Dear South Dakota friends and colleagues,
With gratitude for those who have gone before and hope for the future, the South Dakota Synod of the ELCA gives thanks to God for the ministry of women. In 2020 we are preparing to celebrate 50 years of Lutheran women being ordained in the United States. Also, 2020 marks 40 years of women of color being ordained, and 10 years of LGBTQIA+ individuals being able to serve freely.
Our synod has appointed a committee that has been tasked with making plans for this celebration in the coming year. One of the plans we have made includes reaching out to all rostered ministers in the synod to participate in preparing a weekly devotions to be published online through several months of 2020. It is our hope that most of our synod’s women pastors and deacons will participate along with many others from around the state.
Each of the weekly devotions will be authored by different rostered ministers from the South Dakota Synod. The devotions will be sent out by email to synod leaders each week, as well as placed on the Synod website. The devotions will be made easy to copy and re-publish in parish newsletters, Facebook posts, and other formats.
You are invited to sign-up to prepare and submit one of these devotions. Bible passages that relate to women in various ways have been selected and designated for each week beginning the first week in Advent, 2019, through Synod Assembly. If you wish to volunteer you can sign up on online through the sign-up genius form in the link here. You will need to submit your devotion to devotions@sdsynod.org ten days before it will be published. Devotions should be limited to 300 words. If there is enough interest we will extend the time for the devotions to be published beyond June.
Click the link here to indicate your chosen date to write a devotion for this year of celebration. There are a few openings for those who wish to choose their own text. Signing up to submit a devotion is on a first come, first served basis. If you have questions, please feel free to contact Pastor Lynnae Sorensen, Committee Chair, at lsorensen@hopesiouxfalls.org.
The committee is also considering making a “speaker’s bureau” available for congregations or organizations who would like to hear from a pastor or deacon in person about her experience in becoming and serving as a female pastor during the last decades. If you would like to make yourself available to speak at events in your area, please email Pastor Karen Soli, k_soli@msn.com.
Thank you in advance for being willing to help our synod celebrate our shared ministry as we commemorate 50 years of the ordination of women in this country.
Blessings,
The South Dakota Synod Committee
for the Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Women’s Ordination
Pastor Lynnae Sorensen, Chair, Pastor Nancy Eckels, Bishop Emerita Andrea DeGroot-Nesdahl, Pastor Kris Garlick, Cheryl Lundeen, Pastor David Piper, Pastor Karen Soli, Pastor Siri Sorensen and Pastor Paul Stjernholm
