As you read these words, I will be flying to Chicago for my final meeting of the ELCA Conference of Bishops. Or I will be in some airport, hoping to get rebooked. When you are elected to be the bishop of a synod of the ELCA, you are automatically a part of the Conference of Bishops. It isn’t optional; it is part of the call. Every bishop of a synod is also a bishop of the whole church. That means being part of the Conference of Bishops.
For my first six years I was part of the Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs Committee. Then for four years I was Chair of the Conference of Bishops, and part of the COB Executive Committee, as well as the Church Council Executive Committee. Now I am part of the Synodical and Churchwide Relations Committee. We monitor the issues described in our name. Twice a year the Conference of Bishops meets as a whole—usually for 5 or 6 days. It may surprise you to know that the Conference of Bishops, by and large, does not make policy for the church. Many people make that assumption—that when the bishops gather they make policies and proclamations. This is a mistaken notion that comes from watching from afar how gatherings of bishops in other church bodies function. We are not Catholic, or Episcopalian or Methodist. We are ELCA. In the ELCA, it is the Church Council that is the decision-making body when the triennial Churchwide Assembly is not in session. The Conference of Bishop’s main role is to advise and consult, not to govern. The COB is not a governing body. Read what the ELCA Constitution says: “The Conference of Bishops shall consult with and advise the Church Council. It may make recommendations to the presiding bishop of the church and to the Church Council, respond to referrals from the Church Council, and refer concerns and proposals to the Church Council. At each meeting the Conference of Bishops shall receive a report from the Church Council brought by the vice president of this church. “ (10.81.01) During my tenure we began to invite members of the Church Council, in addition to the Vice President, to attend COB meetings. Visiting Council members were surprised to see the contrast between their meetings and the COB. One said: “We spend all our time making decisions, with very little time to reflect and discern. You spend all your time reflecting and discerning, with almost no opportunity to make decisions.” It is true. There are very few issues on which the Conference of Bishops has the final say. The major one is the roster—who can be issued a call, who can be given extra time on leave, which unusual circumstances justify setting aside timelines. Recently the Montana Synod asked for a call to a deacon who was non-stipendiary. After consideration, the Roster Committee granted our request, and passed it on to the full body, who agreed. Mostly, the Conference of Bishops advises churchwide units and staff, hears about programs and policies, listens to and voices concerns, and makes formal recommendations, when appropriate, to the Church Council. The Church Council is where the buck stops. I want to say a word about our polity. It is very intentional that the buck stops with the Churchwide Assembly, and with the Church Council in between assemblies. The Church Council, like the Churchwide Assembly and all properly constituted governing bodies in the ELCA, is made up of at least 60% laity. This is important. The ELCA is a church that takes laity seriously, so seriously that we are committed to having a majority of lay persons in every governing body. I think this is one of the reasons that the ELCA has been more successful than some other denominations in instituting and enforcing a no-tolerance policy for sexual abuse. We don’t have a system where clergy can protect clergy. Our design incorporates more transparency, more accountability. We are not perfect. But our system keeps us in check. What the Conference of Bishop brings to meetings twice a year, is not only their own interests and gifts, but the wisdom of every congregation in the ELCA. It is said that only when the COB meets is there somebody in the room who knows every congregation in the ELCA, and speaks for them. For the next week I will be representing you in my conversations with colleagues in Chicago. Pray for us. Jessica Crist, Bishop
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This weekend, led by Pastor Jason Asselstine, youth from around the Synod will be coming together for a mid-winter youth gathering at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church on the Rocky Boys Reservation. Our Saviour’s is actually one of the oldest congregations in the Montana Synod, and it is one of the oldest Native American ministries in the ELCA. As a kid growing up in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, I knew about Our Saviour’s in Rocky Boy because our congregation supported it. We had a mosaic map of the world in our narthex, with brightly colored squares where there were missionaries that we supported as a congregation There were missionaries in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America—and a single one in the United States-- Our Saviour’s Rocky Boy. Little did I know that I would grow up, move to Montana, and become very well acquainted with Our Saviour’s Rocky Boy.
The ministry at Rocky Boy has changed over the decades. The Rocky Boys Reservation was the last reservation to be set up in Montana—after much advocacy by people like the artist Charlie Russell and others. Eventually the Chippewa and Cree peoples were granted a reservation in the Bears Paw Mountains, north of Great Falls and south of Havre. When the Lutherans first came to the reservation there were few social services offered by the government. So the Lutherans provided services. In those days, if you had a need, you went to “the mission” to get it filled. “The mission” also offered worship, Christian education and many of the activities that congregations everywhere offer. Over the years the tribal government was able to provide more and more services that had previously been provided by the churches—both Lutheran and Catholic. Our Saviour’s still provides layettes for newborns, a thrift shop, and other forms of outreach to the community. One year, when a flood destroyed buildings including the new health center, Our Saviour’s was the FEMA distribution point. The “Big Church” is often used by the community for wakes and events, and the pastor is invited to teach in the tribal college. Grants help programming—from a sewing group to a girls group, from food distribution to Vacation Bible School and camp scholarships. Our Saviour’s also serves the wider church, hosting immersion events and seminars for seminarians and congregations, and hosting servant groups. The Montana Synod youth going to Rocky Boy this weekend will get to learn about the Chippewa and Cree, and will also participate in a service project for a needy family. This can be a transformative experience. Keep our synod youth and their chaperones, Pastor Linda Webster and Pastor Jason Asselstine in your prayers. And consider making a visit to Rocky Boy yourself. Jessica Crist, Bishop Later this week I fly to Minnesota for a Luther Seminary Board meeting. (Hint: there are many obligations that take bishops out of the synod that elected them.) Luther is one of 7 seminaries of the ELCA. Two years ago there were 8, but the two in Pennsylvania—Gettysburg and Philadelphia—merged into United Lutheran Seminary.
Two other seminaries, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary and Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary have been taken under the wing of larger Lutheran institutions—in one case California Lutheran University, in the other, Lenoir Rhyne University. The three remaining seminaries—Wartburg, Luther and the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago—are free-standing. All of our seminaries are cooperating with each other, and with other institutions because it makes sense to do so in our interconnected world. Each seminary is striving to find faithful and creative ways to train Lutheran pastors and deacons for an increasingly complex and secular world. I also serve on the ELCA’s Theological Education Advisory Committee, or TEAC. (Hint: bishops are expected to be available to serve on short-term and long-term churchwide boards, committees, task forces, etc.) TEAC deals not only with seminaries, but with the whole range of theological education in the ELCA—lay ministry programs like our LPA program, continuing education and lifelong learning programs like our NRIT; first call theological education; strategies for reaching ethnic communities; outreach to your adults; seminaries. Appointed by the Church Council and reporting to it directly, TEAC’s mandate is to oversee theological education across the ELCA in all its forms. Our synod has a benchmark: Deepen faith and witness. We live out that benchmark in many ways—in our congregations, camps and campus ministries; through the LPA program; and in the candidacy process. Congregations offer Christian education to children and adults, teach confirmation and find other ways to pass on the faith. Synod and churchwide youth gatherings bring teens together to grow in faith and action. Camps help campers explore their faith in a safe environment in the natural world. Campus ministries work with teens and young adults away from home for the first time, asking questions and exploring new worlds. The LPA program not only prepares preachers, teachers and other helpers for assisting in congregational ministry, it deepens the faith and understanding of the people who go through the program. NRIT offers workshops and online classes for clergy and laity in the Montana Synod and beyond. This ministry of the Montana Synod has changed over the years to meet changing needs. NRIT offers a way for anyone to go deeper into theological topics. Seminary is a more rigorous and formalized study that prepares students of any age to be pastors or deacons. There are a lot more options for seminary study today than there were a generation ago. There are traditional 4 year MDiv. Programs; TEEM programs; Distributed Learning Programs; MDivX; 2+2; 3+1, and more. There is not just one way to receive theological education training. Candidates for ministry work with the candidacy committee to determine which option is best for them, and for the church. Bob Quam coordinates our candidacy committee. You can reach him at rlq4xikon@aol.com. At its core, deepening faith and witness is not so much about personal fulfillment. It is about the Gospel, and sharing the good news of Jesus Christ in this time and place. Seminary boards have to deal with budgets and real estate, with policies and procedures. But in the end we are all there for one purpose—to raise up faithful and capable leaders for the church. Please keep your ELCA seminaries in prayer. And when asked to give, be generous. Jessica Crist, Bishop “The church of Christ, in ev’ry age, beset by change, but Spirit-led, must claim and test its heritage, and keep on rising from the dead.” (ELW 729—Fred Pratt Green)
Change is afoot. And one of our Synod’s benchmarks addresses change: “Meet the future boldly!” The Synod staff are committed to working with your congregation as you, too, meet the future boldly, whether it is forming a call committee, writing a mission statement, starting a new emphasis, evaluating your ministry. For Congregations: One resource that we are providing, thanks to NRIT, is a series of short videos to help orient new and continuing church council members. "Serving on the Congregation’s Council” is available on the NRIT website (www.nrit.org, or see article below). You can show all five sessions in a retreat. Or you can use one per meeting, as board development. The sessions are:
For the Montana Synod: The Research and Evaluation Team of the ELCA is assisting the Montana Synod with a survey to help determine the future direction of the Montana Synod, given the election of a new bishop. The survey is for individual members of congregations to reflect on their congregational hopes and experiences, and their hopes for the synod as we meet the future boldly. An email was sent to every congregation and every rostered leader, with an invitation to fill it out, and to share the link electronically with members of the congregation. In order to reach congregation members who are not comfortable with online surveys, Research and Evaluation will be sending out paper copies of the survey to congregation who do not opt out by today, Wednesday, January 30. The hope is to turn around by March 1, and then give feedback back to the Synod Council and the Synod about what kinds of things the members of the Montana Synod are looking for in new leadership. We should be able to share the results at the Pastoral Conference at Chico this year, as well as in the Synod’s enews. I hope that you will participate. We are stronger together as we meet the future boldly! Jessica Crist, Bishop If you are a pastor or deacon, and you went through candidacy any time from the ‘90’s on, you’ll remember the document, Vision and Expectations. And perhaps even more than that, you’ll remember the mystique around the document.
For those of you who are not familiar with the story of Vision and Expectations, it is a document that every candidate for ministry was required to read and attest that s/he had read it and would comply with it. Three times during the candidacy process we were required to ask each candidate if s/he had read it, and would comply with it. Unless they said “yes,” they were not permitted to continue in candidacy. We lost an excellent candidate from the Montana Synod, because he was not able to say yes truthfully. Three times during candidacy we ask if the candidate has read and will live in accordance with Vision and Expectations. But when we get to ordination, there is no mention of it. The ordination rite speaks of the Holy Scriptures, the Creeds, the Confessions, but no mention of Vision and Expectations. The installation rite asks the person being installed to promise to do everything in accordance with the constitutions of the church, but no mention of Vision and Expectations. So, what is the content of Vision and Expectations that made it so important that it be raised up three times during the course of a future pastor’s preparation ( and then never mentioned again)? Was it like Jesus’ three-fold question to Peter after the Resurrection: “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Was it affirming the three parts of the Apostles and Nicene Creeds? Was it knowing the names of the tree creeds we say we teach and affirm? Was it being able to say yes to the scriptures, creeds and confessions? No. Vision and Expectations put into writing what were, at the time, some of the do’s and don’ts of conduct becoming a minister. Although the document listed both do’s and don’ts, most of the objections to the document arose from the don’ts, and those in particular in the area of human sexuality. Written in 1990, Vision and Expectations originally took a very clear stance on sexual behavior for its clergy. Outside of marriage, it was unacceptable. At that time, same-sex relationships were not recognized in most states, and not in the church officially. In the years since 2009, when the church agreed to disagree on publicly accountable lifelong monogamous same-sex relationships, and the Supreme Court made same-sex marriage legal in every state, Vision and Expectations has been revised to reflect current reality. I used to ask first-call pastors at our first call theological education retreat if they were familiar with Vision and Expectations, to tease them. They would roll their eyes and groan. And then I would go on to remind them that it wasn’t all about sex. It was about leading lives of prayer and service, about caring for God’s people and for the earth. It was about leading lives that were exemplary, supporting the congregation and the Synod and the ELCA, being fiscally responsible. So much more than sex. And then they would perk up, and look interested. But, in the end, it was sex that was the downfall of Vision and Expectations. For too many people, that’s what it was about. So now, we are, in the ELCA, on the verge of replacing Vision and Expectations with a new document (as yet unnamed) that tries to do several things: +put into one place the constitutional and disciplinary requirements for pastors and deacons, to let candidates know succinctly what the established rules are, and how to find them; and +carefully focus on the aspirational expectations, the “thou shalts,” after having established (above) the “thou shalt nots.” The aspirations focus on such things as: evangelism, compassion, confession, hospitality, peacemaking, justice, stewardship of the earth and more. And if you are wondering why I am so interested in this in the last 7 months of my last term, I’ll tell you: I am on the committee tasked with coming up with something better. And we hope to have something by the February 28 Conference of Bishops. I am committed to supporting pastors and deacons as they do the very challenging and very rewarding tasks of ministry day in and day out. And I am committed to supporting congregations as they work with their pastors and deacons and LPAs to provide ministry in their community. It is my hope that this new document will be a helpful tool throughout the candidacy process, and in the life of the church. Jessica Crist, Bishop “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.” (I Corinthians 12: 12)
It is the season of Epiphany, when we celebrate the light shining in the darkness and the darkness not overcoming it. Traditionally, the season of Epiphany has been a time when the church highlighted the global nature of the church. And, back home, most of our congregations utilize the season of Epiphany to have annual meetings. ( A letter to congregations from the Synod Bishop is next in this e-newsletter, and is also on the synod website.) Annual meetings. Ideally, when we get together as congregations, we look at what we have done in the past year, and plan our ministry for the next year. As ELCA congregations, our ministry is not just to ourselves and to those who happen to come through our doors. Our ministry is our community, our Synod, and the wider church. And that wider ministry happens through the ELCA. We are a connected church. We know that we are able to do more ministry and more effective ministry because we are partnered with one another. The annual meeting is a time to approve a budget, which includes mission support. Congregations send money to the Montana Synod, and the Synod sends approximately 40% of that on to the wider church through the ELCA. What does the Synod do with the rest of the money? We support campus ministry at the University of Montana and Montana State University. We support the Northern Rockies Institute of Theology, which provides continuing theological education and lifelong learning to clergy and laity in the Synod. We support Lutheran Social Services. We support Freedom in Christ Prison Ministry, Our Saviour’s Rocky Boy and Spirit of Life on the Fort Peck Reservation. We provide the LPA training program to equip lay preachers and deeper faith and witness. We support first call pastors with First Call Theological Education. We shepherd candidates through the candidacy process, and we work with congregations and pastors during pastoral vacancies. We foster relationships with our companion synods (Bolivia and the Cape Orange Diocese of South Africa.) We work with congregations in transition and in conflict. The wider church is able to reach out on our behalf across the globe, through the world hunger program, through Lutheran Disaster Response, through ELCA seminaries and colleges, through global partnerships, through ecumenical relationships. We live in a connected world, and we have a connected church. Because of that we can share lay ministry curricula with our companion church in Bolivia. We can learn best ways to support the hurricane recovery for the people of Puerto Rico. We can learn about famine in Africa. We can learn about unaccompanied minors at the southern border, and efforts to care for them. This week I returned from a gathering of ELCA Bishops focused on the care of creation—from biblical, theological and advocacy perspectives. We visited a congregation that meets outdoors year round, and has a community garden to share with their neighbors. Jason Asselstine, from our staff, has been at a church-sponsored training on family systems—how to live together as congregations, as communities and avoid the kinds of conflict that paralyze. Peggy Paugh Leuzinger, also from our staff is at a church-sponsored training, along with 3 other pastors from the synod, on faith-based community organizing, finding tools for more effective outreach ministry in the communities we serve. We use these opportunities to learn and grow, so that we might better serve the Montana Synod. And then we return from these trainings to do ordinations and installations, and meetings with congregations that we serve. May God bless your congregation as you meet in your annual meeting and discern together what God is calling you to do! And please let us know. We learn from one another. In Christ, Jessica Crist, Bishop “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.” (I Corinthians 12: 12) At the start of the Christmas season, I love to read the Christmas story in Luke 2. The story has such power, and is accompanied by so many memories… Memories of getting my first Bible in second grade and reading it in the King James Version… Memories of hearing it in church, reading it in church, preaching it in church… Memories of pageants, elaborate and simple, agonizing and sweet… Memories of reading the story to our children.
This year will be the first time in 35 years that Turner and I will wake up on Christmas morning with just the 2 of us in the house. Our children have both married in the last year, and they are rotating to the in-laws. We will plug in the tree and the lights, eat breakfast, and sit in the living room opening a few presents. Then we will try to call family members in three different time zones. Later in the day we’ll drive to Helena and have dinner with our son, daughter-in-law, and her family visiting from points east and south. We’ll probably do the cooking while they pick up the relatives at the airport. There’s an anticipation in the air—our daughter-in-law is pregnant, and next year we expect a baby to be the center of attention in our family’s gathering. Somehow our waiting for a baby this Advent seems so appropriate. On Christmas Eve we will have dinner with the Jewish side of the family. Then, later on, we’ll go to church. Our sister-in-law and nieces are Jewish, and always honor our tradition by having a Christmas dinner with us. We reciprocate at Passover, when it doesn’t conflict with Maundy Thursday. The Jewish community in Great Falls has a nice tradition at Christmas time. Volunteers from the Jewish community staff the Mercy Home, the shelter for women and children escaping domestic violence. The Jewish volunteers stay in the shelter so that the staff can have Christmas with their families. We’ll work our Christmas Eve dinner around our church schedule and their volunteer schedule. This phenomenon is widespread. Across the country, and without making a big deal of it, Jewish doctors and nurses, firefighters and law enforcement and many others volunteer to work on Christmas so that their Christian colleagues can spend the holiday with their families. Jesus was a Jew, brought up in a Jewish family. Christians and Jews are cousins, with all kinds of reasons not only to get along, but to love one another. Come to think of it, Christians might use Christmas to love all kinds of people who coexist on this earth with us. In our family we are a bit old-fashioned about Christmas. We celebrate the 12 days of Christmas—after Christmas and not before, as so many commercial businesses seem to be doing these days. We go from Christmas to Epiphany with lights and boughs, and with the Magi moving incrementally closer to the baby Jesus in the creches that aren’t immobilized. We enjoy the slow buildup to Christmas that Advent affords, and we relish the slow movement towards Epiphany that our tradition provides. So you won’t see our Christmas tree in the recycling on December 26. And if you come by our house in early January, you’ll still see the creche sets around the house, and the decorations on the doors. We are in no hurry to eradicate Christmas. Right now generosity is in the air. My inbox and my mail box are full of requests from good causes encouraging us to consider them in our year-end giving. My van driver from the auto shop this morning asked if I knew anyone who needed a Christmas tree. She had an extra one and wanted to share it with someone who is needy. We brainstormed about how to accomplish that. The grocery store has gift coupons to add to your bill, to provide food for the hungry. And many congregations and businesses have giving trees, as a way to help a person or a ministry in need. The Montana Synod got in on the giving tree idea, by offering opportunities to support Freedom in Christ Prison Ministry, Spirit of Life Ministry, Our Saviour’s Rocky Boy, NRIT, the Cape Orange Diocese, and children’s scholarships in Bolivia. Like you, we are weighing options, and writing out checks. At the end of the Christmas season, I love to read the beginning of the Gospel of John. It, too, tells the Christmas story, from a different perspective than the narrative of Luke. It catapults the touching story of the extraordinary birth of a baby into a promise of salvation for all nations. As the days lengthen we hear the words: “The light shines in the darkness; and the darkness did not overcome it.” Thanks be to God. Merry Christmas! Jessica Crist, Bishop I was sitting in the doctor’s office this week, waiting for my turn, when I heard the man ahead of me ask the doctor, “Are you ready for Christmas?” Her response warmed my heart. “Good heavens, no! We’ve still got 2 weeks!”
Two weeks to finish the shopping and the wrapping, the addressing and the mailing. Two weeks to finish the baking and the decorating, the caroling and the year-end giving. Two weeks to prepare our hearts and minds for the coming of the Lord. Wow. There is a way in which we are never ready for Christmas, never ready for the surprise of the Incarnation, of the Word made flesh. Advent, with its troubling series of scripture texts, gives us a taste of disruption, but also hope. God coming to be among us, to be one of us is a major disruption of the status quo. Mary reflects that in the Magnificat, as she visits her cousin Elizabeth. My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, For he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed ; For the Mighty One has done great things for me, And holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him From generation to generation. He has shown the strength with his arm; He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, And lifted up the lowly; He has filled the hungry with good things, And sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, In remembrance of his mercy, According to the promise he made to our ancestors, To Abraham and his descendants forever. The Magnificat is a hymn to transformation, and to justice, sung by a young woman just plucked from obscurity. Was she ready for what was ahead? Certainly not. And yet God chose her to carry the child. God entrusted her to nurture and protect God’s own self, in the form of a baby. I just learned that a friend was diagnosed with breast cancer. Not what she was planning for this Advent. And yet, there it is, shattering her plans, redirecting her energy and the prayers of those who love her. Her diagnosis has thrown a wrench into plans. But it has also re-focused Advent on what really matters. No matter how organized we are, not matter how much we plan ahead, we can never fully prepare for God coming among us. We are never really ready for Christmas. And that’s as it should be. Jessica Crist, Bishop As you read this, I am in Chicago with representatives of other synod,s sharing our experiences with lay ministry. The Montana Synod’s Lay Pastoral Associate (LPA) program is one of the gems of our Synod, and is much admired across the ELCA.
So what is it all about? First of all, lay people have been serving the church since it began. Jesus and the twelve disciples were lay people. Paul was a lay person. All of the earliest leaders in the Jesus movement—men and women—were lay people. Philip Melanchthon, theologian and interpreter of the Reformation and right hand man to Martin Luther, was a lay person. One of the strands of Lutheranism that was influential in the “Lutheranization” of the territory we call the Montana Synod promoted the ministry of the laity. And of course, our relatively spread-out population necessitated lay people taking over the pulpits in the absence of an ordained pastor. So lay ministry is in our history, it is in our bones. About 25 years ago, following the lead of the Western North Dakota Synod, the Montana Synod began the LPA program as a way to support and train lay people who were already being called upon by their congregations to preach and lead in the absence of a pastor. The program began in eastern Montana, where there was greatest need. Soon people from other parts of the state expressed interest in the LPA program, and now we have trained LPAs in every cluster of the Synod. Currently we have 3 LPA classes going—one in Great Falls, one in Glendive, and an advanced class for people who have already finished the program and want more training. Pastor Jason Asselstine currently coordinates the program. Faculty for the 4 workshops over the 2 years come from the Montana Synod, teaching prayer and spirituality, worship leadership, preaching and pastoral care. Students are mentored by local pastors, and engage in additional academic work in theological disciplines. The LPA program has grown and changed over the years, but it has remained a home-grown program, designed for the needs of the Montana Synod. LPAs do pulpit supply, serve on councils, lead Bible studies, serve as Synodically Authorized Ministers, visit shut-ins, and assist congregations in a variety of ways, according to their gifts. They also serve in Synod roles. Our companion synod in Bolivia is also working with lay ministry, and requested that we bring LPAs to Bolivia—which we did in September. The Bolivians were particularly interested in hearing how our program works, and hearing the experiences of the 3 LPAs who were present (Cynthia Thomas—who serves 3 congregations as a Synodically Authorized Minister; Dave Scholten—who does pulpit supply; and Alex Tooley—a high school student who also serves on the Synod Council.) In Chicago we are rubbing shoulders with representatives of a whole variety of lay ministry programs—each designed for their particular context. Some are urban, some are rural. Some are in Spanish. Each has a place. It is true that our seminaries are producing fewer candidates for pastoral ministry than are retiring. (And it is not the seminaries’ fault—it is up to all of us to find and encourage candidates of any age.) But it is also true that although there is plenty of work to go around, it doesn’t all have to be done by ordained pastors. Deacons (called ministers of word and service) also do God’s work, and so do all the baptized people of God. LPAs are part of the Montana Synod strategy not only to fill pulpits, but to equip and train and educate lay people in service to God and neighbor. Jessica Crist, Bishop We are about to enter the month when we as Lutheran Christians take a different approach than the society at large. While much of our surrounding culture sees December (maybe even November!) as a lead-in to Christmas, we see it differently. We see it through Advent.
Without Advent, secular Christmas is a flurry of excess—excess pressure to buy, excess pressure to party, excess pressure to have a “perfect Christmas,” as defined by number of presents, quality of decorations and quantity of food-- divided by family stress. I am always taken aback momentarily when someone asks if I have had a “good Christmas.” What does that mean? Probably my “best Christmas” was the one in which we had to cancel a trip to Bermuda with my extended family to go to San Francisco to see a neurosurgeon about the possible recurrence of a brain tumor. What was good was that we had a very stripped-down Christmas, without any of the trappings. We had family, and church, and an overwhelming gratitude for God’s incredible gift, available to all of us, anywhere, under any circumstances. Don’t get me wrong. I may have Quaker ancestors, but I love many of the aspects of secular Christmas. I love the music and the stories, the decorations and the family get-togethers. I appreciate the non-commercial values of secular Christmas—peace on earth, generosity. These are values that are significant for Christians year-round. But if someone wants to highlight a “Giving Tuesday” or promote a Christmas cease fire, I am all for it, if it gets others to practice generosity, to strive for peace. These are wonderful things. But they are not what Christmas is about fundamentally. Advent is not warm and fuzzy. It is stark. The biblical texts we use in Advent paint a picture of a world full of conflict and disaster. It is easy to draw parallels with the world we live in today—with fires and floods, wars and rumors of war, desperate refugees, frightened people. Advent is the beginning of the church year, and a time when we wait anxiously for the coming of the Lord. The kind of waiting that Advent brings is not the happy anticipation of a wonderful surprise. It is a waiting for judgment, for the end of times. And in the midst of it all, there is hope. Just as Good Friday is what gives Easter its meaning for Christians, Advent is what gives Christmas its meaning for us. On Christmas we marvel to see what God has done, how God has decided to respond to sin and evil, death and destruction. God’s piece de resistance—a baby, pouring all of Godself into a vulnerable human infant, born to unwed parents living in a conquered nation, soon to be homeless refugees fleeing violence. As modern American Christians we live in two realities. In our communities we are surrounded by secular Christmas. And there is no reason we should, Grinch-like, refuse to participate in the many activities and practices of secular Christmas. After all, it is the world we live in, and the world God loves. But at the same time, we live in Advent’s tension. Paul describes it well: I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. (Romans 8: 18-25) That’s Advent. Jessica Crist, Bishop |
Bishop Jessica Crist
Bishop of the Montana Synod of the ELCA Archives
August 2019
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