| Bethany Lutheran Church Red Lake Falls MN |
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We are a part of the following organizations. Click on logo to go to their web site:
2019 Triannual ELCA CWA
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WE ARE CHURCH!
A phrase I heard from every speaker and read on almost every sign. We are church! Not with a capitol C to mean that we are the only church or the best church, but with a small "c" to designate that the WE is the important part of this statement. We...you, me, the Native from the Reservation, the families that attend those "other" churches, synagogues, mosques or temples, the Black child living down the street, the migrant toiling in the field, the families waiting or separated at our borders, every man, woman and child on this earth....WE...every one of us are children of the Almighty God. WE ARE CHURCH! One family,, brothers and sisters, Black, White, Yellow or Green. WE ARE CHURCH! Perhaps you saw the televised footage of over 700 Lutherans marching in protest of our governments immigration policies. Or read newspaper reports or commentaries both pro and con about the Churchwide Assembly that took place in Milwaukee. In the coming days and months you will begin to hear a lot more about the many resolutions, social statements, and social messages that were debated on and decided on at the Assembly. Some of you will be delighted, some of you will be dismayed, and some of you will probably be downright angry. And regardless how you feel, whether you agree or disagree.... Don't leave your Church. The only place where you can change the church is within the Church. I am personally glad that I stayed IN my church! My ever changing, ever growing, sometimes angering, ever challenging Church. When the charismatic movement took hold of me, I thought it might be necessary to look for a new more open and welcoming denomination. Instead, God moved my family several hundred miles to Bethany Lutheran in Red Lake Falls where I found the Lutheran Minister and the Catholic Priest praying together at a local prayer and bible study. I had found a new home. A home where my children could be raised learning those basic tenets of the Lutheran faith found in Luther's Large and Small Catechism, but more importantly, God's Word, that I still need to remember as we find that we are reminded and encouraged to remember WHO our neighbor is! We will be reminded that Our Lord said the are NO aliens in our land and we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. I know you already have something to say about that statement. I have something to say to you. If your argument about the decisions of what the Churchwide Assembly has to say begins with the word "but", then you may need to reconsider your statement. Most of us realize that our churches tax-free status is put in jeopardy when our pastors speak from the pulpit about who or what we should vote for, and I most certainly agree. So, we place an even bigger burden on our ministers when they witness social wrongs because we need them to instead teach us what God not just wishes we would do, but often times commands us to do. And to that end, the many decisions made at Assembly will make it both more difficult and maybe even easier for our pastors. Why? Because we as a Church of the ELCA, we as a community of believers, we as individuals and part of the great family of the Almighty God are being asked to stand up for those very same brothers and sisters being affected by bigotry, anger, hate, fear and misunderstandings, regardless of religion, creed, gender, sexual orientation or homeland. Lectionaries, Bible Studies, and Publications will become available for their and our use. The decisions our Churchwide Assembly were made with much discussion and prayer and they can, and hopefully will, effect our lives, our farms, our cities and even our futures for good. Please Celebrate the achievements of our Church, the Inclusiveness that continues to spread across our world within our own Church and with other churches, religions, and organizations. And absolutely the Inclusiveness that has brought us to the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Churches Decision to Ordain Women, the 40th Anniversary of the Ordination of Women of Color and the 10th Anniversary of the Ordination of LGBTQ1A+ People without Barriers. Do Not be afraid of the future! I hope you will all take the time to read the report on "Faith, Sexism, and Justice " a Lutheran Call to Action that can be found on out church website and the reasons the ELCA is now a "sanctuary denomination ". Rememver, God is Greater than all the Powers and Principalities of this current world. Listen to His Word and His Teachings. And Grow in His Love. Respectively presented Christine Van Emmerik Voting Delegate to the 2019 Triannual ELCA CWA |
” ELCA Churchwide Assembly Report*
Bishop's report.
“We Are Church:” ELCA Churchwide Assembly Report
On August 5, 2019 the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), began its fifteenth churchwide assembly in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Under the theme We Are Church, nearly 1000 voting members and guests gathered to worship, review the work of the churchwide organization, and vote on matters of governance and policy. Twenty-one voting members from the Northwestern Minnesota Synod participated in the assembly along with similar contingents from the ELCA’s other 64 synods.
Major actions taken by the Assembly included:
Lawrence R. Wohlrabe
Bishop, Northwestern Minnesota Synod ELCA
Concordia College
Officed at the Riverside Center
310 14th Avenue South
Moorhead, MN 56562
Office phone 218.299.3019
Fax 218.299.3363
Email: wohlrabe@cord.edu
Synod Website: www.nwmnsynod.org
Personal Blog: http://larrywohlrabe.blogspot.com/
"When Jesus died, something happened as a result of which the world was a different place. By six o'clock on the evening of the first Good Friday, the world had changed. A revolution had begun." N.T. Wright, The Day the Revolution Began, p. 355.
On August 5, 2019 the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), began its fifteenth churchwide assembly in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Under the theme We Are Church, nearly 1000 voting members and guests gathered to worship, review the work of the churchwide organization, and vote on matters of governance and policy. Twenty-one voting members from the Northwestern Minnesota Synod participated in the assembly along with similar contingents from the ELCA’s other 64 synods.
Major actions taken by the Assembly included:
- · Re-electing Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton on the first ballot, with over 81% of the vote. Bishop Eaton, who was first elected in 2013, will serve a second 6-year term through 2025.
- · Electing Deacon Sue Rothmeyer as Secretary of the ELCA. The Secretary is an officer and executive administrator for matters pertaining to the ELCA’s governing documents, organizational structure, and maintenance of the rosters of ministers and congregations.
- · Adopting the social statement, Faith, Sexism and Justice: A Call to Action along with its implementing resolutions. Read the statement at https://www.elca.org/Faith/Faith-and-Society/Current-Social-Writing-Projects/Women-and-Justice?_ga=2.42569253.1467322994.1565617712-1136517837.1447278879
- · Approving A Declaration of Inter-Religious Commitment which now complements the 1991 ELCA statement, A Declaration of Ecumenical Commitment. Read the Declaration at https://www.elca.org/Faith/Ecumenical-and-Inter-Religious-Relations/Inter-Religious-Relations/Draft-Policy-Statement?_ga=2.9038389.1467322994.1565617712-1136517837.1447278879
- · Approving a change to the ELCA constitution stating that the entrance rite for deacons (rostered ministers of word and service) will be ordination rather than consecration.
- · Receiving and approving budgets for the churchwide organization during the next triennium. To find out how you contribute to the life and mission of the ELCA go to: Where does my offering go?
- · Receiving the results of Always Being Made New: The Campaign for the ELCA. This $198 million campaign was approved by the 2013 Churchwide Assembly. At the Campaign’s conclusion on June 30, 2019 nearly $250 million has been raised through gifts, pledges, and planned giving.
- · Presenting a Declaration to People of African Descent to representatives of the African Descent Lutheran Association—and voting to commemorate June 17 as a day of repentance and remembrance in the ELCA for the deaths of the “Emanuel Nine” who were murdered on June 17, 2015, during a Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Charleston, South Carolina.
- · Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the ordination of women, the 40th anniversary of the first ordination of a woman of color in the ELCA, and the 10th anniversary of the ELCA’s acceptance of persons in committed same-sex relationships (since 2015, marriages) on the ELCA rosters of ministry.
Lawrence R. Wohlrabe
Bishop, Northwestern Minnesota Synod ELCA
Concordia College
Officed at the Riverside Center
310 14th Avenue South
Moorhead, MN 56562
Office phone 218.299.3019
Fax 218.299.3363
Email: wohlrabe@cord.edu
Synod Website: www.nwmnsynod.org
Personal Blog: http://larrywohlrabe.blogspot.com/
"When Jesus died, something happened as a result of which the world was a different place. By six o'clock on the evening of the first Good Friday, the world had changed. A revolution had begun." N.T. Wright, The Day the Revolution Began, p. 355.
| we_are_church.pdf |
| what_might_it_mean_to_be_a_sanctuary_church_body_.pdf |
What Might it Mean to Be a Sanctuary Church Body?
By Bishop Larry Wohlrabe and Bishop-Elect Bill Tesch, NW MN Synod ELCA
On Wednesday, August 7, 2019, voting members of the ELCA Churchwide Assembly adopted a memorial that included an amendment “to declare the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America a sanctuary church body.” (The full text of the memorial is available at http://nwmnsynod.org/resources/ca19-03-11-churchwide-memorial-declaring-the-elca-a-sanctuary-church-body/ )
Unfortunately this action was picked up by a national cable news network that broadcast a five minute “discussion” by three panelists, none of whom were present at the Churchwide Assembly, nor are they members of the ELCA or authorized to speak on behalf of the ELCA. The broadcast conveyed misinformation about the Assembly’s action, implying that ELCA congregations would simply ignore U.S. law, which is not true. Also, a panelist implied that undocumented immigrants carry disease and pose a public health risk, which is also not true.
So what might it actually mean for our ELCA to be a “sanctuary church body?” In response to this legitimate question, ELCA leaders familiar with our church’s strategy for engaging issues around immigration and refugees have offered the following information:
· In its simplest form, becoming a sanctuary denomination means that the ELCA is publicly declaring that walking alongside immigrants and refugees is a matter of faith. The ELCA Churchwide Assembly, the highest legislative authority of the ELCA, declared that when we preach on Sunday that Jesus told us to welcome, we will use our hands and voices on Monday to make sure it happens.
· We have a broken system regarding immigration, refugees and asylum-seekers. To declare ourselves a sanctuary church body is to say that we seek to provide concrete resources to assist the most vulnerable who are feeling the sharp edges of this broken system.
· Being a sanctuary denomination is about loving our neighbors. While we may have different ideas about how to fix this broken system and may have different ways of loving our neighbors, our call to love our neighbor is central to our faith.
· Being a sanctuary denomination will look different in different contexts. It may mean providing space for people to live; providing financial and legal support to those who are working through the immigration system; or supporting other congregations and service providers. The ELCA churchwide organization cannot mandate or direct our congregations and ministries to respond in specific ways. Each must work out what this means for them in their context.
· While we don’t yet know the full scope of the work that this declaration will open for the ELCA, we do know that our faith communities are already doing sanctuary work. Sanctuary for a congregation may mean hosting English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, marching as people of faith against the detention of children and families, providing housing for a community member facing deportation, or, in some of our congregations, having thoughtful conversations about what our faith says about immigration. All of these are a step closer to sanctuary in our faith communities and sanctuary in our world for people who must leave their homes.
· Except for our members whose ancestors were here before European settlement or others who were forced to come to the U.S. against their will, the ELCA is an immigrant church. Our decades-long work with immigrants and refugee is how we practice our faith in the world. Lutherans started Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS), one of the nine refugee resettlement agencies in the U.S.
· At our 2016 Churchwide Assembly, we also committed to walking alongside Central American children and families fleeing their communities by passing the AMMPARO strategy (Accompanying Migrant Minors with Protection, Advocacy, Representation and Opportunities).
· Through the AMMPARO strategy, we are also working through our global partners in Central America to alleviate the conditions that cause people to migrate. We support organizations and faith communities that work with deported migrants in Central America and advocate for the humane treatment of immigrants in Mexico. In the U.S., we have a network of 151 welcoming and sanctuary congregations that are committed to working on migration issues and a welcome for immigrant communities. The church also has five sanctuary synods (our regional structures), all of which do work with immigrants, refugees and asylum-seekers.
· In baptism, we are brought into a covenantal relationship with Jesus Christ that commits us to strive for justice and peace in all the earth. Following the example of Martin Luther, we believe that advocacy is a crucial expression of baptismal identity. As a church, we have advocated for stopping the detention of children and families for decades. We have spoken out against family separation, sought a pathway to citizenship for community members that have lived in the U.S. for many years, and have taken steps to address the root causes of migration in a way that honors the humanity in people who must flee.
· Being a sanctuary denomination means that we, as church together, want to be public and vocal about this work. At the same time, we will have conversations about what sanctuary means with many of our members and discern future action and direction. For us, welcoming people is first and foremost a matter of faith which impacts how we live out all our vocations in God's world, including our political life.
Lawrence R. Wohlrabe
Bishop, Northwestern Minnesota Synod ELCA
Concordia College
Officed at the Riverside Center
310 14th Avenue South
Moorhead, MN 56562
Office phone 218.299.3019
Fax 218.299.3363
Email: wohlrabe@cord.edu
Synod Website: www.nwmnsynod.org
Personal Blog: http://larrywohlrabe.blogspot.com/
"When Jesus died, something happened as a result of which the world was a different place. By six o'clock on the evening of the first Good Friday, the world had changed. A revolution had begun." N.T. Wright, The Day the Revolution Began, p. 355.
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