A New Day

Good Evening all!



It has been a while since I have written anything on this blog. Sometimes I get lazy, sometimes I get busy, and sometimes I just don't remember to do it. I am not too good at writing, but I enjoy reading blogs so I am going to try to write something every week. Don't hold me to that, but I will try.



I just returned from the Eastern North Dakota Synod fall leadership conference. A friend told me at the conference that we here on the plains are embarrassed to admit that we have bishops so we refuse to call the conference a Bishop's Convocation, as other areas of the ELCA do, and I tend to agree.



At the conference, the bishop always gets a chance to tell us about the shape of the synod and the ELCA in general. This time Bishop Rindy spoke of a new day. The Churchwide organization is restructuring and basically cutting programs. They are doing this because people are in chaos. The chaos caused by a recession, more wars than we really understand, a right wing political and theological take over of the airwaves, and a walk out of wallets from some congregations. With all of this, we in the EaND have a choice.



Will we let the programs that were once sponsored and paid for by the Churchwide organization end, or will we do anything about it? Will we let the nay sayers who are angry about everything in the world win, or will we show them the door and do something new, something unheard of, something amazing? We in the EaND will not let the right winger have the last say. We will not let the ministries that are important to us die. We will support them. We will dig down in our own pockets and give what needs to be given so that the ministry of Jesus can go on. We will go the extra mile for ministry.


I hope that as we in the EaND start something new, the entire church will take it as a way to help the ministries that are important to them. Show the right wingers the door and God will pick up the slack through the hearts and hands of those who know the love of God. Amen.