By John Brooks, ELCA News Service

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), will answer questions on a variety of topics from members of the denomination on Sunday, Sept. 19.  Hanson will take questions during an hour-long "Town Hall Forum" beginning at 5 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

The forum will be the second with the ELCA presiding bishop this year, and the third since December 2009.

The forum will be webcast live from Chicago, where Hanson will be joined by an audience of ELCA members. The audience will be able to ask questions of the presiding bishop.

Online viewers will be invited to submit questions at http://www.ELCA.org/townhall on the ELCA website. Participants can also post comments about the forum using Facebook Connect and Twitter.

Questions will not be accepted in advance by phone or e-mail.

Open captioning will be available, said Kristi S. Bangert, executive director, ELCA Communication Services.  Bangert is also encouraging congregations to consider hosting viewing parties for members who do not have high-speed Internet access.

... but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."

Isaiah 40:31

Sisters and brothers in Christ,

Sunday August 29th, 2010 marks the five-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina making landfall on the Gulf Coast. Across our country, and even around the world, there will be solemn remembrances as we keep alive the memories of the people and the places that were lost to that terrible storm. The passing of time cannot fully heal, but only lessens, the anguish and grief felt in the days that followed the disaster.

I encourage Lutherans everywhere to take time Sunday August 29th to remember in your worship and prayer all of the people affected by Hurricane Katrina. Please especially remember the pastors and people of the ELCA Texas Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod, the ELCA Southeastern Synod, and the LCMS Southern District who have served so faithfully in the five years following Katrina. The ELCA Worship and Liturgical Resources Unit has produced excellent worship resources to assist in these commemorations and has posted examples of prayer vigils created by congregations in the ELCA. To download these resources, click here.

I also want to encourage you to think about the five years that have passed since Hurricane Katrina. Living in an Easter world of faith and hope, we recognize that it is our response to tragedy, that which follows, that truly defines us. Indeed, on Sunday August 29th 2010 we remember the amazing things that have happened along the Gulf Coast since August 29th, 2005, which cannot be summed up or defined merely by a single day.

In these five years, we remember the courage and steadfastness that the people of the Gulf Coast have shown in rebuilding their communities. We give thanks to God for their witness.

In these five years, we remember the countless many who prayed and gave gifts to support the work of the church in these communities. We give thanks to God for their faithfulness.

In these five years, we remember the more than 50,000 Lutheran volunteers who have traveled from near and far to help their neighbors in need. We give thanks to God for their enduring generosity.

In these five years, we remember thousands of Lutheran young people who gathered in New Orleans as a hopeful witness of the Resurrection. We give thanks to God for their energy and their service.

In these five years, since August 29, 2005, God has been showing us signs of help, hope and healing in these and many other ways. So let us remember together all of these five years, as we continue to accompany and comfort those who mourn, and in deep gratitude for the many signs of continued recovery.

In Christ,

Rev Kevin Massey - Director - Lutheran Disaster Response.

August 24, 2010

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

On a recent morning walk I reflected upon familiar words from Ecclesiastes, "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven" (Ecclesiastes 3:1, NRSV). As I walked, I prayed and pondered about this time in the life of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). It is my prayer that we use this time for discerning and engaging; for repenting and reconciling; for restraint but not timidity; and for rejoicing.

A Time for Discerning and Engaging

Throughout the ELCA I hear people asking, "Is my voice heard? Will my voice be respected as we seek together to discern God's purpose for us?" The answer is yes. Nevertheless, people of deep faith and a desire to be part of this church wonder: Do we mean it when we say we can preach, teach and hold divergent views on sexuality and be full participants in the ELCA's life and witness? Again, the answer is yes.

My confident "yes" is predicated upon our shared commitment to be engaged together in discernment. This discernment is hard work. It must be grounded in the witness of the Scriptures and the Confessions, and it needs the voices of all the baptized. It calls for the Holy Spirit's guidance and our prayerful, disciplined and respectful listening to one another.

Even more, the source for my confident "yes" is God's gracious "yes" to us, spoken through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. The "yes" of Jesus empowers us to be passionately engaged. It frees us to ask questions, have difficult conversations and uncover differences and tensions. It calls each of us to be everyday evangelists, discerning together what the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ means for the world and for our common life.

Let our shared commitment be that our discerning together always will serve our proclamation of Jesus Christ in word and deed and our engagement in God's mission for the life of the world.

A Time for Repenting and Reconciling

The most powerful moment in the recent assembly of The Lutheran World Federation occurred when Lutherans asked for forgiveness from God and from Mennonites for the violence done to Anabaptist Christians in Reformation times and through the continuing legacies in Lutheran teachings. This public act of repentance, with many delegates on their knees, was a powerful witness to the healing of wounds in Christ's body, the church.

With tears in our eyes, we heard promises of God’s mercy in Christ and words of forgiveness from Mennonite sisters and brothers as we received and shared God's gift of forgiveness and healing.

This experience of reconciliation is underscored for me in the fifth chapter of 2 Corinthians: the powerful announcement that if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation. This new creation rises from Jesus, who died rather than be in the sin-accounting business.

The implication for us of the gospel's transforming power is that we become ambassadors for Christ. God has entrusted to each of us the message and ministry of reconciliation.

As yet another Lutheran church body forms, we must ask how this separation in the body of Christ will serve the ministry and message of reconciliation entrusted to us by God.

The ELCA has and will continue reaching out to others for the sake of the gospel and serving our neighbor. Standing together, we are known as a church that rolls up its sleeves and solves problems, the church that is catalyst, convener and bridge builder. Our strong ecumenical relationships and global partnerships testify to that commitment. Yet before the ELCA can undertake any such efforts with a new Lutheran church body, I believe we must commit to obey the commandment against bearing false witness and commit to live its meaning in every setting, both private and public: "We are to fear and love God, so that we do not tell lies about our neighbors, betray or slander them, or destroy their reputations. Instead we are to come to their defense, speak well of them, and interpret everything they do in the best possible light" (Evangelical Lutheran Worship, p.1161).

A Time for Restraint but not Timidity

We live in a world that is plagued by incivility, willful misunderstanding and hurtful caricatures of those with whom one disagrees. Let us declare that such behaviors will stop with us. There is room in this church for lively conversations and disagreements about questions of faith and life. There is room in this church for vigorous dialogue that witnesses to faith without rushing to judgment and closing off discussion.

Let us be restrained in our judgments and speak charitably with and about one another. Let us not be timid as we boldly proclaim Jesus Christ and participate in God's healing of the world. Let us generously, faithfully and courageously respond to the groaning of the creation and the cries of humanity.

A Time for Rejoicing

Even in the midst of great challenges in the economy and in the church, we can rejoice because the ministry in which we are engaged is a ministry of God's mercy and reconciliation in Christ. Our ministry is not about us, our shortcomings or our problems, for we proclaim Jesus Christ. We rejoice in the forgiveness that God offers at the font and the table, in public proclamation and personal assurance. We celebrate the reconciliation from God that breaks down every dividing wall of hostility and unites humankind in the bonds of Christ. We delight in the promise of the new creation that God is bringing to life in Christ. We joyfully embrace the world and all its inhabitants in love and service. What a cause for rejoicing!

By your word, eternal God, your creation sprang forth, and we were given the breath of life. By your word, eternal God, death is overcome, Christ is raised from the tomb, and we are given new life in the power of your Spirit. May we boldly proclaim this good news in our words and our deeds, rejoicing always in your powerful presence; through Jesus Christ, our risen Lord. Amen. (Evangelical Lutheran Worship, p. 75)

In God's grace,

The Rev. Mark S. Hanson

Presiding Bishop

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Grace and Peace and Greetings from First Evangelical Lutheran Church of Les Cayes, Haiti and Grace School on the island of Ile a Vache, off the southern coast of Haiti,

As a synod that is walking together, I am reminded that globally and spiritually, we do not walk alone!

Our mission team from Zion, Clarence Center returned Friday, July 30 from a seven-day journey to begin partnerships for mission support and presence for the people of Haiti.  After struggling for months to find connection points in the area, we were able to build partnerships with the Children of Israel orphanage and the Lutheran Church in Les Cayes, Haiti (about 100 miles southwest of Port au Prince).  And through the grace of the Holy Spirit, two of the missionaries that were working in Les Cayes were also beginning a Christian school and orphanage on the island of Ile a Vache.  So we headed down to the area with suitcases of supplies and meds to run two medical and dental clinics at the orphanage and school, as well as working out details for future teams to continue mission visits.

The area is hard to describe in words.  The devastation is still as fresh and raw as it was in the days following the earthquake that we all saw in pictures on the news: streets flooded with garbage, tents made of everything from tarps to jackets duct taped together, buildings still in shambles with no construction equipment in site...even the Capital building looks exactly as it did on the news the day after.  The need is beyond great.

But the potential for mission partnerships is equally great and the power of our God is even greater still.  One of our kids painted a saying on the wall in the youth room that goes: "Don't tell God how big your storm is, tell the storm how big your God is!"

The Team that just returned would be happy to help you tell that "storm" how big God is and show the people of Haiti tangible hope!  We would be happy to come and visit to tell you how to connect to one of the orphanages, Grace School, how to sponsor a child to receive care and meals and education and/or how to form your own mission team from your church or organization to get a project going.

Personally, I can tell you that my life has been changed.  Part of my heart is now permanently in Haiti and I now carry a piece of the hearts of the children of Les Cayes and Ile a Vache with me in Clarence Center.  And yet, through all the tragedy and poverty that Haiti has experienced, the children and people of those areas brought me hope through their smiles, their simplicity, their understanding of community, their resilience of the human spirit and their incredible faith.

Please be in prayer: for Haiti, for the people who continue to labor day in and day out in Haiti to bring hope and for your potential connection and presence with these beautiful people.

Still in One Peace,
Steve Biegner
Missionary in Clarence Center
Executive Director of Lutheran Charities of WNY
716.868.1232
stevebiegner@gmail.com