by Bishop Bill Gohl
This was my chapel meditation for the week after I returned from the ELCA Youth Gathering in Houston. +bg
by Bishop Bill GohlAnd when they arrived, they gathered the church together and declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. And they remained no little time with the disciples. - Acts 14:27-28 This was my chapel meditation for the week after I returned from the ELCA Youth Gathering in Houston. +bg The scriptures amaze me with the candor and honesty with which they speak to our human condition. As a guest at the ELCA Youth Gathering in Houston this summer, I was a bit skeptical about the breadth of topics that the speakers would engage with our young people, and how we would process those significant forays into culture and personal identity, gender and race, disease and recovery, hopelessness and hope; grounded in the indelible identity we share as baptized children of God, marked with the cross of Christ forever. Each speaker stood beside the running waters of the baptismal font, one even stepping into the waters to illustrate the life-giving nature of our baptismal identity, and claimed their belovedness given by the sure promise of Jesus.
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by Bishop Bill GohlYou who live in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty, will say to the Lord, "My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust." – Psalm 91:1-2 Have you ever repeated a word over and over in conversation and in your mind so many times that it eventually loses its power and starts to sound ridiculous? Churchy words like "missional" often make me feel like that – so overused that it gets lost like so much jargon in the din of conversation. Missional metaphors are so pressed to extremes that it no longer represents hopefulness to me, so much as a tired sense of failure. We've tried to "turn the church around" under our own steam, and I find myself with new and deeper appreciation for Luther's first words of explanation for the third article of the creed, "I cannot by my own reason or understanding..." As a leader among leaders in this church, I rely more heavily on the Holy Spirit, day by day, and less on program, process and prognostication.
When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. -Leviticus 19:33 The Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, has convened ELCA ecumenical and inter-religious partners in a statement addressing concerns over a recent U.S. government policy calling for more stringent enforcement of federal immigration laws. The policy will most likely result in an increase in family separations.
by Bishop Bill GohlEditor's note: You can watch a video of Bishop Gohl's address here, or embedded at the bottom of this post. Hear these words of Paul in the Letter to the Ephesians: I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. -Ephesians 4:1-5 I wish to continue the practice I began last year by amplifying my report with four brief words: a word of gratitude, a word of struggle, a word of challenge, and a word of hope.
by Pastor Lauren MuratoreThe final day of assembly was short but full. Our half day together began with another workshop from Brian McLaren followed by a plethora of workshop opportunities in break out rooms, and then, of course, we closed with gorgeous worship led by synod staff and the Lutheran Youth Organization Music Team (who totally rocked it out, by the way!). With so much going on in just one day I felt a little stuck about what to write, so I asked our bishop what he thought the one most important theme had been. He took less than a second to reply: "Sent to be the body of Christ alive in the world."
by Pastor Lauren MuratoreIf yesterday’s theme was Baptism, today's has been Truth-Telling. There was a refreshing level of transparency in all of the presentations today, which was its own offering of sorts. A gift given to the whole assembly and to the whole church: "Here"s the truth. The way things really are. We trust you with it."
by Pastor Lauren MuratoreEvery year about this time the church in Delaware and Maryland gathers for Synod Assembly. It’s an annual rhythm. Every year we begin with worship. It’s an annual ritual. There are things the church does that feel familiar to us — maybe even business-as-usual — a gathering-in like breathing. But worship at the beginning of this Synod Assembly set a different tone — not for business-as-usual but for renewal. Given the theme of Baptism, the Right Rev. Chilton Knudsen, Assistant Bishop for the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland and our preacher today, spoke of cleansing water. Water that revives. Water that sustains. Water that quite literally births new life.
by Bishop Bill GohlI will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.” – Ezekiel 37:14 I am indebted to Bishop Larry Wohlrabe of the Northwestern Minnesota Synod, from whom I borrow much of his thinking and words for this message to the closing congregation of Sts. Stephen & James (Baltimore) on the Feast of the Holy Spirit – Pentecost, 20 May 2018. +bg
The Dakota people of the Great Plains have a saying: If you discover that the horse you’ve been riding is dead: 1. Get off; 2. Bury the dead horse; and 3. Start riding a living horse! by Bishop Bill GohlYou are witnesses of these things. - Luke 24:48 As someone with a German background on one side of the family, Ascension Day was a favorite holy day of the church year if for no other reason than its name in German: Christi Himmelfahrt! A national holiday in Germany, the Ascension of our Lord marks the 40th day of the Easter season and signals a liturgical turn from Easter towards Pentecost. The risen Lord enters into the invisible presence of God in order to be present in all times and in all places to the church and the world. And we find that same risen Lord in the places where Jesus has promised to meet us, in the Word, at the Font, in the Bread and Cup and among God's people – both those who share good news and those who long for hope.
by Bishop Bill GohlSing a new song to the Lord, who has done marvelous things... – Psalm 98:1, ELW With six bishop elections across this church over the last week, our Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Conference of Bishops changed again. I say "again" since the last year has seen the Conference take a decidedly "younger" turn – incarnated in the elections of Kristin Kuempel, Erik Gronberg, Daniel Beaudoin and myself (and Michael Rhyne before us) after a spate of retirements that included a number of our predecessors who served this church in the COB for 6, 12 and 18 years.
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