Synod Council Meeting Summary—April 2026
On Saturday, April 18, the synod council gathered at the synod center for ministry in Iowa City for a regular meeting. For about half of the synod council, this was the final meeting of their term which ends on June 30. Bishop Current invited the council members completing their terms to reflect on three questions:
1. What is one thing you have learned about the ELCA?
2. What is one thing you have learned about this synod?
3. What is one thing you will take with you in your future as a disciple of Jesus?
The answers celebrated the depth and breadth of the ELCA and our synod as the council members expressed gratitude for the opportunity to serve the synod with the office of the bishop staff and the other council members and grow in their own faith and commitment to the ELCA.
For the education session Deacon Jodi Schuman provided an overview of the bishop election process that will take place at the 2026 Synod Assembly on May 15 and 16. The council members were able to ask questions about the process in preparation for the upcoming assembly.
In regular business, the synod council approved roster changes, appointed people to synod assembly committees, and received a clean audit report for fiscal year 2025. In the treasurer’s report, Jana Grimm shared that the mission support income and the synod spending through March were in line with the budget for the first two months of the fiscal year.
Bishop Current reported that the staff spent a day in March calling each congregation of the synod. The purpose of the calls was to thank the congregation for their mission support and completion of 2026 mission intent form along with the rostered minister report and congregation report. If any form was not complete, they were encouraged to do so. It was also an opportunity to update information for the synod database and see where the office of the bishop might be able to provide resources. Each congregation was reminded to register for the synod assembly and invited to share prayer shawls or lap quilts and to participate in the assembly offering for our partners in Tanzania.
The bishop also reported that synod assembly planning is on schedule. With a month until the assembly, most of the voting member materials are available on the webpage. Bishop Current shared the plan for future staffing, if she is re-elected, with Deacon Schuman’s upcoming retirement in June.
When all business concluded, Bishop Current offered words of farewell and godspeed for the council members completing their term on June 30. The Synod Council will be present at the synod assembly and the next meeting with many newly elected members will be Saturday, July 25.