Synod Assembly

Mark your calendars for Synod Assembly 2024 in Kearney! The central theme of this year’s gathering is “Cultivating Love”. It’s a theme that encourages us to nurture compassion and understanding in our lives and communities. We’re thrilled to have Jeff Chu, as our keynote speaker and Rev. Sara Cutter as our Churchwide Representative! You can look forward to insightful speeches, engaging discussions, and a chance to connect with others across our synod.

Early Bird: February 1 – March 17
Voters: $195 Visitors & Retirees: $175
Regular: March 18 – April 21
Voters: $245 Visitors & Retirees: $200
Late: April 22 – May 5
Voters: $270 Visitors & Retirees: $230

Hotel Accommodations:
Comfort Inn: $129.95 (308-236-3400)
LaQuinta: $129.95 (308-237-4400)
Fairfield: $144.95 (308-236-4200)

Keynote Speakers

Jeff Chu

Writer, Reporter, Pretend Farmer, Co-host, Preacher, Teacher

Biography: Writer, reporter, editor. Editor-at-large at Travel+Leisure. Occasional preacher. Teacher in residence at Crosspointe Church. Ph.D. student in theology at the University of Stellenbosch. Ordinand in the Reformed Church in America (RCA). Cook, gardener, and dog walker to Fozzie in Michigan, where my husband and I moved in 2020. (First time living in the Midwest. Snow tires are a revelation!) Until recently, I also served as co-curator, with Sarah Bessey, of Evolving Faith; I still help facilitate the community’s BIPoC group.

Before that, I was a seminarian at Princeton Theological Seminary, where I worked as a farmhand at PTS’s Farminary. Don’t be deceived… When I got to the Farminary, a 21-acre experiment in sustainable agriculture that doubles as the world’s best classroom, I didn’t know anything about farming and I had more experience killing plants than nurturing them. But my work on the farm changed me. More than anything else in my life, that land taught me about the story of life, death, and new life that God has written into creation.

Rev. Sara Cutter

Senior Director, CCL Operations

Biography: The Rev. Sara Cutter is the Senior Director for Operations in the Christian Community and Leadership Home Area of the ELCA’s churchwide organization. In this role, she manages the operations of various ministries engaged with supporting and nurturing ELCA congregations and growing their leaders. She is also a member of the Candidacy Leadership Development Working Group. Before serving the churchwide organization, she led three parishes of varying sizes and locations. In Pastor Sara’s earlier professional days she worked as an engineer and during that time earned an MBA. She is married to another pastor, the Reverend Todd Cutter. Together they have a delightful daughter, Amelia, and two persnickety dogs, Belle and Josie. She is an avid Ohio State Buckeyes fan.

Rev. Scott Alan Johnson

Bishop, Nebraska ELCA

Biography: The Rev. Scott Alan Johnson was born and raised on a family farm near Wakefield, NE. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Classics from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a Master of Divinity degree from Luther Seminary. Prior to being elected bishop of the Nebraska Synod in 2022, he served as pastor of Peace Lutheran Church in Barrett, MN, as campus pastor of the University Lutheran Center at Iowa State University in Ames, IA, as pastor of St. Petri Lutheran Church in Story City, IA, and as Director of Campus Ministries at Midland University in Fremont, NE. Scott and his wife Kristin are the proud parents of two daughters, and they live in Fremont, NE.