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The Newsletter of Faith Lutheran Church
September 2013 |
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And the one who was seated on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true." Rev. 21:5
Twenty-five years ago the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) came into being through the merger of three predecessor church bodies: The American Lutheran Church (ALC), The Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches (AELC), and The Lutheran Church in America (LCA). From that time and continuing on today we are the largest Lutheran church body in the Americas and the fourth or fifth largest in the world (depending on which list you look at). We have much to celebrate from 25 years of ministry together, as well as much to look forward to as we continue to spread the good news of Jesus Christ in our somewhat unique Lutheran accent. Our theme for this year of celebration is "Always Being Made New."
Yet while we are firmly founded in Holy Scripture, the three great Trinitarian creeds of the Church, and our own Lutheran confessions, I find that many of our people know very little about who we are, what we believe and what we do beyond the walls of our local congregation. So, in honor of "Always Being Made New," here's a crash course in the ELCA.
We have three expressions which we say are each the ELCA on their own, but do not exist without the others. I know that sounds like a paradox, but welcome to Lutheranism (i.e. always saint AND sinner) and for that matter Christianity (i.e. free from the law and servant of it). So these three expressions act individually and as a whole always. They parallel each other in form and function. They are...
The Local Congregation...
- This is the most familiar to greatest number of us. Often pictured as the church building we know when we sing that it is not the building, but the people who come together in a local place for worship, learning and service.
- It may help to think of this as closest to a city in our political system...though it does not operate in the same way at all.
- The greatest authority of the congregation lies in the members gathered in a "congregational meeting."
- In between congregational meetings, it is run by the Congregational Council which is made up of elected members.
- Spiritual leadership is provided by a pastor or pastors (in most cases)
Synods...
- In my experience this is the most misrepresented of our three expressions. It is most often pictured as a bishop and his or her staff, but is actually a geographically similar collection (there is one exception) of ELCA congregations AND their members. There are 65 synods in the ELCA.
- It may help to think of this as similar to a state in our political system...again it does not operate in the same way. For those of you familiar with the Roman Catholic Church structure, the synod is similar to a diocese.
- The greatest authority of a synod lies in the Synod Assembly which meets annually. The Assembly is made up of voting members from each of the congregations. They are not representatives as they are meant to vote as the Spirit speaks to their conscience instead of how they think their congregation would have them vote.
- In between synod assemblies, the synod is run by the Synod Council which is made up of members elected from the Assembly.
- Spiritual leadership and administration are provided by a bishop and his or her staff.
And Churchwide...
- This expression is the least known of the three. Churchwide is the collection of all members, congregations, synods, and multiple service organizations. It is the most public face of the ELCA on the worldwide stage.
- For comparisons sake, it would be closest to the country in our political system. It is important to remember that it goes beyond the boundaries of the USA.
- The chief legislative body of the Churchwide expression lies in...you guessed it...the Churchwide Assembly, which meets every three years beginning this year. (It was every two years previously.) The Churchwide Assembly is made up of voting members from the synods, including all 65 bishops and the Churchwide staff.
- The Churchwide offices happen to be located in Chicago.
- In between Churchwide Assemblies, the Churchwide organization is run by the Church Council.
- Spiritual leadership and administration are provided by the Presiding Bishop (roughly the ELCA equivalent to the pope), the Vice-President of the ELCA (always a lay person), the Secretary of the ELCA and the Treasurer of the ELCA. All four of these leaders are elected by the Churchwide Assembly.
So there you have it. Is that clear as mud? If you need more information about out structure you can read all about it in more detail at www.elca.org.
As you let all that settle in you will see that the ELCA is not "them" or out "there" somewhere. YOU are the ELCA and the ELCA is YOU. The same goes for Faith Lutheran Church in Brookfield. FLC is you and you are FLC. FLC is the Metropolitan Chicago Synod of the ELCA and vice versa. We are the "synod" and the synod is us...
As we celebrate 25 years of these relationships and ministries we look forward to "being made new always." Hence it is important to know who we are, what we do and what we believe. So here's some light reading for you...the Holy Bible, the Lutheran Confessions-start with Luther's Small Catechism and go from there, the ELCA social statements-just what they sound like; statements on social issues of our time adopted by Churchwide Assembly and available on the ELCA website. As we go forward we will continue to talk, grow and learn together and we will be made new!
Pastor Thad |
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Renewal Process Update
Faith Lutheran Church in Brookfield, IL
Umbrella Strategy (Draft)
Purpose:
"A community of disciples, embodying the unconditional love of Jesus."
Principles:
To shape our decisions and live our faith together:
- We dedicate our lives to following Jesus.
- We welcome and invite anyone and everyone.
- We build loving and caring relationships.
- We give generously as God calls us.
- We serve and make a difference in the world.
Priorities:
In order to carry out God's work, we will focus our energy and resources to:
- Provide family friendly worship in ways that help people encounter God.
- Create an authentic community that nurtures and cares for people.
- Equip and mobilize people to lead and serve as Christ's hands and voice - both in the church and in the world.
- Enhance communication in the congregation and to the community in ways that encourage participation in God's work.
- Help care for people living on society's margins.
- Partner with others to increase our influence in the community.
Above is the Umbrella Strategy for Faith's renewal process. It was put together based on community leader and congregational input and approved by the church council. However, it is still a draft. Over the next several weeks, the Renewal Team would like the congregation to prayerfully consider this strategy. Please take the time not only to read it, but to digest it, talk about it with each other and with the Renewal Team. Remember this strategy is meant to describe the congregation of Faith at our best. Please let the team know if you have questions or concerns. Due to vacations the Renewal team will not meet as a whole again until September 8. We will let you know next steps after that.
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A Message from Bishop Miller
Leadership
 [Samuel] sent and brought [David] in. ... The Lord said, "Rise and anoint him; for this is the one" (1 Samuel16:12) As a kid, I always had a particular fondness for the story of David's anointing as the once and future king. I think it was at least partly because being the one who was almost always picked last for the sandlot ball games, this story gave me hope. More importantly, it is a story that points us toward the wonder and mystery of the quality we call "leadership." Judging from the volumes of books on the shelves of our bookstores and our libraries, it is obviously a subject we are interested in and an attribute that we value. Many of us may even call ourselves leaders or at least aspire to that title. But what is it, really? Some leaders lead with their minds, while others clearly lead from their hearts. Some leaders lead by example with the work of their hands. Some leaders lead from pure intuition, while others lead in the pattern of carefully acquired and practiced skills or principles. Some lead with fear, others with kindness, some with the freedom of the gospel, others with a therapeutic application of the law. When we are anxious and afraid about the uncertainty of life, we almost always cry out, "What we have here is a failure of leadership!"-by which we mean that our leaders aren't doing what we tell them to do. A curious understanding of leadership at best. But when our leaders do lead, if we do not like the direction they are leading, we plant our feet firmly in place, fold our arms across our chests and indignantly demand, "Surely, you don't expect me to follow you there, do you?" All of which brings me to the point that the only really certain measure of whether or not someone is a leader is whether or not anyone is following. That is, whether or not they have any disciples. Because if you think you a a leader and you turn around and no one is following ... well, that's called "taking a walk." And it may be that the real secret to leadership is for the leader to remain transparent to the one the leader is following, so that those who follow are looking not so much at the leader as they are watching the light beyond and before that person. Because leaders who stay transparent to the light they themselves follow create disciples who become the transparent leaders of transparent leaders until slowly ... slowly the light before us leads us just a little bit further than any of us ever wanted to go. |
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Newly elected ELCA Presiding Bishop and Secretary
We have a new Presiding Bishop. The Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton, bishop of the ELCA Northeastern Ohio Synod, was elected by the Churchwide Assembly. The ELCA Presiding Bishop is the bishop over the entire ELCA-the closest thing we have to a Pope. Bishop-elect Eaton is the first woman to hold this position.
The office has been held for the past 12 years by Bishop Mark Hanson. Bishop Hanson has led the ELCA through some very difficult times. He has been a blessing to this Church. His very pastoral leadership has focused on the corporate identity of the Church.
During the question and answer period of the election process, Bishop Eaton called on us as the Church to "shut out the ambient noise" and listen to the Spirit as we move forward in mission. Addressing the Assembly after her election, she said, "We are a church that is overwhelmingly European in a culture that is increasingly pluralistic. We need to welcome the gifts of those who come from different places, that is a conversation we need to have as a church."
We also have a new secretary. William Chris Boerger, a former bishop from Washington, was elected secretary of the ELCA. From the ELCA website:
The secretary is responsible for ELCA rosters, interpretation of governing documents such as the church's constitution, the ELCA archives and handles other concerns for the 4 million-member church body. The post is a staff position at the ELCA churchwide office in Chicago.
The theme of this year's Churchwide Assembly was "Always Being Made New." With a new Presiding Bishop and a new secretary, we are certainly living into that theme. In fact you will likely see it again as it was adopted as the theme for the first major fund-raising campaign in the ELCA's 25 year history.
Please keep Bishop Eaton and Rev Boerger in your prayers as they begin their new ministries.
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Christian Education Team (CET)
After considerable prayer and discussion, the CET, with support of our Council, has decided to move to a different plan for Faith Formation in our congregation. Rather than have a weekly Sunday School, we will host a monthly "Faith and Family" event on the third Sunday of each month, beginning September 15. These events will be interactive, intergenerational and family-focused. We'll start with a potluck dinner at 5:30 p.m. and then move on to our activity and/or speaker at 6:00 p.m. We hope that this new faith formation offering will be an event you'll mark on your calendar every month!
Our first event, Sunday, September 15, will be "To This Day: Bullying," and will feature a conversation-stimulating TED talk by Shane Kolczan as well as an outside speaker. Faith will provide pizza and beverages! We hope everyone will attend. Flyers will be available in the Narthex in September. Invite your friends!
Stay tuned to the weekly Voice of Faith for the rest of our Fall schedule of activities!
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Summer Camp
This summer had four of our youth travelling to week-long "church camps."
Noah Mendoza and Liam Fisher spent a week at Lutherdale Bible Camp in Elkhorn, WI. (Lutherdale is camping ministry of the ELCA.) They spent the week playing games, doing team building challenges, studying the Bible, worshipping, swimming, a zip line, and perhaps most importantly: "hanging" with other believers their age. When asked how there week was, the two 8th graders answered with words like, "enlightening," "so much fun," and "We're both going back next year."
Tristan Fisher and Ambyr Fisher joined Pastor Thad at Leadership Lab at Augustana College in Rock Island, IL. Lab, as it is known, is a high school and young adult ministry of the three Illinois Synods of the ELCA. This is Tristan's third year and Ambyr's first year at Lab. Lab consists of different levels which are meant to provide skills and knowledge that can then be used back in the home congregation. "Labbers" process through the levels a year at a time. Ambyr was in "Basic" where she focused on team building and learning about planning models. Tristan was in "Phase 3" where they focused on introspection and the Labbers' personal connection with God in their faith journey. Both Ambyr and Tristan are looking forward to returning next year for their next level.
All four of our young people would like to thank the congregation and the individuals who donated to make it possible for them to attend these foundational weeks in their life of faith. We look forward to having more people attend Lutherdale and/or Leadership Lab in 2014.
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Faith Announcements
Click here to see our current calendar.
Click here to see a list of our caring ministries.
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Memorials
Given by: In Celebration of:
Fran Blumhagen Lon Garapolo
Lynn Rardin Lon Garapolo
Nancy Pollock Lon Garapolo
Carol Dumas Lon Garapolo
Ken & Carol Berg Lon Garapolo
Nancy Pollock Adeline Callaghan
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Prayer Ministry
We all need prayers. Please take a moment to speak with our prayer ministers after Sunday worship. Sean Nonn is available after the 8:30 service and Fran Blumhagen or Karen Lindberg serve the 10:30 service. Whether you share a joy or concern, for yourself or a loved one, the prayer ministers are here to pray for you or with you. We also have prayer slips available in the pews which you can place in the offering basket. You can also submit your prayer at our website and by clicking here .
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"We are a fellowship of Christians called by God and empowered by the Holy Spirit to be disciples in our community and the world. We welcome all to share in the life altering love and grace of Jesus Christ."
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