Rev. Miguel Gomez-Acosta Annual Report: 2022
2022 Assembly Reports:
View reports for our 2022 assembly on our assembly report page and in this collection of blog posts.
Director for Evangelical Mission and Bishop’s Associate for Congregational Vitality.
It has been three years since the last time we were gathered in one place, in-person, to conduct the business of the church. Praise be to God! In many ways this synod assembly reflects the rest of the church — we are moving in the right direction, but not quite back at full capacity. Last year congregations returned to in-person worship with the expectation that all would return to normal, and yet this has not been the case. Many congregations have yet to reach pre-pandemic attendance levels. Should we be afraid of this? No, we are simply living into our new reality, our new baseline, where hybrid worship is the norm. We will experience new patterns as we continue to crawl out of this pandemic, and I am pleased to report that there is hope for our new future.
New Starts
While the Grand Canyon Synod did not start any new ministries in 2020 or 2021, we instead focused on supporting our ten existing ministries as they struggled to do creative outreach while social distancing. Today we have eight new starts, one closed because they never recovered from not meeting in-person and another became a part of its host congregation. As concerning as that might sound, not everything was a loss.
Crossroads Florence, the Synod Authorized Worshipping Community that was started by Crossroads Lutheran in San Tan Valley in 2017, opened the door to its coffee shop, The Station Coffee Co., on October 2, 2021. Currently they provide hospitality, a community space for gatherings, and hold a bible study for the community. Soon they will offer grants for churches and other non-profits, as well as a worship experience over coffee and jazz. In the last quarter of 2021, the Cactus Conference discussed the potential for new ministries in their territory. Four different mission fields were identified and later prioritized. I am happy to report that the first of those priorities, a West Valley ministry for young adults, is in the process of applying for grant funding and will begin August 15th! This will be an exciting venture between four Cactus Conference congregations to do outreach among young adults in the cities west of Phoenix.
New ministries are coming back to the Grand Canyon Synod, and we are excited about what God has planned in a post-pandemic age. We are always looking for creative ways to reach our neighbors, especially for those who are not currently in our churches. Our new reality could be creating communities of faith in younger and more diverse populations.
Congregational Vitality
Though there were not as many in-person congregational consultations as there have been in previous years, our congregations were still asking questions about the future. Again, the lack of perceived interest for in-person worship has left some of pastors asking the question, what now? Such worries have opened some amazing opportunities since many of us are realizing the value of being church together. During the last two years the Northeast Valley Consortium has added an additional congregation to their partnership and were able to do some amazing things last year. They held an Adult Vacation Bible School online, they worked together in refugee resettlement issues, and even held their own theological symposium by inviting Dr. Andrew Root from Luther Seminary to speak on Faith Formation in a Secular Age as they wrestled with the issue of reaching young people. They are a great example of collaboration for the sake of the Gospel.
The pandemic also allowed some congregations to see their sister congregations as partners and not competitors, and as such their health is a benefit for all of us. This was the case with Good Samaritan in Las Vegas when they saw The Lakes might be in trouble. Through visioning and planning both congregations voted in 2021 to merge, with The Lakes being Good Samaritan’s second campus. Other examples of partnerships are Lord of Life/Celebration, Holy Trinity/First Evangelical, and Christ Evangelical/Alleluia. Though these were not mergers, they accompanied each other during this time demonstrating the joy of church together.
This year we want to support our leaders as they have many questions about navigating a new reality. Thanks to the generous donors of the Growing Generosity Appeal and the Lilly Endowment Grant, we partnered with the ASU Lodestar Center and Rocky Mountain Synod to provide the first Lutheran Cohort of the Best Skills Best Churches certificate program in 2022. The program will cover Volunteerism, Governance, Communications, Marketing, Financial Management, and Fundraising. We look forward to helping leaders grow in these skills so that they can be more effective in leading their congregations into the future.
Stewardship
I am excited to report that the generosity of our congregations did not fail in the midst of a global pandemic. The last two years the congregations of the Grand Canyon Synod gave generously to our work together. Not only that, but our congregations even took on the Growing Generosity Appeal challenge and exceeded our original goal. That is the spirit of generosity at work here in our synod. Thank you for your generous hearts!
The pandemic did not stop us from learning more about stewardship. Even though we could not meet in-person we virtually participated in stewardship classes like Beginning a Culture of Generosity and Stewardship for All Seasons. Congregations that participated in these synodical offering expressed gratitude for giving them the language and tools to grow generosity in their congregations. 2021 was the first year that the Stewardship for All Seasons was offered in Spanish and two of our Latino congregations completed the program.
This year the Stewardship Team wants to learn from all communities what generosity means to them. The Generosity Project Holy Exchange seeks to bring together diverse communities for fellowship and learning around the topic of stewardship in hopes of learning how each community lives out generosity in their context so that we can learn to celebrate all expressions of generosity.
Summary
This pandemic is not the first, nor will it be the last, that Church will experience. Our congregations not only survived, but in many cases thrived during these turbulent times. I praise God and thank you for your generosity of mission support and your response to the Growing Generosity appeal that has made all of this possible. We look forward to an amazing year as we continue to Communicate Jesus, Connect People, and Create Possibilities. Thank you and blessings.
Respectfully submitted,
Rev. Miguel F. Gomez-Acosta