What is the Synod of Mid-America?

The word "synod" comes from the Greek "σύνοδος" (synodos) meaning "assembly" or "meeting", and it is synonymous with the Latin word "concilium" meaning "council".

The Synod of Mid-America consists of six presbyteries, their 355 congregations, and some 36,462 members. At its March 23, 2023, stated meeting the assembly of the Synod of Mid-America (SoMA) adopted new statements of its mission, vision and values:

Mission

The Synod of Mid-America (SoMA) is a council of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), a community of presbyteries and their congregations and members, working in covenant together to bring to life the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ in Kansas, Missouri, and south-central Illinois.

Vision

To bring followers of Christ into “a community of faith, hope, love, and witness” (Book of Order, G-3.0401).

Values

The SoMA embraces the values of spirituality, love, adaptability, integrity, and intelligence in all its work.

Goals and Objectives

As the Synod continues a season of transition, it has engaged in a process of identifying key ways of living into its mission and ministry. At its March 23, 2023, meeting, the synod assembly identified four themes, each with a goal and several objectives for putting our mission, values and vision into action. At its October 2023 meeting, the synod assembly designated these goals and objectives as its missional priorities for 2024.

1.      Programs and Educational Training: Partner with presbyteries to identify, develop, and deliver programming to enrich members, congregations, and the communities they serve.

  •  Identify, document, and disseminate existing benchmark programs and develop programming where necessary to fulfill being a Matthew 25 synod:

    • Focus #1: Building Congregational Vitality

    • Focus #2: Dismantling Structural Racism

    • Focus #3: Eradicating Systemic Poverty

    • Intersectional

      • Climate Change

      • Gender Justice and Heteropatriarchy

      • Militarism

  • Resource, develop, and lead a revitalization initiative to:

    • Engage and support youth.

    • Provide spiritual and leadership education to churches and presbyteries.

    • Address church decline with a widely shared research assessment of the efficacy of current processes and initiatives.

  • Serve as a theological and programmatic resource for research and developed programs.

  • Identify, document, and disseminate existing benchmark educational training and develop training where necessary for:

    • Leadership (congregational, elder, commissioners, and especially Commissioned Lay Pastors/Commissioned Pastors/Commissioned Ruling Elders using existing Clinical Pastoral Education centers to train lay leaders).

    • Pastors

    • Youth

    • Pastoral Care

  • Develop creative, diverse, and flexible content methods for delivering programming and training such as remote and hybrid platforms, educational workshops, symposiums, and crowd sourcing.

2.      Relationships, Collaboration, and Communication: Facilitate intimate, inclusive, and intentional relationships between all church bodies that both acknowledge and leverage demographic and logistical differences and strengths.

  • Champion a spirit of cooperation within the kindom of God’s beloved children in Kansas and Missouri.

  • Discern needs, create space, rally in solidarity, and bridge gaps.

  • Connect the synod with presbyteries and congregations through increased face-to-face and remote interactions.

  • Create networking connections and partnerships between congregations and between presbyteries based on both similarities and differences.

  • Improve communication and information sharing with increased frequency and expanded descriptions and interpretations that promote better understanding of the work of all church bodies for laypeople.

  • Apply lessons learned from the Covid crisis to become adaptable and capability for rapid response to future realities.

3.      Pastoral Care: Partner with presbyteries as they attract, support, and retain high quality leadership for their communities of faith, hope, love, and service.

  • Develop a Synod-based program to serve pastoral leaders, particularly those in their first call.

  • Develop a Synod-wide program to address the sense of isolation and burnout many pastors feel.

4.      Stewardship: Evaluate and align the allocation of financial and human resources to assure they are optimized to the needs of the Synod.

  • Establish open communication processes regarding SoMA’s finances.

  • Review financial reports on a regular basis.

  • Discern staff needs in conjunction with assigned tasks and duties.