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!