Grand Canyon Synod active and retired rostered leaders are invited to a one hour time for learning and conversation around grief and lament in our lives and ministries. Please set aside time on Tuesday, Aug. 25 at 2 pm. Register in advance for this meeting.

As rostered leaders going through ministry at this time in our daily lives Pastor Brenda Smith will guide us and teach us spiritual practices that will keep in grounded in God’s loving embrace. Please have a bible and candle available.

Rev. Brenda K. Smith, presenter for this meeting, is Program Director for Faith Practices and Book of Faith in the Domestic Mission Unit of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. In this role she works with other faith formation leaders, both lay and clergy, to create a culture of discipleship in the ELCA.

Rev. Smith and another staff member, Rev. Dwight DuBois, coordinate the Book of Faith ministry of the ELCA; a ministry that has the goal that individuals and congregations will be intentional about opening the Bible and having conversations about the transformative power of the word of God   She also convenes the ELCA’s Spiritual Renewal Team that offers healing and prayer services; Lutheran revivals; and workshops on various topics for congregations, synods and other entities in the ELCA. 

Prior to her current position Rev. Smith was pastor of New Hope Lutheran Church in Jamaica, New York for 13 years.  Before answering God’s call to ministry, she was a pediatric nurse and taught pediatric nursing at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. She attended New York University where she received both her B.S. and M.A. in nursing.  She received her Master of Divinity degree from Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, Ohio.

In her spare time Rev. Smith enjoys spending time with family and friends, watching movies, reading and listening to Motown classics, especially any songs by the Temptations.