• July/August, 2010 Reflection from the Bishop
• Pastoral Letter from the Conference of Bishops
• Statement from Bishop Mark Hanson regarding ELCA Brand Mark: "God's Work, Our Hands"
  

July/August, 2010 REFLECTIONS FROM THE BISHOP   

Women of Hope

            The 2010 Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod Assembly was driven by mission, and grounded in hope.  Under the theme, “Global Mission,” our Keynote Speaker, Pastor Rafael Malpica reminded us that God’s work of reconciling the world to himself in Christ Jesus leads also to the righting of relationships between people.  He called us to center our witness to that work in Word, Water, Wine and Wheat (which was a memorable reference to our normative ministry of Word and Sacrament).

           



     Behind Pastor Malpica hung a very large quilt, pictured above, grounding his encouragement of mission in a tangible witness to incredible hope.  The 22- by 24-foot quilt was based on a painting by Chinese Christian artist, Dr. He Qi, and made by 13 Nigerian women who are participants in Women of Hope, a program of the Mashiah Foundation in Nigeria.  Women of Hope make and sell crafts to provide a life for women and girls whose lives are at risk physically and socially because of the stigma of HIV. 

     Read more about the Women of Hope and their quilt at http://archive.elca.org/ScriptLib/CO/ELCA_News/encArticleList.asp?article=3966

       - We rejoice in the formation of Faith First Lutheran Church, and celebrate the hope that leads them forward.

- We intend to renew and widen our ecumenical relationships, especially with the Historic Black Churches.

- We value and support Christian Education, especially as part of our Churchwide Office’s ministry.

- We want to care for the servants of our church in their retirement, both in support of their pensions and by giving voice and vote in our assembly to retired lay rostered leaders.

- We affirm the Church’s long-standing teaching on marriage.

- We affirm the practice of proportional giving through regular mission support, encouraging a minimum of 12% of congregations’ annual income, and pledging 50% of the synod’s undesignated mission support receipts for churchwide ministry.

- We will support the work of our congregations, our synod, our agencies and institutions, and our church through our 2011 budget.

- We give thanks to God for the ministry of women in the Office of Word and Sacrament over the last 40 years.

    
The witness of the Women of Hope who made the quilt pictured above is that even in the most difficult of circumstances, hope can lead to life when people belong to each other in Christ Jesus.  That is my deep hope for this synod, and the clear vision that I lift up to you. 

           
          It was good to be with you in Assembly.  As you read this, I am with my wife, Pam, and Emilie Dneaster, a member of St. Paul, Trauger, on a trip of accompaniment to our companion synod, the Tulear Synod of Madagascar.  Many thanks to those whose generous gifts have made this trip possible.  Our journey of faith together always calls us forward.  Jesus walks with us.  Jesus is our hope and our courage.  Belonging to each other in Christ Jesus, we are people of hope.

With you in Christ,

Kurt F. Kusserow, Bishop                                    

Evangelical Lutheran Worship, p. 78

Grace and peace to you.

As bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, we are deeply concerned about the current financial crisis, which is affecting not only our nation but the entire global economy. This crisis is causing fear and loss in our country as thousands of families face unemployment, foreclosure, and uncertainty about savings and pensions. Meanwhile, they struggle to put food on the table and gas into their cars. The future is uncertain for all of us, but it is especially frightening for those who are already vulnerable and struggling to survive. We offer our prayers for those whose lives are being affected and for our national leaders as they seek to address this complex matter.

We call on all people in our own communities of faith and those from every segment of our society who seek the health of our nation to join in conversation and prayer about our collective economic life, our financial behaviors, and the interconnectedness of all life and creation that cries out to be reclaimed.

This church has addressed the issues surrounding economic life in its social statement, “Sufficient, Sustainable Livelihood for All,” (www.elca.org/What-We-Believe/Social-Issues/Social-Statements/Economic-Life.aspx), and we encourage the use of this statement as a way to understand more fully how the following theological and biblical principles are central as we respond to this situation.


Concern for People in Poverty

The constitution of the ELCA calls this church to serve by “standing with the poor and powerless and committing itself to their needs.” (ELCA 4.02.c.). We are grateful for the pastors and leaders in our congregations who already have stepped forward to care for those who are suffering, and we encourage them to continue this response and to provide leadership in the task of turning our attention to the causes and effects of this crisis. We are called to work toward an economic system that truly serves the common good and especially the needs of the poor. We look for partnership with all those who seek to address this financial crisis in a way that also recognizes the humanitarian issues involved.


Personal and Corporate Responsibility

The ELCA social statement on economic life calls for individuals to live responsibly and within their means and to beware of the dangers of over-consumption and unnecessary accumulation, which draw us beyond authentic need into excess and destructive indebtedness. We call on businesses and corporations of all sizes to consider the social implications of company policies and to practice good stewardship of creation (Genesis 1:26).


The Need for Good Government

We hold and teach that government has an instrumental and constructive role to play in our shared life. This role includes “limiting or countering narrow economic interests and promoting the common good” (“Sufficient, Sustainable Livelihood for All,” p. 11). We call on government to hold corporations and other powerful economic actors accountable for the effects of their practices on workers, communities, and the environment.


The Benefits and Limits of Free Markets

For many people, the current market-based economy has proven to be effective as a system to meet material need, generate wealth, and create opportunity. However, we hold and teach that any economic system should be measured by the degree to which it serves God’s purposes for humankind and creation. Those who have been blessed by the fruits of our economy are called to be generous in giving to those who have lost much and to advocate for accountability and appropriate regulation in this system.

As people of the God who calls us out of fear into hope and community, we welcome all people into widespread and respectful discussion about this current crisis. In this way we can create partnerships that will help those whose lives are being shattered and encourage responsibility and integrity in our national economic life.

As people of faith we pray:

Almighty God, your Son Jesus Christ dignified our labor by sharing our toil. Guide us with your justice in the workplace, so that we may never value things above people, or surrender honor to love of gain or lust for power. Prosper all efforts to put an end to work that brings no joy, and teach us how to govern the ways of business to the harm of none and for the sake of the common good; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.


The Conference of Bishops
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
October 7, 2008

Marked with the cross of Christ forever, we are claimed, gathered, and sent for the sake of the world.

A brief elaboration of "God's work, our hands."

God's work.  God is at work. As in the creation of the world, what God is bringing into existence is very good — the new creation. Jesus is the embodiment of what God is working on. Jesus' life of mercy for outcasts and sinners, offered fully on a cross and raised from the dead, is the new life God promises for the whole world. The new creation God has begun in Jesus is good work for all, and God will bring this good work to completion.

Our hands. This new creation is God's work. God is working it both in us and through us and our hands. In us God's Holy Spirit is accomplishing what nothing else, not even God's law, could accomplish — a liberated life. God frees us from enslaved service to sin and death, frees us to use our hands generously, lovingly, faithfully -- to live in service of reconciliation, to live for the life of the world, to live in joyous hope of what God will bring to completion in the day of Jesus Christ.

As a Book of Faith church, our witness and work emerge from our dwelling in the Word. Here are some "handholds" for "God's work, our hands" in the Scriptures and Lutheran tradition.

God's work is the new creation in Christ. "So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!”  All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:17-18

God's work is mercy for sinners and outcasts, good news for the poor and oppressed. "Jesus unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, "to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." "And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. "Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." – Luke 4:17-21. See also Matthew 9:9-13; Romans 5:6-8

God will complete this good work. 'I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. "for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” Philippians 1:6; 2:13

God works in us. 'There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 'For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 'For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the niceness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 'so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” – Romans 8:1-4.

God works through us, our hands. "So we receive our blessings not from them [other human creatures], but from God, through them. Creatures are only the hands, channels, and means through which God bestows all blessings." – Martin Luther, explanation of the Commandment, Large Catechism (Kolb/Wengert, The Book of Concord, p. 389; Tappert, The Book of Concord, p. 368)

Our hands serve God's work. "Just as our neighbor is in need and lacks that in which we abound, so we were in need before God and lacked his mercy. Hence, as our heavenly Father has in Christ freely come to our aid, we also ought freely to help our neighbor through our body and its works, and each one should become as it were a Christ to the other that we may be Christs to one another and Christ may be the same in all, that is, that we may be truly Christians." — Martin Luther, The Freedom of a Christian (Luther's Works, 31:367-8)

Our hands serve the world. "We do God's work not because God needs us to do so, but because our neighbor does. We do God's work in Christ's name for the life of the world." — Bishop Mark Hanson