Freed in Christ to Serve

Wednesday August 17, 2011

Freed in Christ to Serve

Orlando Florida  

One of our delegates Jay Teisberg from PrimRose Lutheran Church wrote these words to sum up our Wednesday together:

I am full of optimism that the ELCA and its Churchwide expression is alive and quite well.  I am so inspired and proud because our church is truly a church rooted in Christ and centered on His perfect example and mission. 

The Churchwide organization has responded quickly over the past year and a half to act responsibly to significant declines in benevolence and other sources of income in ways that streamline available funding so that God's work (mission) is unimpeded. 

Did you know there were 60 new congregations formed last year alone and we have a goal of forming 500 new congregations in the next 5 years?  We are in the midst of deliberating on and approving a new and vibrant Church wide organization that will more efficiently support and enable all three expressions to creatively execute programming across a wide array of ministries and mission opportunities.  We are about to deliberate on and hopefully approve a much needed and groundbreaking social statement which does not judge the use of but enables thought and discernment as to how humans steward the use of genetic science in food production, medicine and other uses.

Yes, it is a great time to be a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.  We have such a wonderful story to tell.  But we must, as members of this great church, share our stories of love, faith and hope with those overlooked and neglected in our midst.  It is through our sharing and serving (doing) that the ELCA, through Christ, will become stronger and more relevant to many. It is God's work, our hands.  We are freed in Christ to serve!  Let's get to work!

My first highlight on Wednesday amidst multiple amendments to LIFT (Living into the future) was the report of our new secretary David Swartling.  At the end of his report he used a video clip out of the archives of the American Lutheran Church.  It was the Youth Gathering in Miami Florida in 1962.  It was a fuzzy old memory of kids getting off buses from all across our country.  The keynote speaker during their four days together was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the message was about the Lutheran Church being a church of the Reformation.  King’s comments to the youth addressed racial unity and welcoming all people.  David Swartling drew our attention to the fact that we are still a church of the reformation making room for all people.  

The second highlight was the worship and preacher - Rev. Joseph Livenson Lauvanus from Haiti.  On Sunday evening I met him on the plane to Orlando.  He was in Minnesota visiting the parents of his best friend Ben Larson.  Ben was one of our ELCA pastors who died in the earthquake of Haiti.  While in the states Joseph took time to be with Ben’s mom (Former Bishop April Larson) and dad.  Pastor Joseph preached a message around the text of the Woman at the Well in John 4 on inclusion in the name of Jesus.   The same lesson we had for bible study on Tuesday.  He was inspiring and preached the gospel with clarity reminding us that we are freed in Christ to serve!  Who knows but maybe in the archives 50 years from now another assembly will be watching a clip of history that we are making in Orlando.  Thanks be to God.  Work was done I share a bit of pizza with an old friend and then sleep was welcomed!  It was the end of the third day!

Living Lutheran

To Live Lutheran

Orlando Florida: I am so proud to be a member of the ELCA!   After worship and song we enter the second day with Plenary 3 and the report of the Bishop. The recurring theme in his message was: “This is Christ’s Church, you are welcome here, and there is a place for you here!”  He told us of a woman who pressed him to sum up his forecast for the future of the church in one word, he responded: “freedom!”  He challenged the assembly to take seriously Luther’s words “Living a daring confidence in God’s grace…”  During the message we paused for video clips of hopeful signs of God’s activity in congregations across our country and the world.  In one defining moment he lifted up the hope that the ELCA is “called to multiply the church not divide it.”  Our church defines itself by our relationships not the things that divide us.  He reminded us that we live Lutheran when we listen to the Word of God.  We live Lutheran when we listen to the people of our community where we are planted.  And we live Lutheran when the Holy Spirit then leads us to respond!  These words take me back to Mary’s story in the opening worship on Monday afternoon.  I am proud to live Lutheran because we are a welcoming community with a place for everyone.  

Bishop Mark Hanson is a gifted leader who stands in the gap of faith and practice.  His closing words I am still pondering, this evening before sleep: “This is such a hopeful time in our church!”

Throughout the plenary sessions we have been looking at Video clips creatively put together by a number of our churches.  In a way it is like our confirmation structure utilizing a number of commercials to keep things fresh.  The theme of each clip is “What does it mean to live Lutheran?”  They are a mixture of humor, congregational life, and faith. 

Our morning continued with a teaching about how a Memorial is advanced to the Churchwide Assembly for consideration. 

We took time for consideration of Amendments to Constitution, Bylaws and Continuing Resolutions related to LIFT; which stands for Living into the Future Together.  This is a course of action of renewing the ecology of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.  LIFT is one of the items that will impact our future in meaningful and practical ways. 

For the second day in a row the worship service simply “knocked my socks off.”  The story of the Walk to Emmaus in Luke 24 was read in Spanish, the opening call to worship was sung in Japanese, and music during Holy Communion was a mixture of traditional hymns and blues.  “Taste and See” moved me to remember how close I feel to the presence of Christ in the precious moment of Eucharistic hospitality. 

After lunch about 1000 people entered into a bible study around the “Woman at the well” text in John 4.  It was here that I met my prayer partner Chris Preisinger for the first time; she is from Scotia New York.  Prior to our arrival in Orlando every participant was assigned someone to pray for before the assembly; who later becomes someone you learn with in bible study.  The study included 8 other people; young and old, male and female, Bishop and lay, pastor and deaconess, all from different expressions of faith communities.  The man on my left is Pastor Maecir who is Portuguese and serves a congregation on the east coast using Portuguese and Spanish as the primary languages of worship.  Yet we were both taught about Faith Based Organizing from the same people.  We come from different expressions of faith communities but have a lot in common; living Lutheran.

We were then led to areas of Mission Discovery where we learned of mission partners all over the world; topped off by a global dinner.  There are many expressions of how we live Lutheran today.  My closing prayer of thanks tonight was:  Thank you God for the opportunity to live Lutheran.  Work was done and sleep was welcomed!  It was the end of the second day!

Freed in Christ To Serve

 

Monday August 15, 2011

Freed in Christ to Serve

Orlando Florida: I find myself feeling very grateful to be a replacement for Pastor Pedro Suarez at the ELCA National Assembly in the Marriott World Center.  After literally landing in bed at 3:30 am Monday morning we awoke to the gathering of people from all over the world.  I began to taste the vastness of our church when Pastor Josephus the President of the Lutheran Church in Haiti was on my right and Pastor Phil Leer from North Dakota was on my left on the plane out of Minneapolis, Sunday evening.  Pastor Josephus asked if I was at all familiar with the Lutheran presence in Haiti; that conversation lasted a while with our mutual connection to Gladys Mungo serving Haiti’s Children, Inc.

We began under the theme “Freed in Christ to Serve.” At our first plenary we adopted the rules of organization and procedure as well as the Order of Business; with 946 people in attendance.  Before every action we pray and after each action we sing. 

I am amazed at the leadership abilities of Bishop Mark Hanson.  He leads with grace and a touch of humor that is appreciated by the community gathered.  The last time I was a voting member we did not have these wonderful high tech voting remotes that give the churchwide assembly the results in a few seconds.  In a blink of any eye, we learned that over 15% of our voting group was less than 30 and over 50% were at this event for the first time.  We are simply getting our bearings for the rest of the week.

The next step was worship – Oh my, it was a worship that touched all five of my senses; which means it moved me!  Bishop Hanson’s sermon stimulated us to ask the question: “Like Mary, are we as a church ready to be moved by the power of the spirit?”  It was a message that caused all of us to catch our breath and ponder with Mary the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  He held my feet to the question and concluded with—“by adjournment Friday, we will have given our answer!”   Imagine 1500 people singing with energy, sermon proclaimed powerfully and courageously, meal distributed beautifully, music performed lively and even the people worshipping joined in movement as we left the worship space.  These are the gifts of the people coming together. 

After supper we jumped into Plenary 2 with an introduction to Living into the Future initiative and the proposed Social Statement on Genetics.  But the highlight of the evening was the ELCA Malaria Campaign; where we voted to approve an appeal through our congregations across the world to raise 15 million dollars to eradicate malaria by the year 2015.   We set a goal so big that only God can accomplish it.  My heart was pleased to note the work we have already done to begin this work at Covenant!  Work was done and sleep was welcomed!  It was the end of the first day!