Bishop's Report

One evangelical church united for Christian ministry.

ELCA Assembly (18 August 2009) 9 A.M.
Rev. Mark Hanson, Presiding Bishop of the ELCA since 1991, invoked in his remarks the ensuing 500th anniversary of the Lutheran Church, to come in 2017, as a benchmark of what delegates desire and think possible. Martin Luther, after all in posting his 95 theses on the Castle Church in 1517, sought not division, but discussion that would lead to reasoned reform of the existing catholic church throughout the German states and Europe. For various reasons, including the privilege of some and the intemperance of others, his wishes turned out otherwise.

We have been moving towards that unity we desire ever since.

Just as Luther saw the church rooted in the scriptures, so Hanson convoked the ELCA delegates as “a book of faith assembly.” May it take root in all 10,146 ELCA congregations. Book of faith is a recent initiative of the ELCA to enliven, promote and support reading and study of the Bible more widely among individuals, families, groups, congregations, synods, and the church as a whole. Other denominations are also engaged in similar parallel efforts.

Hanson quoted Garrison Keillor, the resident satirist on Lutherans, concerning evangelism. “Ours is not the worst church in town, so you might want to take a look sometime.” In contrast to this bit of Lutheran stoicism, Bishop Hanson waxed pentecostal. The ELCA has lost 465,000 members since 1991, but evangelism is not about numbers. It is about renewal. Hanson called for a corps of 1,000 additional congregation-based evangelists by 2017 who will reach those neglected, rejected and unchurched in their communities.

He envisioned the work of Lutherans in Congress, the descendants of an immigrant experience, working for immigration reform, health reform, and HIV and AIDS assistance alongside global partners. Similarly, ELCA is joining the Lutheran Malaria Initiative under the auspices of the United Nations Fund for the eradication of Malaria in sub-Saharan Africa by 2015. Among other efforts on behalf of the environment and the status of women is middle-east peace-making and the realization of Jerusalem as a city shared by Jews, Palestinians, and Christians.

What will be our witness in eight years? God’s gift of unity to the larger human family, unity without uniformity.