Here are a few photos from the Luther Memorial/St. Michael Mission Trip to Southwest Virginia to repair tornado damage.

Micah’s Backpack

June 2011 School Year-to-Date Results

Blacksburg Head Start Preschool * Blacksburg Middle School

Gilbert Linkous Elementary School * Harding Avenue Elementary School

Kipps Elementary School * Margaret Beeks Elementary School

Price’s Fork Elementary School * Valley Interfaith Child Care Center

On June 3, Pastor John (photo) kicked off the 24th Annual Assembly of the Virginia Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) with an excellent sermon on the Ten Commandants. The annual meeting was held at Roanoke College in Salem, VA. 417 ministers and lay leaders attended including some 37 guests/visitors. Jody Smiley, President of the Virginia Women ELCA attended, along with Ben and Carol Crawford representing St. Michael. The Reverend Jim Mauney was re-elected Bishop on the 1st ballot. His term is 6 years. The Synod Spending Plan was presented to the Assembly by Pastor John and approved unanimously. The 3-day meeting ended June 5. An extended summary of the events of the Assembly can be found here.(Submitted by Ben Crawford)

The ELCA has started a new blog called ELCA Factchecker. According to the site, since “members periodically raise concerns about ELCA ministries or policies. ELCA FactChecker examines these concerns and offers factual responses.” If you’d like to see what questions are being answered, you can go to: http://elcafactchecker.com/

At Synod Assembly over the weekend, our keynote speaker, Dr. Jessicah Krey Duckworth, spoke about a website called: enterthebible.org from Luther Seminary. According to the introduction on the front page of the website, it contains a “wealth of resources to help you grow in your faith, add depth to your Bible studies and truly discover the people, places and events of the Bible. Think of Enter the Bible as your guide, a helpful reference tool to accompany you in your reading of the Bible.” For each book of the Bible, there is a tab with a summary of the book, an outline, background information, an introduction and theological themes. The site also contains maps and timelines. If you are looking for general Bible information online, it’s a good place to start.

8 Partner Schools - Blacksburg Area Elementary Schools, Blacksburg Middle School, Blacksburg Head Start Preschool, Valley Interfaith Child Care Center

• 147 Students Helped
• 1,452 Volunteer Hours Donated
• 4,767 Backpacks Delivered
• 28,602 Meals Delivered
• 11,096 Items of Donated Food

Recently, a guidance counselor at a partner elementary school relayed the story of a Micah’s Backpack participant searching in her backpack of weekend food to give some to a guest speaker from a foreign country. As the speaker described the hunger children felt in her homeland, the participant told her that she wanted to share her weekend food with other hungry children.

Over 60 youth and adults participated in the Easter Egg Hunt at St. Michael. Everyone had a wonderful time.

Over 40 youth and adults from the New River Conference gathered at St. Michael on April 1 and 2 to learn more about poverty, have fun and undertake a few mission projects.