Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
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20 July 2026
Clergy Changes
We announce The Rev. Amelia Collin's resignation from St. Thomas, Charles Town, effective 1 August 2026, and the deaths of The Rev. Richard Hembrock and The Rev. Joe Connor. For full stories, visit our Clergy page.IRS Increases Mileage Rate
The IRS Standard Mileage Rate increased to 76¢ per mile, effective 1 July 2026. Details are posted here.Help! I Have To Plan Worship (without a
Pastor)
With new congregations entering pastoral vacancy, it is a
good time to remind everyone that the synod provides several
resources for worship planning. Visit our Worship
page to get started.New: ELW Service of the Word Template
A pew edition template for ELW Service of
the Word has been added to our Liturgy
for Ordinary Time (Season of Pentecost) page. It is in
MS-Word and can be cut and pasted into your congregational
worship bulletin. Simply insert your hymn numbers or
verbally announce them. To accompany this template a planners'
edition has also been added. The planners' edition
includes extensive discussion of liturgical options.| Workshop Description
& Worksheet |
Rostered Ministers Gathering 2026 concluded July 9.
Several hundred attended the event held in Indianapolis.
Bishop Riegel led a well-attended and well-received
workshop titled "Essence, Works, and Ends: A Philosophical
Model for Discussing Ecclesiastical Purpose." If you would
like your own workshop (in your congregation, conference,
or ministerium), let him know.
Camping Season Is Not Over
Find out what's happening at Caroline Furnace, Camp Agapé, and Camp Luther by visiting our Camping & Outdoor Ministries page. Links are provided to each camp's Facebook page.
Synod Assembly 2026
Synod Assembly 2026 has adjourned sine die, but the mop up work is far from over.A summary of the actions is now available in the preliminary proceedings (accessible online from our our Synod Assembly 2026 page). The finalized proceedings are not quite ready.
Directories
Directories of congregations, clergy, lay voting members, etc. are included in the proceedings. You can help us verify their accuracy by reviewing them and reporting inaccurate information to Synod HQ at Registrar@wv-wmd.org.Synod Assembly 2027
The search is on for a venue for Synod Assembly 2027. Find out what questions get asked in the process on our Synod Assembly page.Mercury Retrogradant
Little known among modern Lutherans is the degree to
which astrology was part of the life of the sixteenth
century. Even Melanchthon mentions the horoscope that his
father had commissioned for his birth. So, we make a
little joke when saying that Mercury is retrograde, i.e.,
moving in the opposite direction in the night sky than it
usually does. Astrologers caution that communications can
become confused when Mercury is retrograde; remember:
Mercury was the messenger of the gods. Well, we are having
communications problems...
Web Links to ELCA.org
ELCA.org has been updates, and links on our site to
several pages and documents on that site no longer work.
You can help us fix things on our end by reporting dead
links.
Migrating The Bishop's Roadshow
Mailchimp® lowered the quotas for both
subscribers and sends for our account level. We are
working on migration to another platform, hoping that we
can keep costs low and maybe even improve the service. Be
on the lookout for The Roadshow coming via Zoho
Campaigns®. If you don't see one in a few
weeks, let us know.
On the brighter side, we have a way for you to access the most recent past issues of The Roadshow. Visit our Contact Info & Communications page and scroll down; you'll see the past issues posted on the right.
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Occasionally, a congregation, agency, or individual will have something they either want to sell, give away, or acquire. To that end, we've set up The Exchange, a place to post items and requests. There are two items (a total of forty choir robes) now posted on The Exchange. Check them out, and feel free to contact the Synod Office if you have something to request or post.
If you haven't checked out the members portal...
Don't forget to take a peek of the members
portal (click the button at right near the top of
this page). It's not password protected. We only call it
the "members portal" because it's mostly stuff that deals
with the internal workings of the synod. Visitors looking
for more general information about the synod, will
probably find the "guest portal" more interesting.
Synod
Website Updates
The synod website updates frequently (as in often) and irregularly (as in not on a particular schedule). Click here (or on the picture at right) to find out what has been recently updated.
℅St. Paul Lutheran Church, 309 Baldwin Street, Morgantown, WV 26505
304-363-4030 + Porter@WV-WMD.org