"Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus..." - Philippians 2:3-5a On Saturday, November 18, I was a guest of the Westminster Conference as they gathered for a Mission Strategy Conversation. The idea for that kind of conversation emerged from a conversation I had with Pastor Amsalu Geleta, Executive Assistant to the Bishop and Director for Evangelical Mission, and Pastor Robin Simpson Litton, Assistant to the Bishop for the Western Cluster. Westminster Conference is one of our larger conferences and has a considerable number of pastoral vacancies. Within those vacancies are some historic multiple-point parish arrangements and a number of congregations who are not a part of parishes, but have been at some point in their histories. The premise of the gathering was, while so many congregations are in transition, does it make sense to have conversations about shared mission and partnership on the ground rather than "the synod" trying to arrange partnerships simply to share rostered leadership support expenses. Establishing what our churchwide organization calls a Mission Table ensures that everyone is, literally, at the table: congregations, lay leaders, rostered ministers, synod staff and institutional ministry partners.
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by Bishop Bill Gohl Praise is due to you, O God…You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with richness. The pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves with joy, the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy. – Psalm 65.1, 11-13 I married into a pilgrim family. My wife’s father’s family are descendants of the Mayflower’s John and Priscilla Alden family. I have been reminded, more than once, that the menu for that first Thanksgiving was not turkey and pumpkin pie. They ate pheasant and venison. The pilgrims didn’t have forks, but used spoons; and more than likely, they ate mostly with their hands. They didn’t have much sugar, so sweets and deserts were scarce. So, you can forget the pumpkin pie, when the Pierce-Gohl family gathers for Thanksgiving dinner, we have steamed pudding for dessert – just like the pilgrims did. Nevertheless, that first pilgrim and Native people’s thanksgiving meal left us with an enduring tradition: a gathering around a table and returning thanks to God.
by Bishop Bill GohlThink of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy. – I Corinthians 4.1-2 Seventeen years ago, on November 11, I received the church’s gift of ordination. I was 26, recently graduated from our seminary in Gettysburg. I had interviewed for my first call in two synods and had been received by the people of Peace, Glen Burnie (their ninth candidate, no less!). On November 11, like clockwork, I received two cards from special friends and flowers from my parents. A small remembrance of a moment that defined my life in quite unexpected ways.
by Bishop Bill GohlThey served their idols, which became a snare to them. They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons; they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with blood. – Psalm 106:36-38 Another heartbreaking shooting. The martyred at Pulse still on our minds, those slaughtered in Las Vegas not yet all buried, and now violence cast into the sanctuary of First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. Our salty tears are bitter in our mouths as we struggle to pray, even as those in public authority are quick to invoke prayer as a cover for their ongoing inaction.
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