Bishop’s Blogs

By Bishop Ann Svennungsen

Thanks to the thoughtfulness of a fellow Concordia College alum, I attended last Saturday’s world premiere of “The Passion of Jesus Christ” by Rene’ Clausen. Commissioned for the 125^th anniversary of the college and the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation, the composition draws the listener into the profound emotion, the moral complexity, and the deep intimacy of Christ’s suffering and death.

Throughout 2017 – this 500^th anniversary year – we will be offered a variety of experiences to celebrate the Reformation. Sitting in the audience last Saturday, I was overcome with the sense that this focus – on the cross of Jesus Christ – would likely be the emphasis Martin Luther would have chosen.

More than anything else, Luther was a theologian of the cross. Today, as we prepare to enter deeply into the story of Christ’s passion – Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter Vigil – it is good to recall some of Luther’s wisdom in how to approach these days.

FIRST OF ALL, LUTHER makes clear that the proper motivation for contemplating Christ’s passion is not to engender pity for Christ nor anger towards those who betrayed him. Instead, true to form, Luther invites us to enter this story as both law and gospel. Meditation on the Passion serves the law’s purpose: to convict the conscience of sin and sin’s dire consequences. He refers to Christ as “this earnest mirror” (dißer ernster spiegel), which reveals how we fall short.

Once we are aware of our sins, Luther instructs us to cast them upon Christ, seeing in Christ’s wounds and sufferings our own transgressions, which are overcome by Christ’s resurrection. This is pure gospel. And, what is more, Luther urges that, if we struggle to believe this resurrection miracle, we ask God for faith, as “this too rests entirely in the hands of God.” It is all grace.

As we prepare to enter deeply into the story of Christ’s passion – Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter Vigil – it is good to recall some of Luther’s wisdom in how to approach these days.

Finally, Luther counsels us to refrain from too much contemplation on Christ’s suffering and instead to meditate on “Christ’s friendly heart and how this heart beats with such love for you that it impels Christ to bear with pain your conscience and your sin.” Further, Luther invites us to look from Christ’s heart to God’s heart, the true source of the savior’s love. “We know God aright when we grasp God not in God’s might or wisdom (for that proves terrifying), but in God’s kindness and love. Then faith and confidence are able to exist, and we are truly born anew in God.”

I invite you to join with me in prayer for all who lead worship this week – that the Spirit will draw all who gather into the God whose heart beats with such love for us and all creation.

by Bishop Ann Svennungsen

Occasionally, I am free to worship at the church where our son, John Amos, is interred. The columbarium is next to the baptismal font; as I dip my fingers in the water, I remember the promise, “if you have been buried with Christ in a death like his, you shall also be raised. …”

One of my daughters will usually join me, though they occasionally arrive late. (I look for them around the time of the prayer of the day.) I also know members of the congregation. Today, I see a widow whose husband was interred in the same columbarium just before our son, a man who struggles with a chronic and degenerative illness, a woman deep in vocational discernment.

Though we Lutherans do not recognize “community” as one of the sacraments, I believe it is clearly a “means of grace.” It is a means for God to create, sustain, and challenge faith. Indeed, we would affirm that the creation and sustenance of faith is impossible outside community.

LAST SUMMER, I WAS invited to join a Lilly-funded seminar of seminary presidents and church leaders exploring how we might better prepare pastors for the work of “building and leading communities.” This is a critical question in our culture of individualism, anonymity, and 24-hour entertainment options without even leaving your recliner. It takes study, practice, and courage to build what seems a counter-cultural endeavor.

“Though we Lutherans do not recognize ‘community’
as one of the sacraments, I believe it is clearly a ‘means of grace.'”

Still, the need for community is great. At the recent Stewardship Lab, Scott Vaughan noted, “in this country, people are starved to death for friends.” We are hungry for community. A recent UCC survey of 864 congregations found a strong correlation between congregational vitality and the ability of pastors to lead communities. Indeed, the leadership capacity to mutually equip and motivate a community of faith was related to the greatest number of congregational vitality factors.

Our synod supports pastors in leadership development through peer groups, training in community organizing, and work in adaptive change. There’s lots being done – more we can do. Let us know what you’ve found helpful in this challenging work of leading community. (Send any suggestions you would be willing to share to Pastor Craig Pederson at c.pederson@mpls-synod.org .)

We need community. We need pastors and lay leaders who can foster community. The witness and embrace of “saints below and saints above” is a vital means for us to experience God’s grace.

By Bishop Ann Svennungsen

In the midst of 95 degree heat and under cloudless skies, some 30,000 Lutherans gathered for a five-day annual conference in Demsa, Nigeria. Arriving in vehicles of all sizes and kinds – including pick-up trucks with families sitting on top of their belongings in the cargo bed – attendees set up temporary shelters to house them for the week.

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Bible studies, prayer, song, dance, and lively conversations – these were the center of the celebration, culminating in the final worship service which included the Installation of Archbishop Musa Filibus.

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When the Minneapolis Area Synod gathers in assembly, staff is always hoping that we can get 600 or more people to participate for a little more than 24 hours. As I told those gathered in Demsa, I couldn’t imagine 3,000 Lutherans together for a week, much less 30,000.

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Even more, the gathering was remarkable because it was held in an open field fewer than 40 miles from the 2015 Boko Haram bombing in Yola; fewer than 200 miles from 2016 church burnings and killings in the north. Many precautions are taken – I never felt afraid – but I was overwhelmed and deeply moved by the witness of these Christians, publicly singing their love of Christ in the face of persecution.

I was overwhelmed and deeply moved by the witness of these Christians, publicly singing their love of Christ in the face of persecution.

I am so pleased that I was finally able to visit our companion synod in Nigeria. When our synod delegation travelled there in 2014, my son was in high risk chemotherapy, so my first calling was with him. However, now that I’ve made this trip, it won’t be long before I start talking about the next.

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From small to significant, here are my current top ten reasons to plan the next trip:

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10. It is warm in Nigeria in February.

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9. The air travel is not too ominous (8 hours to Paris; then 7 hours to Abuja, Nigeria).

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8.  We have much to learn from our Nigerian brothers and sisters. And because English is Nigeria’s official language, such learning comes easier for sojourners from the U. S.

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7. Our hosts from the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria (LCCN) are generous beyond measure.

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6. The Minneapolis Area Synod is the only ELCA synod serving as a companion synod to the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria (while 19 ELCA synods relate to the Tanzanian dioceses).

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5. American guests are able to see the fruits of our synod’s missionaries there: Mary and Jonathan Preus, Gary Sande, and Brad Holt.

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4. The new archbishop has been nominated to serve as President of the Lutheran World Federation.

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3. The LCCN health services – with projects ranging from the new Demsa Hospital to malaria prevention to health education to building wells – is served by a staff that will impress you with their competence and spirit.

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2. It is amazing to become friends with such loving sisters and brothers in the faith.

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1. The inspiration from the witness of the LCCN to Jesus Christ will sustain you long after you return home.

By Bishop Ann Svennungsen

What joy I felt to see the Star Tribune’s picture of the Somali family reunited last Thursday. Peeking behind a teddy bear as big as she, a four-year-old girl stands embraced by her sisters and mother – together after more than three years of separation. Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota (LSS) played a major role in that reunion. Though she was set to arrive in U.S. on January 31, the four-year-old’s departure was denied because of an executive order suspending refugee arrivals from seven Muslim-majority countries. Fortunately, through the tenacity of LSS and others, the family was reunited last Thursday.

Amidst the swiftly changing landscape around immigration regulations (executive orders, judge’s decisions, appellate courts), we wonder how we might respond in a timely and loving manner.

The Lutheran church has a long history of both helping refugees and working for fair and generous immigration policies. Today, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services (LIRS) is the second largest resettlement agency in the entire United States.

Closer to home, LSS currently plans to resettle 655 refugees in 2017. Recognizing that many refugees are Muslim, LSS commissioned the remarkable study “My Neighbor is Muslim,” a welcome resource for individual or congregational study.

Augsburg College is home to a large population of refugee students and is clear about its mission of hospitality and justice. President Paul Pribbenow writes, “Augsburg’s history is rich with the contribution of individuals who came to America; indeed, founded by Norwegian immigrants, Augsburg has an immigrant sensibility and will stand firm in the face of threats to our community and our immigrant neighbors.”

As the world faces the largest refugee crisis since World War II (with some 60 million displaced persons), we have extraordinary institutions in our own city at work to provide welcome and safe haven. I encourage you to explore the LSS, LIRS, and Augsburg websites as you look for ways to “welcome the stranger.”

OUR ELCA SOCIAL TEACHING (Immigration message and Immigration policy resolution) affirms that the United States should assume its proper share of international responsibility for the resettlement of refugees and other persons who have a well-founded fear of being persecuted – and to welcome them to the U.S. without discrimination based on race, religion, or national origin.

No, our government has not specifically banned refugees on the basis of religion, but we seem to be treading very close. As we seek to be faithful today, it is wise to remember the words of another Lutheran in a country where there was official discrimination on the basis of religion – the religion of Judaism. In critiquing the German government, Bonhoeffer said, “We are not simply to bandage the wounds of victims beneath the wheels of injustice, we are to drive a spoke into the wheel itself.”

Amidst the swiftly changing landscape around immigration regulations (executive orders, judge’s decisions, appellate courts), we wonder how we might respond in a timely and loving manner.

As citizens, we can act as advocates for those vulnerable persons who are most deeply affected by government policies. The ELCA Advocacy office works with individuals and congregations interested in making themselves heard on behalf the marginalized, the oppressed, and the pilgrim.
Eventually, the system worked for the four-year-old reuniting with her family in the U.S. But, for every story like hers, there are many more that do not have happy endings. Knowing that each of us is a sojourner welcomed by the extravagant grace of God, may we be filled with wisdom to be moral leaders and courageous citizens in our day.

By Bishop Ann Svennungsen

In times like these, the social teachings of the ELCA are a significant gift as we in the church discern how to act in fresh, faithful, and wise ways in response to the issues of our day. I commend the social statements, along with the catechism, as good reading in this 500^th anniversary year. (Go to the Social Statement webpage and follow the tabs for social messages and social resolutions in addition to social statements.)

Our ELCA Committee for Corporate Social Responsibility met in Chicago this week to discuss the resolutions from the 2016 Churchwide Assembly regarding potential investment screens for fossil fuels and for human rights in the Middle East. I am one of three bishops who serve on this committee.

The conversation was rich and lively – just the beginning of an important process of discernment.

However, one of the most troubling takeaways for me was the statement that only 25-30% of ELCA rostered leaders and staff with pensions managed by Portico choose the Social Purpose Fund for their investments. The impact of this is staggering:

• Portico invests $8 billion dollars a year.
• Following the instructions of its members, only $2 billion of Portico’s portfolio must be invested in funds screened for social responsibility; $6 billion is invested in funds which do not have to comply with ELCA-approved screens.
• Currently, ELCA-approved screens instruct investors to:
  • Limit or prohibit investment in firms related to alcohol, gambling, weapons, pornography, tobacco, private prisons, and egregious environmental damage;
  • Seek “investment in for-profit and not-for-profit organizations that promote national or international economic development of urban and rural communities and neighborhoods characterized by a high proportion of people living in poverty and/or people of color”;
  • Seek “investments in corporations which are taking positive steps toward a sustainable environment.” (For more information about Corporate Responsibility resources, go here.)

THESE ELCA SCREENS ARE rather commonplace as screens go – neither overly radical nor onerous. In fact, Portico is careful to ensure that the difference between investment return on screened funds versus non-screened funds is less than one percent.

Pastor Luther Kendrick writes, “As one called to preach the gospel, including justice, concern for the neighbor and caring for the common good, where my pension funds were invested was a faith issue and not simply a financial question. I gladly invested my funds in those socially responsible options. I saw it as faithfulness and common sense. The returns of these socially responsible funds were nearly identical to the unscreened funds in the plan

By Bishop Ann Svennungsen

We’re not always good at waiting. Stopped at a red light or standing behind several others in the checkout line, we become antsy, impatient.

So, when Advent calls us into the spiritual practice of waiting – prayerful, expectant waiting – we’re not sure we like the invitation. Last year, however, I was given an experience that blessed me with a new appreciation of waiting as a gift – as grace.

EIGHT MONTHS AFTER our son, John Amos, had died, I gathered with the other bishops for our January meeting. When we shared in the closing worship, I couldn’t stop weeping. It seemed we were always singing about death: the feast of the lamb who was slain; I believe in Jesus Christ, who was crucified, died, and was buried; for on this day Christ overcame death and the grave; so we join with the hosts of heaven.

I was tired of death. Tired of seeing more death than life. Is my son really there with the host of heaven – gathered around the communion table? Where’s the proof? Why can’t I see something, feel something?

Worship ended and I sat alone, my face in the hands. Soon I felt a hand on my shoulder. Then I saw a two or three bishops standing near, some also weeping. I whispered to one, “Why can’t I feel my son’s presence with me at the table? It is so hard to believe.” She replied, with all the love she had, “Wait. Just wait.”

“Wait. Just wait.”

It was just the word of hope I needed. It didn’t deny my feelings – didn’t gloss over my pain. But it offered a glimpse, a reassurance that God will provide. Wait. And she was right. In the waiting, God has gently, steadfastly, lovingly renewed my faith, tended my broken heart, and given surprising glimpses of the host of heaven present even with us here on earth.

Perhaps, that is one way to imagine our Advent waiting:

Yet I believe beyond believing
That life can spring from death,
That growth can flower from our grieving,
That we can catch our breath
And turn transfixed by faith.

O Child of ecstasy and sorrows,
O Prince of peace and pain,
Brighten today’s world by tomorrow’s,
Renew our lives again;
Lord Jesus, come and reign!

ELW 252

Still, even before such conversations might happen, there is much we each can do. Whether it’s an election year or not, we are constantly asking ourselves how to live as faithful disciples. During these days, I invite you to enter deeply into God’s gifts to the church: