Montana Synod ELCA
  • Home
  • About
    • Staff
    • Synod Council
    • Clusters
    • Ministries >
      • WELCA News
      • Prison Ministries
    • ELCA
    • Contact Us
  • Resources
    • 2018 Reports to the Bishop
    • Giving Tree
    • Transitions
    • 5 Ecumenical Imperatives
    • NRIT >
      • NRIT Forum
      • Jessica Crist Scholarship Fund
    • For LPAs
    • For Rostered Leaders
    • For Congregations >
      • Packets
    • Disaster Response Resources
    • Directories
    • ELCA Statements
    • Dwelling in the Word
  • News & Events
    • Events Calendar >
      • 2019 Synod Assembly
      • Synod Events
    • Archive >
      • Quincentenary
      • News of the Week Archive
      • South Africa 2015
      • Bolivia Recap Blog
    • Multimedia
  • Staff Blogs
    • From the Bishop Blog
    • Rise, O Church

Words from the Bishop—“Called together by God to pray together as one, be present in our state’s broken places, and to walk in the freedom and openness of the Holy Spirit”

1/21/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
We are in the midst of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.  This annual celebration of Christian ecumenism starts each year on January 18, (the Confession of St. Peter), and ends on January 25, (the Conversion of St. Paul.)  In many communities congregations of different denominations have special joint services of worship, to show solidarity in Christ.

Seeking unity with other Christians is essential to who we are as Lutherans.  One of our Synod benchmarks is “Promote Unity.”  We cherish our unique Lutheran heritage and emphases.  But we also seek common ground with others who follow Christ.  As a denomination, the ELCA has full communion agreements with 6 other churches—The Presbyterian Church USA, the United Church of Christ, the Reformed Church in America, The Moravians, The Episcopal Church and the United Methodist Church.  And we have significant agreements and conversations with other groups, including AME Zion and Roman Catholic, as well as Orthodox.  

In the Montana Synod we work together ecumenically with the Wyoming Association of Churches and the Montana Association of Christians (formerly Montana Association of Churches.)  Both organizations are made up of a majority of mainline Protestant denominations, and both are working on state legislative agendas during the legislative sessions.  MAC has recently re-organized, and now welcomes not only denominations, but also congregations and individuals as members.  You can find a link to our website, where you will find both an invitation to join and a congregational membership covenant.  I encourage you to consider congregational and individual membership in MAC.

And Monday, January 26 will be MAC Day at the Legislature.  You can find information on our website as well.  We’ll begin at St. John’s Lutheran Church, at 8:30 AM with prayer, and move to the Capitol.  This is a good way to thank our legislators for their service, and to let them know what we, as Christians, are working on together.  MAC does not take on every issue—just the ones we share across our denominations.  This year’s issues are: abolition of the death penalty and replacing it with life imprisonment without parole; well-being of children; care for immigrants; returning prisoners to society.  

Another of our Synod benchmarks is:  “Serve the world, especially the poor and those in need.”  Through MAC and WAC we attempt to do just that.  As Christians we believe that God loved the world, the whole world.  And we are called to love the world, too.  As Christians working together, we can show God’s love to a world in great need.

Bishop Jessica Crist

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Bishop Jessica Crist

    Bishop of the Montana Synod of the ELCA

    Archives

    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014

    Categories

    All

1221 24th Street South - Great Falls, MT 59405-5034  [Phone] 406.453.1461 
© 2018 Montana Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America