In an open letter, ELCIC National Bishop Susan C. Johnson, Archbishop Fred Hiltz, Primate of The Anglican Church of Canada, and National Indigenous Anglican Bishop Mark MacDonald encourage Anglicans and Lutherans to write letters to the federal government expressing solidarity with the northern community of Pikangikum, Ont.

A pdf version of the letter can be viewed here.

The text of the letter follows:

September 24, 2015

Dear Friends in Christ,

We wish to share with you our concerns regarding the water situation in Pikangikum and invite you to consider writing a letter to the Federal Government.

Through the 2016 National Youth Project, Lutheran and Anglican youth have been lifting up the Right to Water and walking in solidarity with the people of Pikangikum through our partnership with the Primate’s World Relief Development Fund (PWRDF) and the Pimatisiwin Nipi (Living Water) group. This has included raising funds to support providing potable water to homes in the community.

Writing letters to elected representatives is one way to express solidarity. It is also an opportunity to deepen understanding of our democratic processes. The government is elected to represent the people and hearing from one’s constituency is an essential element of decision making and democracy.

We have including a sample letter you may use as basis for crafting your own letter to your government officials. You may wish to write to the Honorable Bernard Valcourt, MP, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, and/or to your own MP. (And a full list of list of Members of Parliament can be found at: http://www.parl.gc.ca/Parliamentarians/en/members.)

Additional things to consider when you write your letter:

1. Think about who should receive your letter. Writing to the minister responsible for an issue can be as effective as writing to the Prime Minister. Writing to your local Member of Parliament is always appropriate, as they are your direct representative.
2. Focus on one issue—you can always write another letter in support of something else.
3. Include relevant information.
4. Tell elected leaders what action you think should be taken.
5. Ask for a response.
6. Make sure to sign your name.
7. Postage to Members of Parliament is free.

Don’t worry if you aren’t an expert. What matters is that you let them know this is something you care about and that you want to see them do something about it.

The mission of striving for justice and peace in all the earth is a life-long calling that we receive in our Baptism. We are inspired by the leadership in promoting the Right to Water that is being offered by youth through the National Youth Project. It is an important expression of the Full Communion partnership between Lutherans and Anglicans and a valuable contribution to the witness of the church.

Yours in Christ,

The Most Rev. Fred Hiltz
Primate, Anglican Church of Canada

Rev. Susan C. Johnson
National Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada

The Rt. Rev. Mark MacDonald
National Indigenous Anglican Bishop, Anglican Church of Canada

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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is Canada’s largest Lutheran denomination with 121,000 baptized members in 533 congregations. It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, the Canadian Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.

Material provided through ELCIC Information is intended for reproduction and redistribution by recipients in whatever manner they may find useful.

For more information, please contact:

Trina Gallop Blank, Director of Communications
600-177 Lombard Ave. Winnipeg MB R3B 0W5
204.984.9172
tgallop@elcic.ca

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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) and Canadian Lutheran World Relief (CLWR) have issued an appeal to support Syrian refugees suffering and displaced by brutal violence in their country.

“We are asking all ELCIC members to keep Syrian refugees in their prayers,” says ELCIC National Bishop Susan C. Johnson. “We pray for their safety and access to shelter and basic necessities. I urge our members to assist with financial contributions to the appeal and help support our sisters and brothers.”

CLWR, through the support of on-the-ground partners such as The Lutheran World Federation, is working with Syrian refugees who have settled in communities in Jordan and Iraq. Funds received for this appeal will go where most needed to provide basic aid such as clothing, personal hygiene supplies and food vouchers to people most in need of support. Funds will also assist with helping refugee children returning to school by supporting school and classroom rehabilitation and school supplies. Youth and young adults affected by trauma will be supported through psychosocial support programs.

Donations made between September 12, 2015 and December 31, 2015 will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the Canadian government through their Syria Emergency Relief Fund.

You may make a donation in one of the following ways:

1. Donate online: clwr.donorshops.com/product/685132A/syrianrefugeerelief.php
2. Make a designated offering (Syrian Refugee Relief) donation through any ELCIC congregation.
3. Call CLWR at 1.800.661.2597 (locally at 204.694.5602) to donate by credit card.
4. Send a cheque made payable to CLWR and mailed to CLWR, 600-177 Lombard Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R3B 0W5. Please indicate that you wish to contribute to “Syrian Refugee Relief.”

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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is Canada’s largest Lutheran denomination with 121,000 baptized members in 533 congregations. It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, the Canadian
Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.

Material provided through ELCIC Information is intended for reproduction and redistribution by recipients in whatever manner they may find useful.

For more information, please contact:
Trina Gallop Blank, Director of Communications
600-177 Lombard Ave. Winnipeg MB R3B 0W5
204.984.9172
tgallop@elcic.ca

Subscribe or unsubscribe to ELCIC Information by emailing info@elcic.ca with a short message.

Delegates at the 15th National Convention of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) endorsed the document “Welcoming the Stranger: Affirmations for Faith Leaders” and approved a resolution on climate justice on Saturday, July 11.

A pledge to welcome strangers, refugees and internally displaced persons while challenging others to do the same, “Welcoming the Stranger” evolved from a December 2012 dialogue organized by UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres between leaders of different faiths, faith-based humanitarian organizations, academics and government representatives.

Based around the theme “Faith and Protection,” the dialogue ended with a recommendation to develop a Code of Conduct for religious leaders to welcome migrants and refugees and to combat xenophobia.

During the period from February to April 2013, a coalition of faith-based humanitarian organizations that included the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) joined with academic institutions to produce the “Welcoming the Stranger” document.

The motion to endorse the document at this year’s ELCIC convention invited members and congregations to review it and sign the affirmations honouring respect for strangers, welcoming them into the community and speaking out in favour of social justice for them.

A strong 96 per cent of convention delegates voted in favour of the motion.

In approving the resolution, delegates asked the ELCIC’s National Bishop Susan Johnson to communicate the church’s endorsement of “Welcoming the Stranger” to major ecumenical and interfaith partners of the ELCIC, to Canadian Lutheran World Relief, and to the LWF, thanking the latter for its work and leadership in promoting values of hospitality, protection, respect and equality.

The climate justice resolution also received a strong endorsement from the convention, with 93 per cent of delegates voting in favour.

The resolution states that the ELCIC affirms the position of the LWF by acknowledging that climate change is real and influenced by human activity; that increasingly severe impacts are being felt around the world with growing social and economic costs; that it is possible to keep the effects below the internationally recognized danger threshold of 2 degrees Celsius by acting quickly now to reduce carbon emissions; and that climate change is a matter of social and economic justice, affecting the poorest and most vulnerable.

It supports the LWF in calling on political and business leaders to develop a strong global response to climate change by making deep cuts in carbon emissions through clear targets, respecting egalitarian principles by providing special assistance to the most vulnerable communities already dealing with the impacts of climate change.

As part of its commitment to climate justice, the ELCIC calls on all members, congregations, and synods, as well as the national church, to become more sustainable and eco-friendly with the goal of neutralizing carbon emissions by 2050.

It also calls for greater advocacy efforts, including:
-registering as an Accredited Greening Congregation through the ELCIC’s stewardship creation program: https://elcic.ca/Stewardship/Stewardship-of-Creation/default.cfm;
-sharing good practices with others through the LWF Facebook page LWF for Climate Justice; https://www.facebook.com/LWFforclimatejustice?fref=ts
-sustained climate justice advocacy in the perspective of COP20 in Lima, Peru leading up to COP21 in Paris, France, based on the LWF advocacy call and policy papers by the ACT Alliance: http://www.actalliance.org/what-we-do/issues/climate-change/issueview?b_start:int=15;
-participation in ecumenical and interfaith climate justice initiatives at the local, regional and national levels; and
-signing up to the #fastfortheclimate campaign: http://www.lutheranworld.org/fastfortheclimate on the first day of every month until the beginning of COP21 on Dec. 1, 2015.

Finally, delegates through the resolution asked Bishop Johnson to write to the Prime Minister of Canada and other federal leaders expressing the ELCIC’s concern for the climate and pushing for an effective response at COP21, as well as writing to the LWF sharing the climate justice resolution as one response to the Call for Commitment by member churches.

Almost 400 delegates, special guests, visitors and volunteers came together in Edmonton for the ELCIC’s 15th National Convention, July 9-12. News, photos and video highlights from the gathering are available on the National Convention website: https://elcic.ca/In-Convention/2015-Edmonton/default.cfm
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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is Canada’s largest Lutheran denomination with 121,000 baptized members in 533 congregations. It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, the Canadian Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.

Material provided through ELCIC Information is intended for reproduction and redistribution by recipients in whatever manner they may find useful.

For more information, please contact:
Trina Gallop Blank, Director of Communications
600-177 Lombard Ave. Winnipeg MB R3B 0W5
204.984.9172
tgallop@elcic.ca

Subscribe or unsubscribe to ELCIC Information by emailing info@elcic.ca with a short message.
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The 15th National Convention of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) formally wrapped up on Sunday, July 12, leaving a wave of excitement as participants departed home to further the work of liberation by God’s grace.

For the final day of their convention in Edmonton, Alta., attendees joined parishioners at Trinity Lutheran Church for a closing worship service. Hundreds packed the church pews as their joyful voices rang out during the singing of hymns.

Reflecting the full communion partnership between the ELCIC and the Anglican Church of Canada, Archbishop Fred Hiltz, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, delivered the sermon, putting the accomplishments of the convention in a biblical context.

He congratulated the ELCIC’s National Bishop Susan Johnson on her re-election to a third term, noting to applause, “We have been blessed at this convention and for the last eight years by the ministry of our national bishop Susan, and we all rejoice in her re-election.”

Invoking the theme of the convention and the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, “Liberated By God’s Grace,” Archbishop Hiltz offered images and impressions of what the ELCIC had been liberated from and what it had been liberated for.

“By God’s grace, yours is a church being continually liberated from a clinging to the past, and liberated for that future to which God is calling you at every level of your church, in the spirit of continuing reformation,” the Primate said.

“Yours is a church liberated from continually looking in upon itself. You have been turned inside out, liberated for looking out upon the world as a church In Mission For Others.”

Indigenous issues were a major focus, as Archbishop Hiltz praised the ELCIC for its repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery; its endorsement of the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; its support for Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission and ongoing efforts at healing; and its call for a national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women.

He also highlighted the church’s embrace of the Reformation Challenge to welcome 500 refugees to Canada, its focus on environmental stewardship—which includes a commitment to plant 500,000 trees around the world—and its acknowledgement that it cannot accomplish everything alone, building effective partnerships with other organizations and faith traditions.

“Do you see all the work you did in convention?” the Primate asked. “Your church is looking outward … You are seeing the needs and the hopes of the world, and by God’s grace, you are responding.”

Following the sermon, Bishop Johnson presented the newly elected members of the National Church Council before officially closing the convention.

Outside, church members who had attended the convention offered their thoughts on the experience.

Cindy Schriner, a member of Hosanna Lutheran Church in Edmonton who served as treasurer of the local arrangements committee, sat in on many of the sessions as a non-delegate.

“I thought it was amazing, I really do,” Schriner said.

“When you get that many people together in one room, everybody has an opinion and everybody was respectful of the reason we were there … They brought up good points from what I could see, and they had fun doing it … There was a mixture of business, fun and worship, and it all melded together for an amazing experience.”

Youth delegate Katlin Kitching, a member of Westside Evangelical Lutheran Church in Barrie, Ont., was appearing at her first national convention after previously attending last year’s Eastern Synod Assembly.

“Even after last year, going back into the church and hearing them talking about things, I understood where it was coming from more,” she said. “I could understand what they were talking about because we’re involved in it.”

“It just makes you feel … that you’re more part of the church, going to the big decision-making stuff.”

Kitching, 17, described worship services, the sermon by Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and getting to know people from all over Canada as highlights of the national convention.

The Rev. Bart Coleman, parish pastor at Zion Lutheran Church in Beausejour, Man. and a member of the registration and credentials committee, noted the passion of delegates and their unity on many issues, as many resolutions were approved with more than 90 per cent in favour.

Highlighting one issue in particular, Rev. Coleman noted, “I’ll go away feeling very proud to be part of a community of people who take very seriously the reconciliation and building of right relationships between us and Indigenous people.”

“I think it was a very bold, very soul-searching look at the past,” he said. “But also a hopeful look to the future.”

Almost 400 delegates, special guests, visitors and volunteers came together in Edmonton for the ELCIC’s 15th National Convention, July 9-12. News, photos and video highlights from the gathering are available on the National Convention website: https://elcic.ca/In-Convention/2015-Edmonton/default.cfm
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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is Canada’s largest Lutheran denomination with 121,000 baptized members in 533 congregations. It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, the Canadian Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.

Material provided through ELCIC Information is intended for reproduction and redistribution by recipients in whatever manner they may find useful.

For more information, please contact:
Trina Gallop Blank, Director of Communications
600-177 Lombard Ave. Winnipeg MB R3B 0W5
204.984.9172
tgallop@elcic.ca

Subscribe or unsubscribe to ELCIC Information by emailing info@elcic.ca with a short message.

Liberated by God’s grace—the theme of the 15th National Convention of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC)—has the potential to drive the spirit of reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians, Dr. Marie Wilson of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) told convention delegates on Friday, July 10.

One of three commissioners on the TRC along with chair Murray Sinclair and Wilton Littlechild, Wilson invited Lutherans to continue work towards reconciliation by following the example of Indian residential school survivors.

“I think the liberation offered by God’s grace at this time in our country’s history is not our own,” she said.

“It is the liberation of grace manifested as courage and resilience in the survivors of the residential schools,” who fought through the courts to establish the TRC “in the face of a resistance from Canada and from some of the churches who did not want these truths to be so widely told and so widely known.”

In her presentation to delegates, Wilson described the work and significance of the TRC, its recommendations and the road toward reconciliation, while touching upon more spiritual aspects of the process.

Early on in her presentation, she praised the ELCIC for its “extraordinary” engagement with the TRC, despite its lack of legal obligation to do so.

“You’re not one of the parties to the settlement agreement,” Wilson said—referring to the legal settlement between survivors, the federal government and churches (Roman Catholic, Anglican, United, and Presbyterian) who ran the residential schools that mandated the creation of the TRC.

“And yet,” she added, “you are a collective of people of faith and of citizens, and so you’ve understood what the spirit of reconciliation in our mandate talks about.”

Describing reconciliation as a process of positive change, Wilson argued that, “We can live our faith through truth to achieve change.”

One of the witnesses to that truth was her own husband Stephen Kakfwi, former premier of the Northwest Territories and a residential school survivor, who appeared onstage alongside Wilson.

Recounting the trauma he had suffered after being sent away to residential school at age nine, Kakfwi noted how he had reacted to what happened to him through denial, by choosing to “lock it away somewhere.”

“I was about 50 years old when I finally admitted that some things had happened to me, and it’s like taking a scab off of a wound deep inside you,” he said.

“It’s a painful, difficult experience, and the moment it happened to me, I realized why students had committed suicide.”

Choosing to express his feelings through music, Kakfwi performed a song he had written inspired by the residential school experience. Its lyrics described the feelings of a father who tried to hide the pain he felt inside for many years, before finally confronting the fears he held deep “in the halls of his mind.”

After detailing her experience of travelling across the country and hearing the stories of survivors, Wilson explained the 10 principles of reconciliation written by the TRC.

One principle argued for the need to recognize and respect treaty rights, which Wilson likened to a spiritual covenant such as a marriage.

“A marriage is a treaty … a contract,” she said. “It is a covenant and it has a spiritual underpinning and it must be recognized and respected. Why should Canada have the right to break its own laws?”

Moving on to the 94 calls to action made by the TRC, she highlighted a number that were particularly relevant to Lutherans.

One, for example, recommended the adoption of the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as a framework for reconciliation, calling on all religious denominations and faith groups to issue a statement no later than March 31, 2016 declaring how they would implement the Declaration.

Others related more to the role of Lutherans as Canadian citizens, such as pushing for the creation of a Royal Proclamation of Reconciliation to be issued by the Crown, the establishment by Parliament of a National Council for Reconciliation, an annual “State of Aboriginal Peoples” report to be issued by the Prime Minister, and an inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women.

Reconciliation, Wilson said, would require the leadership and lived values of people of faith working together with secular society and all others committed to change.

In the leadup to the 150th anniversary of Canada—the country’s name, she noted, comes from the Iroquian word kanata—Wilson posed a number of stark questions to delegates.

“Will we be ready to inherit the courage and the resilience of the survivors?” Wilson asked. “Will we be ready to reconstitute our notions of our country in real and measurable ways? Will we keep the calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission alive and work actively to see them implemented? Will we allow ourselves to be guided and so liberated by God’s grace?”

A brief question and answer period followed. One delegate drew parallels between Indian residential schools and modern prisons.

Another used the parable of the Good Samaritan to describe what the role of Lutherans should be in promoting healing and reconciliation. A third noted the encouraging sign that Indigenous history and the legacy of the residential schools were increasingly being taught to Canadian students.

Watch Commission Wilson’s presentation to ELCIC National Convention delegates here: https://elcic.ca/In-Convention/2015-Edmonton/Friday.cfm

Read more about the ELCIC commitment to promote right and renewed relationships between non-Indigenous and Indigenous peoples within Canada: https://www.elcic.ca/CompassionateJustice/IndigenousRightsandRelationships.cfm

Almost 400 delegates, special guests, visitors and volunteers came together in Edmonton for the ELCIC’s 15th National Convention, July 9-12. News, photos and video highlights from the gathering are available on the National Convention website: https://elcic.ca/In-Convention/2015-Edmonton/default.cfm
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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is Canada’s largest Lutheran denomination with 121,000 baptized members in 533 congregations. It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, the Canadian Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.

Material provided through ELCIC Information is intended for reproduction and redistribution by recipients in whatever manner they may find useful.

For more information, please contact:
Trina Gallop Blank, Director of Communications
600-177 Lombard Ave. Winnipeg MB R3B 0W5
204.984.9172
tgallop@elcic.ca

Subscribe or unsubscribe to ELCIC Information by emailing info@elcic.ca with a short message.

The Reformation sparked by Martin Luther in 1517 was a movement for liberation with lessons echoing through to the present day, church scholars argued in a Bible study at the 15th National Convention of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC).

The Rev. Dr. Allen Jorgenson, assistant dean and associate professor of systematic theology at Waterloo Lutheran Seminary, and the Rev. Dr. Gordon Jensen, William Hordern chair of theology and dean of studies at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Saskatoon, facilitated the study on the afternoon of Friday, July 10.

“Liberation—we often take it for granted and don’t think much about it,” Rev. Jorgenson began. “But for those who are oppressed, it means everything.”

“Christianity should be, although it hasn’t always been, about liberation and freedom,” he added.

Jorgenson described the Reformation as an attempt by Luther to restore the liberating qualities of the faith.

Luther’s efforts at reform flowed from his responsibilities as a professor of theology who felt the need to speak out when he believed the prevailing theology was in error, and from his duties as a protective pastor.

“The Reformation was about God liberating people from enslaving religiosity … It was about liberating people from oppressions so that people could be liberating people and each other,” Jorgenson said.

Referring to Ephesians 2:8-9, he noted that in the original Greek, the word “you” referred to a community rather than an individual. The focus on “us” rather than “me,” he added, was common to both Indigenous spiritual beliefs and early Christianity.

Basing his analysis on the point that “we are people before we persons,” Jorgenson connected past beliefs with modern concerns.

“What does liberation mean today?” he asked. “It means learning to recognize that we are not self-made individuals … Freedom, true freedom, always aims at the common good.”

As an example, he pointed to the communal work of truth-telling and reconciliation regarding the legacy of residential schools in Canada.

In his own reflections, Rev. Jensen echoed one of the themes of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation: “Salvation—not for sale.”

Recounting the oft-told story of how Luther nailed 95 Theses on the wall of All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg, Saxony, while acknowledging the disputes surrounding its historical veracity, Jensen described “salvation—not for sale” as one of the biggest lessons of the Reformation.

The idea first emerged as a reaction by Luther to the sale of indulgences by the medieval Catholic Church, which promised to free souls from purgatory in exchange for a monetary fee.

“If [salvation] were for sale, only the rich could be saved,” Jensen said. “Trust in God and God’s grace, and trust in God’s actions for us wouldn’t matter. Our relationship with God would not matter … God then becomes nothing more than a salesperson or greedy capitalist looking to separate us from our money.”

Parallel to the sale of indulgences, on which the Catholic Church had a monopoly, was the doctrine that one could attain salvation through good works.

By contrast, Luther argued that salvation could not be earned, but was possible through faith alone. Rather than being a contract, it was a gift of grace.

“That’s the term that God offers, and this grace breathes life into our world,” Jensen said.

Salvation today, Jorgenson said, consists of “stories, memories, and community” —the story of Jesus through which God would not allow humanity to fail, and the strong relationships that bind people together with God, with creation and with each other.

The scholars wrapped up their study with a series of questions for discussion:

• What do you think the Reformation in the 16th century liberated people from? What were people liberated for?
• What do we need liberation from, as individuals and as a church? What are we liberated for?
• If salvation were for sale, what would it cost? What would you be willing to pay? Who around you couldn’t afford it?
• If salvation is about being with, what are ways in which God is with you and ways in which you are with others?

On the third ballot for National Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC), the Rev. Susan C. Johnson was re-elected by delegates at the 15th Biennial National Convention for a third four-year term.

In her acceptance of the call to a third term, Bishop Johnson thanked delegates for asking her to serve for another term. “I want you to know how much I love God and how much I love this church,” she said. “I promise you that I will faithfully serve to the best of my ability.”

In particular, Bishop Johnson lifted up the support of her parents, Rev. Don and Lois Johnson, who were in attendance at convention.

“I want to thank them for their unfailing love and support, and for they way they have continued to model discipleship,” she said.

“I look forward with hope for the next few years,” concluded Bishop Johnson, “because hope does not disappoint.”

Bishop Johnson is the fourth bishop to serve the ELCIC. This will be her third four-year term as National Bishop. She was first elected in 2007.

Almost 400 delegates, special guests, visitors and volunteers are meeting in Edmonton for the ELCIC’s 15th National Convention. Full agenda details and a live link to the proceedings are available on the National Convention website: https://elcic.ca/In-Convention/2015-Edmonton/default.cfm

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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is Canada’s largest Lutheran denomination with 121,000 baptized members in 533 congregations. It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, the Canadian Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.

Material provided through ELCIC Information is intended for reproduction and redistribution by recipients in whatever manner they may find useful.

For more information, please contact:
Trina Gallop Blank, Director of Communications
600-177 Lombard Ave. Winnipeg MB R3B 0W5
204.984.9172
tgallop@elcic.ca

Subscribe or unsubscribe to ELCIC Information by emailing info@elcic.ca with a short message.

Marking great progress responding to a world in need, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada’s (ELCIC) National Bishop Susan Johnson offered a passionate message of hope for the future in her report to delegates at the ELCIC’s 15th National Convention.

Her remarks on Thursday, July 8 set the tone for the convention, which runs from July 9-12 at the Shaw Conference in Edmonton, Alta. The theme of the event, “Liberated by God’s Grace,” is also the theme of the upcoming international commemoration of the Lutheran Reformation’s 500th anniversary.

As an example of how the church will lift up this theme over the next two years, Bishop Johnson described the proposed ELCIC Reformation Challenge under consideration at the convention.

The challenge would include providing scholarships to students attending schools of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, welcoming and assisting refugees to Canada, planting trees in Canada and around the world, and giving generously to the Lutheran World Foundation Endowment Fund.

“Not only will the ELCIC Reformation Challenge make a difference in our world,” Bishop Johnson said. “It will make a difference in our church as we work together and stretch ourselves in generosity as a church in mission for others.”

The bulk of her report outlined strides made forward by the ELCIC in four strategic directions set out at its 2013 convention: spiritual renewal, healthy church, compassionate justice, and effective partnerships.

Lifting up the Call to Spiritual Renewal which encourages deeper discipleship in the church, she pointed to new resources that will be mailed out to every ELCIC congregation at the end of August.

“I am convinced,” Bishop Johnson said, “that these ancient and continuing spiritual practices are what we need to deepen our relationship with God and equip us for the baptismal life of discipleship to which we have been called.”

She described spiritual renewal as a key element to becoming a healthy church—a strategic goal that arose from an acknowledgement that the church appeared increasingly unhealthy due to conflict, mistrust, and fear of an uncertain future.

“I’m happy to report to you that I see huge changes across our church,” Bishop Johnson told delegates. “We are learning to work together as the body of Christ, as a team.”

She pointed to numerous examples of the church’s increasing health, such as the Church Extension and Capital Fund (CECF), a fund held by the national church to help start new congregations.

Recognizing that the old model of purchasing land and loaning money to new congregations for building had become too expensive to continue, the CECF committee agreed to donate capital from the fund to provide each synod with $200,000 spread over three years to experiment with new forms of ministry.

“This is a big deal,” Bishop Johnson said. “It means we have been talking and listening to each other and to God. It means we are building trust and mutual accountability. It means we understand that there are regional differences across the church and that we can celebrate them instead of trying to insist on uniformity.”

Increasing the flow of communication through the church via social media was another positive development. Using the #myelcic hashtag, Lutherans are able to share stories about life and ministry within their church via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Bishop Johnson further highlighted the second reading of a new constitution, the adoption of proposed new administration bylaws, and the production of annual reports to share the work of the national church.

Another major sign of health, she added, was increased participation in the work of compassionate justice.

She recalled participating in a church leaders’ justice tour across Canada that many Lutherans had attended.

“What we heard was people calling on the churches for moral leadership in the areas of poverty and climate change,” she said. “We are being urged to move beyond charity to looking at the root, systemic causes of both these areas. We are also being urged to see how much the concerns of Indigenous peoples overlap both poverty and climate change.”

The closing of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), meanwhile, provided the church with an opportunity to continue fulfilling its 2011 commitment to work towards right relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.

“This includes the Indigenous members of our church,” Bishop Johnson said. “Because of this we need to do everything we can to respond to the calls to action of the TRC, and it begins with reading them.”

A related item that would be considered at the convention was the repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery that had long been used to justify colonial attitudes.

Moving on to effective partnerships, Bishop Johnson provided a lengthy list demonstrating how the church’s work was more effective when it worked with others.

Among the partners she highlighted were the Anglican Church of Canada, KAIROS, Canadian Lutheran World Relief, the Canadian Council of Churches, the Lutheran Collegiate Bible Institute and Luther College, and the National Church Council.

She also noted promising new partnerships under development, such as the Mennonite Church Canada and the Canadian Catholic Conference of Bishops.

In an emotional conclusion, Bishop Johnson underscored how far the church had come recently.

“When I was first elected National Bishop, I was very concerned about the direction we were headed,” she recalled. “Our resources both in terms of people and finances were receding rapidly. I wasn’t sure the ELCIC was going to survive.”

Since that time, however, she had learned many things from God and members of the church, which she summed up in a message from St. Paul in Romans 5:5—“Hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”

“Through your faithfulness, through your witness, through your creativity, through your hopefulness, I have learned that hope does not disappoint,” Bishop Johnson said.

“We are liberated by God’s grace! We are blessed with a hope in Jesus Christ that will not disappoint us. We are being strengthened to meet the challenges ahead.”

An outpouring of applause followed from delegates, who gave Bishop Johnson a standing ovation.

View a video of the Bishop’s report here: https://elcic.ca/In-Convention/2015-Edmonton/Thursday.cfm

Almost 400 delegates, special guests, visitors and volunteers are meeting in Edmonton for the ELCIC’s 15th National Convention. Full agenda details and a live link to the proceedings are available on the National Convention website: https://elcic.ca/In-Convention/2015-Edmonton/default.cfm

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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is Canada’s largest Lutheran denomination with 121,000 baptized members in 533 congregations. It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, the Canadian Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.

Material provided through ELCIC Information is intended for reproduction and redistribution by recipients in whatever manner they may find useful.

For more information, please contact:
Trina Gallop Blank, Director of Communications
600-177 Lombard Ave. Winnipeg MB R3B 0W5
204.984.9172
tgallop@elcic.ca

Subscribe or unsubscribe to ELCIC Information by emailing info@elcic.ca with a short message.

Under the banner, “Liberated by God’s grace,” the 15th Biennial National Convention of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) opened with water and word, bread and wine, a butterfly, Bishops, prayers, and songs.

Almost 250 delegates, over 100 visitors and numerous volunteers were in attendance as opening worship commenced with a procession entering the worship space from the four directions, with all paths leading to the waters of Baptism.

With water poured into the font from the synods, the words of the prophet Isaiah rang out: “Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the water.”

The choir shared that the convention room is holy ground as the gathering gave way to the Word. Everything done and said in the convention space was proclaimed to be done and said on holy ground. Isaiah’s words were shared once again, “Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the water!” And as if that news wasn’t good enough, the worshipping community was reminded, in the words of the letter to the Ephesians, that it is by grace that we have been saved.

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton read the gospel from Luke (4:16-21) and in her sermon proclaimed that our churches are not irrelevant; that the good news that Jesus our Lord and Saviour has accepted us as his very own children is not irrelevant.

Using a word from the gospel, Bishop Eaton said emphatically that today the love of God is complete; God’s will has been accomplished.

The worshipping community responded to her words of hope with expansive prayers for creation, community, and justice; for the church, healing, and jubilee.

Finally, from the four directions, those in attendance were called to come to the table – delegates, visitors, and volunteers – to receive the body and blood of Christ.

Following the meal, delegates were welcomed to Treaty Six Territory by ceremony helper Oskaapewis Reuben Quinn, a direct descendent of pahpasteew who was leader of the Nehiyaw people in Edmonton who signed the adhesion to Treaty Six. “It is meant to be,” he said as he welcomed delegates. “We have taken root in beautiful Turtle Island, and it is meant to be.”

Opening worship concluded with ELCIC National Bishop Susan Johnson declaring the church-wide assembly in session.

Almost 400 delegates, special guests, visitors and volunteers are meeting in Edmonton for the ELCIC’s 15th National Convention. Full agenda details and a live link to the proceedings are available on the National Convention website: https://elcic.ca/In-Convention/2015-Edmonton/default.cfm

—————————————————————–
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is Canada’s largest Lutheran denomination with 121,000 baptized members in 533 congregations. It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, the Canadian Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.

Material provided through ELCIC Information is intended for reproduction and redistribution by recipients in whatever manner they may find useful.

For more information, please contact:
Trina Gallop Blank, Director of Communications
600-177 Lombard Ave. Winnipeg MB R3B 0W5
204.984.9172
tgallop@elcic.ca

Subscribe or unsubscribe to ELCIC Information by emailing info@elcic.ca with a short message.

National Bishop Susan C. Johnson has prepared a sermon for use by congregations on the Sunday of Convention, July 12, 2015.

While traditionally prepared for use by a lay leader in the absence of a congregation’s pastor who has been selected as a delegate for convention, all congregations are encouraged to use this message from our National Bishop.

Download the sermon here.