I am writing this blog post from the Great Falls Airport having spent the last few days with the Montana Synod during their Assembly. I was here as the Region 1 bishop representative because the assembly had a bishop election. That election, which included three failed third ballots, will be the dominant narrative. Yesterday Pastor Ben Quanbeck, serving King of Glory, Billings, was elected bishop on the fifth ballot (see the Montana Synod FB page for the results of all the ballots).
However, the Assembly included more than the election. I’ve put captions with some photos below. Not pictured, but important parts of the assembly, were the keynote by Helping Hands of Great Falls Director Ms. Carrie Parker and the Bible Study by Wartburg Seminary Professor Dr. Mark Yackel-Juleen.
Vigil for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women at Bethel Lutheran
I had lunch with Pastor Amy Walls, daughter of the NWIM Synod and now serving on Rocky Boy Indian Reservation. It was great to catch up!
Grateful for my colleague Bp Laurie Jungling, who I have served with for two years in Region 1 and in the Conference of Bishops. Bp Jungling will conclude her six-year term at the end of August.
Deacon Allen Sasser-Goehner is the new director the Northern Rockies Institute of Theology, part of the Montana Synod. I worked with Allen at Camp Christikon in 1995 and 1996 and with his wife Pastor Molly Sasser-Goehner in 1998. Allen and I led our first junior high overnight together in 1995!
Opening Prayer Saturday morning with Lay Ministry Associate Recognitions. There are many LMAs serving all across Montana. I was able to hear some of their stories at a dinner for them Saturday evening.
Rt. Rev. Dr. Marty Stebbins, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Montana, preached at opening worship. We took a selfie to send to our colleague Bishop Gretchen Rehberg of the Spokane Diocese.
With Pastor Ben Cherland, Red Lodge, MT, brother of Elizabeth Cherland and brother-in-law of Pastor Kent Narum, who served as one of my parents’ pastors at Custer Lutheran Fellowship.
Worship Saturday – I preached on the RCL texts.
Installation of Deacon Colter McCarty as Associate to the Bishop during closing worship.
With Rev. Tom Shlotterback, (fellow Concordia Cobber) St. John’s United, Billings, presider for closing worship and retiring very soon.
When I hear Jesus’ prayer for his disciples in our reading from John’s gospel today, I hear his visions and hopes for authentic love and unity. I hear him speak poetically about his relationship with the Father, you might think Mother if that is easier for you. We hear of a loving and connected parent-child relationship. And though the Holy Spirit is not named in this text, that dance of the Trinity, the relationality inherent in the God we worship is so present in this prayer. The love within that Holy Trinity is abundant and real and inviting. It’s hard to carry out as human beings, sinful and broken as we are, which is one of many reasons Jesus prays for his disciples. If it were automatic human behavior, then there would be no need for prayer.
This struggle made me think of my first call in Soldier, Iowa, a town of 200 people near the Missouri River in what’s known as the Loess Hills. I served there from 2004-2010 and shortly before I arrived, the school district that Soldier, Iowa was part of was dissolved. A vote was put to the citizens and instead of merging with their long-time partner district, a pin was dropped in the middle of the current district. Like many ELCA Lutheran congregations, my new church was full of schoolteachers. They were grieving, in disbelief that other residents had not seen things the way they did. I clearly remember teachers telling me how difficult it was to stand around the Holy Communion rail with people who had voted in such a way that they had lost their jobs. But they kept coming to worship. They kept coming together and sharing the bread and wine, shoulder to shoulder receiving the gifts of new life and forgiveness. And very slowly relationships healed.
During Holy Communion we are literally invited into the unity of the Triune God, unity portrayed in Jesus’ prayer. In the town church we had a straight communion rail but Memorial Day weekend through the month of June, we went out to the old massive country church for worship. And there stood a beautiful half-circle communion rail, one where you not only stood shoulder to shoulder with people, but those on the ends could look across and make eye contact. One big reason I am still in the church, with all of its faults and growing edges, is because of our audacious belief that when we cannot forgive, when we cannot reconcile, when we have no energy to be curious about one another, the means of grace can still be received through Word and Sacrament. My hunger for bread and wine draws me to the table where I feast shoulder to shoulder with my siblings in Christ.
I wrote to my synod recently that I think we forget how radical and rare it is for the good news of God’s love and grace to be preached and heard, and for the sacraments to be celebrated faithfully. It is radical and rare in part, at least within the geography I serve, because there are so many other things parading as the gospel. I am especially exhausted by White Christian Nationalism permeating into so much of the fabric of the territory I serve. Why does something so antithetical to the good news of Jesus Christ get to carry the name of Christ?
White Christian Nationalism is based on creating and sustaining social hierarchies, often revolving around gender and sexuality. It is also comfortable with authoritarian social control. And it includes a desire for strict boundaries around national identity, civic participation, and social belonging that fall along ethno-racial lines. A “Christian nation” is generally understood to be one where white, natural-born citizens are held up as the ideal, with everyone else coming after. (Andrew Whitehead, p. 29).
I worry sometimes that as we get clearer about being against White Christian Nationalism, we are not exactly sure what we are for instead. Sometimes it is easier to speak in the negative than the positive. I am grateful to be with you this weekend and hear more about why the two resolutions related to our indigenous siblings are important to you as individuals and as a synod. Addressing the reality of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and the history of Indian Boarding Schools is, in fact, one way to follow the Jesus we encounter in the gospels.
When we say Christian Nationalism is antithetical to the gospel of Jesus Christ, we need look no further than Jesus’ prayer for his followers. Jesus prays, “As you Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us.” Hear the mutuality and oneness. “That they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me…I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.”
The prayer is saturated in this rich love language, and it is a love not for one set of people, but for the whole world, the cosmos, the same world sung about at the beginning of this same gospel: “The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, yet the world did not know him.” This is the world God made, the world God loves, and the world into which God sent the Son. Into this same world, Jesus now sends his disciples. They are already in the world but now they are commissioned to bear witness in and to the world of God’s love.
And what is this love? Something sentimental that we might find on a cupcake or greeting card? No. Our final verse summarizes the work of all of Jesus’ ministry, “I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them and I in them.” This verse confirms one of the central themes of Jesus’ Farewell Discourse to his followers: Jesus’ death and departure does not end his presence and work with the faith community. Jesus’ work continues in the work of the Holy Spirit.
God’s love is constant and ongoing, and the love goes on through the Holy Spirit. Empires and ideologies come and go. God’s love will be with you forever. Disagreements within congregations, synods, and entire denominations are important and can keep us up at night, but the balm that gets you through the night is God’s love.
Influencers, newsfeeds, and so much more can seem to have all the answers. But compared the good news of Jesus Christ, it’s all a mirage in the desert. You worship the God who, as we learn earlier in this gospel, is the source of living water.
That’s why the author of Revelation records, “the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’ And let everyone who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let everyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who wishes, take the water of life as a gift.” That gift is for you, always and forever. Amen.
I’ve been quiet on this blog the last few weeks. After our Synod Assembly and a few more days up in Spokane I flew back to the Treasure Valley and because of some miracle in the calendar have been here for 3.5 weeks. I emailed friends and colleagues asking to get walks, lunches, and coffee dates on the calendar. Everyone has genuinely asked, “How are you?” and my answer sometimes got stuck in my throat. That’s because I am doing well and have been filling up my cup with time with friends and hikes in beautiful Southern Idaho and concerts and community events and yet I know so many people are hurting. Friends near and far who work for the federal government have lost or could lose their jobs. Refugees who thought they found refuge have not. LGBTQ+ friends and strangers have experienced hateful rhetoric and legislation. And the West Ada School district cannot get off the front page. More than all that, and that’s a lot, I worry about our democracy. I think it will hold, but I’m less sure than I ever have been. How am I? I am deeply concerned. I am also deeply proud of our ELCA congregations and ministries and our ecumenical partners continuing to share God’s love and mercy in their local contexts. And I have hope because we are not in this reign of God stuff alone. So here are some highlights from the last few weeks:
Faith Funders Event hosted by King of Glory Lutheran and organized by LEAP Housing–an event to raise donations and charitable investment dollars for the affordable housing to be built by LEAP on KOG’s property.
Idaho Conservation Voters Boards and Commissions Fellowship program: The fellowship program seeks to get more women, people of color, and LGBTQ people on local boards and commissions. As a woman serving on Nampa’s Building Design Review Commission I was invited to tell about 15 people (think speed dating) about my experience on the commission.
So many hikes and walks with friends in and around the Treasure Valley and Southern Idaho. Here I am with Ariel Agenbroad, who works for the University of Idaho Extension in Ada County. We partnered a lot when I was the pastor at Trinity, Nampa and it was so fun to catch up.
Sundays at Faith, Caldwell (home church) and Immanuel, Boise (confirmation Sunday) and a Saturday evening at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church.
Lutheran Community Services Northwest Boise District was awarded a grant from the Idaho Women Community Foundation (a very competitive grant process) and I was able to join them at the banquet.
So many meals and meet ups with ecumenical friends: Presbyterian, Episcopal, Methodist, Nazarene, UCC, Disciples of Christ, and yes some Lutherans too.
Nadia Bolz Weber came to Cathedral of the Rockies in Boise and this was a very fun ecumenical event. Nadia gave her testimony/story AND we all got to sing together–so life-giving.
Speaking of music, I went to the spring concert at Cathedral of the Rockies, where they sang pieces by Rene Clausen, heard local band Orale at Caldwell’s Indian Creek Plaza, and attended the James Taylor concert right here in Nampa!
The Treasure Valley Cluster pastors and deacons had a retirement celebration lunch for Pastor Paul Malek.
Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life.” John 4:13-14 (The Message translation)
May 4, 2025
Dear Friends in Christ,
In the middle of Lent, staff and cluster deans gathered at Immaculate Heart Retreat Center on the edge of Spokane for a two-night retreat. We heard reports on every ministry site in our synod from the deans. We worshiped together. We discussed what our rostered and lay leaders need in this moment. We gathered around the piano for a hymn sing. We looked at our synod map and dreamed not just about cluster boundaries shifting but deeper connections and collaborations all for the sake of the gospel. This time of deeply connecting our clusters and ministries and imagining for the future is possible because of Mission Support given to the synod.
In early April your synod council met at Camp Lutherhaven in person! We had an agenda full of worship, business items, hearing with an ELCA Churchwide guest, and hearing from several working groups. It is no small thing in our geographically large synod to pull the council together in person twice each year, but the synod is healthier and stronger for this time of connection. The generosity of your congregation makes possible these opportunities to gather and work in partnership for our shared mission.
At the end of April, DEM Pastor Liv Larson Andrews hosted, at the synod office, two congregational teams, their coaches, and ELCA Churchwide staff, all part of the ELCA’s Congregations Lead Initiative. The next week, several Spokane area congregations and synod staff participated in the Presbytery of the Northwest’s Stewarding Faith Property for Community Good: A Community Roundtable. Our Episcopal colleagues are again inviting ELCA congregations to participate in their summer College for Congregational Development. Synod staff can foster relationships with ELCA Churchwide and ecumenical partners on your behalf thanks to the Mission Support you give to the NWIM Synod.
Anticipating the Festival of Pentecost always means simultaneously anticipating summer camp! Thank you also for your support of our Lutheran Outdoor Ministries—helping recruit summer staff, giving camperships through the camps or your local congregation, signing up for work weekends and family and adult programming, praying, and sending words of encouragement. We recognize our LOM sites as vital to the ministries of our congregations and the synod as a whole.
Two Saturdays ago I attended the wedding, here in the Treasure Valley, of a former parishioner and then I left before the reception so I could fly into Spokane. Sunday morning I drove down Highway 195 to Pullman for Pastor Wes Howell’s retirement Sunday, retiring from Trinity, Pullman but following 41 years of pastoral ministry. It was wonderful to be part of the good goodbye and also to get to know the congregation just a bit better. I also caught up with several synod pastors who made the trip to be part of the celebration.
Pastor Wes and his family
Sunday late afternoon I was back up in downtown Spokane for an event put on by FAVs News, the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane and Transitions: Uniting the Inland Northwest. The keynote was given by Gonzaga University professor Dr Itohan Idumwonyi, speaking on Ubuntu. I attended two great panels, one on The Next Generation’s Vision for Unity which included a staffer from Lutheran Community Services Northwest, and one called Understanding LGBTQ+ Faith Experiences, which included an ELCA Lutheran. I also was able to reconnect with some Spokane and North Idaho partners and meet some new ones.
Monday-Wednesday were all about preparation for synod assembly, including a walk-through at Central. Except that Wednesday morning, Pastor Phil, members of Salem, All Saints, St. Mark’s, and I attended the Presbytery of the Northwest’s Stewarding Faith Property for Community Good: A Community Roundtable with Mark Elsdon and Spokane leaders. It was an incredible collection of Spokane citizens–mayor, faith communities, developers, and health care professionals.
Pastor Alan Eschenbacher, All Saints, was on one of the panels!
Thursday and Friday included a very quick trip to Parkland, WA for the Pacific Lutheran University board of regents meeting. Bishop Shelley Bryan Wee (NW WA Synod) and I have been on a task force for about the last two years thinking about how to keep the college’s ELCA connection in this new chapter. It has been slow and faithful work and I’m grateful for the relationships formed with the other task force members. We officially rolled out our recommendations at this meeting and our work will probably conclude in the fall. I also attended my first PLU Choir of the West concert and it was wonderful–a lovely blend of very old and much newer music performed with excellence and heart.
We used the YouTube recording of Thursday’s concert as people entered the Zoom meeting Satuday
Saturday was our online Synod Assembly and overall it went really well. It’s amazing how much the technology has improved and how much we’ve all learned in the last ten years. Our team (registrar, parliamentarian, synod staff, synod officers, worship team, and tech guru) made it a wonderful experience in our studio at Central Lutheran.
Sunday I headed out to Zion Lutheran, Deer Park, a smaller congregation in what is a farming/bedroom community thanks to improved Highway 395. Pastor Arianna Arends currently serves there 3/4 time and she preached a great sermon. Worship was full of kids and good singing and people stayed for an hour after worship to chat with me about the congregation, town, and life.
We are gathering as a synod under the theme Wellsprings of God’s Love. What does that mean precisely? A congregation is a Wellspring of God’s love when the good news of God’s love and grace is preached and heard, and the sacraments are celebrated faithfully. We may forget how rare and radical that is! Further, we hear this message and feast on the Lord’s Supper with people from various walks of life. We do not agree on all things, but we come together to pray Lord have mercy, to pray for the needs of our community and the world, to hear the good news proclaimed. We are honest, as individuals and entire communities, about both our sinfulness and that we remain beloved children of God. And then we all come to the table and feast on bread and wine, receiving life and mercy. Whenever the synod staff and council speak of our many ministry sites as Wellsprings of God’s Love, this is what we are naming. A Wellspring of God’s Love, has some of the following:
Love
Welcome
Generosity
Compassion
Openness
Curiosity
Forgiveness
Partnerships
Large congregations, small congregations partnering with another denomination, a bit more urban, a bit more rural, in the shadow of the Cascades, Tetons, or Selkirks, along the banks of the Wenatchee, Spokane, Snake, Boise, Salmon, or one of many creeks, amidst fields of wheat, soy beans, fruit trees, vineyards, corn, or more wheat, I am grateful you are already a Wellspring of God’s Love.
Synod Vice President Lisa Therell did a wonderful job in her report, updating you on so much that has happened in the synod, so I am going to spend this report mostly looking ahead. I cannot say what will ensure that so many ministries will continue to be Wellsprings of God’s Love. I believe first it will mean being faithful to the gospel we proclaim. Of course, I celebrate when that same gospel leads to ministries that help actual bodies, when the Communion table extends to free meals or food pantries or ministries of welcome and belonging to those on the margins of society. Ours is a faith concerned about what happens after one dies AND about lived faith here and now. Further, in our context, the notion that Christians care about poverty, housing, inclusivity, and those on the margins is not always the norm and our witness through various mutual aid ministries points powerfully to the love of Jesus Christ. At the same time, the one thing we have that most other nonprofits do not have is the gospel itself. We will always need ministries that faithfully preach the gospel and celebrate the sacraments, the means of God’s grace.
Second, it will mean continuing to equip lay people in all our ministries. One of the fun surprises of being bishop is the number of opportunities I am given to nominate or send people to be part of online or in-person learning opportunities. I continue to believe that the best leaders (lay people, deacons, and pastors) are those who remain curious and integrate their learning into ministry. We have created a few cohorts of our own in the synod and I hope these continue to grow. These include our partnership with the Montana Synod’s Lay Ministry Associate Program, monthly church council check-in, monthly transitional leaders gathering, Consultation Committee meeting online to learn Bowen Family Systems Theory, and periodic study groups online. None of these are programs for simply having more programs. They ensure that we are inviting people from our communities to the table of Holy Communion, the soup supper table, and so many other tables. These opportunities are meant to help you tend to the Wellspring of God’s Love in your unique contexts.
Third, as I look ahead to the next few years, collaboration of all kinds will continue to be key. Ministries of all sizes will need to be in relationship with others, including nonprofits, neighbors, and other churches. I have prioritized and enjoyed nurturing ecumenical relationships for their intrinsic value but also because I hope they will bear fruit. I love hearing how you all are fostering ecumenism locally. Part of ecumenism is listening deeply and learning from our siblings, in Bible and book studies, during service opportunities, and even during Holy Communion liturgies. Another part of ecumenism is being bold about the gifts our Lutheran tradition and theology bring to the table. A wellspring is connected to other creeks and streams and aquifers and each of the Wellsprings in our synod our connected to Jesus Christ, the source of all living water.
Fourth, how we gather as a synod will be important. At our fall 2024 synod council meeting we decided on a new rotation of assemblies and regional gatherings, having learned and experienced so much together. Next spring we will have an in-person assembly, details still being worked out as I write this. In 2027 and 2028 we will have regional gatherings and a business assembly online during which we will hold elections, vote on our budget/mission spending plan, and vote on resolutions. I assume these online business assemblies will feel and look much like our special online assembly in 2024. Then in 2029 (bishop’s election year) we will be back in person. So, two years online with regional gatherings, one year in person, then the rotation starts again. This is what our siblings in the Oregon Synod have done for some time. It may seem like this is closing off connections, but our motivation is to make our gatherings, our tables, more affordable, more accessible, and ultimately more welcoming.
Also related to how we gather are our clusters. When the Eastern WA-ID Synod was formed during the inception of the ELCA in 1988, we had 114 congregations. We currently have 80 congregations plus our specialized ministries (campus ministries, outdoor ministries….). We are not ready to change our constitution yet, regarding clusters, but will be practicing with some new clusters. Immanuel, Moses Lake will be part of North Central. The rest of Big Bend along with the Mount Spokane will join Spokane Westward for one large cluster. Spokane Valley and North Idaho clusters will practice being together. Palouse and Tsceminicum will continue together, as they have for several years. Assuming we vote as an Assembly to welcome Christ the King, Milton-Freewater to the synod, and it is approved at Churchwide Assembly this summer, Christ the King will join the Lower Columbia Basin Cluster. Nothing will change with South Central, Treasure Valley, or Upper Snake River Clusters.
Finally, we as a synod have a new ministry to nourish in Cultivating Justice, a Synod Authorized Outreach Ministry, in Wenatchee. I wonder what other new ministries might we start together as congregations, entire clusters, or a synod? What is the Holy Spirit calling us to next? Who is alone, neglected, outcast? Who do we not yet see around the table? Who do we perceive as enemy, who we know Jesus has called us to love? If Jesus traversed our synod, where would he show up specifically? Where is there need for a new Wellspring of God’s love?
I want to include here some thank yous. First, thanks to the amazing team I work with each week: Executive Assistant Cathy Steiner, Assistant to the Bishop Phil Misner, and DEM Liv Larson Andrews. We each bring different gifts and life experiences to this synod ministry and the whole synod is better for it. Cathy will be on sabbatical June and July and we are grateful to announce that former synod staffer and longtime volunteer registrar Diana Abken will be stepping in and providing office support. Thanks also to our contracted staff Lin Carlson who manages the website and produces our e-newsletter. Thank you to Vice President Lisa Therrell for her leadership, wisdom, love for the synod, and partnership and thanks to the entire synod council. Thanks to everyone who serves on one of the long-standing or brand-new committees or teams in our synod.
In closing, on Transfiguration Sunday, many of us sang You Lord, are Both Lamb and Shepherd from All Creation Sings. The tune has long been a favorite of mine; tune and lyrics together continue to haunt me in that holy way a hymn can. I leave you with the final verse, a prayer of thanksgiving for the one who loves us and who we praise:
Peter goes to the tomb, looks in, observes the linen wrapping neatly folded and placed to the side. He sees but comes to no conclusion and goes home. The other disciple goes to the tomb, looks in, perceives the linen wrappings and, after waiting for Peter, goes in. For a second time, we are told that he sees and now believes. There we have the range of responses to this day: those who simply observe all the fuss of this day, but come to no earth-shaking conclusions, and those who come this day having been here before, see the events of the day and trust that Jesus is alive.
But this is just the set-up for the story. Peter and the other disciples simply set the stage for a divine comedy, a tragedy turned into comedy by the awesome and surprising power of God. God interrupts the dying-burial process with resurrection.
The story begins with Mary Magdalene, who stands weeping outside the tomb. Through her tears, she can only observe the events around her: two angels who ask her questions, an empty tomb that suggests a stolen body and possible trouble for the disciples, and one who looks, through her tears, to be the gardener.
Mary does not even enter the tomb. She sees the stone rolled away and assumes the worst. “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,” she tells the disciples, “and we do not know where they have laid him.” She is overcome with confusion. She cannot begin to discover what has happened. How many of us have been there, overcome with confusion, maybe tears? My father died in December 2020. In January, I journaled the weeks of his dying and each week I would inevitably start crying at my kitchen table. It was cathartic and good, but I was also in a complete daze. I can easily say that I barely remember anything else from the first three months after his death.
But later, Mary bends over and looks into the tomb. She sees two angels sitting where the body has been laying. Mary again explains, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”
She turns around and sees who she assumes to be the gardener. She explains herself again and then he speaks. The man addresses her by name, “Mary,” and she recognizes him, “Teacher.” How powerful it is to be addresses by name. I think of Thursday evening when many of us gathered around the baptismal font, and I spoke the name of each person being baptized. A favorite theologian said that baptism is incredibly personal, but it is not private. In a way, the same could be true about Mary’s encounter with the risen Christ. It is so personal, but the experience eventually extends beyond the garden.
Although Mary cannot hold on to Jesus, through the tears she comes to see in a new way. She is no longer just an observer. Now she perceives resurrection and life. She joyfully proclaims her new perception to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!”
Each of our discoveries take different shapes. We are all witnesses to the resurrection, but the witnesses are different. Jesus has been made known to us in many ways. Like Mary’s discovery, it sometimes comes when we are least expecting it—in the voice of someone we expect to be the gardener; in a place as simple as a classroom, in the words of forgiveness spoken every week, in conversations with good friends. Jesus is made known to us in many ways. We cannot always see Jesus on our own. It takes time, just as it took time for Mary.
We do not want to fall asleep and miss the resurrection, but we do not go out and find Jesus and invite him in. We do not roll the stone away. This may be the biggest barrier to Easter, to resurrection, to receiving the gifts of God’s love and forgiveness—that we do absolutely nothing to earn them but only hear our name and then receive. God reached into the tomb and into history, lifting Jesus up to new life. God will do the same thing for us. The Holy Spirit enters our lives, sometimes shouting and pointing, “There he is! See there is new life! See there is hope!” We rejoice in recognition—teacher, savior, Lord.
Out of recognition comes a commission. Jesus tells Mary, “But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” She goes. She is the first evangelist, the first apostle to proclaim the good news. Jesus has conquered death and is ascending to the Father. Mary announces to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord.” The discovery is complete. Mary did not just see Jesus. She knows Jesus and proclaims his resurrection.
And you know the rest of the story. Jesus does indeed ascend to the Father. Then he sends the Holy Spirit to accompany you when you despair and are stuck on Good Friday, when the sting of death seems to go on and on and on. Like Mary, we have all shed our tears. Our perception is often impaired by the tragedies of our lives or the absorption of tragedies around the world. But the promise is that the risen Jesus speaks our name and brings you through the tears to perceive and believe that he is alive.
Though the speaking of our name may be personal, the result is not. Your name was spoken in Baptism, and you became a part of the Body of Christ, the community of faith. In this community, gifts are given, discerned and employed, for the sake of the community’s mission—the witness of the Gospel. In Holy Communion, gifts are given for you. This is my body. This is my blood for you. In Holy Communion, we can hold Christ because he has risen and ascended into God’s being, and because, in this community, he descends to hold us.
Today we see the holy held in the ordinary. We, too, employ our physical sight. We can observe the linen wrappings of the Communion table folded and laying to the side. We can observe ordinary bread broken and wine poured out. And through the faith that this community holds, you can perceive that it all adds up to resurrection—a new life, a new community.
Through the tears, through the struggles of this life, through the doubts and fears of our hearts, we can only observe what goes on. But as Jesus speaks your name and as you hold onto him through the community, he brings you through the tears, from tragedy to holy comedy, from blurred and blinded sight to this proclamation: Christ is risen, he is risen indeed. The risen Christ stands in our midst.
The name of our worship service, Maundy, comes from the commandment or mandate Jesus’ gives his disciples, “to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” The world needs that love so much, always but maybe especially right now. Jesus has just demonstrated the love through the act of foot washing.
Foot washing was the focus of Maundy Thursday worship services at Trinity Lutheran in Nampa, the congregation I served before becoming bishop. But in my first call in Solider, Iowa, Holy Communion was central because this was the night the fifth graders celebrated their first Communion. My theology around the Lord’s Supper became robust on the prairie of Western Iowa.
It was Thursday evening. The next day Jesus would die. He knew it and he told his disciples. They were at supper together, a farewell meal. As they were seated around the table, he took bread and wine and told them that this was his body and blood and that they should eat and drink. He told them that after he was gone, they should continue to observe this supper, for forgiveness of sins and in remembrance of him.
One time at Trinity, during the pandemic, I led a group of 7th and 8th grade confirmation students online through a discussion of the Last Supper as recorded in Mark’s gospel. The conversation lagged until I called on one student who usually contributes. “What strikes you in this story?” I asked. The student replied, “The story begins with Jesus saying someone will betray him and it ends with him saying Peter will deny him. Right in the middle of those two things, Jesus breaks the bread and shares the cup.” I was speechless with admiration for this young theologian. Yes, in the middle of betrayal and denial, Jesus shares this love feast with its gifts of forgiveness and mercy.
Ever since that night, the followers of Jesus the world over have observed or celebrated the Lord’s Supper as their most solemn act of worship. The Holy Spirit has used this simple meal to give the church some of the most profound and rich truths and gifts of God.
When we come to the Lord’s Supper, we come to remember him. We recall who Jesus is and what he has done, what he continues to do and what he yet will do. He is not visibly with us as he was with the disciples that evening. As we remember him, we dwell on his life, from his birth in Bethlehem to his ascension. Remember especially the cross, where his body was broken, and his blood was shed for you. When the bread is placed in your hands, when you receive the wine, you will hear those same amazing words, “For you!”
Whether we see him or not, our risen and ascended Lord is here in a living presence. He is with us, singularly in bread and wine, his body and blood. We not only have a memorial; we have a presence. And in the bread and wine he gives himself. This is the good news of the gospel in visible form.
And so, it is called a communion. Receiving life with him and in him, we are in fellowship with him, and through him in fellowship with each other. We are reconciled to God and to each other. We are the restored family of God.
Whenever and however we receive him, we come in repentance and faith. We come to receive the forgiveness of sins. We come in penitence, in sorrow for the sins that grieve him. And we come in glad confidence that he forgives us, as he has promised to do.
It is a sacrament of thanksgiving, called the Eucharist, the Greek word for thanksgiving. When a Christian stands before the throne of God, when all sins are forgiven, all joy restored, then there is nothing left to do but to give thanks. Thanksgiving is our only full and real response to God’s creation, redemption, and the gift of heaven. All the motifs of the faith, like melodies in a great symphony, are brought together in the sacrament—repentance, faith, forgiveness, joy, love, hope, and thanksgiving.
Pastor Al Rogness wrote, “The Lord’s Supper is God’s gift to us to strengthen our faith. The Christian who realizes this will want to receive this gift often, probably as often as it is offered…. No matter how often, communicants should prepare their hearts by careful self-examination and by prayer. The Scriptures warn against coming casually as a matter of form without repentance and without faith in the Lord’s promise of forgiveness.” Rogness lays out the balance that must be struck—receiving the gift of Communion as often as it is offered and receiving it with a prepared heart.
Indeed, the Lord’s Supper is a gift we continue to learn about throughout our lives. We are never finished being reminded of the gift of the Lord’s Supper. In the midst of all the turmoil of the world right now, I come to this meal tonight with a renewed appreciation for the gifts of forgiveness and abundant life. I come exceedingly grateful to share it with each of you. I come with awe and wonder. Even though I believe Jesus’ promises are sure, I trust that the gifts are guaranteed, and I believe Jesus’ presence is real, I can never explain exactly how it all happens. In the end, I am comfortable not needing to explain or fully understand. There is just enough mystery in the Lord’s Supper to leave me bewildered by the mystery of it all. It is a mystery I love sharing with others. Amen.
This latest adventure started when I realized that during my first spring as bishop of the Northwest Intermountain Synod, I missed serving a congregation during Holy Week. I have loved being with my mom during the end of Advent and over Christmas, in part because that’s when my dad died in 2020. Last year I visited a variety of congregations as a worshiper during Holy Week and I simply missed shepherding one community through the week. So, after talking with the rest of the synod staff, I decided to email St. John’s Lutheran in American Falls, ID, one of a number of congregations in the pastoral transition season (waiting to call their next pastor) in our synod. I explained that I did not know what their traditions were, but if my coming could be helpful, I’d be happy to be with them Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter. Yes, was the reply, followed by the explanation that a retired teacher had been preparing five youth, all girls, for Confirmation/Affirmation of Baptism and could I confirm them on Easter Sunday? Absolutely, I said. The next time we emailed, the leadership wondered if I could baptize some people on Thursday. Sure, I said. How many? Around 14. What???!!!
2 adults, 1 infant, lots of kids, 9 families
St. John’s, American Falls was served faithfully by Pastor Jon Beake from around 2008 until just about a year ago. The congregation experienced a split in 2010, like many ELCA congregations, and it was painful for so many. Pastor Beake and the leadership kept doing faithful ministry not just within the church but with and for the American Falls community. Beake was the town pastor, in the very best way. When he announced his retirement last January, lots of people who now have kids asked if he could baptize them before he left. He went to Oregon to look for a home for retirement and got really sick and never could make the trip back for a good goodbye. (He’s doing much better now and we had a great phone conversation a few weeks ago). All this is to say that when I said I could preside at the confirmations, the baptisms came up again.
I asked that they please do some preparation with the families. On an earlier trip through the area, I had stopped by the church and looked over the supplies in the pastor’s study (I think that was on my trip to Jackson, WY). I spotted many copies of Dan Erlander’s classic Baptized We Live and mentioned that those were worth saving or sharing. So apparently, all the baptism families got a copy of the book sometime early in Lent. With that many baptisms, the leadership decided to have a 5pm Maundy Thursday worship followed by a special 7pm Baptism Worship. I gave a short message on the gifts and promises of baptism and we sang few baptismal hymns. Several of the girls I confirmed today, I baptized Thursday evening. I explained about simply baptizing them as adults, but the leaders decided, rightly so in my opinion, that they wanted them all to go through the same ritual Sunday morning since they had done the learning together.
25-30 people for the Maundy Thursday Worship (a great organ)Maybe 140 people for the Baptism ServiceSimple but meaningful Good Friday worship
I am so very grateful to Pastor Beake for planting seeds over the years and loving the people. I am grateful to Pat, the retired teacher, who taught the confirmands. I am grateful to Lacy, the mom and lay woman who runs Sunday School on Thursday nights all year long. And I am grateful to current council president Patty, who is leading the congregation faithfully. I am praying for the pastor God is preparing to take the call to St. John’s Lutheran.
Easter Vigil with New Day Lutheran and St. Luke’s Episcopal, Idaho Falls
Meanwhile, it was such a gift to be with the congregation for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter morning. I swung up to New Day Lutheran in Idaho Falls for Easter Vigil Saturday evening.
Originally published in the Northwest Intermountain Synod e-newsletter.
Octopuses have had an excellent few years in pop culture. In 2020 there was the inspiring documentary, My Octopus Teacher. Two years later, Shelby Van Pelt’s novel Remarkably Bright Creatures became a best seller (I have not read it yet). My favorite story staring an octopus is a children’s picture book I adored as a kid, Herman the Helper by Robert Kraus. I thought of this book during our Synod Council meeting when our guest Karen Kretschmann, ELCA Coordinator for Storytelling Engagement, invited us to think of a story from our lives or a children’s story. The illustrations and characters came flooding back so clearly with her prompting. As the title implies, a youth green octopus named Herman spends his entire day helping sea creatures. I have been trying hard to figure out why I absolutely loved that book—so much so that eventually I was given my own copy, instead of going back to the library. Like many children’s books about young people or animals, the author simply invited young readers to relate to Herman. The surprising creatures Herman ended up helping also opened my own imagination.
Stories and storytelling can be tools for so many facets of ministry. Stories can help people heal from wounds, even trauma. Stories can help with financial stewardship. Stories can help us teach lessons or learn. Stories can be incorporated into the proclamation of the gospel. Stories can help us build new relationships and strengthen old relationships. Stories can give us hope and help us in imparting hope. Stories invite us to be part of something bigger than themselves.
Storytelling can be professional, polished, poetic, and witty. On the one hand, telling stories is like other skills, meaning that we can practice and get better. I can absolutely identify several of the more gifted storytellers in my life. On the other hand, every single person has a story to tell and, often with simple questions, that story can be released to the listener. After all, stories go nowhere without a listener. One of my favorite questions that I ask around fellowship hall tables or in a narthex before worship begins is, “how did you end up worshiping with this community?” Sometimes the person I ask moved to a town or neighborhood and found the ELCA congregation. Then I ask a follow up about why they stayed or why they would invite a friend to this congregation. Much more often I get a story about their family’s needs, or a friend who invited them, or a unique ministry they noticed, or separation from another community of faith and landing here. These are holy stories, and I thank you if you have shared yours with me. Do you know how everyone in your congregation ended up there? How could knowing more of those stories deepen relationships with one another and with the God we worship?
We are about to encounter again a story central to our faith and discipleship—the story of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. I always find it humbling to ponder how much of this story to explain, how much to let it speak for itself, how much to correct misinterpretations, and what exactly to proclaim. During Holy Week, I was and am grateful that stories are not just in our heads. We embody the stories during Holy Week: processing, washing, feasting, baptizing, singing, reading aloud, praying together, and more. Blessings as you together encounter this amazing story anew this spring.
