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Highlights from the 2009 Churchwide Assembly

The Rev. Jonathan Bull from the Metropolitan Synod of New York (left) and the Rev. Rosalind Brathwaite of First Lutheran Church, Belafonte, Ohio, wait in line to pick up their voting member registration materials. They are among the 1,045 voting members from 65 synods and 10,396 congregations serving on behalf of the 4,633,887 baptized members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
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18-year-old Madeline Barnicle of Eagan, Minn., is one of the hundreds of ELCA Lutherans who have come to volunteer at the 2009 Churchwide Assembly. Just as in local congregations, volunteers assist in countless different ways joyfully bringing their time and talent in service to their church.
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The assembly gathered together as community Monday afternoon to worship together. Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson led the Spirit-filled event. Treasurer Christina Jackson-Skelton and Vice-President Carlos Peña look on as Bishop Hanson reads from the liturgy.
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Treasurer Christina Jackson-Skelton and Sectretary David Swartling distribute Holy Communion to worshipers. With the presiding bishop and the vice-president, they are the officers of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
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Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson officially opens the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly as Secretary David Swartling looks on. The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA, is meeting August 17-23 at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
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Larry Christensen, Southeastern Iowa Synod, waits while David Laden, Saint Paul Area Synod, speaks in favor of an amendment. First and foremost a legislative business meeting, churchwide assemblies abide by Robert's Rules of Order.
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1,045 voting members of the ELCA will spend the week listening to and discussing a number of topics. While Lutherans may not be "of one mind," says Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson, they can still be "united in faith and in our shared mission together."
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"In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit." These words begin the orders for Confession and Forgiveness in Evangelical Lutheran Worship. Worshipers mark one another with the sign of the cross as a remembrance of their Baptism. This, and other sacramental practices, enrich the worship experience for assembly goers.
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In her part of the Lutheran Malaria Initiative (LMI) report, ELCA Foundation president Cynthia Halvorson demonstrated the reality of overflowing abundance in the ELCA, not a glass half empty, or even half full. Lutheran Malaria Initiative coordinator Andrea DeGroot-Nesdahl assisted with the lesson. The LMI, with a fund-raising goal of $75 million, was overwhelmingly endorsed by the assembly. It will create a shared effort in concert with the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, Lutheran World Relief, and the United Nations Foundation.
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The Rev. Dr. Sarah Heaner Lancaster, Bishop Gregory Palmer (President, Council of Bishops, United Methodist Church), and Bishop Sallya Dyck (UMC) exuberantly express their joy at the results of the vote that brought the ELCA into a full communion agreement with the United Methodist Church. Bishop Palmer said of the action, "God has brought both our churches to a broad place where Jesus Christ calls us ... to all be one [and] to go out for the sake of the world."
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Spanning generations, Phyllis Score (seated) from Atonement Lutheran Church in Bloomington, Minnesota, and Mara Bakken from Madison, Wisconsin, are the oldest and youngest voting members at the 2009 Churchwide Assembly. While Phyllis and Mara represent the rich diversity that come to be voting members at assemblies, more important they represent our oneness as Lutherans and our oneness in the Body of Christ.
During Tuesday morning's plenary session, Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson asked the each in the assembly to look at their hands. He asked them to consider what in the last three weeks has God been doing through their hands. Recently, the ELCA adopted a new tagline: "God's work. Our hands." As Lutherans we understand that through our Baptism, we are called to do God's work, whether through public ministry, teaching our children, building our homes, tilling our soil, or serving as voting members at a churchwide assembly. As the voting members considered Bishop Hanson's words, many came to a deeper understanding of how God is working through their hands.
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Assembly participants are nourished by the diversity and quality of worship at the assembly. During one worship service, Tony Award-winning Roosevelt Andre Credit filled the hall with songs of joy and praise. Beyond his incredible vocal talents, Credit is noted for his community involvement and philanthropic activities. In fact, Credit was a featured performer at the 2009 Presidential Inaugural Ball in Washington, D.C.
Old friendships renewed. New friendships made. It doesn't take too long before voting members spot someone in a crowd they met years ago and spend a few minutes catching up or begin a meal seated with a stranger and by coffee and desert are new friends. There is a sense of community that permeates an assembly, a sense that our shared love of Christ and commitment to our church is stronger than any of our differences. When we share the peace of Christ with one another during worship, we are fulfilling Jesus’ request of us (Matthew 5:24) and reconciling ourselves to one another.
Prior to calling for the vote on ministry policies, those who were on stage came together for prayer. From left, the Rev. Kaari Reierson, the Rev. Stanley Olson, the Rev Dr. Wyvetta Bullock, Presiding Bishop S. Hanson, and Sectretary David D. Swartling.
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As the result of the vote on ministry policies was announced, many in the hall reacted with strong emotions. The vote opens the public ministry of the church to gay and lesbian pastors and other professional workers living in committed same-sex relationships.
On Friday evening, Peter Mayer, lead guitarist for the Jimmy Buffet and the Coral Reefers Band, gave a benefit concert for the HIV and AIDS Strategy and the Lutheran Malaria Initiative. A son of missionaries, Mayer is a life-long Lutheran and currently is a member of an ELCA congregation.
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On Saturday, the assembly walked across the street from the Minneapolis Convention Center to worship at Central Lutheran Church. The Rev. Sylvia De La Garza, St. John Lutheran Church, San Juan, Texas, presided and the Rev. Linda O. Norman, chief financial officer, Development Services and ELCA Foundation, was the preacher. Central’s steeple was torn in half by a tornado that that also touched down on the roof of the convention center on Wednesday afternoon.
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With his wife Diane looking on, Carlos Peña smiles on stage after being re-elected as Vice-President of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Voting members at the 2009 Churchwide Assembly returned to office its incumbent vice present, Carlos Peña of Galveston, Texas. Responding to his re-election, Peña said, “I’ve been incredibly blessed. This is a call from God. Thank you. I’m going to need your prayers.”
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On Sunday morning, those having attended the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, worshiped together for one last time. Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson presided and Bishop Allan C. Bjornberg of the Rocky Mountain Synod preached.
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