What it’s really like at the synod office

By Bob Hulteen, Director of Communications and Stewardship

Just call me “the truth teller.”

My colleagues all write blogs “bragging” about the wonderful activities of the synod. Yes, we are hosting tool kit workshops for lay leaders and theological conferences for rostered leaders. Yes, we are engaging congregations on critical issues related to the environmental and racial justice. Yes, we are identifying, recruiting, and developing new leaders for our synod.

So, you probably are thinking, “Wow, that office – full of such devoted servants of the gospel – must really be buzzing all the time.”

Sure, “this is most certainly true.” But when is energy the highest? Game day! Thursdays at 5 pm, there are trades and rumors of trades. Last minute lineup changes can sometimes shut our server down.

That’s right. We have an office fantasy football league. And, holy cow, do we take it seriously. Don’t get between me and my Yahoo Sports app on a Sunday afternoon. (Of course, I don’t turn my phone on until the processional hymn is over and I am well out of the sanctuary.)

WITH TEAM NAMES like “Justified by Wins” (Craig), “Soli Dee Gloria” (Dee, of course), and “Largest Catechism” (yours truly), we manage as if we believe in the “priesthood of wide receivers.” When we are talking Numbers, we don’t mean the fourth book of the Hebrew Scriptures; it’s a shorthand question for how the quarterbacks did this week.

If you thought that “Jesus wept” when Lazarus died, you should have seen Jeni after her Running Back scores came in over the day on Sunday. I actually heard gnashing of teeth, I think.

Surprisingly, I don’t really care all that much about football anymore; the injuries and off-field problems and stadiums have left me uninterested in the actual game. But I love fantasy, even though it is the ESPNization of football – stats over team loyalty; highlights over good team play.

Please don’t think less of us. We are good, hard-working people. But what does God require? We just believe were are called to “do justice, love kindness, and not be fumbly with our God.”