Later Tuesday evening:
Chirst Our Shepherd, Peachtree City, GA
Today was a very enjoyable day at Churchwide. This morning we started with discussion of the LIFT document. This is probably going to be the piece that will generate the most discussion at this assembly. We had 15 proposed amendments brought up just on the implementation part...and we haven't even started up with the associated constitutional changes. Most dealt with a section that states that the ELCA will not put out any further social statements (after this year's Genetics one) until a review of the process is complete. That discussion was postponed until Thursday during the Genetics statement discussion. We passed the part of the LIFT implimentation concerning the elimination of Churchwide Program committees. We no longer have Program committees. We ran out of time to deal with the rest of the LIFT items.
The highlight of the afternoon for me was not the Bible study (Jesus and the woman at the well) or the presentations by multi-cultural Lutherans in China, Argentina, Philadelphia or California. My high point was the presentations and music by the group from the NW Washington Synod. The Northwest was described as the "none zone"...surveys of the majority indicate that religion="none". So they are very imaginative, since getting people to attend a normal church structure is difficult. First was a great presentation by Pastor Gretchen who has a mission start at Luther's Table in Renton, WA. Luther's Table is a bar...OK, maybe a bar/coffehouse/kinda church. The pews are short and set by tables. They serve Martin Luther's favorite beers (including Katy's Ale) and other adult beverages. They have a wine and Bible study. They have lots of live music and I suspect that there is no pipe organ in the house. Their open door policy is a big garage door into the bar that is open when weather cooperates. It is a really fun, inviting place! Isn't that what we would all like our churches to be...fun and inviting?! And Pastor Gretchen can play guitar and sing, too. She did a really nice contemporary song! (Was that me who wrote I wouldn't hear any contemporary songs this week!!) I'm loving it...and the best was yet come.
The next group was a couple of guys also from the NW Washington synod (missed their names...sorry). But they played a couple of hip hop songs.....can you believe it?? Hip hop at a Churchwide Assembly! It was so fun! First one was "We've got nothing if we don't got love". Yes that was the wording! But my favorite was their hip hop version of "Shepherd Me, O God"!! I could not believe it. The last Churchwide that I attended was 1993 in Kansas City. I sang in the assembly choir and my favorite song that we sang was a beautiful, straight version of.......you guessed it......Shepherd Me, O God! And now I'm hearing and singing along with a hip hop version.....so cool!
One last point for tonight...this Assembly has energy! It is evident in everything that we do. The presentations are fun and imaginative. The sermons are strong, moving, and powerful. The music is loud and lively. The discussions are deep and thoughtful and courteous. The leadership by Bishop Hansen is definate. I believe that we are seeing strong evidence here that as the ELCA Church Body, we have moved on from 2009. I see no loss of energy and passion. We've gone through a valley, but as a church...we are moving forward! Yes, we have lost some congregations and some members, but it is not going to stop our mission. That is very rewarding to see as I really did not know what to expect in terms of the atmosphere of this assembly.
Gary Pederson
SSVM
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