From the Bishop's Desk

From June 20 to 22, 2024, the Eastern Synod gathered under the ELCIC’s triennial theme “Let there be greening!” It’s a beautiful theme, a prayer that speaks to me about many of the things we hope for, pray for, and yearn for in this season of our synod’s and our world’s life.

During Synod Assembly 2024 we reflected on the need for a greening of our environment. Care for Creation needs to be a top priority for all of us as congregations and individuals. Kudos to those congregations who have registered as being a Greening Faith Community or joining the Zero Emission Churches partnership, and to all who are working to identify annual stewardship of creation goals and to encouraging each other in seeking and working toward climate justice.

We reflected on the need for there to be a greening of peace within our world. The Geneva Academy of International Law and Human Rights reports that there are currently 110 armed conflicts happening in the world right now and that more countries are experiencing such conflict than at any time in the past 30 years. Our global mission companion, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land is experiencing horrific levels of distress as they seek to proclaim Christ amid the war in Gaza and associated acts of violence and oppression in the occupied West Bank. In a video address to the Synod Assembly, Bishop Ibrahim Sani Azar expressed deep thanks to those of you have supported our church’s appeal in support of the ELCJHL and to our Synod Council who have provided just over $50,000.00 to that appeal in the name of our synod.

We reflected on what the synod is doing to help encourage a greening of our congregational ministries. In the past three years, Eastern Synod congregations and related organizations have received $725, 000 and counting in grants to support new and innovative mission initiatives. Those grants have been made possible through the generosity of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada via the ELCIC Mission Fund and because of generous bequests provided to the synod by our forebears in the faith.

And, finally, we made electoral decisions that will translate into a greening of our synod’s leadership. I am heartened and very pleased with the election of Bishop-elect Carla Blakley, Vice-Chairperson Sara Whynot, Secretary Chris Hulan and Treasurer Frederick Mertz! These newly identified leaders bring new vision and new skills that will bless our synod immeasurably in the coming years! Please do everything you can to support them and encourage them so that the greening they represent might flourish and grow in rich abundance! I know that I will be!

In June 2024, the Eastern Synod will be electing a new bishop. As we engage in this time of discernment, Bishop Pryse continues his reflections on where and how the bishop’s ministry is exercised.

By the time you read these words, you will have been presented with a slate of names identifying those persons who have been nominated for election as our synod’s next bishop and vice-chairperson. Allowing one’s name to stand in nomination is not easy and all the nominees are to be commended for engaging this process of discernment with us. It takes a lot of courage.

A few months after I was installed as bishop of this synod in 1998, I attended an event where the then primate of the Episcopal Church USA was discussing episcopal ministry. He began by telling us a story about how he had responded to his own nomination to allow his name to stand for election to that particular office. Upon receiving notice of the nomination he went to his spiritual director saying he was at a loss as to how to respond. His spiritual director – very pastorally – said to him, “Face it, Frank – you’re a coward!” “You’re afraid because either way – if you participate in this process – you will have to deal with your own poverty – the poverty of not being chosen, or the poverty of “being” chosen.”

Most of us can probably understand the poverty of not being chosen. But few of us experience the poverty of having been chosen, of being pulled from a place of vocational confidence and competency to a place of vocational questioning and uncertainty.

Now retired Bishop Michael Ingham from the Diocese of New Westminster put it this way in an Anglican Journal article. “I remember a day early in my episcopate when I entered a room full of friends and colleagues. I was astonished when they all stood up! In the next few weeks, my jokes became funnier, my casual observations strangely more profound, and great interest was taken in my well-being in a way never shown before! The process of distancing and elevating had begun.”

“I was overwhelmed with demands. Every organization wanted me to articulate my “vision” for the church. Every priest and deacon wanted time with me. Every lingering conflict turned up fresh at my door. I was asked to make decisions about matters of which I had no understanding.” That is part of the poverty of having been chosen.

When I was elected, Bishop Huras told me that no one would sit beside me when gathered in a circle with colleagues. “No one wants to look like they’re sucking up!” I was stunned by his words and sadly surprised to learn that he was right! I was startled by how quickly the process of distancing had begun! Sadly, that, too, is part of the poverty of having been chosen.

As we prepare to elect new leaders in the life of our synod, I urge you to be urgent in prayer, generous in spirit and compassionate of heart. All of those who we will consider, whether identified in the nomination process or in the ecclesiastical ballot, are precious and beloved human beings; whether elected or not.  In their offering to serve they will, indeed, experience a poverty. We owe them our deep respect and most generous gratitude.

In June 2024, the Eastern Synod will be electing a new bishop. As we engage in this time of discernment, Bishop Pryse offers some reflections on where and how the bishop’s ministry is exercised.

It’s not uncommon for the bishop to become an object lesson for the Sunday morning children’s message. In a laudable effort to introduce the visitor at the front of the church who wears a big cape and carries a big stick, the bishop gets trotted out for a visit with the kids. And invariably, the pastor asks, “Who knows what a bishop does?”  

One Sunday morning an all-too-clever pre-teen shouted out, “They move diagonally!” We all laughed, but there was more than a little truth contained in that youngster’s answer!

The bishop is always moving, sometimes diagonally, sometime forward and sometime backward; always moving between different expressions of the church. One Sunday in a rural congregation in Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia and the next to an urban ministry in the heart of downtown Toronto.  Then off to a meeting of the National Church Council or a solidarity visit in support of one of our Global Mission Companions. The bishop is always moving back and forth between the church’s most local and widest expressions. And in that movement, the bishop can become a means of connection that strengthens the bonds that unite us as fellow members of the body of Christ.

All human beings and human institutions are vulnerable to the dangers of parochialism. We are all tempted to value only our own very particular perspectives, experiences, and aspirations. As someone whose ministry engages a wide variety of local and wider expressions of church, the bishop can help broaden perspectives and make connections that can enhance the functioning of the whole body.

When the bishop sits at meetings of the National Church Council or the Conference of Bishops, they must carry their synod’s congregations and rostered leaders with them. Likewise, when the bishop engages with congregations and rostered leaders at the most local level, they must always carry with them the experiences, perspectives, and aspirations of our wider church partners.

St. Paul, writes, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many.”

No single expression of the church can live in isolation. Bishops are called to help make connections and broaden perspectives.  They move diagonally. They must listen carefully, reflect prayerfully, and share generously. And in that sharing our experience of discipleship can be made richer and the health of the whole body made stronger.

In June 2024, the Eastern Synod will be electing a new bishop. As we engage in this time of discernment, Bishop Pryse offers some reflections on where and how the bishop’s ministry is exercised.

Our synod’s constitutional documents tell us that the bishop is called to “provide pastoral leadership and counsel to ordained and diaconal ministers, congregations, synodically recognized ministries and areas of this synod.”  Eastern Synod Bylaws Part VII, Section 1. In my experience, the primary locus of that work is the table, the Lord’s table, the meeting table, and the dining table.

The Lord’s Table

The bishop exercises a full Word and Sacrament ministry, presiding at the altar and proclaiming God’s Word in congregations and regional gatherings of our synod. Congregational visits have been the beating heart of what has sustained me during my term of service in this office. The discipline of regularly preparing and delivering sermons at services across the territory of the synod is a spiritually grounding exercise that provides a frame within which the day-to-day work of the bishop is held and supported. Presiding at the table reminds me of the church’s calling to provide good food to hungry people, to help fill whatever part of them feels most empty.

The Meeting Table

The bishop convenes gatherings of people around a myriad of meeting tables. Meetings of the Synod Council, Officers and staff. Meetings of the Synod Assembly. Congregational Council meetings and meetings of pastors and deacons. The bishop participates in the meetings of the National Church Council and the Conference of Bishops. The bishop will be called upon to sit at the table of other committees and working groups, some ecumenical, national or international. They will sometimes engage with government officials and secular media. They will be called upon to arbitrate conflicts, resolve disputes and administer discipline. They are called upon to be wise counsellors and prudent mediators, always honouring their promises to uphold and abide by the constitutions and enactments of our church.

The Dining Table

The bishop is privileged to share food and drink with God’s people in their churches, homes, and communities.  At these tables we can establish friendly and mutually supportive relationships with leaders, both lay and ordained, across the territory of the synod. The bishop needs to be genuinely curious about other peoples’ lives, their communities, experiences, and perspectives.  This table offers a steady diet of ham, scalloped potatoes, baked beans, chili, Solomon Gundy, and the widest possible variety of noodle and rice-based casseroles. (Jellied salads are purely discretionary!) More importantly, it offers a steady diet of understanding, mutual support and care. It is an honour to sit at the synod’s dining room tables.

Always eat what is set before you. Always be thankful! And always remember to keep your fork!

Bishop Pryse issued the following pastoral letter in late September 2023.

I am writing today to provide formal notice that the Eastern Synod will be electing new officers – Bishop, Vice-Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer – at it’s June 2024 Synod Assembly. I will have ample opportunity in the coming months to offer further reflections on my own decision to not seek an additional term, but think it is important for you to know about the processes that have been put in place to ensure a prayerful and informed leadership transition for our synod in 2024.

In March 2022, Vice Chairperson Laurie Knott, Secretary Wendell Caron Grahlman, Treasurer Keith Myra and I informed the Eastern Synod Council of our respective decisions to not seek additional terms of service in 2024.  I then asked the Synod Council to 1. consider enabling a nomination process to identify potential candidates for election as Vice Chairperson and Bishop; and 2. to begin a process to identify their nominees for election as Secretary and Treasurer as soon as possible. The Synod Council agreed to both requests.

The procedures for electing the officers of the Eastern Synod are specified in Eastern Synod Bylaw Part V, Sections 12 e. and f. https://easternsynod.org/resource/eastern-synod-bylaws-2018/ The Secretary and Treasurer of the Eastern Synod are elected by the convention upon nomination by the Synod Council. The Bishop and Vice Chairperson are elected by the convention via an ecclesiastical ballot where delegates may vote for any eligible candidate until such time as a specified majority of votes have been cast for a particular candidate.

The Eastern Synod Council has now identified its nominees to serve as Secretary and Treasurer and each is currently being trained and integrated into the administrative processes of the synod. This will help to ensure a smooth transition following their presumed elections in 2024. These individuals will be introduced to you in mid-November of this year.

Likewise, in mid-November you will be introduced to the nomination process that the Synod Council has put in place to assist in the election of our next Bishop and Vice-Chairperson. This process will not change the constitutionally mandated balloting processes whereby these positions are filled. We will still have open ecclesiastical balloting at the convention. The election will, however, be preceded by a nomination process whereby the synod is invited to identify and engage with potential candidates in the months leading up to the convention.

Leadership transitions can be challenging. I understand that. I also know that they hold rich potential for unlocking and liberating new gifts, opportunities, hopes and dreams. I think our Synod Council has taken steps that will help us to maximize that potential and look forward to communicating with you further in the coming months!

This article represents a portion of Bishop Pryse’s remarks at Assembly 2023 as Anglicans and Lutherans considered a joint resolution on Peace and Justice in Palestine and Israel. https://elcic.app.box.com/s/pn24luwv6aqx4lwfh0hbw8yv08wxv3e6/file/1214779289584

My first visit to Israel/Palestine took place in late 1986. I was a participant in a study tour specifically designed for Christian pastors. The tour was heavily subsidized by the State of Israel in the expectation that we would eventually serve as hosts to subsequent pilgrimage groups from our respective church bodies. Our pilgrimage was part of a state sponsored business model that continues today.

We arrived on the eve of the first Sunday of Advent and prayed together the next morning in the Old City of Jerusalem. My spine tingled as we chanted the text of the appointed psalm for the day, Psalm 122. “I was glad when they said to me, let us go to the house of the Lord! Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; may they prosper who love you. Peace be within your walls and security within your towers.”

On that study tour, we did, indeed, pray for the peace of Jerusalem, but we did so in the context of very specific narrative lens of current events and political realities as articulated by our tour guide. I didn’t question that narrative because I didn’t know any different narratives. On that visit we did not encounter even a single Palestinian Christian. We visited a lot of churches and saw a lot of stones. But the itinerary did not include even a single opportunity to encounter the ‘living stones” who are our siblings in Christ Jesus.

In time, my perspective changed. I took the time to study the history of the region. In 2009 the ELCIC established a partner church relationship with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land. Bishop Munib Younan visited our church on several occasions, and we began to learn about the lived experience of our Palestinian siblings in Christ. Then, in 2014, the Eastern Synod established a global mission companion relationship with the ELCJHL.

During my term of service as Bishop of the Eastern Synod, I have had the opportunity to participate in and host many visits to Israel/Palestine. I have established many friendships and experienced the work that the ELCJHL, the Lutheran World Federation, partner churches and many other organizations, both secular and religious, are doing to advance a lasting peace with justice in Israel/Palestine.  I am still praying for the peace of Jerusalem but am doing so through a much wider narrative lens than was the case for me on the first Sunday of Advent in 1986.

When asked in 2009 what the ELCIC could do to support peace in the Holy Land, Bishop Younan replied, “You have to speak the truth. I did not come here so that you would become pro-Palestinian. It’s not my aim that you would become pro-Israeli. We want you to be pro-truth, pro-justice, pro-reconciliation.”

That is the intent and focus of the resolution that is before us today. This is an opportunity for our churches to act together in ways that are pro-truth, pro-justice and pro-reconciliation. I urge you to support it.