Please join us for our farewell barbeque of the semester.  The local people who come to this event really enjoy talking and interacting with YOU.  Help make this barbeque the best it can be by bringing smiling faces, open hearts, and open minds.

See you there :)

Lots of plans this spring and summer for gardening.  At 821 Comstock, we're cleaning out beds and planting the first hardy seeds.  Lots of fun with leaves.  At Morningside Community Garden, we're making a pumpkin patch.  Carving and Smashing to recycle parties to come next fall.  Anyone itching to get dirt under their fingernails, let us know - happy for all the help we can get!

Come to the Lutheran Campus Ministry's 6th Annual Music Festival & Basket Auction! The event will be at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Liverpool, NY on April 29th from 2-5pm! For more in-depth and up-to-date information about the event or about the Lutheran Campus Ministry please visit our Facebook page and event!

Here are the links to our Facebook page and event. Hope to see you all there!

Paula Hughson grew up in Oneonta, NY on the other end of the city from where the Herrick's lived.  She was much, much older than Craig and still is.  So... no, they didn't know each other as youth.

Pastor Herrick is a graduate of Hamilton College and LTSP.  He has fond memories of campus ministry at Hamilton, under the leadership of Chaplain Joel Tibbetts, who might have been a Disciple of Christ minister or maybe from the UCC?  Funny, he remembers the man and his hospitality but not the denomination.

Spring semester program. Hope this encourages you to explore spirituality through the arts and trying something new.

    Over winter break, I traveled to Richmond, South Africa with Hope in South Africa. For the week I was there, I spent most of my time working at the community center with children. They were very enthusiastic about the crafts we had planned for them and the games we played. I was surprised how much was the same and how much was different. We played duck, duck, goose and soccer and enjoyed a few dance parties to Justin Bieber. During those times, it was like I was at any summer camp in the United States. At other times, it was a little different.
    A few of the mornings I was there, I participated in Grassroot Soccer activities. These games were soccer based, but were meant to teach the children about HIV/AIDS prevention. Not quite what you would find at most camps I have been to. They taught very important messages in a fun way; you almost forgot you were supposed to be learning. I was surprised to be learning about health issues through a game after always learning about it in school. I soon learned it isn’t comfortable to talk about health issues in school, but the games make it a less taboo topic.
    Each day, we watched the children eat at the soup kitchen that was part of the community center. One afternoon, we took the leftovers out to the squatters’ camp on the outskirts of town. We drove past tin shacks and children without shoes until we got to the middle of the camp. As we drove in, lots of children had started to run after our van. They knew what happened when the Americans came to visit. Two lines quickly formed behind our cars, one for the children, one for the adults. We handed out sandwiches, juice, and apples to as many children as we could. We didn’t get to the adult line. I didn’t realize it until I started talking to one of the South Africans who went with us, but the apples were very special to the children. Fresh fruits were not one of the things they got very often, so they were a special treat. I also learned that usually the children are served only after the adults are eaten. When the Americans came, it was different. We served the children first.
    The last day we were in Richmond, we had the children decorate picture frames for their craft. When they were done, we took a picture of them holding their frame and immediately printed it so they had a photo to fill the frame. As we handed the photos back to the children, one little boy came running up to me so I could help him put the photo in his frame. It was hard to tell which he was more proud of: the frame he had decorated himself or the photo he had to put in it. Either way, I will never forget his smile as he proudly showed me his project.
    There are so many more stories I could tell from my trip. I enjoyed each day and hope I can go back soon. We kept a blog while we were there with more stories about our crafts and activities at the community center. Read more at: http://hopeinsouthafrica-trips.blogspot.com/

Music Festival and Basket Auction on April 29, 2012 from 2pm to 5pm.

College students and community memeber of all ages come together for an afternoon of fellowship with a talent show, and silent auction fundraiser for Lutheran Campus Ministry in Syracuse with theme gift baskets and attic treasures. Special feature of this Annual event is honoring our distinguish disciples who have gone beyond all expectations in their service to Christ. This year we honor Pastor Craig Herrick and Pastoral Associate Paula Hughson from First English Lutheran Church for their compassionate urban ministry and long term faithful partnership with Lutheran Campus Ministry.

Hotdogs and s'mores even in the snow!  Four years of fun.  From children to the elderly, meet and serve the local community on Feb 24!

In Fall of 2011, Pastor Gail Riina coordinated a series of seminars at Syracuse University that allowed students and community members to experience religiously ethic meals and listen to speakers who discussed who they are through what they eat. This video provides a summary of the dialogue that took place with four different religions; Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, while we shared a meal made entirely with the Seven Sacred Grains; barley, corn, oats, millet, rice, rye, and wheat.

Fairtrade coffee is now the exclusive offering at student run coffee shop in basement of Hendrick's Chapel - thanks to Pastor Gails' encouragement of "People's Place" student manager to advocate for cause she believed in.  

LCM won the university's prestigious  " Martin Luther King Unsung Hero's Award" in 2005 for establishing this program that helps Syracuse city residents cross over the "Digital Divide".

Now 23 tons of clothes and household goods - given by students to city residents Started with LCM students, Paula Hughson (FEL) and Francis Parks (Hendricks) picking up clothes left by students at the end of the year in Paula's station wagon and taking them down to the Northside Clothes Closet. 

Hot dogs in the Kingdom  5:30 pm -  With or Without Snow