August 8, 2005

ORLANDO, Fla. – At opening worship of the 2005 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the ELCA, told Lutherans that "walking on water is permitted but not required at this assembly."

The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA, is meeting here Aug. 8-14 at the World Center Marriott and Convention Center. About 2,300 people are participating, including 1,018 ELCA voting members. The theme for the biennial assembly is "Marked with the Cross of Christ Forever."

In his sermon, Hanson said the miracle of the 2005 Churchwide Assembly is occurring "even before I declare us to be in session, before one word of debate is uttered, before the results of any votes are known. It is the miracle that we, by the power of the Holy Spirit, will with one voice confess our faith, ‘We believe in one God. We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ.'"

Hanson encouraged worshippers to "take heart" and not be afraid, since the assembly "begins not in fear but in faith."

In a second, "very important announcement," Hanson said, "We have not come to Orlando to try to keep afloat a sinking church."

"If that is the question you believe that we have gathered in Orlando to answer, ‘Will we keep this church afloat?' Well, with all due respect, I need to say – I think that is the wrong question, and it is not finally our task," said Hanson.

"We are here to be the church, to be a people who are loved by Jesus and who love Jesus in return, to be a people saved from their sins, to be those who take heart and are not afraid because (of) the crucified," he said.

Hanson said he is not "in any way minimizing" the significance of what voting members of the assembly will discuss and decide. "Those decisions will have an impact on the life and ministry of this church. Yet, it is what will occur in this holy space each day that makes us the church," he said.

In one final announcement Hanson offered a word of caution. "Beware, someone, somewhere is watching our feet," he said. "As much as we concentrate on the words spoken and focus on the votes taken, when all is said and done, the impact of our work in the life and ministry of the ELCA may depend most upon our feet."

"For those marked with the cross of Christ, walking on water is optional. Plunging into troubled waters of suffering and despair, poverty and hunger is not," Hanson said. "For there we may glimpse what God is doing, participating in our very being, bringing healing, life and salvation in ways that we can hardly imagine."

Some of the most important questions with which the assembly will struggle may be these – "Will we proclaim the Good News so that all might believe? Will we heed Jesus' command to come and follow? Will we trust Christ's promise? Take heart," Hanson said, adding Jesus' words, "It is I. Do not be afraid."

Information about the ELCA Churchwide Assembly is at http://www.elca.org/assembly/05/ on the Web.

ELCA News Service