We are church together

I have recently returned from a meeting of the Conference of Bishops, followed by a meeting of the Region 1 Governing Council.  I am keenly aware of being church together.    What is the Conference of Bishops? We are 65 Synodical Bishops plus the Presiding Bishop and Secretary.  Together we are the one body that can come together claiming that we have been in nearly every congregation in the ELCA.  No other body can claim that—not the Church Council, not the Advisory and Governing Boards of our Church.  We are church together.  

When Bishops meet, we hear from the church officers and staff, and learn about priorities, challenges, projects.  We hear about matters that have been brought to the Churchwide Offices from the Assembly, from Synods.  And we learn about how the church is working together to address these issues.  And we provide both input and feedback to the task forces and committees that are working on these issues.  Here are a couple of examples:

Unifying the Word and Service Rosters:  In the ELCA we have pastors and we have 3 other rosters—Associates in Ministry (AIMs), Diaconal Ministers and Deaconesses.  A task force has been appointed to merge these three categories of lay professionals into one roster.  While it may seem a simple task, there are layers of tradition and theology that are deeply held in various parts of the church.  Together we are looking for ways to move forward as the church, for the sake of the Gospel.

Mission Funding:  This has to do with how we fund being church together.  At the beginning of the ELCA, the leadership established the “Gold Standard” for mission funding.  The expectation was that Synods would send 55% of mission support received from congregations to the Churchwide, to fund mission together.  In reality, for many Synods (including ours and all the Synods in the Northwest), the 55% share was never even a remote possibility.  Now, 27 years into the life of the ELCA, a “Think Tank” made up of a bishop from each region of the church, is making proposals for funding how we are church together that take into account the realities of the church today.  We are committed to doing mission—as congregations, synods and churchwide.  But we are doing it differently, and much more locally.  And we are daring to

Conversations on Holy Communion:  At the 2013 Churchwide Assembly, a Synod brought a

resolution asking the ELCA (congregations, synods, churchwide) to engage in conversation on

communion practices.  We have a 1997 policy document—“The Use of the Means of Grace,”

and new resources were produced in 2013 to facilitate conversation.  Our synod staff met with

each of the clusters this past fall to discuss our various communion practices, and the Pastoral

Conference at Chico after Easter will address more issues.  Many congregations are having the

conversations, as well, about their communion practices, their understanding of hospitality, and

the best way to welcome people.  The intent of all this is not to bring anything to a vote at the

Churchwide Assembly, but rather to get us talking about this thing that is our very identity.  

Closer to home, we get to be church together when we gather as a Synod at our Assembly.  We

get to have voting members from every congregation hear updates on Synod projects and

priorities, establish a budget, and share our best practices with one another.  This year our

Assembly will feature global mission, under the theme:  “Serve the World, Especially the Poor

and those in Need.”  We will hear from a missionary who serves our companion synod in

Bolivia, from a person who administers scholarships for women from the global south to study

theology, and from people engaged in all kinds of global ministry.  And we will have lively

global worship and music as well.  I hope you will join us, whether as a voting member or

simply as a guest.  You are welcome!

We are church together.

Jessica Crist, Bishop