So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!
—2 Corinthians 5:17
I have a favorite blazer—it’s a lovely rose-colored wool with hints of beige. It is my go-to jacket. You may have seen it in some of the early photos as I began my call here. I just put it in the recycle pile. It is threadbare, worn and has served its useful purpose, which now ends. It was harder than I thought to set aside something that was so great in its day, in part because it meant a trip to the mall—which is my least favorite thing on the planet—but also because it was so comfortable. This jacket is a metaphor for me of how much more difficult it can be for important things like life, faith and ministry to sometimes give up the things which are most comfortable and familiar so that we might open ourselves to the power and work of the risen Christ through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Being made new is not for the faint of heart.
One of the texts used in worship at the South Dakota synod assembly this past weekend is the one cited above from 2 Corinthians. Our presiding bishop has invited this church to think about what it means to be church. As the season of ELCA synod assemblies is nearly complete, it has been a delight to think together about the ways that God is stirring in us as church on the way to new creation. It has been a joy to participate is this annual gathering of worship, prayer, conversation, mission sharing and constitutional business. It is a joy to pray our way into imagining what God is calling us to put in the recycle bin and what new areas of practice and witness need to be embraced.
We continue to work hard at Luther to ponder how we might better serve the mission needs of educating leaders for a church in Christ that is becoming new. This summer we will welcome a new Doctor of Ministry cohort as well as the returning cohorts. Our students who are in our distributed learning cohorts will also return to campus as they share the gifts and challenges of the ministries in which they serve. We will welcome a large group of leaders coming together to rethink confirmation ministry at the end of July, as well as a number of other groups. We welcome you to join us as we think together what God is doing in our midst.
One of my additional personal reflections on what it means to be the church is an ongoing sense of deep gratitude and joy for the privilege to be in this call to serve as the president of Luther. June 1 marked the first year in this ever-changing call to serve the mission of Jesus Christ through Luther’s mission to educate leaders for Christian communities. Thank you for your partnership in Christ as we tend this work together.