Recently, Bishop Manlove asked me to serve as the synod’s ecumenical and interfaith representative with the tasks of naming, describing, highlighting the ecumenical and interfaith ministries which are in place throughout the Northwest Intermountain Synod, and encouraging the people of the synod to be engaged in them.
These Things We Call Clusters
No one is going to prescribe exactly how to be a cluster. I have told the deans that I expect them to pull together the active rostered leaders every other month online or in person to check in on one another. Many rostered leaders do meet weekly or monthly in person for text study. Lay and rostered people should come together before regular synod assemblies, as our constitution states, though I celebrate those clusters that come together more often for business or recreation or worship.
Our Kairos Moment
Welcome to “Our Kairos Moment,” a study guide for the ELCA’s social message “Earth’s Climate Crisis.” In this guide you will find four sessions designed to dig more deeply into major themes from the social message.
Within each session you will find learning activities, Bible studies, ideas for prayer and lessons drawn from passages of the social message.
A Joyful Procession
Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church
Back to the Basics
We are called to be the church, the Christian community gathered and sent week after week. We gather around Word and Sacraments and that is unique. When I say that we would do well to get back to basics I mean we need to read scripture well, create worship experiences that are faithful to the tradition and our local contexts, and love and care for our neighbors.
Discerning How Your Faith and Civic Life Relate
Did you know that the phrase ‘separation of church and state’ does not appear in our U.S. Constitution? It was first attributed to U.S. President Thomas Jefferson in 1802 in a letter to Danbury Baptist Association in Connecticut as he attempted to clarify his understanding of the Constitution’s First Amendment, Freedom of Religion, Speech, and the Press. Specifically, it states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." Jefferson wasn’t saying our religious beliefs and government should be separated, but only that the U.S. Government cannot establish, for the country, a national religion. Similarly, it cannot prevent the free expressions of one’s faith.
Green Blades Rising and Regional Gatherings
The Revised Common Lectionary reading assigned for the Fifth Sunday of Lent this year comes from John 12 where we find Jesus saying: “Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24). This passage, along with the lengthening of days and greening landscape, have me reflecting on all the ways God is renewing life all around us; bringing to life something new from what once was barren.
Update about Church Mutual from the ELCA Churchwide Office
Updated Misconduct Policy
One of the important pieces of work approved at the January 2024 Northwest Intermountain Synod Council meeting was an updated Misconduct Policy. God intends for the Church to be a safe place for all people to experience God’s love and mercy, grow in faith, and equip themselves for ministry in the world. And yet at times the church has not been a safe place and sexual misconduct has caused injury and pain to individuals and communities.