Meet the future boldly!
Montana Synod ELCA - From the Bishop Blog
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4y ago
As I write this last edition of the weekly “Words from the Bishop,” I am grateful for the opportunity to serve these last 12 years. Thank you for allowing me to be your Bishop during these sometimes turbulent times.    These last 12 years have been full of changes in the world an in the church. Our congregations have experienced change as the baby boomers retire and the millennials are drawn to other vocations. Changing demographics have made some congregations rethink their mission—some have grown, and some have shrunk. Our full communion partnerships have made ecumenical cooperation and yoki ..read more
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“Sanctuary”, or “You can’t believe everything you hear on TV”
Montana Synod ELCA - From the Bishop Blog
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4y ago
By now many ELCA members have heard that the ELCA Churchwide Assembly voted last week to become “a sanctuary body.” For some people this announcement came as good, lifegiving news. For others it was much more troubling. It is important for us to understand what this declaration means and what it does not mean.   It DOES mean that the ELCA takes very seriously the situation of migrants and of undocumented people. The ELCA has a long history of ministry to the stranger, based on biblical precedent.   It DOES NOT mean than everyone has to respond in the same way. Some will choose to provide mater ..read more
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We are Church Together
Montana Synod ELCA - From the Bishop Blog
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4y ago
Every three years, people from across the entire ELCA meet for the Churchwide Assembly. It is in Milwaukee this year, starting on Monday, August 5th. Twelve members of the Montana Synod will be there as voting members—from Sidney to Ronan, from Cody to Havre—and places in-between. These Voting Members are listed in the weekly prayers. Please pray for them, and for our church, the ELCA, as we gather to make important decisions about how we will be church together.   There will be elections. We will elect or re-elect a Presiding Bishop. We will elect a new Secretary. We will also elect a number ..read more
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“Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them, for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.” Luke 18:16
Montana Synod ELCA - From the Bishop Blog
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4y ago
Summer is a time when we have special activities for children. We host Vacation Bible School, and invite kids to bring their friends. We have world-class camping programs that teach our children about God’s love for them and all creation, while having a lot of fun and learning outdoor skills. Our camps, Christikon and Flathead, are responsible for the ongoing faith formation for generations of people.    But not all children are so fortunate. Refugee children fleeing violence in Central America are not so fortunate. Separated from their parents in some cases, warehoused in inhumane conditions ..read more
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Welcome to Global Mission Partners
Montana Synod ELCA - From the Bishop Blog
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4y ago
                At our Synod Assembly this year we were privileged to have Bishop Motsamai Manong and Pastor Adam Khunou present, visiting from our companion synod, the Cape Orange Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Southern Africa. It is always heartening to spend time with Christians from another part of the world, to share how God is at work in our different contexts. In addition to meeting people at the Synod Assembly, our South African visitors were able to see some of Montana’s agricultural country, visit a reservation, see Yellowstone, and see various social ministries sponso ..read more
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"I was a stranger and you welcomed me."
Montana Synod ELCA - From the Bishop Blog
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4y ago
Tomorrow, June 20, is world refugee day. Currently, there are more refugees in the world than there have been since World War II. Some are economic refugees, some are climate refugees, some are political refugees, some are religious refugees. And while there are root causes that need to be addressed to change the situation, there are real people struggling to survive.                    A number of agencies work with refugee resettlement, some faith-based, some secular. One of the oldest and most respected is Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. Founded in 1939, LIRS began its work resett ..read more
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Three in One, One in Three
Montana Synod ELCA - From the Bishop Blog
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4y ago
Trinity Sunday is the only Sunday in the Church Calendar that marks a concept, not a person or an event. The Trinity is foundational for Christianity, but a stumbling block for others. And frankly, it can be a stumbling block for Christians, as well. How can we say we believe in one God, and yet talk about three persons? Are we monotheists, as we claim? Or are we polytheists, as others label us?                   Some of Christianity’s best theologians have wrestled with the concept of the Trinity. My best way of describing how something can be one and three at the same time is the water-ice-s ..read more
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Meet the Future Boldly!
Montana Synod ELCA - From the Bishop Blog
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4y ago
​In two days, Voting Members from every congregation will be gathering in Great Falls for the 2019 Synod Assembly.  A Synod Assembly is a business meeting, but it is also a family reunion. It is a combination of people who have been coming every year, and people who are there for their first time. We worship, we sing, we pray, we learn.   This year we will elect a new Bishop, to start September 1. We’ll elect a Vice President and a Treasurer and Synod Council members. We’ll also recognize LPAs who have finished their training. And we’ll thank the current Bishop at the banquet. We have 18 works ..read more
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The ELCA and Inter-Religious Commitments
Montana Synod ELCA - From the Bishop Blog
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4y ago
The ELCA has long had a commitment to ecumenism—relationships with other Christians. In 1991, the ELCA adopted “A Declaration of Ecumenical Commitment,” outlining our stance on ecumenism. It is often said, “To be Lutheran is to be ecumenical.” The 1991 statement, in addition to setting out ecumenical commitments, calls for us to go deeper and address inter-religious issues. Now, 28 years later, the ELCA Churchwide Assembly will be considering such a policy statement—“A Declaration of Inter-Religious Commitment.”    The proposed statement is available online at www.elca.org.  We live in a multi ..read more
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Proposed Social Statement on Women and Justice
Montana Synod ELCA - From the Bishop Blog
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4y ago
It has been a long time in coming. Women are 50% of the world’s population, and more than 50% of the church.  As a church, we have had social statements and social messages over the years on a whole host of topics from economic well-being to mental health. But we have not yet adopted a social statement on women and justice. Even the current statement being considered by the Churchwide Assembly in August, has taken longer than any other social statement in our history. First proposed in 2009, it was delayed by other pressing matters the church was dealing with, and by a staff reduction caused b ..read more
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