ELCA NEWS SERVICE

April 23, 2007  

ELCA Presiding Bishop Expresses Thanks to Departing Church Leaders
07-069-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), gave thanks
to church leaders who will be leaving their roles this year and
said he wished he could call the church into intensive prayer as
new leaders are elected this spring.  The presiding bishop also
discussed a variety of other topics in his April 15 report to the
ELCA Church Council.
     The council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves as
the legislative authority of the church between churchwide
assemblies.  It met here April 14-16.  Assemblies are held every
other year; the next is here Aug. 6-11.
     Hanson expressed thanks for 12 synod bishops who will leave
office this year, and for the life of the Rev. Margarita
Martinez, who died of cancer March 11.  Martinez was bishop of
the ELCA Caribbean Synod, Dorado, Puerto Rico.
     He thanked council members and ELCA board and committee
members, who will leave office after the churchwide assembly, and
leaders of the ELCA churchwide organization who will retire later
this year.
     Synod assemblies began April 19.  Hanson noted there will be
27 synods that will re-elect incumbents or elect new bishops, and
the 2007 Churchwide Assembly in August will elect a presiding
bishop and secretary.  Hanson had said earlier that he is
available for possible re-election; the Rev. Lowell G. Almen,
ELCA secretary, had announced he will not seek re-election.
     "I wish I had the power literally to call this church to
slow down and be in intensive prayer," Hanson said of the
multitude of elections.  He suggested that each synod assembly
should serve in the role of a call committee, engaging in prayer
and reading the Scriptures.  Each assembly should consider the
synod's context, build on the strengths of the leader who is
leaving, and "listen to the spirit speaking to them and through
those lifted up as nominees," he said.
     "I trust that the next four months will be that kind of time
of prayerful discernment for this church.  What a powerful
witness it could be for us not to take on the rancor of the
political climate and culture in which we live in the United
States but model a different way to call people into leadership,"
Hanson said.
     Commenting on the war in Iraq, Hanson told the council,
"Sometimes it baffles me how little evidence I hear and see that
(the) American people are even aware that we are a nation at
war."  He added that there appears to be growing evidence that
U.S. citizens do not support the Iraq war.
     "But we continue to send ... men and women who have paid an
enormous price personally, (along with) their families and their
congregations, to say nothing of the cost to the Iraqi people,"
he said. Hanson also expressed concern for the military men and
women whose service tours in the Iraq war zone continue to be
extended.
     The presiding bishop said when he is with groups of
professional church leaders he always asks how many congregations
in the past four-and-a-half years have convened public
conversations about the ELCA social statement, "For Peace in
God's World," and considered moral, just ways to bring a peaceful
end to the war in Iraq.  Recently, Hanson said, he asked that
question in a large gathering of ELCA professional church
leaders, and none of the 200 leaders raised a hand.
     The ELCA has a social statement and other resources to help
guide conversations in congregations about the Iraq war, Hanson
said.  Among the resources is a Jan. 26 pastoral letter Hanson
sent to the ELCA, "A Call to Conversation on Iraq."  In that
message, he asked for all congregations to discuss the Iraq war,
engaging in "prayer and moral deliberation."  The message
proposed a number of questions and topics that members could
discuss together.
     On some other topics, Hanson said:
     + he visited with pastors, members and staff who continue to
work along the U.S. Gulf Coast to restore communities following
the destruction caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  He
expressed thanks for their work, and for the generosity of church
members and thousands of volunteers who have responded.  Hanson
will soon convene leaders from synods and the churchwide
organization to discuss how the church can be more responsive to
the many needs in the wake of such a disaster.
     + he was encouraged in a recent meeting with U.S. Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice and other religious leaders about
prospects for progress in peace efforts in the Middle East.
Several Middle East religious leaders are expected to travel in
October to Washington, D.C.     
     + this is the 60th anniversary year for the Lutheran World
Federation, of which Hanson is president. It is also the 100th
anniversary year for Lutheran campus ministry, the 20th
anniversary of the ELCA and the 10th anniversary of Lutheran
Services in America.
     + he is "energized" when he meets with college-age young
adults. Reflecting on recent visits with students at Dana
College, Blair, Neb., and Luther College, Decorah, Iowa, two of
the ELCA's colleges and universities, Hanson said, "They've
absolutely got a passion for what matters in life.  They've got a
passion for faith and unquenchable curiosity to ask questions,
(and) they have a desire to experience the world in its rich
diversity and complexity. I'm so thankful for our 28 colleges and
universities (and) the students, the staff, the faculty and the
boards who lead them."

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