by Pastor Lauren Muratore
Every 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.
While baptism is one of those practices that can become stale if we let it, Bishop Knudsen reminded us that baptism is not the easy, tidy, familiar, comfortable thing we sometimes make it out to be. Baptism — these waters of life — call us "... to painful travel through birth and rebirth each day ... a labor that is sometimes more than we think we can endure."
And so it is for the church. Today we recalled the mission and ministries of three congregations which recently closed their doors for good. We celebrated the lives and ministries of rostered ministers who died this past year, a bell ringing at the sound of each name. We spoke of children who suffer in many places around the globe, including in Palestine and right here on our shores and borders. We prayed and we acted, both, and there will be more to come in the days ahead.
In the midst of all this, we still gave thanks to a God who turns "tears into dreams. [For] we are children of the water."*
In business sessions the Assembly celebrated the creation of five new congregations (who — it should be noted — don’t eat lutefisk or lefse!), voted to better support young adults as they step into leadership in the church, and committed to communally honor our global church partners and Mar-Lu-Ridge. The Assembly rejoiced for incredible generosity, including gifts given to ELCA World Hunger, Lutheran Disaster Response, and Forward in Faith totaling in the millions. We gave thanks for a Bishop who is always there for his flock and for a synod staff of whom the bishop said, "it seems that I am everywhere at once because these folks go before and behind me, they befriend me through their ministry, and they serve you well." There were many occasions for the Assembly to rise and applaud today. (Did y'all hear about the gorgeous new synod website launching next week?!)
Tomorrow, the Assembly will continue its work, taking on conversations about justice for Palestinian children, gun violence, public education, and the opioid crisis, as well as voting to fill seats on Synod Council, the Churchwide Assembly voting delegation, and some of our synod's important ministries. We will continue to hear Faith Stories, celebrate the ministries of the synod, and worship together. If we're lucky, the bishop might even come down off the dais to speak from the floor mic again!
This is what baptism looks like in real life: the hard stuff right alongside the hopeful stuff. The church dying and rising, year after year. Perhaps that’s why our synod's new vision, "Called Forward Together," is so compelling to me; I do believe we are being called forward into the next things. Called forward, as Synod Council Vice President John Auger said, to "discover new ways of being church together. To fight for justice and be light on a hill. In short, to love others as Jesus has loved us. Yes, it’s scary. Yes, it’s different. Yes, it’s the call."
Tears into dreams, friends. This is what we speak of when we speak of baptism. Holy, disruptive, seemingly-impossible-yet-promised, defiantly live-giving waters. This is what we pray for when we call on "the goodness of the Lord."** This is what I give thanks for at the end of #demdsa18, day one.
*The eucharistic prayer offered up by the Rev. Emily Scott in today's worship was stunning. Here’s more info about it: The source is a eucharist celebrated at the DignityUSA biennial convention in DC in 1991, written by James E. Snight Jr., and adapted by Kevin Calegari and Thomas Kaun. It can be found in "Equal Rites: Lesbian and Gay Worship, Ceremonies and Celebrations."
**Many thanks to Jeremy Grenhart and Afro Blue for leading us in stirring song today! Resonating with me tonight are the lyrics, "The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? I will remain confident in this: I will see the goodness of the Lord."
And so it is for the church. Today we recalled the mission and ministries of three congregations which recently closed their doors for good. We celebrated the lives and ministries of rostered ministers who died this past year, a bell ringing at the sound of each name. We spoke of children who suffer in many places around the globe, including in Palestine and right here on our shores and borders. We prayed and we acted, both, and there will be more to come in the days ahead.
In the midst of all this, we still gave thanks to a God who turns "tears into dreams. [For] we are children of the water."*
In business sessions the Assembly celebrated the creation of five new congregations (who — it should be noted — don’t eat lutefisk or lefse!), voted to better support young adults as they step into leadership in the church, and committed to communally honor our global church partners and Mar-Lu-Ridge. The Assembly rejoiced for incredible generosity, including gifts given to ELCA World Hunger, Lutheran Disaster Response, and Forward in Faith totaling in the millions. We gave thanks for a Bishop who is always there for his flock and for a synod staff of whom the bishop said, "it seems that I am everywhere at once because these folks go before and behind me, they befriend me through their ministry, and they serve you well." There were many occasions for the Assembly to rise and applaud today. (Did y'all hear about the gorgeous new synod website launching next week?!)
Tomorrow, the Assembly will continue its work, taking on conversations about justice for Palestinian children, gun violence, public education, and the opioid crisis, as well as voting to fill seats on Synod Council, the Churchwide Assembly voting delegation, and some of our synod's important ministries. We will continue to hear Faith Stories, celebrate the ministries of the synod, and worship together. If we're lucky, the bishop might even come down off the dais to speak from the floor mic again!
This is what baptism looks like in real life: the hard stuff right alongside the hopeful stuff. The church dying and rising, year after year. Perhaps that’s why our synod's new vision, "Called Forward Together," is so compelling to me; I do believe we are being called forward into the next things. Called forward, as Synod Council Vice President John Auger said, to "discover new ways of being church together. To fight for justice and be light on a hill. In short, to love others as Jesus has loved us. Yes, it’s scary. Yes, it’s different. Yes, it’s the call."
Tears into dreams, friends. This is what we speak of when we speak of baptism. Holy, disruptive, seemingly-impossible-yet-promised, defiantly live-giving waters. This is what we pray for when we call on "the goodness of the Lord."** This is what I give thanks for at the end of #demdsa18, day one.
*The eucharistic prayer offered up by the Rev. Emily Scott in today's worship was stunning. Here’s more info about it: The source is a eucharist celebrated at the DignityUSA biennial convention in DC in 1991, written by James E. Snight Jr., and adapted by Kevin Calegari and Thomas Kaun. It can be found in "Equal Rites: Lesbian and Gay Worship, Ceremonies and Celebrations."
**Many thanks to Jeremy Grenhart and Afro Blue for leading us in stirring song today! Resonating with me tonight are the lyrics, "The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? I will remain confident in this: I will see the goodness of the Lord."