From the Bishop

By Bishop Ann Svennungsen 

Friend and former bishop, Peter Rogness, now serving as interim pastor in Berlin, surprised me with an email last week. Since our synod’s companion churches are in Nigeria and Germany, he knew the email would mean a lot. 

Last Wednesday, three young men arrived in Berlin asking for assistance from the church Pastor Rogness serves. Their story began only a few weeks earlier when they left a violence-prone region of Nigeria seeking refuge in Ukraine. However, their refugee journey wasn’t over. Within weeks, their new home wasn’t just violence-prone – it was under attack from Russia.  

Fortunately, they were able to escape, again, along with 2.5 million refugees fleeing Ukraine.   

Within weeks, their new home wasn’t just violence-prone – it was under attack from Russia.”

The Lutheran Church in Berlin loaded these young Nigerians with items from their food pantry (currently, temporary hosts of refugees are on their own to support those they take in). Imagine how that host’s grocery bill will grow with three young men at the table. And the experience of that host is multiplied many times over around the city. 

LUTHERANS ARE THERE TO PROVIDE HELP. Ukrainian refugees need shelter, basic necessities and pastoral care. Lutheran Disaster Response is accompanying our companion churches in Ukraine, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia and supporting the work of Lutheran World Federation and Church World Service. 

We are deeply blessed to have an organization we trust to provide humanitarian support “on the ground.” In addition, our gifts to Lutheran Disaster Response (designated “Eastern Europe Crisis Response”) are used entirely (100%) to support the people impacted by this conflict. 

In addition to the pictures available through news reports, please take a look at a picture of the Nigerians’ apartment building after it was struck by a Russian missile. Lutheran Disaster Response has also developed a 2-minute video that you can watch here.  

I hope we can join together in Lenten prayer and fasting, especially for all affected by this conflict. I encourage you to give generously to LDR and our partners by donating here.  

“Their name is Jesus.” 

Though I can’t tell you the names of the Nigerian men that Pastor Rogness met in Berlin, I can say that these Nigerian men, like all refugees, do have a name. Their name is Jesus. 

In Christ, 
Bishop Ann 

By Bishop Ann Svennungsen 

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me…” As many congregations make their way through Year C and the Gospel of Luke, these verses from chapter 4 are foundational. They are Jesus’ mission statement: “The Spirit is upon me … to bring good news to the poor; proclaim release to the captives, give sight to the blind, free the oppressed, and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”   

Like the book of Romans was foundational to Luther and the 16th century reformation, Luke 4 was foundational to liberation theology – a reformation movement begun in the 1960s. “Now the text is Luke 4 instead of Romans 3,” David Tiede writes in a 1987 issue of Word and World. “It is a proclamation of the law of God, offering new hope and dignity to those who have borne the brunt of oppressive economic and political systems, and calling the powerful to repent.” 

“We yearn for justice; we yearn to know that we are beloved of God.”

One of the most radical parts of this mission is to “proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Every 50th year, the jubilee year, land would be returned free to its original owners and slaves would be released. The law protected the poor from the two greatest threats: loss of land and loss of freedom. Once in a lifetime, the whole economy was given a fresh start. So, in Jesus’ mission, the ministry tasks include not just feeding the hungry and poor but working for just systems to prevent poverty.  

Jesus articulates his mission, quoting the prophet Isaiah, reminding us that this is not a new vision, but the description of God’s reign in the law and prophets. 

BUT THERE’S MORE. Luke’s gospel ends with another public pronouncement from Jesus. In Luke 24, gathered with the disciples before his ascension, he says: “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” 

Repentance and forgiveness, proclaimed and granted through the death and resurrection of Christ. This is gospel – the free grace of God offered to all.  

And, what happens after Jesus’ ascension? The Spirit descends upon the disciples and empowers them to speak the love of God in Jesus in every language. They are propelled by the Spirit to live out Jesus’ two-fold mission: good news to the poor and new life for all through forgiveness in Jesus Christ. 

“In Jesus’ mission, the ministry tasks include not just feeding the hungry and poor but working for just systems to prevent poverty.”

You and I are called to continue that mission in 2022. To seek justice and proclaim forgiveness. We yearn for justice; we yearn to know that we are beloved of God.    

A few days before my father died, the pastor came to bring communion. I wasn’t sure Dad knew what was happening, so before I left, in a conversation that would be my last with him, I asked him some simple yes-or-no questions:  

“You know that I love you? And your sons, Rock and Brad, love you too?” 

“Yes, and I love you,” he said.  

“You know that God loves you?”  

“Yes,” he said.  

“And you know that nothing can ever separate you from that love?”  

He replied, “Yes, isn’t that amazing?”  

God’s love come to us this day; a word of love more powerful than anything else. And isn’t that amazing?   

By Bishop Ann Svennungsen 

When was the last time you apologized to someone? Not a “sorry” after bumping them in the grocery line. And not a non-apology like “I’m sorry you feel that way” or “I apologize if you were offended.” Indeed, such non-apologies add harm; a sort of blaming the other for “being too sensitive”. 

Maybe the beginning of this new year is a good time to explore apologizing as a faith practice; a good time to examine when and how we express remorse and seek to make amends. As we work to become a more diverse and culturally competent church, we will make mistakes. Are we able to admit them swiftly and seek restoration?  

For example, an ELCA bishop recently brought difficult news to a Latinx congregation on the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The timing of the news, given the cultural significance of the day, was unfortunate. What can we learn about the “faith practice” of apologizing from this situation?

“It often feels that our only goal is to be right – to take a stand – no matter what the cost.” 

In the context of our civic life, we feel pressure to develop rigid opinions about many things (vaccinations, the fairness of an election, etc.). It often feels that our only goal is to be right – to take a stand – no matter what the cost. No matter what relationships are left in tatters along the way. 

Our God calls us to something different. We were created for relationships – with God and with one another. We were created for community. And we are called to tend these gifts from God.   

THE DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS, WE MOURNED the passing of one of our generation’s great saints, Archbishop Desmond Tutu. His impact on the church and world continues. And part of his legacy was his commitment to confession and forgiveness. Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa, he wrote, “True reconciliation is based on forgiveness, and forgiveness is based on true confession, and confession is based on penitence, on contrition, on sorrow for what you have done.”[i] 

“As we work to become a more diverse and culturally competent church, we will make mistakes.” 

The dismantling of apartheid was dependent upon such a process. In his book, No Future Without Forgiveness, the Archbishop wrote, “Our country’s negotiators…opted for a ‘third way,’ a compromise between the extreme of Nuremberg trials and blanket amnesty or national amnesia. And that third way was granting amnesty to individuals in exchange for a full disclosure relating to the crime for which amnesty was being sought.” 

Perhaps the next time we share in the liturgy of confession and forgiveness, we add a moment of “silence to reflect on the people we have harmed; those to whom we should apologize in the coming week.” Our relationships matter. Our communities matter. May God grant us wisdom and compassion in the practice of saying we are sorry. 

[i] https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/truth_and_reconciliation 

By Bishop Ann Svennungsen

I have never attended a “Blue Christmas” worship service. Perhaps, this year.

The service, often held on the longest night of the year, is a time to gather with others, to name the losses that make this season difficult, to lament and pray, and to experience the promise and presence of God.

“The ancient wisdom of the Psalms speaks to us in our journey with the ‘universal and inescapable’ experience of grief.”

As we prepare to decorate our trees and homes during Advent, it’s hard not to experience the pain of loss in our lives:

• Setting up my mom’s white porcelain nativity set, wishing she were near
• Eating lefse and remembering the fun Dad and I had (and the incredible mess we made) trying to make this strange Norwegian treat.
• Wondering what it would be like if our son could have lived to celebrate his 36^th Christmas with his nephew and niece – now so grown up – and his nephew Noah, whom he never met.

DEATH IS NOT THE only loss we grieve during this season. The authors of All Our Losses All our Griefs write  “experiences that evoke grief are both more frequent and more varied than most people imagine. … Grief is universal and inescapable. … It is the composite of powerful emotions assailing us whenever we lose someone or something we value. Grieving is the intentional work grief-stricken persons engage in, enabling them to return eventually to full, satisfying lives. It can be avoided, but at a very high cost to the one who refuses it.”

“Death is not the only loss we grieve during this season.”

The ancient wisdom of the Psalms speaks to us in our journey with the “universal and inescapable” experience of grief. One liturgy for a Blue Christmas service begins with Psalm 22: (endnote 2)

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from helping me, so far from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day but you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest.
In you, our ancestors trusted. They trusted and you delivered them.
It was you who brought me from the womb,
you who kept me safe on my mother’s breast.
Since my mother bore me, you have been my God.
Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.
God does not despise the affliction of the afflicted.
God does not hide from me.
When I cry to God, God hears me.
Thanks be to God.

This Psalm, also prayed by Jesus from the cross, connects us with our God who suffers with us and for us; our God who holds us in all our losses; and our God whose resurrection promise embraces us and our loved ones for all eternity.

Maybe this is the year for me to attend such a service. Perhaps you will, too.

And may God grant us all wisdom and compassion to be truly present with others. If the experience of loss is universal, it is likely we will encounter someone grieving in the days ahead. May we be lovingly attentive – not to fix or advise – but simply to love, as a small sing of the incarnate love of God.

And, Advent blessings to you all. (Should your community host a Blue Christmas service, I invite you to post an invite on our Facebook page. You can also register to participate in a virtual service.

By Bishop Ann Svennungsen

In 1900, my grandfather, David Svennungsen, was a member of St. Olaf’s tenth graduating class. I’m not sure what he paid for tuition, but I know something about the funds needed to start the college. Pastor Jacob Muus went to each of his members – mostly farmers – and asked for a $100-500 gift. They raised $22,000 which, with the donated land in Northfield, was enough to break ground.

What is it about Lutherans that we build schools – that we sacrifice and dream and plan so that children and youth receive an education? Perhaps it’s because the Lutheran movement began in a university. Perhaps it’s because Luther was one of the first to advocate that both boys and girls receive an education. A primary reason, in my mind, is the Lutheran understanding of vocation and the common good.

“What is it about Lutherans that we build schools – that we sacrifice and dream and plan so that children and youth receive an education?”

Not unlike Pastor Jacob Muus, Archbishop Musa Filibus is calling his flock to dream and sacrifice to build the first Lutheran University in Nigera. On Sunday, November 21, every Nigerian congregation will be taking a special offering to launch the university. Already, donors have given time, in-kind offerings, almost 500 acres of beautiful land adjacent to the church hospital, attended countless meetings, and prepared 800 pages of required documents for the National University Commission. And they did much of this during the pandemic.

Wisely, the National Commission also requires a start-up fund of 200 million Naira – or 500,000 dollars – to ensure stability for the institution. And, for that, we asked Archbishop Filibus to consider us – Nigeria’s only ELCA companion synod – as part of his flock.

JUST AFTER GRADUATING from two Lutheran educational institutions, Concordia College and Luther Seminary, I read Ron Sider’s book, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger. In 2010, I read Peter Singer’s The Life You Can Save. I’ve never been quite the same. As a person of means while 14,000 children under age 5 die each day from poverty, I have tried to follow Singer’s modest proposal that 5-10% of our annual household income be given to address global poverty. This year, my husband and I are thrilled that this commitment can be part of the launch of something so remarkable – the first ever Lutheran University in Nigeria.

In today’s dollars, the $22,000 Pastor Muus raised equals about $500,000. That’s what our synod is committed to raising. In today’s dollars, the $500 gifts from farmers equal about $10,000. Perhaps, that’s what many of us can give.

“We asked Archbishop Filibus to consider us – Nigeria’s only ELCA companion synod – as part of his flock.”

Like many other synod congregations, the small Lao Evangelical Congregation in Robbinsdale will take an offering this Sunday. Pastor Thiem Baccam said, “We don’t have lots of resources. But we each have food and shelter, so we will give to this important work.”

Archbishop Filibus once told me that because mustard seeds aren’t native to Nigerian soil, Christians there talk about “having the faith the size of a mango.” Indeed, this audacious endeavor to build a Lutheran University will require faith the size of a mango.

So many of us look back fondly and in awe on the growth of the “mustard seeds” that various of our ELCA colleges – St. Olaf, Luther, Gustavus Adophus, Augsburg, Luther, Concordia, and 20 others – have sprouted into. Now is a time where we can share in the work of Pastor Muus by joining with Archbishop Filibus in dreaming on the education of desirous students. We can see visions of a 100 years from now when Nigerians reminisce about the establishment of their university and the tremendous impact it has had on all aspects of their country.

[To review the Lutheran University Nigeria case statement or to view a video with compelling insights from Archbishop Musa Filibus, Dr. Paul Pribbenow, Rev. Mark Hanson, and Bishop Ann Svennungsen, visit the synod’s LUN web page. You can also make a contribution toward this audacious and ambitious project on that page.]

By Bishop Ann Svennungsen

My trips to Nigeria are filled with surprises. I was surprised in 2017 when I stood up to greet the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria’s annual assembly and saw a gathering of more than 70,000 people. I was also surprised to meet members of the church who had graduated from Lutheran colleges in the United States – like Waldorf and Concordia. I was surprised how hot it would be in a (borrowed) mitre and cope at the installation of Archbishop Musa Filibus.

“Please think seriously about becoming a civic leader. The need in our country is urgent.”

I was surprised too by the words of a keynote speaker addressing the crowd of more than 70,000. She spoke about lives of discipleship, about following Jesus, and about discovering your vocation. And, just as I thought she would probably invite people to become pastors, she said, “And, please think seriously about becoming a civic leader. The need in our country is urgent. Listen to see if God is calling you to service in the public square.”

It felt just like she was channeling Martin Luther who said, “if your town needs a mayor, become a mayor.”

TODAY, MY GREATEST surprise (and joy!) is that the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria (LCCN) has discerned a corporate vocation to establish a Lutheran University to prepare young people to do just that – to educate a generation of civic, professional, and society-strengthening leaders.

Already a leader in primary, secondary, and theological education, LCCN has done extraordinary groundwork – even during the COVID-19 pandemic – to make this vision a reality. They have acquired nearly 500 acres of prime real estate adjacent to the LCCN hospital in Demsa; submitted comprehensive plans (Master, Business, Academic, and Legal) to the Nigeria National Universities Commission; and raised more than $73,000 to achieve these milestones.

“The Minneapolis Area Synod Council has authorized a synod-wide campaign to commence immediately. The goal is to raise the needed $500,000 by the end of 2021!”

Only one major hurdle remains: To ensure commitment, preparedness, and fiscal stability, the National Universities Commission requires that $500,000 be reserved in a university account before they will authorize the launch of the Lutheran University in Nigeria.

This is where we come in. Our Synod Council has authorized a synod-wide campaign to commence immediately. The goal is to raise the needed $500,000 by the end of 2021! We will have lots of information and guidance so congregations and individuals can donate. And, you can read all about the need, the vision, and the work already done at the synod website and in our case statement.

Yes, the Lutheran Church or Christ in Nigeria, is launching a wonderful, Spirit-led, even surprising vision to serve the common good. And maybe you, like I, will feel a bit surprised at how much you want to stretch so you can support this work. I hope so!

By Bishop Ann Svennungsen

Growing up at St. Luke’s Lutheran, my friends and I always knew which adults were “in our corner.” Alice who laughed at our silly antics. Dave who listened to our stories, our hurt feelings, our questions. Even more, I suppose, we knew which adults weren’t so enamored with the way we behaved.

I sometimes wonder if a question churches might use for self-assessment could read: “How many adults in your church would kids say are “in their corner”? Can they name at least one?

“It’s hard not to wonder if children will resist leaving the comfort of pajamas, snacks, and watching worship from their living room couch.”

As we prepare for Rally Sunday, even with all the uncertainties about in-person Sunday School and Youth Group, I believe it’s especially important for the church to be in our children’s corner.

A recent UNICEF report concludes: “If we are to prevent COVID-19 from having a life-altering impact on an entire generation of children and young people, especially the most marginalized, we must ensure that schools are among the first places to reopen and the last to close.”

MY GRANDDAUGHTER SPENT spent much of kindergarten learning online. Now, in first grade, she’s in a new, Spanish immersion classroom learning to read in a language neither of her parents speak. I cannot imagine learning to read in front of a screen with no other Spanish speakers around. I join with UNICEF in asking: How can we ensure that the schools around us are “the first places to reopen and the last to close?”

Last week, I heard Michael Osterholm recommend that school children wear N95 masks and go to classrooms equipped with portable HEPA air filter machines (exchanging the air at least five to six times an hour). I also heard him mention using homemade air purifiers if needed (made with a box fan, HEPA filters, and duct tape).

What if the Minneapolis Area Synod congregations partnered with nearby schools to provide such purifiers (homemade or otherwise)? Maybe this could be a “God’s Work Our Hands” project? Or, what if those with Thrivent insurance make a point to apply for the $250 gifts cards – and use them to host a church party for making DIY air purifiers?

“As we prepare for Rally Sunday, even with all the uncertainties about in-person Sunday School and Youth Group, I believe it’s especially important for the church to be in our children’s corner.”

And what about worship and Sunday School? It’s hard not to wonder if children will resist leaving the comfort of pajamas, snacks, and watching worship from their living room couch. How will they feel about returning to in-person worship and Sunday school? To be sure, their interest will be much higher if they’re greeted by adults who smile and greet them and make them feel at home.

Please know you are in my prayers as you prepare for Rally Sunday amidst this continuing pandemic. I pray for all of us who lead and teach —  that God will give us courage and wisdom to welcome children as Jesus did. And, to find creative ways to show that we’re standing in their corner.

By Bishop Ann Svennungsen

Parker Palmer calls himself a “contemplative by catastrophe,” writing “I’m most likely to go deep only when I slam into a wall or fall off a cliff.” I might speak about myself in a similar way. You might as well.

For me, the practices of prayer and meditation have received uneven attention throughout my life. I’ve worked with spiritual directors, practiced Lectio Divina and daily journaling, participated in weekly prayer groups. In part, that variety reflects a hope that a brand new prayer practice will help me become more disciplined. It hasn’t always worked.

“We feel guilty that we pray only when ‘catastrophe strikes,’ so we wonder why God would listen to us at other times.”

Roberta Bondi, a devoted student of the monastic mothers and fathers, encourages beginners to include three things as they learn to pray: scripture (the psalms especially), conversation with God where “you really speak your mind,” and silence (simply sitting in God’s presence). Start with ten minutes a day – no more. Nothing, she writes, “derails prayer faster than starting with some … noble idea of what it ought to be. … [A] lot of prayer is just a matter of showing up.”

And yet, sometimes even “showing up” is a challenge. We feel guilty that we pray only when “catastrophe strikes,” so we wonder why God would listen to us at other times. We enter prayer feeling a deep sense of duty, seeing prayer as another “should” on our “to do” list. Flourishing relationships are rarely formed by duty alone. Or, we struggle deeply with doubt and despair, and wonder if God will show up when we do.

WHERE DO YOU find yourself in your life of prayer? How has COVID-19 affected you? Do you have spaces for support (or accountability) when it comes to spiritual practices?

Each year the rostered leaders are expected/encouraged to attend a three-day collegial gathering to enhance their spiritual and intellectual lives, called the Bishop’s Theological Conference. The theme of this year’s conference is “Faithful Resilience.” One of our foci will be spiritual resilience – exploring the practices of prayer that strengthen our relationship with God and sustain our resiliency. (Ask your rostered leader about it when they return on September 28!)

“A good friend begins her prayer time by first placing herself in the picture of Jesus talking with the woman at the well.”

With gratitude for a grant awarded by the Lilly Endowment, the Minneapolis Area Synod will be starting with three cohorts of members of synod churches that will delve into “faith practices” and “neighboring practices” that can ground congregations and members in their baptismal vocation. The 15 participating churches in this first two-year cohort will be able to experiment with practices at home and in their neighborhood and learn together from their experiences. Participation in these cohorts is a real opportunity for renewal and imagination, personally and communally. (The second set of cohorts will begin in the summer of 2023; is your congregation interested?)

A good friend begins her prayer time by first placing herself in the picture of Jesus talking with the woman at the well. Perhaps, one might imagine themselves in the picture of the prodigal son returning home. Both are pictures of radical grace. And, maybe that’s the most important thing of all about prayer: No matter how often, how well, or how disciplined we are in prayer, it is the God of grace who meets us there.

By Bishop Ann Svennungsen

Sitting by a Minnesota lake over the Fourth of July, I marveled watching my daughters with their friends. College friends had flown from Philadelphia and Indianapolis with their babies to be with my younger daughter. My older daughter was circled by two families whose friendships were made stronger because of the joy their school-age children found in each other.

Friendship. How does it happen? Why is it important?

We are created for relationships – but find ourselves wary about making friends. Human evolution plays a role in this hesitancy. We have survived by knowing that the risk of mistaking a foe for a friend could cost us our very lives. Mistaking a friend for a foe might cost us a friend. But, we would still be alive.

“Intimacy starts with attention and attunement.”

Today, we may not fear such consequences. However, making friends is not always named in our list of life goals or New Year’s Resolutions. And yet, psychologists, neuroscientists, (and faith leaders) agree that “intimacy with other people … is one of the most profound ways to be happier, healthier, and calmer.” (NY Times, November 20, 2019: Emma Pattee, “How to Have Closer Friendships (and Why You Need Them”).

As vaccinations make gatherings possible, now is a good time to “work on our friendships.” The Times suggests five steps:

1. Create a foundation of security. (Hint: answer that text.) Before we attempt closeness, we need to feel secure.
2. Pay close attention. Intimacy starts with attention and attunement.
3. Let yourself be known. The next time you’re with a friend, start diverting the conversation into exposing more vulnerability.
4. Ask for help. Lean on your friends.
5. Accept that closeness isn’t one-size-fits-all. Some of us need dozens of connections; some of us need only two or three.

WHEN RECALLING BIBLICAL friendships, we think of David and Jonathan, Mary and Elizabeth, Naomi and Ruth. New Testament scholar, Dr. Gail O’Day, challenges us to look to Jesus as Friend – especially as he is revealed in John’s Gospel. In Jesus’ farewell (John 15), he calls the disciples his friends. In the cultural world of the first century, friendship included two key characteristics: a willingness to lay down one’s life for one’s friends (Aristotle) and the courage to speak the truth as opposed to “being a flatterer” (Plutarch). Flattery is primarily used for selfish reasons; speaking the truth in love is a mark of authentic friendship.

“Why is friendship important?”

In Jesus, “these two friendship traits are connected. Jesus is willing to speak and act boldly throughout his life because he is willing to lay down his life. … Friendship in John is the enactment of the love of God that is incarnate in Jesus and that Jesus boldly makes available to the world” (from “Jesus as Friend in the Gospel of John”, by Gail R. O’Day, in Interpretation, April 2004, pl. 157; emphasis in quotation is mine).

I marvel at the friendships my daughters have built. And, I have hope that the generations coming after us may teach us anew the God-given gift of friendship.

By Bishop Ann Svennungsen

May 2 was the sixth anniversary of the death of our son John Amos. He was 30 years old and died after a long and courageous fight against cancer.

Of course, my mind is filled with memories of John. But, these past weeks, I’ve been thinking especially about his teachers. John had Down Syndrome – the process of learning was different for him. And I was continually amazed by how John’s teachers could break learning down into tiny increments; small steps for learning a larger task.

What are the nine steps needed to learn how to safely cross a street? In what order do you teach them? The teachers’ patience, creativity, and incremental affirmations were something to behold.

TODAY WE FACE challenges that require such skill and perseverance. What are the nine steps needed to dismantle white supremacy? To transform our criminal justice system?

Yes, a momentous step was taken just two weeks ago, when a jury found former officer Derek Chauvin guilty of third-degree murder in the killing of George Floyd.

“To each is given unique dance steps by the Spirit’s power to move the process forward toward justice for all.”

Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, an African-American ecumenical leader, said after that step, “As overjoyed as I was when Barak Obama was elected president, I was less surprised then than I am today [the day of the verdict]. There was a part of me that just couldn’t give into the hope until the jury rendered its verdict. And yet, 12 jurors believed in justice enough … to do what we never thought would happen.”

It was a big deal. But so is the long walk and the many steps ahead of us.

Emilie Towns, dean of Vanderbilt Divinity School, said, “This is only one trial. We still have a whole lot of work to do in order to develop a criminal justice system that we all can believe in and that we can actually literally live in.”

THERE ARE LOTS AND lots of steps before us. For our son, John, the steps were broken down in a linear way. First one step, then the next.

In the work of societal and systemic change, steps are broken down in a communal way – shared across a whole community committed to justice – each person taking distinctive steps on the long, hard road of societal change.

Martin Luther’s work on Christian vocation is a wonderful tool here. Each of us committed to love and justice needs to find the steps we are individually called to take in this communal work. I can’t do everything. Neither can you. We need to discern our gifts, our passions, and our distinctive callings.

“Very few [church attenders] discover their Christian vocation for doing justice and seeking shalom in their neighborhoods because they worship together with other disciples of Jesus.”

Faith-based community organizing also provides important wisdom. Drew Hart, our 2021 Synod Assembly keynote speaker, in his book Who Will be a Witness, writes that, though Christians work with justice organizations, “very few … discover their Christian vocation for doing justice and seeking shalom in their neighborhoods because they worship together with other disciples of Jesus” (emphasis mine). Hart believes faith-based community organizing can provide steps for Christian communities seeking to work for justice. This is the hope of the Minneapolis Area Synod organizing department.

I am reminded of Paul’s word to the Corinthians. “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” To each is given unique dance steps by the Spirit’s power to move the process forward toward justice for all.

What are the steps to which God is calling you? Today might be a good time to reflect on that question. Oh, it might not always be easy. I think of our son struggling to read the paper each morning, especially the forecast. Still, he loved to tell us if it was going to be cloudy or sunny.

A momentous step toward justice has recently been taken in our city. God bless and keep us as we continue this Spirit-led work – living out our callings to step forth – in the movement toward justice for all.