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Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
I have spent the last week at the Conference of Bishops. The Conference of Bishops in the ELCA is not a legislative body, but rather a consultative, collegial body. We hear updates on churchwide issues, listen to reports, share experiences from our synods, and worship and pray with one another. And, from time to time, we make recommendations. I want to share just a couple of brief highlights with you.
Mission Starts
The Conference of Bishops affirmed proposals to find better ways to recruit and screen mission developers, both clergy and lay.
Stewardship
The Conference of Bishops supports the implementation of the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Stewardship. Each bishop had a personal stewardship consultation with an officer of the church, and each bishop is charged with having similar conversations with all the rostered leaders in her/his synod.
Lowered Board of Pensions rates
We learned that no synods have achieved the 75% participation rate in the health risk survey that will give their entire synod discounted rates for 2008. The Montana Synod is one of the front-runners. We only need 29 more people to take the survey. It is quick, it is easy, and the results are confidential. No one in the synod sees them. There is no good reason not to take the 10 minutes and help us all save thousands of dollars.
Lutheran Malaria Initiative
As a church we are looking into entering into a major push, along with the UN and other agencies, to end one of the most debilitating diseases in the world. We have a good track record working with HIV-AIDS and with World Hunger. We hope to expand our efforts.
Blessed to be a Blessing
The ELCA Bishops invite ELCA members to tithe the money they receive as part of the 2008 US Economic Stimulus Plan to ministries among persons living in poverty. This is a teaching moment, just as the Montana state $400 rebate was last fall. What could $400 do to help people living in poverty in your community, in your state, in your country, in the world?
Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality
The Bishops had opportunity to discuss the draft social statement on human sexuality, which will be made public on March 13. I have written a separate email to you on that, and it will be sent out shortly after the document is. It is important to remember that this is a draft, and that it is a social statement, not a position paper.
A personal note: Our world is interconnected. While I was at the Conference of Bishops I was reminded of it yet again.
1. I had opportunity to visit our seminary in Berkeley, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, and meet with our 2 students there, Jesse Brown and Caralyn Holmquist. (And, yes, I had a chance to see our daughter, too, at UC Berkeley.)
2. While I was in San Francisco, I got a call from a former parishoner who works for Religion and Ethics Newsweekly in Washington, DC. They were sending a film crew to Kenya and wanted some contacts. I had met with a Kenyan friend at breakfast that day, and was able to connect her with my Washington friend. And we also put her in touch with ELCA Global Mission. And the synod staff were able to go through my Global Christian Forum materials from my trip to Nairobi and find additional names.
3. In the Salt Lake City airport as I returned home I ran into Pastor Bob Nilsen and another worker returning from a house-building trip in Mississippi.
It is indeed a small world full of warm and generous people.
May God bless you.
Bishop Jessica Crist
Montana Synod ELCA
2415 13th Avenue South
Great Falls, MT 59405
406-453-1461
jcrist@montanasynod.org
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