Claimed, gathered and sent

This seems to be quite a busy week for synod assemblies. My home synod, New England, is having theirs in Springfield, MA, where tornadoes ripped through the city. Thankfully, the venues for the assembly were untouched. A number of other seminarians will be participating in the VA, DE-MD, Lower Susquehanna, and other synod assemblies. As for me, I will be at the West Virginia/Western Maryland Synod Assembly, the synod in which I'm doing my internship.  I'm looking forward to gathering with so many for worship, study, prayer, and the business of the church. Many God guide each synod as they gather to do the work of God's church.

This devotion by Henri Nouwen certainly helps us put things in perspective. A Ministry of Healing and Reconciliation How does the Church witness to Christ in the world? First and foremost by giving visibility to Jesus' love for the poor and the weak. In a world so hungry for healing, forgiveness, reconciliation, and most of all unconditional love, the Church must alleviate that hunger through its ministry. Wherever we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the lonely, listen to those who are rejected, and bring unity and peace to those who are divided, we proclaim the living Christ, whether we speak about him or not. It is important that whatever we do and wherever we go, we remain in the Name of Jesus, who sent us. Outside his Name our ministry will lose its divine energy. Share your thoughts on this reflection. These reflections are taken from Henri J.M. Nouwen's Bread for the Journey. Visit HenriNouwen.org for more inspirati

I was moved to tears by Bishop Mark Hanson's closing charge at the end of this afternoon's plenary session of the Churchwide Assembly of the ELCA. O vercome by emotion himself, he pleaded that we in this church refrain from labeling each other; that rather we remain in conversation with those whom we may disagreee with, that we tell the story of what God in Christ Jesus has done. The particular label Bp. Hanson referenced was fearful. After the decisions made this week at the assembly, there are those who are fearful of what this means for our church. With Bp. Hanson, I would call each of us to lay aside the labels: conservative, liberal, progressive, fearful, bold...whatever they may be that we so dismissively affix to ourselves and others. Once labeled, we don't have to listen to these people because we think we already know what they're going to say by virtue of the label we have classified them with. For shame! Such diminishing of one another as God's children i