Easter 2002
Dear Rostered Leader:
Christ is risen! Christ is risen
indeed!
It is fitting that in the great
fifty days of Easter I write my first letter to the rostered
leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. For it is
the power, promise and presence of the crucified and risen
Christ that undergirds and sustains our shared ministry. What a
privilege to be called into the professional ministry of the
ELCA, especially when the world so needs the grace and mercy of
God’s reconciling love.
You are central to the life and
work of this church. My 22 years as a parish pastor and six as a
synodical bishop are daily reminders that it is in the context
of the locally gathered community around Word and sacrament that
faith is strengthened, lives are changed and God is praised. On
behalf of this church, thank you for your strong and faithful
leadership, your prayers and your support of the mission we
share in Christ’s name.
There are four pressing issues
before the ELCA. I encourage your active involvement in shaping
our responses to each one:
- Mission: In my speech to the
2001 churchwide assembly, I expressed a sense of urgency for
the mission to which God is calling this church. We are now
in a strategic planning process which will give clarity and
focus to what we can do in mission as almost 11,000
congregations joined together. You can participate through
discussions at your synod assembly this spring. Seeds for
the Parish and the ELCA’s web site (www.elca.org/planning)
will include more information on the planning process.
- Leadership: Together, we face
the challenge of raising up leaders with vision and courage
for mission locally and globally. A dynamic church will be
spirit filled, Christ centered, faithful yet changing. Thank
you for helping to encourage these new leaders.
- Ecumenical relationships and
global partnerships: Even as we articulate our varied
perspectives on our shared commitment to ecumenism, we have
a marvelous opportunity to expand our ministry with full
communion partners. In the midst of a war torn world, our
deepening relationships with global churches are concrete
expressions of our shared ministry of reconciliation.
- Sexuality: We are blessed to
have Dr. James Childs and an excellent diverse task force
lead us through the important but challenging work of
discussing human sexuality and the place of persons who are
gay and lesbian in this church. May this work receive our
thoughtful and prayerful attention but not be the singular
defining question for this church.
As we address each of these
issues, I believe it is imperative that we hold in tension
tradition (scriptural, confessional, theological and
liturgical), context, and strategic thinking. As many of you
know, I am making a concentrated effort to visit with rostered
leaders in every ELCA synod in my first two years in office. In
these visits, we have opportunity for conversation on these four
topics as well as your hopes and concerns for this church. In my
visits so far, what I have witnessed confirms what I already
knew: You and your colleagues are working hard to share Christ
in old and new ways in your particular ministry setting. On
behalf of this church, thank you again for your life and work.
Staying Grounded
At the churchwide assembly, I
also expressed caution that we not be so frenetic that we forget
that this is Christ’s church, that we are all forgiven
sinners, and that we are to gather regularly at the Lord’s
Table and daily in Word and prayer. You who serve the church in
these gathered communities are essential to the ministry of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, not only where you
serve, but well beyond it. As you do the work to which God has
called you, I encourage you to study God’s Word, pray daily,
worship regularly, and gather with other rostered people for
support and encouragement. May God strengthen and uphold you.
Receiving Future Letters
I want to write to you regularly
-- perhaps three or four times each year. This frequency is
possible because it is inexpensive to communicate via e-mail. If
you did not receive this first e-mail letter it was probably
because we do not have your e-mail address on file. If you would
like to receive my future e-mail letters, please send your
e-mail address to leaderinfo@elca.org. Be sure to include your
name, city and state in the message. For those of you who do not
have access to e-mail at home or at your congregation, you can
access these letters via the World Wide Web at public libraries,
schools, Internet cafes, and other places. Simply go online to
www.elca.org/bishop and follow the links to my letters to
rostered leaders.
I close this first letter with my
continued thanks to you for your ministry, serving Jesus Christ
through this church we love, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America.
Christ is risen! Christ in risen
indeed!
In God’s Grace,
Mark S. Hanson Presiding Bishop
