Grand Canyon Synod of the ELCA

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2022 Fund for Leaders Golf Classic announces $20,000 goal, with matching funds

The goals for the 2022 Fund for Leaders Golf Classic are to find 144 golfers and raise $20,000 in donations. If $20,000 is raised, a donor will match it!

Chairperson Kirk Anderson encourages congregations to spread the news, and has prepared a PDF flyer and brochure, a Powerpoint slide, and Word documents of a sample newsletter and a letter of appeal.

The event is at the Arrowhead Golf Course in Glendale is Monday, November 14, 2022, beginning at 7 am. Check out this registration form for more info. Friends of golfers and the fund can also come out and enjoy the lunch program.


Dear Working Church,

Your budget already supports the ELCA Fund for Leaders. A percentage of a percentage of every dollar sent to Synod is apportioned to the Fund. Thank you for being part of a churchwide effort to support seminarians.

Now let’s make it personal.

Here in the Grand Canyon Synod, we dedicate the proceeds of our annual Fund for Leaders appeal to candidates from local congregations. Thanks to the generosity of churches like yours, the synod now provides direct financial support to candidates, when and where it is needed.

These scholarships are timely and effective. They have made the difference, for some of our candidates, between staying in seminary or dropping out to make a living.

Please respond to this appeal in one or more ways:

  • Find a golfer or four to play in the 11th Annual Fund for Leaders Golf Classic on November 14 at Arrowhead Country Club in Glendale.

  • Show your support with a $200 hole sponsorship and put your church on display as shown here from a couple of supporters.

  • Post a flyer and include an article in your newsletter to find that special member with a passion for golf AND the future of Being Church.

Please join me in praying for our Grand Canyon Synod seminarians, that they be sustained in their studies, that they come to sustain all of us in their years of ministry ahead.

—Pr. Kirk Anderson (retired)
Chair, Fund for Leaders Golf Classic

928-420-1422, kirkemm@gmail.com

P.S. We’ve got you covered! Call or email me for Golfer Registration forms, brochures, flyers, and copy/graphics for a newsletter article.  We’ll also make your hole sponsor sign. 


An Article for Church Newsletters

  • Publicity for the Grand Canyon Synod Fund for Leaders Scholarship

  • An Appeal for Golfers and Donors

Somewhere along the way, a pastor came alongside.

Accompanied you through a baptism, a wedding, a medical procedure, a burial.

Prayed for you through good times and bad. 

Called you by name in rituals of remembrance.

In gratitude for the men and women who proclaim the Gospel throughout the span of our lives, the annual appeal to support future church leaders is underway. The appeal is twofold: First, to invite golfers to participate in the Golf Classic. Second, to invite anyone with a passion for the future of the church to donate to the Fund for Leaders.

Here in Arizona, our annual Golf Classic raises funds for seminarians whose call to ministry has come out of local congregations. By making seminary more affordable, our gifts empower these emerging leaders to serve where there is need and as the Spirit leads. Our gifts help equip them to lead congregations through tough times while also inspiring us all to envision new ways of Being Church.

Please support this year’s Fund for Leaders appeal if you:

  • wonder what you can do about the ongoing shortage of pastors and deacons.

  • think the Holy Spirit, not overwhelming debt, should be the primary factor in candidacy decisions.

  • want the church to thrive and know healthy leaders make all the difference in the world.

This year’s goals:

  • find 144 golfers for the Golf Classic at Arrowhead Country Club on November 14.

  • raise $20,000 in donations (if we meet this goal, one donor has promised to match it)!

For more information on registering for the Golf Classic and/or donating to the synod’s Fund for Leaders, contact Pr. Kirk Anderson (retired) at 928-420-1422 or at kirkemm@gmail.com.