Dear Friends in Christ,
It is coming up on the two-year anniversary of my taking this call to serve the Northwest Intermountain Synod as Assistant to the Bishop. For the first 1 ½ years, I spent about one-third of my time on the road, traveling across this beautiful Synod territory, meeting with small groups, ministries, and congregations. Three Sundays a month I would join others for worship from Leavenworth, WA to Thayne, WY and just about everywhere in between.
In these past 5 months, things have certainly shifted. The rhythms of work and life (rhythms I was just catching onto) were disrupted by the pandemic. Everything changed. And change is hard.
Bishop Kristen wrote well about the grace that is called for as we continue to navigate these covid times in her e-news article for last week. If you haven’t had the chance to read it, please do…and then remember change is hard. So be compassionate – towards yourself and others.
But change also brings opportunity. One of the opportunities that I’ve become aware of is that all of a sudden the geographic challenges of the time, energy, and cost it takes to traverse the Northwest Intermountain Synod are erased with a high speed internet connection. I have found myself able to participate in a worship service in Nampa, ID, meet with a council in Mountain Home, ID, and then eat lunch with my family in Post Falls, ID. All in the span of two hours!
As a Synod staff, we are offering two recurring opportunities for you to participate in during this time. The first is a weekly check-in with leaders, both lay and rostered, from across our Synod. It happens each Thursday morning from 9:30-11:00am PDT/10:30-12:00noon MDT. Each week we spend time dwelling in God’s Word together, getting curious about what God’s Spirit might be saying to us today, and then check in with one another. It is great to be able to gather regularly with folks from all across our Synod.
The second weekly opportunity is a 6 week discussion about racism using Austin Channing Brown’s book, I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness. You can find more information about the discussion here. Even though we are already a couple of weeks into the conversation, you are still welcome to join in for the rest. This is important work. And I am grateful that folks from across our Synod (and beyond!) are engaging it with thoughtfulness and commitment.
There is no doubt about it, change it hard. But with change comes opportunities. I hope you are able to participate in these or other opportunities as they arise.
God’s peace be yours,
Pastor Phil Misner
Assistant to the Bishop
NWIM Synod
Synod Events
“I’m Still Here” Book Study · Tuesdays
Next Meeting: August 11, 6-7:30PM (PDT) / 7-8:30PM (MDT)
This on-line discussion group will be the first of several offerings around anti-racism, diversity, and equity that we will be engaging in in the Northwest Intermountain Synod. It will not be easy. It will be uncomfortable. Mistakes will be made. Forgiveness will be given. And learning will continue, because We Walk Together. Read More→
Weekly Check In · Thursdays
Next Meeting: August 13, 2020
Each Thursday morning at 9:30am PDT/10:30am MDT, lay and rostered leaders are invited to a Zoom meeting to check in with one another during these pandemic days. Time will be spent dwelling in the Word with one another and reflecting together on what it is to be the church during this time... and how we imagine the Holy Spirit is moving among us.
The meeting link is the same each week. Contact the synod if you would like to attend.
Save the Dates! BishCon2020 · October 19-21, 2020
Due to COVID-19 and the danger of gathering in large groups, the 2020 Bishop’s Convocation for rostered leaders will be held October 19-21, 2020 via Zoom. More details will be coming soon!
Additional resources & events
Dark works: In her August column for Living Lutheran, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton says, “Darkness and blackness and night are too often contrasted with lightness and whiteness and day, and found deficient.” She wants us to “consider the beautiful dark works of God.” Read her column in English at https://bit.ly/3gF21O4 and in Spanish https://bit.ly/2PnQ9Ef.
Founders’ Day · PLTS
September 16, 2020
Climate Justice, Racial Justice and Divestment: The Call of the Church Our moment in time is pivotal. Movements around the globe are aligning for powerful action toward climate justice, holding racial justice at the heart of the struggle to protect Earth’s fragile climate. Bill McKibben is recognized around the globe as a foremost leader in that struggle. His address will draw the links between racial justice, climate well-being, divestment/reinvestment, and the call of the church.
Read more here→
Hunger in the Time of COVID-19 · ELCA World Hunger
September 24, 2020
Rick Steves, guidebook author and travel TV host; the Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA); and the Rev. Shelley Bryan Wee, bishop of the ELCA Northwest Washington Synod, invite you to an online benefit — the first of its kind — for ELCA World Hunger.
Our goal is to raise $250,000 to confront hunger in the time of COVID-19.
Read more and Register here→