Gossip

A Bible study leader at last week’s Churchwide Assembly mused that the book of Proverbs is the Twitter of the Bible. How true!

Consider this: “A gossip goes about telling secrets, but one who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a confidence.” (Proverbs 11:13) That sentence is well under the 140 character limit.

Or this: “A gossip reveals secrets; therefore do not associate with a babbler.” (Proverbs 20:19)

I have been thinking a bit about gossip since last Sunday. My son and I were on the train headed back downtown from the Mall of America. At one of the stops, a man and a woman sat down in the seat directly in front of us. They were together but were not a couple. They conversed with each other loudly and clearly enough so that we did not have to strain to hear them. In fact, they were loud enough to interrupt our own conversation.

As they talked, it became obvious that they were members of a Lutheran congregation. For the several minutes that we were treated to their company, they talked disparagingly about everyone they had seen in church that morning. The pastor was not spared.

I wondered what they had actually gotten out of going to church. What had the sermon said? Had they engaged in confession? What in their minds could justify this kind of gossip anywhere, let alone in a public place?

I have confronted gossipers, but never strangers nor publicly. I really should have this time. My hope is that if I had confronted these two that they would have been mortified by their behavior. They were so loud and mean-spirited, however, that I doubt that I would have made an impression. We got off at our stop and left them to babble on.

Interestingly enough, they did not mention the actions of the Churchwide Assembly even once!

Comments are always welcome. Go to http://niselca.blogspot.com/. --JC

Farewell Minneapolis

I arose early this morning, packed my bags, and watched the sun rise above the impressive skyline of downtown Minneapolis. I checked out of the hotel and walked outdoors to the convention center, rather than use the skyways. It was a beautiful morning.

I enjoyed coffee with Ron and Carla Vanatta, and Robert Franek joined us before we walked to the worship space. The mood in worship was subdued, but lightened as we sang and prayed. For those who gathered, some of yesterday’s heaviness had lifted. The assembly was over. No remaining business items loomed over the Holy Communion. It was the Sabbath; truly a time to be spent with God.

As we left worship, I noted the long line of people waiting to have a word with Bishop Mark Hanson. I was not close enough to hear the words that were spoken to him. I am sure there were many words of gratitude and support. I am also sure that were others who wanted to share one more word of concern.

I bid farewell to some of our Northern Illinois Synod folks before taking a leisurely walk northeastward on Nicollet Mall. I stopped along the way to take some photos and say hello to the statue of Mary Tyler Moore. It was a time to allow the words of worship to sink in and for some of this week to drain out.

I met my son and we rode the light rail train from one terminus (downtown) to the other (Mall of America). I had received a free ticket to ride the train or a bus, but I never got it to work. I paid the $1.75 with a ten dollar bill and received a quarter and eight dollar coins in change. I suppose I will have to explain what they are to some people as I spend them along the way home. Today’s goal was to ride the train and not necessarily end up at the Mall of America. The only thing I bought there was lunch.

I jokingly told our voting members last night that my cell phone number would expire at noon today. It was about 4:15 p.m. when I received a call from one of our group, who was on the road to home, seeking advice on how to handle the reporter who was calling her home. Others of our group have also been contacted. We have also seen and heard that Bishop Wollersheim’s comments have been widely quoted.

I spent this evening with some of my oldest friends. It has been a challenging week for their family. Their concerns had nothing to do with anything related to my week, the Northern Illinois Synod, or the ELCA. Their concerns have everything to do with my prayer list, a list of people and petitions that are important to me.

While we have all been away this week, life has gone on in our parishes. New Christians have been baptized, the dead have been buried, the sick have been anointed, the homebound have been communed, the gospel has been preached. By this hour, most of our NIS voting members are safely home. Their challenge will be to integrate what they have seen, and heard, and done, into the life of their congregations and the synod. We will all be glad to be home.

As for me, I will travel tomorrow after a good night’s rest. God is with you. --JC

Saturday at the Assembly

It became apparent sometime this afternoon that the Churchwide Assembly could complete its business today. At approximately 6:30 p.m., Bishop Hanson declared that a plenary session would not be necessary tomorrow morning. All that is left for the assembly is to gather together for the closing Eucharist.

Today’s worship was held across the street from the convention center at Central Lutheran Church. I could not help but think that on my first Sunday in the Twin Cities, when I came here to go to seminary, I worshiped at Central. Four years later, my seminary commencement was also held in this space. It was good to be back. As we entered the massive church today, the 47 bells in Central’s new bell tower were ringing. What an incredible, joyful sound.

This evening, voting members and visitors from our synod joined together for something of a farewell dinner. Bishop Wollersheim hosted us at the pizza restaurant that we had hoped to visit earlier this week. We also had some guests with us including the Rev. Susan Johnson, the national bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. We were honored by her presence and the words she shared.

Everyone is glad that the assembly is over. It has been a tough week. But all of our voting members expressed appreciation for the opportunity to participate in the assembly. I hope that they will be thanked once they are home for their hard work and commitment to the church.

Just as Bishop Hanson asked the church to pray in preparation for the assembly, he is asking the church to pray now that it is over. I am pledging myself to this task. I love this church too much not to do so. --JC

The Day the Church Changed

This day has been so long and full I hardly know where to begin or what to write. Perhaps I should start at the beginning.

At 7:22 this morning, Pastor Steve Dow and Kevin Rogers, two of our voting members, were kind enough to meet me at the front door of the convention center to carry the gift bags for our friends from Pennsylvania from the trunk of my car into the assembly hall. We can all rest easy now that our partner synod has its gifts. By the way, we gave each of their voting members an official Northern Illinois Synod coffee mug and a package of fair trade coffee.

Throughout this week the assembly has viewed videos that were submitted by congregations across the ELCA, which highlight “God’s work. Our hands.” Today we saw the work of our own Trinity Lutheran Church in Rockford. It was great! I must say that most of the videos we have seen have been very, very good and each one has been unique.

The assembly worked very hard today on the four ministry recommendations. As you know, fifty days of prayer preceded this assembly. In the discussion of the recommendations, Bishop Hanson paused every 20 minutes for prayer. Also, before each significant vote, the assembly was either led in prayer or invited to pray with someone close by. I have to believe that the Holy Spirit was at work.

In the end, all four ministry recommendations were adopted. I did not have a good sense of how any of the votes would turn out beforehand. Good arguments were made by faithful folks on both sides. Bishop Hanson guided the discussion in a fair and gracious way. I beg you to read, or better yet,view his pastoral remarks at http://blogs.elca.org/assembly/2009/08/21/bishop-hansons-message/.

The adoption of these four recommendations was a source of great joy for some and deep pain for others. It was, no matter how you look at it, a momentous day for the church. As a pastor of this church, I invite and encourage you to continue praying. Your bishop and synod staff will need God’s help in the work that lies ahead. Some congregations and pastors will need God’s guidance as they live into a different way of thinking. Most importantly, we must respect each other and our individual points of view.

At one point this afternoon, I was standing against a side wall with a seminary classmate of mine, who happens to be a member of the Church Council. As I looked around the room, I told him that I was looking at 1,700 exhausted people. He agreed.

I needed to speak with our bishop before going to the ballroom for dinner, so I was just a little late arriving. After I got my plate, I walked to the far end of the room and sat down with a man I did not know. He was sitting alone so I thought I would befriend him. He had actually chosen to sit alone, needing to have some quiet time to ponder the implications of this afternoon’s actions. He was solemn; deeply troubled; perhaps even fearful. He did not agree with the majority. John and Esther Prabhakar joined us at the table and we all had a good conversation. The Holy Spirit was at work here too. This pastor thanked us for the company we had provided.

Peter Mayer was in concert this evening. He is the lead guitarist for Jimmy Buffett, but he is also well known in Minnesota and does Christian solo work. The concert was wonderful, but I did not stay to the end as I had some other work to do. Bishop Wollersheim offered to meet with any of our voting members who wanted to have some time with him tonight over at his hotel. I know at least a few took him up on his offer.

Now it is time to rest. If there is anything that we have heard consistently in our synod, it is our bishop’s words, “This is God’s church.” I will rest tonight in the certainty that this is God’s church. I pray that our voting members have a restful night too. May God bless us all.

Comments? Go to http://niselca.blogspot.com/.

The Best Laid Plans

One of the joys I have as assistant to the bishop is arranging for a dinner for the voting members of the Northern Illinois Synod and our partner synod, the Lower Susquehanna Synod (Pennsylvania) on a free night of the Churchwide Assembly. This year was particularly easy. I did not even have to choose the restaurant. Since we are in the hometown of our bishop, he and Polly had a favorite spot they wanted us all to share.

A few weeks ago I reserved the room for our group. Yesterday I called in the final reservation number, confirmed the price and the menu. It was to be a pizza feast with salads, pasta and hoagie sandwiches. I also managed to figure out transportation for all 57 who were going to attend. We had just enough seats in the cars that were available to us! I met the bishop this morning with photocopies of a letter, complete with driving instructions and the car assignments.

By 10:30 a.m. it had become obvious that our reservation had to be cancelled. The assembly was going to run later than the original agenda and dinner was being arranged for everyone at the convention center. I am going to put in a plug for Broadway Pizza in north Minneapolis for their kindness to us. They did not charge us anything and said they would look forward to serving us in the future.

Our two synods did manage to dine together at five or six adjoining tables in the ballroom. Bishop Penrose Hoover greeted us all and our voting members were each presented with a woven gift. Our friends from Pennsylvania will receive gift bags from us tomorrow morning. The gift bags were in the trunk of my car back at the hotel. It was not possible for me to transport them earlier. No, really! But, the bishop was kind enough to explain exactly where the gifts were and who was responsible. Bishop Wollersheim greeted everyone and then offered a benediction.

Today, the assembly adopted a full communion agreement with The United Methodist Church. It was a wonderful moment. The impact in Northern Illinois might be quite profound. Almost every town in which we have a congregation has a United Methodist congregation as well. Our pastors enjoy good relationships. Perhaps this agreement simply catches up to where our congregations have already led the way.

We heard a powerful sermon preached by Bishop Gregory V. Palmer, the president of the UMC’s Council of Bishops, during worship. During a two-part quasi-committee of the whole, voting members respectfully debated the ministry policy recommendations, a discussion that will continue tomorrow.

Our voting members are doing a great job. I do know some are very tired, but they are taking their responsibilities seriously and are participating fully. They still have 2½ days ahead of them, with some difficult decisions to make. Please continue to remember them in your prayers.

Thanks for reading. Do not forget that you can watch the proceedings online at http://www.elca.org/. To comment on this blog, go to http://niselca.blogspot.com/. I will be off to bed soon. Oh, here is another plug. Hyatt Hotels have the most comfortable beds on Earth. --JC

The Big News of the Day

What was the big news of the day? The answer would depend upon whom you asked and when you asked it.

This morning, all of the local news focused on one item. Brett Favre signed with the Vikings. At midday I found myself speaking with a Rockford TV news director regarding a tornado. By late afternoon our ELCA had adopted a social statement on human sexuality. This evening it was our colleges’ moment in the spotlight as they hosted a number of receptions. It was a big day and our voting members are tired this evening with much more hard work ahead.

From what I can tell, Minnesotans have mixed reactions to the Brett Favre story. About 2:00 p.m., the local news suddenly shifted to coverage of tornado damage in downtown Minneapolis. The tornado touched down just two or three blocks from the Minneapolis Convention Center where the Churchwide Assembly is meeting. Assembly participants were largely unaware of any problem before Bishop Hanson interrupted Dr. Diane Jacobson’s Bible study to announce the tornado warning. No evacuation of the plenary hall was necessary as it is one of the safest spots in the building. Dr. Jacobson met the challenge of teaching even while tornado sirens were sounding and PA announcements were being made. We were later informed that there had been some damage to the roof of the convention center, but nothing that would interfere with assembly business. There was also some damage to Central Lutheran Church, which lies across the street from the convention center. If you enlarge the top picture, you will see the damage to the 90 year old steeple. Paula Larsen and Mary Howe later checked out the damage.

Kurt Nordby and I happened to be at the right place at the right time to see lots of debris swirling through the air as we were returning to the convention center after lunch by way of skywalks. We were not terribly alarmed, but we wasted no time getting back to ground level! No severe weather had been predicted today, so this tornado surprised everyone. As I look out of my hotel window tonight, I see that the rain has resumed.

Our voting members took a moment following worship to have their picture taken as a group. We will have to find time to do it again because we were missing a few of the 19.

The assembly undertook a lot of very important business today, including immigration reform, beginning the election process for vice-president, the HIV/AIDS strategy, and of course the sexuality statement. Be sure to read all of the press releases on these actions. I do want to note the enthusiastic response given by the assembly to presentations made by the Rev. Harry Griffith, who represented military chaplains, and the Lutheran Youth Convocation.

Tomorrow promises to be another intense day for our voting members. Personally, I am hoping that assembly business does not run late so that we can keep our plans for dinner with our partner synod, the Lower Susquehanna Synod.

Continue to remember this assembly in your prayers. Comments? Go to http://niselca.blogspot.com/. --JC

A High and a Low

Another action packed day of the Churchwide Assembly came to a close at 8:00 p.m. this evening. There were a lot of sleepy looking folks entering the plenary hall twelve hours earlier, but it looked as if many had caught a second wind as they were venturing forth into downtown Minneapolis on a picture perfect evening.

I have now had a chance to check-in with all of our Northern Illinois voting members. There are quite a few visitors from our synod too. I know there are more than 10. There are at least two that I have not even seen yet, but I have heard rumors of their presence!

Today the assembly spent some time in a quasi-committee of the whole in order to discuss the sexuality statement. All of the discussion was polite and impassioned. For me, today’s high and low points came at other times.

The high point came when the assembly endorsed the Lutheran Malaria Initiative. Malaria is a critical health issue in many parts of the world. This initiative seeks to raise $75 million and will create a shared effort with the United Nations Foundation and Lutheran World Relief to combat malaria in Africa. The presentations made it clear that we can make a huge difference and be God’s hands in this important work.

The low point (again, in my opinion) came in the presentation of the proposed budget with its anticipated loss of mission support income in 2010 and 2011. As a parish pastor, I always worked hard to keep congregations connected to the mission of the wider church and I encouraged generous mission support giving. While I was doing stewardship work on the synod level, I challenged congregations to do the same—to stay connected and be generous. It is somewhat disheartening to me to see decreasing trend in the ELCA. I do not believe this should all be attributed to the poor economy or to some congregations’ displeasure with the ELCA. I think congregations simply do not have a good sense of what we do together.

Bishops’ assistants had lunch together today with a brief visit from Bishop Hanson. He was in good humor and thanked us for the work we do. I am so impressed by his faith, piety and leadership.

I should mention that Bishop Hanson presented his report to the assembly today as well. Focusing on the ELCA’s tagline and the theme of this assembly (God’s work. Our hands.), he asked us all to think of our hands. If you were to view a video of your hands over the past few weeks, how would you see your hands doing God’s work? I wondered if helping my son and daughter-in-law move would count?

You may want to read the ELCA and NIS press releases on all of today’s business and action. My photos show a disproportionate amount of eating. Unfortunately, meals times are one of the times I can find our people and snap some shots. One of our voting members told me at dinner that he has avoided the thought of coming to a Churchwide Assembly for years. He seems to be having a great time being engaged in the work of the church.

For those of you who receive these updates by email, please know that there is often a considerable delay from the time that I post. I update in the evening and my thoughts are immediately available at http://niselca.blogspot.com/. If you care to comment, I would be glad to hear from you. --JC

Day One in Minneapolis

The first day of the Churchwide Assembly is always a long one, especially since so many voting members travel early in the day. Today was no exception. I returned to the hotel shortly after 11:00 p.m. The second plenary session begins tomorrow at 8:00 a.m., so it will be a short night for everyone.

All of our voting members from Northern Illinois arrived safely. I have managed to speak to most of our voting members and many visitors from the synod, but not everyone yet. Synod staff members are seated in their own section and I do not have access to the voting members’ area, so a quick “hello” is not always possible. By tomorrow I am sure that I will have spoken to everyone!

I drove to the Twin Cities yesterday and spent the night with friends. This morning I turned on the radio and one of the lead local news stories had to do with the tough decisions the assembly will make this week. The person whom they chose to interview was predicting schism for the church. It was not the best start to a morning.

The assembly began this afternoon with worship. Bishop Mark Hanson preached a powerful sermon in which he said, “The story is not yet written.” He said that he has heard of the anxiety, dissension and predictions of division. Bishop Hanson asked the voting members to let God hold their fears rather than allowing their fears to hold them.

I watched as faithful members from across our ELCA received the bread and wine of Communion. It was good to see people, who may vehemently disagree with each other later in this week, come with open hands.

After supper, it took a while to work through the rules for the assembly and the agenda, but that work got done and the assembly is off to a good start.

Our voting members do appreciate your prayers. Remember to follow the assembly at http://www.elca.org/. There are lots of options for you to choose. --JC

Churchwide Assembly 2009

Next Monday, August 17, 1,045 voting members from across our Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will gather in Minneapolis, Minnesota for the Churchwide Assembly. They will be joined by a host of others including congregation observers, staff of the churchwide organization, synod staff members and visitors.

The Northern Illinois Synod is allotted 19 voting members (including the bishop), who have been elected by our Synod Assembly or by our eight conferences. Our voting members have already met with Bishop Wollersheim twice in preparation for their experience. The assembly requires quite a commitment. By the assembly’s closing at noon on Sunday, August 23, our voting members will no doubt be tired. It is an exhilarating yet exhausting time.

In addition to our voting members, our synod always has a good representation of observers and visitors. (Be sure to let me know if you are there!)

Following the action of this year’s assembly will be easier than ever before. A live video feed will be available along with recorded videos, an assembly blog, tweets, and Facebook updates. Just check the ELCA Web site or go to: http://www.elca.org/Who-We-Are/Our-Three-Expressions/Churchwide-Organization/Office-of-the-Secretary/ELCA-Governance/Churchwide-Assembly/Multimedia.aspx for more information.

A lot of attention has already been given to the votes on the proposed social statement on sexuality and the recommendations on ministry policies. Other significant business will include action on full communion with the United Methodist Church, funding of the HIV and AIDS strategy, and the Lutheran Malaria Initiative. Of course, each day will be grounded in worship. There will also be lots of routine business to which to attend.

I will plan to update this blog daily from the assembly. There is no need for me to report the actions taken by the assembly since the information will be so readily available. Instead I will try to focus on our voting member’s experiences, provide an Illinois perspective, or offer some random observations.

If you wish to comment, please go to http://niselca.blogspot.com/. Thanks for reading. --JC