From the Bishop's Desk

“Behold I am doing a new thing!” (Isaiah 43:19)

One of my favourite Scripture passages is Isaiah 43, verse 19. “Behold I am doing a new thing says the Lord; even now it springs forth. Do you not perceive it?” 
   It reminds me that our God is a creator God who is always doing some “new thing!” God is engaged in a mission to love and reconcile the world. That means that we, like most of the highways I drive on these days; are always under construction! Admittedly, that doesn’t always make for an easy or comfortable ride. But that’s what it means to be engaged in a relationship with a living, engaged, creative God.
   The Scriptures teach us again and again that we can’t have a relationship with God without having that relationship bring about change within us; whether as individuals, or together, corporately, as a Church. Luther wrote, “This life, therefore, is not righteousness but growth in righteousness; not health but healing; not being but becoming; not rest but exercise. We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it. The process is not yet finished, but it is going on. This is not the end, but it is the road. All does not yet gleam in glory, but all is being purified.”
   A mature biblical faith is a faith that is continually under construction. Fidelity to our scriptural origins demands the continued movement of God’s people in every age. The Bible chronicles the epic story of a people who struggled to do precisely that. And like our biblical forebears, we are similarly called to identify the new thing that God is doing, and then to struggle with discovering how we might help that new thing come to fuller expression.
   Easter reminds us that God’s work of creating and renewing never ends, even in the face of death! Darkness and despair do not get the last word. Life and love do! “Behold I am doing a new thing says the Lord; even now it springs forth. Do you not perceive it?” I hope and pray that we do, fueled and inspired by a blessed and watchful Easter!

“You don’t save what you don’t love.” So says Margaret Atwood in her address to the 2018 Parliament of World Religions in Toronto in November 2018. “Unless people with faith get behind fixing the planet, it is not going to happen.” You can listen to a portion of her remarks via the CBC Radio Tapestry website.

Ms. Atwood’s challenge was echoed throughout this year’s Bishop’s Academy, an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America continuing education event to which our ELCIC bishops are invited. Theme presenters Dr. Larry Rasmussen and Dr. Cynthia Moe-Lobeda compellingly affirmed Atwood’s assertion regarding the important role that faith communities can and must play in addressing the climate crisis in an Anthropocene – human dominated- context. Whereas humans were once just a branch on the tree of life, we have become the trunk, and the future of the planet now turns on the axis of human choice and action. We are a geological force capable of shaping the planet for good or for ill.

Faith communities are uniquely positioned to inspire actions that bless, rather than harm, the planet and its inhabitants. Referencing the work of Sara Robinson, a Senior Fellow with the Campaign for America’s Future, Dr. Rasmussen cites six reasons for this. I paraphrase these points as follows:

• Religions can bond a diverse community of people around a shared commitment.
• Religious narratives centre people in the long arc of history.
• Religions provide basic formation regarding values and character development.
• Religions hold and defend non-market based values.
• People are religious. 90% of Americans profess a belief in God and ground many of their political decisions in that belief. 
• Religious communities promote the belief that human communities are intrinsically sacred.

On Sunday, January 6, the Feast of the Epiphany, the Academy participants worshiped at New Life Lutheran church in Dripping Springs, Texas. The congregation worships outdoors on a 20 acre site for most of the year. When temperatures go below 10 degrees Celsius they worship inside a tent. They do not have a church building, nor do they have any intention to ever have one. Their weekday programming and outreach to the community all involve activities that help people to engage with – and love – the earth.

“You don’t save what you don’t love.” For those of us who live within the territory of the Eastern Synod, year-round, outdoor worship isn’t a realistic option. But we all have the capacity to engage our physical contexts much more than we typically do; to engage in activities that help us to love and bless the places where we “live and move and have our being.” We do, indeed, have the mandate and wherewithal to help, save and protect our earthly home. Science alone cannot alter the apocalyptic trajectory humanity is presently following. Scientific knowledge must be wedded to renewed relationships. It is those renewed relationships that have the greatest capacity to promote changed behaviour. And that’s something we really do know quite a bit about!

It’s that time of year when we conduct our Congregational AGM’s, elect new leaders and re-convene new Congregational Councils. 

Sometimes we struggle to identify those new leaders; people are reluctant to serve. In some congregations, council seats sit vacant. 

I wonder if that might have something to do with the cultures that have developed in some of our congregations about what the work of the council is and how that work should be engaged.

The Congregational Council’s job description is spelled out in Bylaw Part VII, Section 11 of the ELCIC Model Constitution for Congregations. The opening words read, “The Congregational Council shall
lead the congregation in stating its mission, doing long-range planning, setting goals and priorities and evaluating its activities in the light of its mission and goals.”

Do the agendas we set for our Congregational Council meetings reflect this priority? In many instances, I suspect not. So let me suggest a few tips for those of you who are looking to re-focus the work of your Council.

1. Schedule meetings to have a specific start and end time. The first item for any meeting should be determining when it is going to end. Two hours max! Trust me, you will accomplish everything you need to if you follow this rule.
2. Determine your agendas based on a 60/40 rule where 60% of the time is allotted to transacting the items of business that require attention and 40% to prayer, study and structured reflection that will specifically help the council to “lead the congregation in stating its mission, doing long-range planning, setting goals and priorities and evaluating its activities in the light of its mission and goals.” 
3. Engage the 60% business time in an organized and efficient fashion. Reports should be concise and should have clear recommendations attached if follow-up actions are required.
4. Make full use of the abundant gifts of your pastors and deacons in leading that 40% missional learning, planning and reflection time. These folks are called and gifted to do this work. Unleash them and let them do what you’ve called them to do! 
5. Map out an annual plan for how you will use the missionally focused parts of your agenda. What components do you want to include? A bible study series? Analysis of community needs? Reviewing strategic priorities? Continuing education around a particular ministry focus? The sky is the limit, but none of it will happen if you don’t plan for it!
6. At some point during the year, spend some time learning about that part of your mission which you share with the wider church. Your congregation’s ministry is much broader than most of us realize. Learn about it and celebrate it! There are abundant resources available on the Eastern Synod, ELCIC and Lutheran World Federation websites to set you on your way. 
7. End each of your meetings with a brief evaluation of your time together. Participants should always feel that they are going out of the room carrying more than what they brought in. If you want to know if that’s happening, you need to ask.

The experience of serving on a congregational council should enrich and not diminish your life! Careful and considered planning can do an awful lot to ensure we experience the former and not the latter! Let’s get to it!