It may feel a bit early, especially for you preachers and worship planners reading this, for me to be writing about the Year of Mark, which begins Dec. 3, the First Sunday of Advent. I assume I will want to use my next column to write about the trip to our companion synod in Tanzania. So, onto Mark.

We might say that following Jesus is “easy as pie.” Meaning, of course, it’s not easy at all. But just as a whole pie isn’t meant to be eaten alone, the life of faith is meant to be communal, shared. As my training week continued, I looked around to find others on the journey with me. Together, we were overwhelmed. (I lost count of how many references people made to drinking from a firehose.) Together, we found we still had hopes about the church. And together, we began sharing stories.

The overarching theme of Philippians is the joy we have in Jesus Christ. There is so much that is still broken in our communities and cosmos and sometimes both the small conflicts and large injustices can overwhelm.  I cannot continue the work of witnessing to the love of Jesus Christ with words and actions without reminders that the good news is for me too, and that the joy Paul writes of is ours.

Even as the busy-ness has increased, I have been fortunate to spend time at two of the three Lutheran Outdoor Ministry sites that are within the NWIM Synod territory. During those short retreats, I was able to live into Jesus’s invitation to go “away to a deserted place…and rest a while.”

I do not think it’s a stretch to say that God is doing something new right now. Sometimes I wish I could predict what it is. Other times I am simply up for the adventure and hope I can keep up. Whatever is happening, I do find it helpful to remember that we are not the first ones to experience new things.

In entering into this movement we are “speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15) and loving God and neighbor (Matthew 22:37-39) in powerful ways. This work will not result in justification before God. It is simply one more way to respond to a God whose love is abundant and everflowing.

We are definitely in a season of transition. Being in transition can be unsettling and uncomfortable. A very human response to that discomfort is the desire to conclude it as quickly as possible. In my work with these ministry sites, I urge folks to navigate transition with a posture of patience and openness.

A message from Bishop Meggan, plus an invitation to Synod Trip to visit our companions in Tanzania, the Ulanga Kilombero Diocese (UKD) July 5 to 22, 2024. The goal of the trip is to strengthen our relationship as we spend more time together. Here is more information so that you can determine your interest.