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During
my first official week as bishop, I heard a story on NPR about
extreme jobs. These are jobs that take an enormous amount of time,
commitment and energy to pull off. They are jobs that require near-constant
travel and frequent decisions that affect others in the organization
and, often, beyond. That about describes the last four weeks of my life.
After
talking with some of the synod staff and others, I thought it would
be helpful to offer an occasional e-mail update on what's happening
in the synod as well as some musings of my own about matters related
to our life together in the Southeastern Synod. I hope that you'll
read these and respond when you feel moved. Although we're not sure
yet what form all this may take, we're hoping that we'll be able to
make some of your responses — suggestions, ideas, opposing
points of view — available to interested readers as well. If it
doesn't work or isn't worth the time, we'll stop.
So,
here goes:
The
tenth biennial Churchwide Assembly met at Navy Pier in Chicago in
August. Not having assumed office yet, I was allowed voice (which I
didn't use) but no vote in the assembly. You have probably heard or
read about the decisions that were made at the assembly. If not, you
can go to www.elca.org
and navigate around until you find a helpful summary of actions.
What
the summary won't give you is the sense of purpose and unity that
was present throughout the week, even as we discussed matters on
which our church is sharply divided. Daily Eucharist centered us on
the One who is our Center and reminded us all that what unites us is
far stronger than the things about which we are divided. I believe
that the freedom we have in Christ gives us the ability and the
responsibility to engage each other as we discern where the Spirit is
leading the church on the divisive and uncomfortable matters that are
before us.
Synod
Council met the first weekend in September. Talk about timing! It's
intimidating to walk into a council meeting during your first week in
office. I am grateful to Vice President Wesley Crenshaw, returning
council members and the synod staff for their collective knowledge
about synod affairs and meetings.
A
few observations from the council meeting:
•
There was a good deal of discussion about the current situation at
St. John's, Atlanta. Here is the situation as it now stands. On July
2, Pr. Bradley Schmeling was removed from the roster of clergy by
action of the churchwide appeals committee. This means that, as far
as the ELCA and the synod are concerned, St. John's is currently
without a pastor. I will be speaking with the council at St. John's
within the next few weeks and will make a report of that meeting to
the January synod council meeting.
•
The Council agreed to use the consensus decision making (CDM)
process in conducting business. CDM means that, instead of choosing
sides and voting, once a proposal is made, the council discusses it
and changes it until we are all able to live with the decision that
is approved. CDM is a formal process, like Roberts Rules, but one
that, it seems to me, is more in keeping with the nature of the
church. I think it made for an interesting meeting. I'd be glad to
give you some information about CDM if you want to try it in your
congregation council meetings.
•
Due to budget cut-backs that were perpetuated in the 2008 budget, we
are facing serious staffing issues in the synod. You know that
Pastors Bud and Amy Onstad share one full-time position. (Full time
here means that they each work at least 3 ½ days per week, or,
at least seven days total. That's a lot of full time!) Pr. Bryn
Carlson and Pr. Howard Mettee shared another position, funded in part
by a stewardship grant from Churchwide. Their reimbursed time,
however, was cut back to 12 hours each last year. This means that
together they are being paid for 24 hours per week.
All
these staff members are looking to retire soon, and we only have a
budget for one and a half full-time positions to replace them. This
is not happy news. My assumption was that we had at least one
full-time position more than that.
All
this, combined with staff salary cuts made last year, makes it very
difficult to carry out our mission in this very large synod. I'd
appreciate hearing your ideas about responding to this.
•
In response to this, and because it's time we took a look at our
structure and mission, Council will ask the Synodical Relations Unit
of Churchwide to do a ministry audit to help us see where our
structure and staffing needs to be adjusted. I plan to travel to our
conferences and congregations as much as possible to hear what you
have to say about how the synod is serving you in your ministries,
could serve you better, or any other suggestions you might have. When
all this is done, council plans a retreat to look at our mission, our
ministry, our structure, etc. A report with suggestions for action
will likely be brought to the next Synod Assembly.
•
Council agreed unanimously and enthusiastically to award Bishop
Emeritus status to retired Bishop Ron Warren. An official
presentation will be made at Synod Assembly.
The
Southeastern Synod Professional Leadership Conference was held
onboard the M/S Carnival Holiday. Tammy Devine and others from Board
of Pensions made presentations about emotional, physical, financial
and spiritual health. You will be hearing more about some of this in
the coming months. For the time being, please note that there will be
significant changes in the Board of Pensions health insurance program
for 2008 as ELCA-BOP adopts a wellness, rather than an illness model
of health care reimbursement. This could result in insurance savings
for those who are willing to take a measure of responsibility for
preventive health. There can also be savings for our congregations.
Look for more on this later.
Thanks
to the pastors of Conference 14, led by Pr. Dean David Keener, for
planning this major event. I found it especially moving, after the
closing Eucharist, to lay their hands on me and surround me with
their prayers and promises of support.
A
Note about the Synod Office: While I am learning what's going on in
the synod and while we are all discerning anew our mission and the
staffing and structure we need to fulfill it, we have made some
changes in the synod staff responsibilities.
Beginning
October 1: Darleen Krautwurst will continue to serve as Office
Manager and Synod Council Liaison. Since Darleen will be retiring
next year, Elaine Schwartz will be handling the duties of
Administrative Assistant to the Bishop, along with those of Event
Coordinator, during this transition period. Mobley Hope, as
Communications Assistant, will be handling some the current
communicator responsibilities in addition to her role as
Administrative Assistant. Holly Liersch remains as our synod Business
Manager and now also coordinates administrative assistance to Mission
Director Pastor Gary Christensen. Jeanette Burgess, Administrative
Liaison for Leadership, continues to provide support for the
candidacy and mobility processes, and Rachel Alley remains as our
synod Director for Youth Ministries.
One
thing that's already clear to me: everybody in the synod office
chips in to get the work done as needed. I don't expect that
cooperative atmosphere to change.
I
hope to hear from you and to keep you informed as we go along
discerning where God is calling us in our synod. One thing will
remain constant, the synod staff is here to serve the needs of the
congregations and rostered leaders of the Southeastern Synod. Please
keep us in your prayers.
God's
peace,
Bishop
Gordy
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