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God’s Beloved People,
I’ve just had the pleasure of attending the annual First Call Theological Education Event where pastors, diaconal ministers, deaconesses, and associates in ministry in their first three years of call attend to share wisdom, listen to experienced leaders with new ears, seek consolation, and soak in the camaraderie of other rostered leaders. It’s one of my favorite events of the year, a chance to catch up one-on-one with our newest leaders, and offer encouragement for the work.
This year’s class is squirrelly and idealistic and hopeful and we are blessed to have these leaders among us! I call them squirrelly because there’s a certain agitation to remake the church into the church they have hoped for. It makes them impatient and a little self-possessed. They are idealistic not in the world’s sense, but because they take seriously the announcement of the Kingdom of God and yearn for its manifestation, even among a people caught between sainthood and sins. And they are hopeful; hopeful they won’t repeat their first mistakes in a second call, hopeful about the joys of their work, and hopeful in God, who is remaking the church and the world.
I think it’s time for the whole church to remember these same passions even as we face the daunting questions of real life and faithfulness. We can face the future with fear or we can lean into the Guiding Principle that says we will NOT FEAR, even as we are being TRANSFORMED from one degree of righteousness to another. In fact, I hope we’ll get a little squirrelly ourselves, agitated by the hope that God’s hand is leading us and his love supporting us. The younger generations of our church don’t want us to forget to be eager and a little idealistic about the hope that has been planted in us. They yearn for a bigger church and a church that is more deeply aligned with the big-hearted inclusivity (only sinners welcome!) that Jesus showed us. The young want us to be the sign of the in-breaking Kingdom, an alternative community in a world that is paralyzed by ancient passions.
The question before us is whether we will try to continue to be the Christendom church of a young, self-centered, and impatient culture or whether we will become a sign of God’s new commonwealth even now seeding places of fertile soil. We have a profligate God constantly broadcasting the seed of new creation! Young leaders have only a few years to offer the gift of their vision of a new church. Will we authorize them to help us address our deepest challenges?
Let the wheat growing green in our fields remind us of this profligate God and the mystery of seeds breaking open not to die, but to live.
Pr. Martin Wells
Bishop
msmmwells@aol.com
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The following documents are available for download (.PDF) from Bishop Wells:
Trip to Jerusalem and the occupied territories, January 2009, with 40 other ELCA bishop
Lutheran Supplement, June 2009 Article
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A copy of Bishop Wells' letter "A Pastoral Letter to the Saints of the Eastern Washington-Idaho Synod, ELCA" is available for download (.pdf format).
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Great Commission / Great Commandment Resources:
Each congregation received a mailing in December 2007 on the Guiding Princles of the Synod. The following items were included in that mailing:
-- a large poster containing the Guiding Principles of the synod (we hope you have found a place to display this)
-- a brief description of these principles to post nearby as an aid to understanding and, we hope, a "hook" to stimulate interest (click here to download the description)
-- a six-part study of these principles prepared by Bishop Wells. (click here to download the study)
-- lesson aids so that the study might be used with children and youth prepared by Pr. Helga Jansons (click here to download the aids)
It is our prayer that these materials will encourage you and assist you in the constant work of revitalization for ministry.
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To the Priesthood of Believers in the Eastern Washington and Idaho Synod,
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus, the Savior of the world!
As you review this page you’ll see the Synod’s Guiding Principles listed on the right. I hope this looks familiar to you from the poster your congregation received. Let me take this opportunity to put those principles into prose text:
Our clearest purpose as a Church is to declare Jesus as the true and trusted center of all life. Because we have found such hope, we are now free and empowered to live life in Jesus’ name. This is our response of gratitude and we intend that it set us apart from those who live from fear, anxiety, anger, or entitlement. We are simply not going to be afraid and we are open to the way God will transform us from this trust in Jesus. We expect to see miracles flow from this trust and we will not let fear of this power cause us to shrink! In fact we’re going to open up to life and live this Good News 360 degrees! Jesus has come to address, befriend, and love every person we meet, so yes, everybody come to the Kingdom of God celebration! And when we fail, when we forget to trust God, when we forget the mercy that inspires our lives, when we’re more afraid of life than excited about it, when we close down, well then, we beg forgiveness and remember that it was never our mission. It was and is God’s mission we’re drawn to and we’re confident, MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE, that God will see it through. It is our joy to tag along and have a part! Thanks be to God!
Pr. Martin Wells, Bishop
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