It’s easy to start a mission interpretation ministry in your congregation -- to help people understand where offerings go, and equip them with skills for telling their own stories. These resources can serve as a guide for giving mission moments.
General Mission Interpretation Resources
Tip Sheet
Ideas for effective mission interpretation
Top Five Things to Remember When Giving a Mission Interpreter Presentation
Recommended guidelines for telling a mission interpretation story
Interpreting Mission on a Congregational Level
Tools for Identifying Stories in Your Congregation
How to find stories in your church
How to Tell Your Congregation's Story
A Seeds for the Parish article on storytelling
Telling a Mission Interpretation Story
How to show the difference that giving makes
How Am I Connected to the ELCA? handout
Showing members they are part of a wider church
Interpreting Mission on a Synodical Level
The Lutheran New Yorker
A synod newsletter published three times a year
News
Up-to-date stories from around the synod
MNYS e-letter
A weekly update on synod news and events
To Tanzania with Love
Video about our relationship with a companion synod
Interpreting Mission on a Churchwide Level
Finding Yourself in the Story
Connecting to ministries that seem distant
Stories of Faith in Action
ELCA stories, online and as bulletin inserts (2012)
Where Your Offering Goes
Offerings are shared at congregational, synodical, and churchwide levels (2012)
Budget information and bulletin inserts
Breakdown of the $1.8 billion given to the ELCA (2012)
Que destino tiene su ofrenda
Where Your Offering Goes (in Spanish)
God's Work, Our Hands
Video of ministries made possible by mission support (2008)
Hand in Hand
Blog of ELCA missionary stories
A Day in the Life of a Missionary
Video explaining what ELCA missionaries do
The Lutheran
ELCA magazine, including study guides
Mission Support: Where Your Money Goes
Video about how mission support is used (2006)
Seeds for the Parish
Newspaper detailing resources available from the ELCA
ELCA News Service
Current news headlines from around the church
ELCA World Hunger Resource Packet
Learn about and take part in ending world hunger
ELCA Mission Interpretation website
Churchwide library of resources
Samples
Sample Tanzania Presentation
A 3-4 minute talk (that can be adapted)
Sample ELCA Hunger Appeal Presentation
A 1-2 minute talk (that can be adapted)
Sample ELCA Global Mission Presentation
Three global mission vignettes
Sample ELCA Global Mission Presentation 2
Story about St. Andrews Refugee Ministry, Cairo
Sample Thank You Presentation
Short talk to show how we are connected as the wider church and thank people for congregational ministry
For more information, contact Sarah Gioe, Director of Communication & Interpretation, at 212-870-2376 or sgioe@mnys.org.