Boards and Committees

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ALYVE Board and First Third of Life Committee

The ALYVE Board, sponsored by the Southwestern Washington Synod Youth Committee, stands for “Associated Lutheran Youth in Various Endeavors”. This is a group of High School students representing all congregations of this Synod who gather monthly to bring the junior and senior high students closer to God and each other. They plan the annual spring Synod Youth Gathering.

The First Third of Life Committee's mission is to Empower, Encourage and Equip those who serve in congregational Faith Formation with the 1st Third of Life (ages birth to 30).

Ways in which we do this is by supporting and providing networking opportunities throughout the Synod and the ELCA--serving on ELCA network boards; hosting area lunches, an annual retreat, offering book discussion groups and providing scholarship funds for conferences and events which not only provide educational opportunities but also a time for renewal and spiritual growth. This committee also offers support for the Synod LYO Advisors to the ALYVE Board and serves as their oversight committee.

First Third of Life Committee Members: Paul Davis, Ingelaurie Lisher and Jessica Potts

Please contact Ingelaurie Lisher for ways you can get involved in or support those who serve with the 1st Third of Life in our Synod.

Anti-Racism Work Team

The Anti-Racism Work Team is committed to confronting and ending racism in all of its manifestations, including the embedded racism in our congregations, our personal lives, and throughout society.

The team provides educational resources to congregations that will help them explore the often-unconscious ways in which white people and white culture hold favored status and privilege over indigenous and people of color. The team also organizes public events, such as workshops and advocacy. Above all, the team attempts to foster the development of authentic, personal relationships among people of all colors, which becomes the most effective means to ending racism. This work team is made up of volunteers from all over our Synod, including pastors, deacons, and lay members.

The Synod helped co-sponsor the Healing Racism: Where is the Church? event in May 2022 with PLU Campus Ministry, Associated Ministries, Peace Lutheran Church in Tacoma, Peace Works United, AME, and Shiloh Baptist Church.

If you would like to be a part of this work team or would like more information, contact Bishop Rick Jaech or 253-535-8300.

Candidacy Committee

The Candidacy Committee in the Southwestern Washington Synod is the group that oversees the candidacy process for people to entered rostered ministry in the ELCA, either Word and Sacrament (Clergy) or Word and Service (Deacons). The committee, made up of rostered and lay leaders in the synod, meets four times per year (seasonally) to interview potential and continuing candidates, pray with them and discuss what is next in the process of becoming a rostered leader in the ELCA. Between meetings, committee members relate to individual candidates, keeping an open line of communication and offering any guidance that is needed for the candidacy process.

Candidacy Committee Chair: Deacon Traci Vatne

If you are interested in candidacy in the ELCA, please contact Pastor Rebecca Shjerven, Bishop’s Associate.

Fiscal Committee

The Fiscal Committee oversees the budget process for the Synod, preparing budgets for approval by the Synod Council and Synod Assembly. The Fiscal Committee also monitors income and expenses, supporting the ongoing work of the Synod Treasurer. Staff liaison to the Fiscal Committee is Pastor Rebecca Shjerven, Bishop's Associate.

Hunger Committee

Members of the Southwestern Washington Synod Hunger Committee are individuals from congregations throughout the synod committed to ending hunger both here and around the world. We partner with congregations and organizations in our area to make a collective impact on hunger.

This committee is responsbile for visiting and evaluating the ministries from our synod that apply for ELCA World Hunger Domestic Hunger Grants. These evaluations are then sent to the ELCA Domestic Hunger Grant Table for final decision on grant distributions.

The Synod Hunger Committee is committed to providing education surrounding the issues of hunger and poverty (and all of the areas intersecting these) to congregations and organizations throughout our synod. They are uniquely positioned to help congregations partner with ELCA World Hunger and ELCA Disaster Response to reach communities in need.

Committee Members: Diane Armbrust (Co-Chair), Allison Kies (Co-Chair), Beth Ann Johnson and MaryAnn Nelson

Visit the ELCA World Hunger link to learn more: https://www.elca.org/Our-Work/Relief-and-Development/ELCA-World-Hunger

Mission Endowment Fund Board

The purpose of Mission Endowment Funds is to offer financial support to new and existing mission starts and mission projects, as well as financial support for emerging leaders.

The Mission Endowment Fund Board is responsible for promoting growth of the funds, and for deciding how much money is available for financial grants each year. The Board makes these decisions in keeping with established policies. Money is made available to the Outreach Board for distribution to new and renewing/vital congregations and the Candidacy Committee for distribution for seminary debt reduction grants for rostered ministers in their first 10 years of ordained ministry and seminary scholarships for candidates for ordination.

For more information about the Mission Endowment Fund Board, contact Pastor Rebecca Shjerven, Bishop’s Associate.

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Namibia Task Force

You are invited to take part in a longstanding ELCA companion relationship with the three Lutheran church bodies in Namibia. We visit there. Namibian bishops, pastors and lay people visit here. We pray, learn and grow together. We assist with efforts to improve life in Namibia in this poor desert country, in education and health care. We enjoy a deep and rich friendship with our Namibian sisters and brothers in Christ, and have for many years.

Our three partners are the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN); the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia (ELCRN); and the German Lutheran Church. Combined, they represent 1.2 million believers in 200 congregations.

We want you to be a part of it. Join us on our next trip. Take part in the Namibia Task Force work. We meet at the Synod Office. Add yourself or your congregation as among the givers of small amounts of funds annually that help so much.

Contact Rachel Pritchett, chair of the Namibia Task Force, or 206-498-0920.

Native American Work Team

Our Southwestern Washington Synod is located west of the Cascade Mountains, extending from Vancouver in the south to Federal Way, Auburn, and Enumclaw in the north. It also includes all of the land west of the Salish Sea (Puget Sound) on the Olympic Peninsula up to Canada.

We acknowledge that this land and water is the traditional territory of 16 federally recognized Native American tribes: the Chehalis, Cowlitz, Hoh, Jamestown S’Klallam, Lower Elwha Klallam, Makah, Muckleshoot, Nisqually, Port Gamble S’Klallam, Puyallup, Quileute, Quinault, Shoalwater Bay, Skokomish, Squaxin Island, and Suquamish, as well as additional tribes not recognized by the federal government, including the Chinook. Our Synod also includes many indigenous individuals and families who live in cities and town outside of tribal lands.

Our Native American Work Team, made up of indigenous and non-indigenous rostered leaders and lay people from Synod congregations, seeks to foster authentic and just relationships among all people in our Synod. We do this by providing educational information, liturgy resources, and direct people-to-people encounter. For example, once a year we organize a Sacred Site visit in which congregation members visit a sacred site on tribal land and learn from tribal leaders. We also promote a Native American Sunday in our Synod congregations and provide resources to congregations for that celebration.

If you would like to be a part of this work team or would like more information, contact Pastor Seth Novak.

Reconciling in Christ Work Team

The Reconciling in Christ Work Team seeks builds a synod culture that celebrates the presence and gifts of LGBTQIA2+ people in all aspects of life and mission.

We do this with humility and hope. We are mindful of the harm and damage the Church is causing in matters of sexuality and gender. Yet we are actively engaged and hopeful for the future, as the Spirit of God relentlessly calls us all into the fullness of the Body of Christ.

Synodical Women's Organization

The Synod's Women's Organization is a member of the national WELCA organization. Their 8 elected officers and board members plan an annual business meeting and a retreat. Links for those will be posted when they are back to meeting in person. They are currently planning a fall conference.