leadership; Property & Risk Management; Stewardship & Mission; Basic Legal; Accounting, Payroll, & Audits; and Volunteers & Resources.

More information and registration

ELCA Presiding Bishop to Preach at Opening the Lenten Scriptures Event

ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson will be preaching at the one-day professional leaders event in February.

On Tuesday, February 7, 2012, from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church, 815 S. Washington St., Naperville, IL 60540, Professor Ralph Klein, Christ Seminary-Seminex Professor Emeritus of Old Testament, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, will offer interpretations of the Old Testament texts for Lent and then suggest ways of reading the Gospels for the day through those Old Testament lenses. Throughout the day, there will be opportunity for participants to contribute their own homiletical and exegetical insights. The event, open to all rostered leaders, costs $25 (includes lunch).

Registration is closed for this event.

Complete Mission Support Statement of Intent Online

Complete your congregation’s Mission Support Statement of Intent for 2012 here. If you have any questions about the form, please contact Steve Homberg at the synod office at shomberg@mcselca.org or 773-248-0021.

Thank you for completing the form.

Complete Form Online

2012 Salary Guidelines

The 2012 Salary Guidelines are available here.

If you have any questions about the salary guidelines, please contact Steve Homberg at shomberg@mcselca.org or 773-248-0021.

Turnaround Synod Initiative

The Turnaround Synod Initiative is an attempt to challenge, inspire, encourage, and equip declining congregations of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod to grow and thrive.

The goal of the Turnaround Synod Initiative is that 50% of the congregations in the Metropolitan Chicago Synod that are currently experiencing decline will be seeing an upward trend in worship attendance by mid-2013. This means that we will move from having two of every three congregations declining to two of three growing in average worship attendance.

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