Branden Dupree Report

 

 

It is a privilege to serve as your Director for Evangelical Mission and Advocacy Coordinator, guiding Mission Development, strategic partnerships and collaborative initiatives across our synod. As a bridge between Churchwide, the Metropolitan New York Synod and our congregations, I have the joy of walking alongside you in imagining abundance and embracing new possibilities.

 

With a “Mission Forward” focus, we are advancing digital ministry, strengthening our outward engagement, and fostering a more learned leadership. Together, we are shaping a future wherein the church remains innovative, connected and rooted in God’s mission. 

 

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America remains a predominantly white, middle-class church, with most members of European descent. Despite ongoing multicultural efforts, achieving authentic diversity across all expressions of the church remains a challenge. Since its inception, the ELCA has wrestled with becoming a truly multiethnic and multicultural church.

 

The Metropolitan New York Synod embraces the richness of its ethnic diversity, recognizing that true inclusion requires a fundamental reorientation of our purpose—to live like Christ in each of our communities. This commitment prioritizes community-centered pastoral leadership, reparative justice, and advocacy.

 

By creating, supporting, and resourcing ministries through this missional lens, we address how race and ethnicity intersect with systemic marginalization, including gender, sexuality, and ability. This work moves us toward greater structural equity, inclusiveness, and justice. As a result, we are reimagining how mission development, strategic ministries, and collaborative partnerships function.

 

Our partnered commitment with the ELCA is reflected in strategic investments in diverse ministries across the synod:

 

Through these strategic partnerships and in proclamation of the gospel, we continue to cultivate a church that reflects the fullness of God’s diverse people, striving for a future rooted in justice, equity, and authentic Lutheran community.

 

Stewardship and generosity exist in a complex and shifting landscape. MNYS congregations—and those who lead them—must develop a theologically integrated understanding of money to confidently invite others to participate in mission through financial giving. Trust in institutions has eroded, and the religious “market” is crowded with new providers of spiritual goods and services competing for attention and resources. Yet here’s the good news: Stewardship is about relationship, not money. By understanding these shifts and the demographics of our communities, we can engage this reality with clarity and purpose.

 

Stewardship is a sacred conversation—one rooted in integrity, vulnerability, and collaboration—where we seek meaning and become a blessing to others. Today, effective stewardship requires deeper knowledge, education, research, and training than ever before.

 

On paper, Metropolitan New York’s collective giving mirrors the denomination-wide decline. Ministries that operate from a mindset of scarcity struggle, despite serving a God of abundance. Monthly contribution summaries show entire conferences pledging and giving nothing—an alarming reality that often dominates the conversation. Yet within these same reports, we see powerful examples of ministries affirming the mission of our synod and giving generously beyond expectation.

 

Look deeper, dear church—God is at work among you. The positive year-to-date variances remind us that generous dollars follow missional clarity, not need.

 

Truly, money follows mission. When we recognize that participation is a value-driven habit—formed through intentional response—our leadership can foster more authentic public conversations that nurture generosity, strengthen mission, and deepen our shared faith.

 

To quote Synod Vice President, Christopher Vergara, “Our impression of God and divinity must align with people’s lived experiences.” Our members are subjects, not objects. What matters most? How do we, collectively, remain sensitive to that? How do we understand this work together? Synod advocacy is stewardship viewed through a different lens, and our leaders need the right language, tools, and opportunities to engage.

 

Serving as the Advocacy Coordinator for the Metropolitan New York Synod has been an invaluable opportunity to reframe how we show up for and with the people we are called into relationship with. With culturally competent resources, training, education, and opportunities, we have a unique opportunity to invite people into advocacy while deepening relationships around the issues that matter to our congregations and leaders.

 

Our priorities were to: understand the needs of diverse communities, identify trainings and opportunity zones, develop and maintain relationships with missional partners, and assess collective impact.

 

The 2024-2025 year marked a banner year, as the Office of the Bishop led efforts as a Sanctuary denomination, responding to the city’s evolving migration patterns. In collaboration with Neighbors Link, AMMPARO, and the ELCA Advocacy Office in Washington, D.C., we provided legal, language, and immigration resources for the newest New Yorkers, as well as service opportunities across our synod.

 

Affordable housing, a critical issue with ripple effects across the economy, health, and public safety, became a key focus. In response to the pressing need for affordable housing, we partnered with Bricks and Mortals, the NYS Council of Churches, and the Office of the Mayor of New York, to connect congregations to seminars on Faith-Based Affordable Housing. We also engaged in statewide lobbying and strategic cohorts to connect faith leaders and real estate professionals with sustainable opportunities.

 

True community requires healing. While advocating for LGBTQIA+ justice can be political, our Synod’s work focused on supporting diversity and uplifting Black, Brown, and Queer voices and spaces. In collaboration with Reconciling Works, we identified and celebrated MNYS congregations that discerned to become Reconciled in Christ (RIC). Alongside the ELCA’s Director for Racial and Gender Justice, we provided education on Sexuality, Orientation, and Gender Expression for our congregations.

 

Bishop Egensteiner, thank you for extending the call to me and offering me the opportunity to serve. Church, serving as your Director of Evangelical Mission and Advocacy Coordinator has never been about being the expert, but about creating and holding space for meaningful relationships. In moments that challenge our humanity, we are called to be our highest and best selves, revealing that thoughts, prayers, and collective action enable people to experience God in ways that align with their lived experiences.