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Vision and Structure
Our Vision
As
God’s people, we are rooted, connected, sent, and transformed. [Northeastern
Pennsylvania Synod vision adopted by the assembly June 3, 2000]
Our Structure
The principle underlying the structure of
the Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod is that the answers to how to do
ministry in this time and place are being discovered at the local level—in
congregations, clusters, groups of individuals, organizations, community
groups.
The purpose of the structure is to share broadly what is being tried and what
works, helping us learn from one another. The hope is that a great variety
of approaches to accomplishing the outcomes will be used—and by a variety
of grassroots groups.
Our priorities for ministry are to
- Deepen our relationship with God
- Renew our passion for sharing the good news
- Strengthen the connections among people and communities
- Develop leaders for a new church in a new world
Four ministry teams form
the core of the structure. Each team relates to one of the priorities
and seeks creative ways to address the outcomes attached to the priority.
The primary sources for ideas are congregations and other local groups.
Ministry teams relating to each priority are—
In broad strokes, this is what the structure
looks like:
The principle is that ministry begins at the grassroots, primarily
in congregations.
The synod exercises oversight of the structure through its annual assemblies
and through the interim legislative authority, the synod
council.
Some functions are unchanged from the prior structure. For example, executive
committees (archives, candidacy, constitution, consultation, discipline, endowment/investment)
and assembly committees (program and arrangements, nominating, registration
and excuse) continue with oversight by the office of the bishop.
Council committees (program and review, finance, administration) and the office
of the bishop (the bishop, associates of the bishop, directors of communications
and ministry resources, associate administrator for finances, support staff)
provide support and direction to the work of the synod.
The four ministry teams address synod priorities and the outcomes related to
these priorities.
The cabinet, made up of the ministry team chairpersons, the bishop, the vice
president, the staff person relating to each team, and the executive associate
of the bishop, coordinates the work.
History
In his 1997 report to the synod, Bishop Strobel invited all in the
synod to follow his example and enter a period of "reflection, revision
and renewal." During that next year he listened to the members of
our congregations as they spoke of the challenges and opportunities facing
them.
His presentation at the 1999 synod assembly called us to re-imagine the church.
In September more than 300 people accepted that challenge and gathered to suggest
priorities, needs and concerns. The Synod Council and a Strategic Planning
Task Force then worked with the hundreds of ideas that came out of those gatherings.
In June 2000, after the year-long conversation initiated by Bishop Strobel
regarding the role of the church in northeastern Pennsylvania, the synod assembly
adopted by voice vote the document, Re-Imagining
the Church in the Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod, as "a foundation
document for the synod to use to move into the future."
In November 2000, the Synod Council approved in principle a new structure for
the synod. This structure was based on the four priorities adopted by the 2000
Synod Assembly and the outcomes related to these priorities that were articulated
by the council at its September 2000 meeting. These, in turn, arose from the
work of the Strategic Planning Task Force, which brought together all the information
generated at the 2000 synod assembly and responses from the mission district
deans, rostered leaders, and other leaders across the synod.
The constitutional changes necessary to bring the new structure into existence
were adopted by the synod at the 2001 assembly.
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About Us
Vision and Structure
Synod Congregations
Ministry Partners
Directions and Office Info
The vision document, Re-Imaging
the Church in the Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod, is available as an Adobe
Acrobat™ PDF (Portable Document Format) file.
Adobe Acrobat™ files require the free
Adobe Acrobat™ Reader to view and print. PDF files can be viewed on
screen and printed on your own printer exactly as they were produced. Click
on the Adobe Acrobat™ icon and follow the instructions to download the
free Acrobat™ Reader.
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