Synod Assembly 2013 Pr.
Martin D Wells, Bishop
Bishop’s Report
Grace and peace to you from the Triune God, Father, +Son,
and Holy Spirit, in whom we live and breathe and have our being.
It’s been anything but a quiet year in our home synod, the Eastern
Washington and Idaho Synod of the ELCA, including our two congregations in
far-west Wyoming. It’s as if the ancient
tectonic plates below the earth’s crust have been restless this year and we’re
all a bit jostled from the herky-jerky movements that we can’t control. Many of us have seen the articles on “the
shrinking church” and feel it at home! Suffice
it to say I’m a bit jumpy and I’m guessing you are too! For me it is an urgent time of faith and
trust in our creative God, that same God who is always about the work of
restoring life and opening the future.
This year we gather under the theme, “The Spirit Powers Us,”
a guiding principle of our synodical ministry and a statement voiced in faith
that the God who has given us life and restored it in Jesus Christ is still at
work through the Holy Spirit. The Holy
Spirit is fresh breath when life squeezes us hard. The Spirit is the warm embrace of God and the
fire that cleanses us. The Holy Spirit of God ignites our creative selves when
new breakthroughs are needed and our wits are at their end.
We don’t, as a denomination, call on the Holy Spirit too
often. Our favorite book on the Spirit
calls it “The Shy Member of the Trinity,” (F. Dale Bruner, 2001). Perhaps we don’t speak of the Spirit more
often because we know the power she has (the Wisdom literature of the first
Testament was ascribed to Lady Wisdom, thought to be a forerunner to the Holy
Spirit) and, in my case, because of memories as a young boy when a charismatic
movement challenged my home congregation.
Lutheran was divided from Lutheran as we struggled to know the meaning
of “speaking in tongues” and the fact that whether one had the gift or not
seemed arbitrary and threatening. My
father-in-law, Pr. John Briehl, when asked whether he sought the gift of
tongues, is reported to have said, “Oh my goodness, no! I have been given so many gifts already I’d
be embarrassed to seek another!” I
suspect my dear father-in-law of artful-dodging in a day when the Spirit seemed
to confuse our speech rather than give it clarity as on the day of Pentecost!
It has been good to spend a little time rereading the small
and large catechisms of Martin Luther, especially the explanation to the Third Article
which reads, “I believe that by my own
understanding or strength I cannot believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to
him, but instead the Holy Spirit has called me in the true faith, just as he
calls, gathers, enlightens, and makes holy the whole Christian church on earth
and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one common, true faith. Daily in this Christian church the Holy
Spirit abundantly forgives all sins—mine and those of all believers. On the last day the Holy Spirit will raise me
and all the dead and will give to me and all believers in Christ eternal
life. This is most certainly true.” (p.
1162, Evangelical Lutheran Worship). I
commend the catechisms to you again, and in particular those portions having to
do with the Holy Spirit.
I don’t think it is an accident that I am hearing more
references to the Spirit in this day as we are praying more urgently for wisdom
and understanding. My own prayer is that
the Spirit would hover very close to give us courage and steadfastness while
the earth shakes with change and the path ahead is fresh with both excitement
and a sense of foreboding. If in fact it
is not the “spirituality” of the earth’s people that is absent—as in “spiritual
but not religious”--then God is at work, but in ways still mysterious to us who
yearn for the church to once again be the vessel of regeneration and hope. For that day we wait in confidence by the
power of the Holy Spirit!
In the face of dwindling financial resources and the loss of
members the church must make those adaptations that preserve the essence of our
witness. We can’t do as many things as we’ve done in the past. We can’t reach as far. The rest of this report is, in some ways, a
testament to our synodical commitment to preserve congregations as the most
basic unit of the church and the place where most of us find our weekly
sustenance and hope. This is grief work
for some of us who have worked in the institutions of the church—colleges,
seminaries, social-service agencies, camps, and district, synod, and Churchwide
offices. Some congregations know this
loss as well of course, and even as we seek more creative ways to allow small
congregations to flourish, we can feel the earth move and the day swallow up
precious and faithful outposts of the faith.
So, “the way forward” is faithfulness in the day we have,
not the day we wish we had. To that end
an important task force has been at work to help us plan for these days. We have named our effort “The Way Forward”
because “The Way” is one of the first names for those who followed Jesus, and
we have his own testimony that he is “the way, the truth, and the life”(John
14:6). So we follow, both in realistic
appraisal of the day and in readiness for that day when a full flowering of
mission is possible again by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Way Forward (TWF) has met four times since November 2012. A complete report of their work will be
presented at this Assembly. Please listen
carefully and assist in this work by asking clarifying questions and by
answering a survey designed to test some of the tentative conclusions of the
task force. We anticipate that, in two
more meetings this spring and early summer, we will have proposals for the
Synod Council to study in the fall. The
Synod Council will be asked to put these proposals into organized form to test
with you in Cluster meetings during the 2013-2014 school year and then, if
warranted, propose structural changes to the synodical church and synod office
at the Assembly in 2014. TWF has been
charged to consider the very best configuration of synod resources in support
of congregations and their ministry. My
own sense is that we are committing ourselves to a leaner synod office and more
involvement from the clusters and members who will be asked to learn new skills
in support of our church.
The synod budget represents a crucial aspect of this
planning as well. We finished in the
black last year (FY 2013) but $60,000 behind our budgeted goal, even
accounting for the portion of the budget saved by not calling a new assistant to
replace Pr. Mark Nelson. Did
congregations take advantage of the sense that the synod needed less monetary
support or is it the case that congregation budgets are squeezed in an equally
difficult way?
This is the third Bishop’s report in which I ask that the
congregations work toward an average of 8% giving in mission support, mission
support being that part of your congregational giving that is given in direct
support of synodical and Churchwide ministries.
You can calculate your mission support percentage by dividing the amount
given last year by the amount of unrestricted giving to your congregation. So, for instance, if $90,000 was given in
unrestricted offerings and you gave $5,000 in mission support, your mission
support percentage would be 5.5%, the average mission support offering for our
congregations in 2011. In the example
given I hope you would strive to offer a gift of $7200, which would equal an 8%
mission support percentage.
Why is this important?
Offerings at an average of 8% would make it possible to replace staff
and equipment at the synod office and would make it possible for us to support
the rest of the national and international church at acceptable levels. Presently we are not fulfilling our
constitutional responsibilities for mission support.
I know that you face real challenges in financing your
ministry. There are unknown challenges
ahead regarding the Affordable Care Act and Pastor Jeff Thiemann is present at
our Assembly to offer a sense of that future and to seek your counsel on the
philosophy of benefits that Portico is proposing for the future.
The Way Forward is considering the options available that
will support your ministry and account for the real challenges faced by
congregations. We will adapt to the faithful response you offer through
your mission support and we ask that you be prepared to take up new roles
in your clusters on behalf of our common ministry. In this way we can be assured of robust and
faithful ministry across our territory.
This is the shape of our synodical discipleship.
It is exciting to report that our synodical discipleship is
taking new forms for this unique day. I
urge you to attend to the wide variety of hearings and workshops that have been
planned for this assembly and to pay special attention to those that have to do
with new mission starts. The creativity
of local members and pastors, and the support of Pr. Helga Jansons as Director
for Evangelical Mission, means that we are probing, pushing, and praying in
lots of different directions. Another new
and creative approach to rural ministry is the call of a United Methodist
pastor to serve the Lutheran and Presbyterian congregations of Wilbur, WA. This is a great example of how our
full-communion relationships make it possible to keep a mainline presence in
the small towns of our synod.
In support of our ministry to the international church we’re
delighted that two visitors are with us from our companion synod in
Tanzania. Ms.
Angela Msita and Pr. Eliud Payowela are touring our synod for three weeks
learning from our ministries and meeting our members. They will be introduced at our Friday banquet
and you are invited to visit with them at the Global Mission/Companion Synod
display area. Later this summer five of
us will be visiting Ulanga/Kilombero in order to celebrate 100 years of mission
activity in the Diocese and to meet with other supporting partners from other
parts of the world. Our continuing
support goes to Tumaini School, Lugala Hospital, the travel fund, and the Diocese
while a special project is underway to build a dining hall for the school. We hope to have updates available in the
fall.
Finally, a word of thanks to the synod staff and to our
faithful leaders on the Synod Council and The Way Forward Task Force: Vice President Gary Gemar has been an
exemplary leader for the synod council and has put in countless hours as
co-chair of The Way Forward group. Synod
work takes days and days of his vacation time each year and he has maintained
his good humor even as a member of the Finance Committee! Tami McHugh has continued offering selfless
service as our synod Treasurer for 14 years and we welcome Paula Kenney in the
role as Secretary for the Synod. Thanks
go to Pr. Dean Stewart for co-chairing The Way Forward and for serving as Dean
of the Palouse cluster for many years.
About this time last year Pr. Shelley Wickstrom, our
regional coordinator for ministry, was elected Bishop of the Alaska Synod. That election set off a domino effect that by
the end of the summer resulted in the choice of Pr. Mark Nelson to replace
Shelley in the Region 1 Position. Mark
was and is the perfect choice for that position and is serving us all very well
with special responsibility for candidacy (bringing new leaders into rostered
leadership) and synodical relations in the Region. Throughout the year we have had opportunities
to thank Mark for his 20 years of service to the synod, but this assembly is
the first occasion when our whole synod has been gathered to say thank
you. Please greet and congratulate Mark
in this new work.
Pr. Helga Jansons is paid by a grant from the national
church but she is one of us and considered part of the synod staff. Please seek her out to offer your thanks and
to inquire about the gifts for ministry that she can bring your congregation.
There is one person who serves
us all as the “glue” holding together the synod office. Cathy Steiner is in her 14th year
of service and along the way has picked up the work of two Administrative
Assistants. We’re grateful that under
the revised budget for FY 2014 we’ve been able to secure the services,
part-time, of Gib Dominguez. But without
Cathy Steiner those central functions as Answer Desk, Resource-Provider, Record-Keeper
could not be done with nearly the grace and skill that she brings to the
work. Please find a chance to thank her,
and meet Gib, during the Assembly.
On a Personal note:
Our country and church has been stunned and disheartened by
the obscenity of death experienced in Newtown, CT and now Boston. These tragedies are leading many of us to
reflect on sin, human depravity, terrorism, and community violence in all its
forms. I am eager for the synodical church
to do its part in this reflection and I commend to you the social statements of
our church, including the message on community violence. (www.ELCA.org).
What more can we offer? My own thinking
begins with this thought and I commend it to you as you pray for insight: “Jesus Christ is God, disarmed.” These words form for me a holy provocation to
take up the mantel of non-violence and peacemaking in our day. My prayer is that God would give us wisdom
and courage to peacefully face down those forces that threaten life.
It has been a complicated year and I’m both energized by the
new work and eager for a new Way Forward!
I’m confident we will get there and I rely on all of you, as the synodical
church, to blaze the way. And I’m very,
very tired. A summer break will be welcome.
Our family is healthy and both stable and moving at the same
time. Susan’s position with the
Valparaiso Project ended with the calendar year and she is eager for her next
call. Mary Emily will go through her
comprehensive finals next month for the PhD in Theology at the University of
Chicago. Magdalena is still with College
Possible in Minneapolis. From our family
to yours, thanks be to God for our Lord Jesus Christ and for the sheer adventure
of Life in his name.
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