Shepherd of the Mountains belongs to the Eastern Washington-Idaho Synod of the ELCA.  This year’s assembly was exciting as we elected a new bishop!  Please keep the bishop-elect, Rev. Kristen Kuempel, in your prayers.

Congregational representatives Meghan McCreedy, Robyn Lunsford, Tanya Shedd and Pastor Inger Hanson also enjoyed a variety of workshops, including

• Ministry to Veterans: A Basic Toolkit and Road Map
• Grace Sends Us Out Into a Multi-Cultural World
• The Forgotten Luther I: Reclaiming the Socio-Economic Dimension of Reformation
• What If We Did It Together?
• Prayer and Spirituality in Art

Ask them about what they learned!

Another highlight was reconnecting with Martin the Moose.  At the kick-off of our 25th Anniversary, we sent this stuffed animal on a journey to visit congregations in all 12 clusters of our synod to learn and share about local ministries and to introduce the synod’s “Moving in Mission Together” campaign.  Martin the Moose has become a bit of a celebrity (he has over eighty Facebook friends) and is delighting in his travels.  At Synod Assembly, Martin helped with all the announcements and met the Secretary of the National Church, bishops from other synods, and lots of lay leaders!