A Family Reunion

This year’s synod assembly is now history. The “Gone Fishing” sign has been posted on the bishop’s desk. Sandy and I are tired, but recovering. I had a great day off on Monday, which helped. Our support staff seems to be recovering too. I cannot begin to tell you how busy the assembly was for Nancy, June, Julie and Judi. They did a great job of taking care of everyone’s needs while we were in Rock Island.

We took a first look at the assembly evaluations on Tuesday and we were pleased to see that for most people the assembly was a great experience. It looks like all the planning paid off. We also received important feedback that will allow us to make improvements for next year.

For me, this assembly felt something like a family reunion. I have served my entire career on what is now the territory of the Northern Illinois Synod. That means I have gotten to know a lot of people along the way. In my current call, I am fortunate to meet new people on a regular basis. I know this cannot be true for everyone, but the assembly had a familiar, family-like quality to it for me. I got to catch up with family members I had not seen for a while. We were able to work together, worship together, laugh together, struggle together, talk together, eat together, study together, sing and pray together.

My brother commented on how curious it is to be able to have such deep philosophical differences with people he likes and counts as friends.

When the assembly was concluded and Bishop Wollersheim sent us all out, I was left with an overwhelming sense of pride (hopefully not to the point of sinfulness!) in our synod. Not every synod is able to discuss as calmly as we do. The synod did not let me down in my belief that this year’s assembly would be much like all of our previous assemblies. We were respectful of each other and treated each other as brothers and sisters.

We are not all of one mind. We would not even want to be. But, we all do have one common mission. As Bishop Mark Hanson reminded us, “Marked by the cross of Christ forever, we are claimed, gathered, and sent for the sake of the world.” I am filled with joy as I walk with you in this journey.

Behind the Scenes

Each year one congregation of the West Conference is invited to serve as the host congregation for the Synod Assembly. Occasionally, two smaller congregations may be asked to work as a team. We alternate between congregations right in Moline or Rock Island and congregations in outlying areas. This year we invited First Lutheran Church in Geneseo to be our host congregation. Pastor Arthur Bergren and the Congregation Council readily accepted the challenge. I learned that it has been ten years since First last served in this capacity.

Synod Assembly participants may notice the name of the host congregation on the front of each year’s agenda but give little thought to what this entails. Here is a look behind the scenes.

First, a volunteer coordinator and/or the pastor meets with Nancy Corey, our synod support staff member who works most closely with Sandy and me on assembly logistics, to discuss the process and expectations of the host congregation.

For several weeks prior to the assembly, the church office receives materials for inclusion in the Synod Assembly packets. About a week before the assembly, volunteers come to the synod office in Rock Island to transport any materials that have been delivered there to the church. Then, volunteers work with Nancy and me to set up and organize materials for the actual packet stuffing.

On the Friday before the assembly, about a dozen volunteers come together and work with Nancy and me to pack the assembly packets and folders. This year the task required handling 36 separate items for each of the 700 folders and packets. We worked from 9:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. with a break for lunch. The folders and packets are stuffed into individual bags and then set aside until they are transported to Augustana College, the site of our assembly, on Thursday, the day before the assembly begins.

Bright and early on Friday morning, the opening day of the assembly, about 10 volunteers from the host congregation help our synod support staff in the registration process. Additional volunteers drive the golf carts, which help our assembly participants get around the campus. Have you ever wondered where the ushers come from, or who counts the offering for our Friday worship? Yes, those are members of our host congregation too.

Please join me in thanking First Lutheran Church at its volunteers at this year’s assembly. Serving as host congregation is a big job, but each year we have great volunteers who give freely of their time for the sake of our assembly.

Do you have any questions about the Synod Assembly? If so, please click on “Comments” below if you are on the blog Web site, or go to http://niselca.blogspot.com/. --JC

Pentecost 2009

Just before the dismissal, in a service that had already spanned an hour and 45 minutes, Pastor Loren Nielsen asked, “Pastor Clements, have you ever before experienced a Pentecost like this?” I was a worshiper in about the fifth pew on Pentecost Sunday in the congregation of which I am a member. It seemed as if Pastor Nielsen was looking for a second opinion. My response was a hearty and sincere, “Never before!”

I am sure that the first Pentecost was more exciting. Just consider all of the chaos, and different languages, and tongues of fire! The Holy Spirit was blowing everywhere and the people did not know what to make of it. Then Peter preached a sermon and 3,000 people were moved to be baptized.

I am sure that all of our congregations celebrated Pentecost in some fashion. Some probably gave it a nod with red paraments, engaging in dramatic readings and a sermon about the Holy Spirit or the birthday of the church. Others may have placed red candles on the altar (representing either the gifts or the fruits of the Holy Spirit), arranged 50 red roses in the altar vases (one for each day between Easter and Pentecost), or hung a descending dove from the ceiling.

In my church, we had just one service instead of the normal three. Pastor Jerry Peterson shared a terrific sermon, complete with red balloons; the choir sang a beautiful anthem; and, we celebrated Holy Baptism. Pastors Nielsen and Peterson (our interim pastors) baptized a number of Burmese refugees and their children. I lost count at 12. I am told that 17 were baptized. After the baptisms, the Burmese families were received as new members. They came to Zion through our Laotian members and an ESL (English as a Second Language) class taught by other members.

When it came time to share the peace, it sounded something like that first Pentecost. When I joined in the line of saints to receive Holy Communion I realized that we were white and African American, Hispanic, Laotian and Burmese. We were rich and poor, old and young. In that moment I thought about how God must surely be smiling on us. I also thought about how fortunate I was to be in this particular place at this particular time.

No, I had never before experienced a Pentecost quite like this one; neither had either of the pastors, and that is with 80+ years of experience between them! It was a great day and everyone left happy in the chaos.

I invite you to share your Pentecost story or the story of how your congregation is fulfilling its mission. There are so many stories to share. We need to hear them. Go to http://niselca.blogspot.com/ to comment.