Sent…we are a sent church, each one of us. We are sent into the communities in which we live, play, work, and worship to engage those whom God places in our lives each day. This is such an important perspective on how we live our lives…God’s calling us to “be church” right where we are and not wait for Sunday morning at 10am. Although most of us love our Sunday morning rituals and many of us find strength there, our mission and our scriptures remind us that “church” is that, but it is also sooooooo much more, sooooo much bigger. Church is not only about our own relationship with our creator and our savior, but also with the one who gifts us with each other and sends us out into the world – the Holy Spirit – as we witness in Pentecost when the Spirit was gifted to us and breathed on us through those disciples so long ago.
With the gift of The Holy Spirit, we get to look up and out as a church together. Did you know there are 140 Lutheran member churches of The Lutheran World Federation (LWF)? Isn’t that amazing? We, the ELCA, are part of a Lutheran body that exists all over the world in 140 different iterations of Lutheran doctrine and perspective. As such, each of the 65 synods of the ELCA has at least one official international church relationship that we call a “companion synod.” These relationships are concrete expressions of the communion and fellowship we are called into as the Body of Christ.
The Northwestern Ohio Synod actually has three official companion synods: the Slovak Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Serbia [Slovenská evanjelická augsburgského vyznania v Srbku], the Dodoma Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT) [Kanisa la Kiinjili la Kilutheri Tanzania, KKKT]; and the Lutheran Church in Mexico (ILM) [Iglesia Luterana Mexicana].
Why are companion synod relationships important?
The relationship with all of our companion synods are important because we learn so much about “accompaniment,” which promotes the values of mutuality, inclusivity, vulnerability, empowerment and sustainability. It is truly a give and take, total sharing relationship as we learn how God is at work throughout the church around the world. We learn from them and they learn from us as together we nurture and strengthen one another for life and ministry through prayer, study, communication, exchange of visitors and sharing of resources.
What we learned on our most recent trip is that the NWOS relationship with the ELCT Dodoma Diocese is a big deal in many ways, not the least of which is because the ELCT is the second largest Lutheran body in the world with 7,000,000 members and growing. There is so much we learn when we engage with our brothers and sisters in Tanzania about evangelism and mission, the excitement of the Spirit in everyday life, building relationship with “the least of these” in a wide-variety of services and education, entrepreneurship that villages and churches are creating and living out, and culture shifts weaving tribal traditions into a new Spirit-filled, vibrant church that leans into living everyday with the purpose of sharing faith and bringing more disciples to faith.
It is also a big deal because the city of Dodoma is now the Capital of the country of Tanzania. We saw the President of Tanzania on the weekend of Bishop Christian Ndoza’s consecration, and the Vice President was in attendance and spoke at the Consecration as well. The city is growing by leaps and bounds: new housing, so much traffic, new businesses and restaurants, markets and commerce. It is a vibrant city and the Lutheran Church is right in the middle of it all, sharing the Good News and influencing how the city, the government and the church is growing and evolving. Let us know if you would like to learn more about our Companion Synod relationships! You can talk to anyone in the delegation that went to Tanzania in May, or the Global Mission Board:
2023 Delegation to Tanzania Bishop Daniel Beaudoin Sherry Krieger Cassidy Krieger Pastor Sarah Schaaf Wellington Kamala Pastor Brenda Peconge Becky Seibert Terri Trobridge Pastor Ashley Rosa-Ruggieri Megan O’Brien Ron Hiatt Calla Gilson
NWOS Global Mission Board Becky Seibert Wellington Kamala Carol Costello Cathy Martin Jim Martin Deborah Gundlach Roger Gundlach Fred Heaney Pastor Jacob Nekoranec Maggy Everett Pastor Bob Noble Pastor Nate Tuff Pastor Rob Johnson Pastor Matt Musteric Ron Hiatt Pastor Brenda Peconge Calla Gilson Pastor Sarah Schaaf Caroline Guy
Please keep these relationships, our companion synods, and God’s sending of us into the world in your prayers! | 
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