Dec. 16, Christ Lutheran, Winnipeg
Jan. 20, St. Stephen's/St Bede's, Winnipeg
Feb. 17 at Advent, Thompson
Mar. 16, Faith, Winnipeg
Apr. 20, Trinity, Starbuck
All services begin at 7 p.m.

Beginning Monday, Nov. 26 and lasting two weeks, the synod office will be closed due to renovation work on the office.

The staff will all be working from home. All calls to the synod office will be forwarded to Debbie Beyer.

Please be patient when it comes to responses from staff, calls will be returned. Email communication will be the most effective way to get a hold of one of us.

Thank you for your understanding in this matter.

The September ELW e-Messenger announced that significant cuts were made to balance the 2008 budget. One of the areas of cutbacks was made to staff salaries. The assessment of salaries and programming has been done and the following will be the operating procedure for the year.

Beginning in January 2008 the ELW office will be closed every other Friday. The program director will work Monday-Thursday weekly.

The office will also be closed the week of July 21-25. Because Be Not Afraid, the National ELW Convention, takes place this summer the office in effect will be closed for nearly three weeks beginning July 9 when staff will be going to Calgary.

This may result in a delay to the Fall 2008 mailing of the Esprit magazine. No rush orders for resources will done. We will require 3-6 weeks delivery time. Please plan ahead.

There may need to be a reduction of other resources and service, however, staff will assess this as they determine what can be done in the given time allotments.

Increasingly, the website will be the place for ELW related information. The website is currently being redesigned to be a more useful communication tool and the redesign will be launched early in the year. This reduces the need for printing of resources which is costly. Other changes to workloads will be monitored as staff determine what can and cannot be accomplished.

A reassessment of all of the above will be made for 2009.

Other budget decisions, made by the National ELW board include: no major topical resource will be produced in 2008 however money is being reserved for a resource to be produced in 2009 (hopefully); one Board meeting will be paid out of the externally restricted Quadrennial Convention fund and; there is no travel fund for the Board president or staff.

We trust in God to lead us through this time of adaptation and uncertainty.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact Ruth Vince, executive director, at rvince@elcic.ca.

The time for honoring and giving thanks for the changing of the seasons is drawing near…… and so, we at the Centre offer ceremonies.  This is a totally volunteer gathering.  There are no fees or charges.

“Winter Ceremonies”    Thurs, Dec 6 to Sun, Dec 9, /07

Dr. Jessie Saulteaux Resource Centre
Beausejour, Manitoba

Please contact Melody A. McKellar if you have any further questions. mckellarm@efree.mb.ca

Although camp has been shut down and is closed up for the winter now, there is still lots of busy-ness taking place for Luther Village! Planning for next season is under way!

The new 2008 brochure will be available in our Lutheran churches December 23/07. It is to be mailed out/delivered between Dec. 13 - 20, along with our winter newsletter...our Christmas gift to you!

Some EXCITING new programs are being offered in 2008...they will be previewed in the brochure, and watch for more info coming soon on these!

For those interested in our fundraising events, we have a few coupon books left to purchase($25); there are a small number of tickets for the Dinner & Dance still available (Nov. 30, $25 each, including a $10 tax receipt); and if you have not yet sent in your phoneathon pledge, there's still time to do that! Contact the winter office #783.3337.

Thanks to all for your continued support of Luther Village...your outdoor ministry!

Messiah looking for youth leader

The MNO Synod Convention will take place April 24 to 27, 2008. We begin with worship on Thursday evening, business meeting on Friday, a renewal event with guest presenter on Saturday and a closing worship on Sunday morning.

For the first time ever and in honour of our rural communities, the convention will be hosted by a rural parish,Trinity, Dauphin. While the congregation at Dauphin is small, they will be supported by the Westman Conference congregations of which they are a part of. Delegates and visitors will meet in another church building as well.

This convention will model how small congregations contribute to the larger church, how ecumenical partnerships are developed in small communities and how conferences work together to do ministry.

We look forward to seeing you in Dauphin in the spring.

Delegate Fee: $590
Youth Delegate Fee: $125
Visitor Fee: $200
Banquet Ticket: $ 25 (All visitors and delegates registered for the convention will receive a complimentary banquet ticket, but extra tickets will be sold at $25).

The Saturday Renewal event is open to everyone, and there will be a charge of $25 for those not registered for the convention.

The fee increase is mainly due to:
- travel costs - Winnipeg to Dauphin.
- hotel accomodations for everyone
- rental of facility
- normal rates of inflation.

Delegate eligibility
The eligible voting membership of conventions shall consist of:
- One lay delegate from each congregation and, from congregations having more than 300 baptized members, one lay delegate for each additional 300 baptized members or major fraction thereof.
- Ordained Ministers on the roster of the MNO synod.
- Ordained Diaconal Ministers on the roster of the MNO synod.
- Lay members of the Synod council.

A spiritual retreat has been set for rostered ministers (clergy and diaconal ministers) of MNO synod. Those who are interested will gather in worship, prayer and study of scripture on Wednesday, November 28th from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at St. Peter's Lutheran Church, Winnipeg. Parking is limited on the streets surrounding St. Peter's so please check with their office to clarify where to park.

Those who are unable to attend will receive a copy of the retreat format and may use it at another time or site. We invite conference groups to join us that day from their own communities as well.

Should you desire a copy of the retreat format please email Bishop Elaine esauer@elcic.ca before Friday, November 23rd.

Please pray for your leaders as they gather for spiritual renewal and community on this day.

Augsburg Fortress is pleased to introduce The Little Red Book in downloadable versions—free of charge! Visit www.augsburgfortress.org/redbook to download your copy today.

We provide this item to you free of charge. However, the economic realities of today's world make it difficult to meet all the needs of this church. Please consider making a donation to the One Mission Endowment Fund. Your contribution will help us develop the ministry resources for underserved communities for years to come.

L.I.T.E.(Local Investment Toward Employment) Pancake Breakfast

Indian Metis Friendship Centre
45 Robinson St ( North over the Slaw Rebchuck bridge)
November 30, 2007
7:00 am.-10 am
Tickets: $10.00, $4.00 low income children under 12 -free

Among the sponsors is KAIROS Anti-Poverty Fund which is funded through ecumenical social action programmes of KAIROS. Our local anti-poverty committee (PLURA) is happy to join other sponsors of this event. An attendance of 1,000 is anticipated,
making it the largest celebration of Community Economic Development [CED] in Manitoba.

L.I.T.E. implements a large Christmas Hamper program that purchases exclusively from inner city businesses and donates considerable items to the Christmas Cheer Board. The breakfast features locally sourced and produced pancakes, sausages and muffins, 20 local microenterprises selling their wares, and
at least 6 local musicians performing. The breakfast is served by 4 inner city catering businesses, all of them L.I.T.E. partner organizations, including Neechi Foods Co operative. Assiniboine Credit Union is the major sponsor.

For tickets and more information please phone the LITE office,571 Selkirk Ave, Phone 942.8578.

Tickets are also available at any Assiniboine Credit Union branch.

The Winnipeg Male Chorus will be performing in concert at Abundant Life Lutheran on Saturday, December 15th at 7:00pm. Abundant Life, located at 3486 Raleigh in Birds Hill is pleased to offer this evening of sacred and holiday music... to warm everyone's hearts at this special time of year.

After the concert has put you in the holiday mood there will be time for refreshments, some dessert, and of course for fellowship.

The 40 members of the Winnipeg Male Chorus sing rich four part harmony in a variety of musical genres. Directed by Helen Bergen and accompanied by Amanda Hahn-Tomchuk, the chorus has produced two recordings and performed on tour in most parts of Manitoba as well as the northern midwest USA, and northwestern Ontario. You can learn more about the chorus at winnipegmalechorus.org

Tickets are $12 per person, students are $6 and under 6 are free. They are available by calling Abundant Life Lutheran at 255.5433. Hope to see you there!

The ELCIC National Office is looking for a few churches and volunteers to assist in beta testing for our NEW web browser based Parish Database program.

The features to be tested at first are the Friends and Members, and Parish Register components.

We are looking for beta testers with the following characteristics:
1. Is NOT a current user of the Rasmus system.
2. Is willing to enter existing church membership data and Parish Register events within a secured website.
3. Is able to work with the developer over the next couple of weeks to provide useful feedback and suggestions to help improve and complete this phase of the project.
If you are interested, please contact Rick Natividad with your contact information.

Rick Natividad
Information Technology Coordinator
ELCIC National Office
204.984.9191
rnatividad@elcic.ca