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 Missional metaphors are so pressed to extremes that it no longer represents hopefulness to me, so much as a tired sense of failure.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 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.
by Bishop Bill GohlCW: mental illness The Lord has punished me severely, but he did not give me over to death. Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. – Psalm 118:18-22 While I was on vacation last week, I sought out an opportunity to worship on Sunday in the local community. Being that I was in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, my choices were largely limited to Roman Catholic and Pentecostal congregations; since my Spanish is, at best, "rusty," I wasn’t excited about navigating a taxi to and from worship. Having decided to go to a Roman Catholic mass (I thought the liturgy would be eminently more accessible to my rusty Spanish), I sought out the front desk of the resort where we were staying – and I was all but delighted when they shared that the local priest, Father Juan Baptiste actually came to the resort and led an "ecumenical" mass in one of the resort's restaurants. Sunday at 2 p.m.; all were welcome.
by Jeanette BankoEditor's note: Bishop Gohl is on vacation this week, so he has handed over the blog to our LYO Overall Leader Among Leaders, Jeanette Banko, a member of Grace, Easton. Jeanette preached at our Transformers middle school leadership retreat earlier this month, and is sharing her sermon on the blog today. You can also see a livestreamed video of Jeanette preaching on our Facebook page. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, Oh Lord, My Strength, and my redeemer. Amen.
My name, for those of you who don’t know, is Jeanette Banko. I’ve been in the LYO since my freshman year of high school, and I’ve been attending youth retreats since sixth grade. I’m currently the Leader Among Leader Among Leaders for the LYO, and clearly, I’m a huge church nerd. by Bishop Bill GohlI am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me... - John 10:14 The last few weeks have been awash with death and life: Holy Week and Easter, a-never-quite-over-winter and never-fully-bloomed-spring, funerals and baptisms. A theme that has chased me during these weeks is that of Jesus our Good Shepherd; not the long, white, flowing robes kind of Good Shepherd replete with its historically inaccurate blond hair and blue eyes surrounded meticulously clean and well-kempt sheep; but a Good Shepherd, who bears the bruises, stains and scents of living with and among those in their care.
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