DATE: December 5, 2013
TO: Ordained Ministers, Associates in Ministry, Deaconesses, Diaconal Ministers, Congregations and Visitors
FROM: Nancy L. Gordon, Secretary, Delaware-Maryland Synod
SUBJECT: 2014 Delaware-Maryland Synod Assembly
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Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ! (2 Cor. 1:2).
This will serve as your official notification of the 27th annual Assembly of the Delaware-Maryland Synod which will be held Friday, May 30, and Saturday, May 31, 2014, at the Roland E. Powell Convention Center, 4001 Coastal Highway, Ocean City, Md. The assembly begins on May 30 at 10 a.m. and closes on May 31 at 3:30 p.m. The Synod Council has approved this shorter two-day format to make it possible for congregations to save money and to make it possible for voting members to attend without having to take more than one day off work. Please note also that the registration fee for voting members has been reduced by $10 and now stands at $125.
This letter provides detailed information on the assembly program, registration procedures, hotel choices, cost and related items. Please read it carefully and proceed accordingly.
Assembly theme and special guests
In 2012, we began a three-year emphasis on our synod theme: “Walking Together in Christ: Evangelism. Leadership. Mission,” focusing especially on “Evangelism.” In 2013, we emphasized “Leadership.” In 2014, we will complete the three-year emphasis by focusing on “Mission” with keynote speaker, The Rev. Stephen Bouman of the ELCA Congregational and Synodical Mission (CSM) unit. He is the former bishop of the Metropolitan New York Synod and will also be serving as our ELCA representative. Our bible study leader will be an old friend, the Rev. Karen Brau, former pastor of Amazing Grace Lutheran Church in Baltimore and now serving as senior pastor at Luther Place in Washington, DC.
New this year: A pre-assembly banquet celebrating our ministry partners
You are invited to an optional pre-assembly banquet on Thursday, May 29, 2014, at 6:30 p.m. at the Grand Hotel. A cash bar will be available starting at 6 p.m. The banquet will celebrate our ministry partners such as the Gettysburg Seminary, campus ministries, Mar-Lu-Ridge camp, social ministry agencies and senior programs, especially those united in the Lutheran Community Consortium (LCC). The banquet features as keynote speaker our new regional gift planner, Ms. Sonya Greene, who works for both the LCC and the ELCA Foundation. Banquet tickets are $30. You can order banquet tickets as part of your overall assembly registration.
A word about representation at Synod Assembly
Each congregation of the Delaware-Maryland Synod will be represented by two or more lay persons, normally one male and one female, up to the first 185 reported baptized members. For each additional reported 185 baptized members, or major fraction thereof, a congregation will be entitled to one more lay representative, male or female. In addition, each congregation is entitled to send one youth/young adult voting member. The enclosed post card indicates the number of voting members to which your congregation is entitled.
All ordained ministers on the roster of this synod, all certified Associates in Ministry (AIM), all Deaconesses, all Diaconal Ministers (DM), all retired leaders rostered in this synod and the lay members of the Synod Council are voting members. Under our church’s constitution and by-laws, leaders on the active roster of this church are required to attend. Those who are unable to attend for whatever reason must send a letter to the bishop by April 15, 2014, explaining the circumstances and asking to be excused.
The 2010 Synod Assembly passed a resolution to allow each congregation to send one additional voting member, either male or female, who is a youth or a young adult. The term "youth" means a voting member of a congregation who has not yet reached the age of 18 at the time of election or appointment for service. The term "young adult" means a voting member of a congregation between the ages of 18 and 30 at the time of election or appointment for service. On Friday evening, May 30, there will be an opportunity for interested youth and young adults to gather to debrief the day and fellowship with one another; more details will be available as the assembly approaches.
A special housing block for youth and young adults is available at the Grand Hotel at assembly rates. Additionally, materials for high school youth to apply for service learning hours from their school are available as a model for your own application.
Please refer to the information sheet enclosed in the Synod Assembly Packet mailed to your congregation for more details. If you have any further questions contact Pastor Ed Kay at or 410-230-2863.
All materials are on the website
All materials for the business sessions of the Synod Assembly will be posted on the synod’s website www.demdsynod.org for your review prior to the assembly. There will not be a second general mailing sent to voting members. Everyone who is registered as a voting member will receive a notebook with all the updated printed materials you will need for each business session upon check-in at our on-site registration table. This will not include the annual Bulletin of Reports, the beloved “BoRe” which is posted on the synod website 30 days prior to Synod Assembly; please print out, hole-punch and bring it with you if you would like to add it to your official assembly notebook.
Registration is open from February 10 – April 15, 2014
Registration for the 2014 Synod Assembly opens on February 10 and closes on April 15, 2014. The primary mode for registration will be ONLINE through the synod website. If you register online, all subsequent communication about the Synod Assembly will be electronic. Please note that your e-mail address will be automatically added to our weekly e-letter distribution list so that we can keep you informed of synod events and happenings. If you do not wish to receive the e-letter, you may unsubscribe at any time. Updated printed materials that will be discussed during business sessions (such as agenda, budget, resolutions and nominations) will be handed to you when you register on-site at the assembly. Again, this does not include the Bulletin of Reports.
To register:
§ Go to the Delaware-Maryland Synod website on or after February 10, 2014: www.demdsynod.org
§ Click on the 2014 Synod Assembly registration link under the Synod Assembly tab.
§ On-line payments are to be made by credit card. This is a secure site for registration.
§ If you prefer to pay by check, please print out a copy of your on-line registration and send with the check to:
· Cindy Ranker, Assembly Registrar
Delaware-Maryland Synod, ELCA
575 South Charles Street, Suite 202
Baltimore, MD 21201-2482
§ Multiple registrations may be completed by one person. No password is needed.
If you are unable to register online, a mail-in registration form is included with this letter. You may register by returning the form before April 15, 2014 to:
Ms. Cindy Ranker, Diaconal Minister
Assembly Registrar
Delaware-Maryland Synod, ELCA
575 South Charles Street, Suite 202
Baltimore, Maryland 21201-2482
If you are a volunteer and/or your registration is paid by the synod, please contact Cindy Ranker, after February 10, 2014, for a separate link to your on-line registration: or 410-230-2860.
Registration fees
The 2000 Synod Assembly approved a resolution to make the Synod Assembly self-sustaining.
In 2011, through a number of dramatic cost cutting measures, we were able to lower the registration rate for
the first time in many years. Once again this year, we are able to lower the registration fee for voting members from $135 to $125. Fees for 2014 are:
Ordained Ministers $125.00
Lay Voting Members $125.00
Youth/Young Adult Voting Members $125.00
Associates in Ministry $125.00
Deaconesses $125.00
Diaconal Ministers $125.00
Retired Ordained Ministers $ 50.00
Retired Associates in Ministry $ 50.00
Retired Deaconesses $ 50.00
Retired Diaconal Ministers $ 50.00
Visitors $ 50.00
One Day Visitors’ Pass $ 30.00
Optional meals at the Convention Center
Lunch on Friday, May 30 (for $20) and Saturday, May 31 (for $20) will be available for purchase. Dinner will be on your own on Friday, May 30. Breakfast is on your own. Meals must be ordered and paid for during registration. This will be the only opportunity to purchase them.
Childcare at the Assembly
Childcare will be available for children ages 2-8 years during the business sessions only. Childcare will be free of charge. Please sign-up for childcare through your registration by the deadline which is April 15, 2014.
Worship at the Assembly
There will be two main worship services during the 2014 Synod Assembly:
A Revival Service will be held on Friday, May 30, from 7:30 – 9 p.m. in the parking lot of St. Peter Lutheran Church, 10301 Coastal Highway (or at neighboring St. Luke Roman Catholic Church in case of inclement weather). This service is being planned by our Synod Worship Action Team as an exciting outreach opportunity that will bring together our assembly participants with members of St. Peter and hopefully many visitors and guests from the Ocean City area. Our revival preacher is former Bishop Stephen P. Bouman, and our special musical guest will be Rachel Kurtz!
A Service of Holy Communion, possibly with ordinations, consecrations and/or commissionings, is being planned for Saturday, May 31, 11:00 a.m. at the Convention Center.
In addition, morning prayer services are being planned at the Grand Hotel for Friday, May 30, 7:30 a.m. (with Holy Communion) and Saturday, May 31, 7:30 a.m.
Hotel information
We are offering three hotel options this year. Two of the three hotels for the 2014 Synod Assembly are the same ones we selected last year. We continued to have good reviews of those two but in an effort to offer an even lower cost option, we have held a small block of condominiums in a third hotel, The Carousel Oceanfront Hotel & Condos, where larger groups can share the cost of a two bedroom (plus a sleep sofa) condominium. Reservations at one of the Assembly hotels must be made by April 29, 2014 in order to receive the group rate. Reservations received after April 29, 2014 will be provided on a space available basis at prevailing rates.
· You are renting either a room that will accommodate 2-4 persons or a condominium that will accommodate up to 8 persons. Prices range from $69.00 to $220.00 (Thursday, May 29) and $79.00 to $269.00 (for Friday, May 30 and Saturday, May 31) depending upon which hotel you choose and whether or not you choose a Bayside, an Ocean View, an Ocean Front room or a Condominium. To reduce the cost to your congregation, consider sharing a room with others from your home church or from a neighboring congregation. (In 2012, Synod Council members, staff and volunteers agreed to share rooms which reduces the cost to the Synod and helps reduce the registration fees.)
· Make your reservations early to get the hotel of your choice.
· Indicate any special accommodations needed when you call.
Hotel Contact Info / Room Rate – 5/29/14 / Rates – 5/30/14 & 5/31/14The Grand Hotel & Spa
2100 Baltimore Avenue
Ocean City, MD 21842
(410) 289-6191 / Grand View Rooms $81.00/night
Premier View Rooms $81.00/night
Ocean Front Rooms $91.00/night
(Single Occupancy rates)
Grand View Rooms $92.00/night
Premier View Rooms $92.00/night
Ocean Front Rooms $102.00/night
(Double Occupancy rates)
Room rate includes one hot Breakfast (including drinks) per person, per night /
Grand View Rooms $112.00/night
Premier View Rooms $112.00/night
Ocean Front Rooms $123.00/night
(Single Occupancy rates)
Grand View Rooms $123.00/night
Premier View Rooms $123.00/night
Ocean Front Rooms $134.00/night
(Double Occupancy rates)
Room rate includes one hot Breakfast (including drinks) per person, per night
The Grand Hotel & Spa is our Assembly headquarters and is located near 21st & Coastal Hwy on the boardwalk (approx. 19 blocks from Convention Center). Each room has a kitchenette with wet sink/counter, under counter refrigerator, microwave, coffee maker, ironing board, electronic safe, large balcony, and free wireless internet. There is covered parking and an indoor heated pool. There is also a 24 hour coffee shop (pastries, sandwiches, juices, specialty coffees & teas).
Hotel Contact Info / Room Rate – 5/29/14 / Rates – 5/30/14 & 5/31/14
Comfort Inn Gold Coast
11201 Coastal Highway
Ocean City, MD 21842
(410) 524-3010 / Standard Room (choice of 2 double beds or 1 king with pull-out sofa) $69.00/night / Standard Room (choice of 2 double beds or 1 king with pull-out sofa)
$79.00/night
The Comfort Inn Gold Coast is located at 112th Street & Coastal Hwy (72 blocks from Convention Center) on the bayside. Each room has microwave, refrigerator, coffee maker, ironing board, hair dryer, free HBO & High Speed Wireless Internet Access. Although there are no complimentary breakfast vouchers with these rooms, there is a 24 hour Denny’s Restaurant on-site. The hotel is at the Gold Coast Mall where Three Brothers Italian Restaurant is located as well.
Hotel Contact Info / Room Rate – 5/29/14 / Rates – 5/30/14 & 5/31/14
Carousel Oceanfront Hotel & Condos
11700 Coastal Highway
Ocean City, MD 21842
(800) 233-1228 / Condominium (features a king size bed in the master bedroom, two double beds in the second bedroom, queen sleep sofa in the oceanfront living room, a fully equipped kitchen, washer and dryer, and two full bathrooms)
$220.00/night / Condominium (features a king size bed in the master bedroom, two double beds in the second bedroom, queen sleep sofa in the oceanfront living room, a fully equipped kitchen, washer and dryer, and two full bathrooms)
$269.00/night
The Carousel Oceanfront Hotel & Condos is located at 117th Street & Coastal Hwy (77 blocks from Convention Center) oceanside. Each condo has a fully equipped kitchen, washer and dryer, and two full bathrooms. They supply all the bed linens and towels. Daily maid service is not included which helps keep the cost down. All guest rooms offer free wireless internet service. There are no complimentary breakfast vouchers with these rooms, but the Brass Ring Bistro serves coffee and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, and breakfast is served in the Seasons Oceanfront Restaurant on-site.
Help wanted… seeking Assembly volunteers!