Synod supports Valley church through...

LEWISBURG — The Upper Susquehanna Synod (USS) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in Lewisburg will receive $20,000 to cultivate deeper communities of faith in their rural contexts.The grant is through the Wartburg Theological Seminary’s The Country and Small Town Lived Ecclesiology (CaSTLE) Project, a five-year initiative to support renewal in small-town and rural congregations.The synod’s project, The Priesthood of All of USS, will further equip lay worship leaders to inspire people to live into mission beyond weekly worship time. It will equip those leaders’ mentors to support them. It will also develop additional lay leaders for alternative communities of faith.Sue Ellen Spotts, the USS director for Evangelical Mission, said this new project will help deepen baptismal identity and cultivate thriving, Spirit-led communities of faith in rural contexts.“We are grateful for the opportunity to partner with Wartburg Theological Seminary and The CaSTLE Project," Spotts said. "This grant will allow us to explore more deeply how we are being called to witness beyond the walls of our congregations, equipping our lay leaders and congregation members for a future rooted in hope and purpose.”One of the areas that the grant will explore is how to engage young adults in new worshipping communities.“Young adults’ needs are different than that of their parents and grandparents. They need faith communities that speak to these needs," Pastor Jim Vitale, associate director of Camp Mount Luther, said. "This grant will provide resources to meet young adults where they are and provide the spiritual community they so desperately need."The CaSTLE Project is funded by the Lilly Endowment Inc., and part of the Thriving Congregations Initiative.— THE DAILY ITEM