by Pastor Joshua Kestner
While there are many important things that happen at Synod Assembly, one of the things we do best is worship together. There is nothing better than hearing the harmonies of so many Lutherans singing together in such a large space. Thank you to Rev. Jesse Canniff-Kuhn, Rev. Jason Schafer, Rev. Adam Carnell, and Bennett Donovan for leading us. The Holy Spirit was surely present and will stay with us over the next few days as we prayerfully consider the elections and conversations to come.
Bishop Ginny Aebischer offered a meaningful reflection centered on a portion of Ephesians 2. She preached about the ways that we measure our impact as communities of faith. We often focus on more superficial ways to measure success – attendance, giving, building size, etc. But perhaps our greatest gift is sharing the unifying, life-changing love that we have received from Christ. It’s not as easy to quantify that kind of measurement, but Bishop Ginny encouraged us, “Jesus shows us how it feels to be loved so that we can share that love in our discipleship and in our faith life today. We know love when we feel it. Amen? And so does everyone else.” How will our love make a great impact on God’s creation and created ones? That’s a fantastic question to guide our discerning and visioning together the rest of this Assembly.
The pinnacle of Lutheran liturgy is the Sacrament of Holy Communion. Bishop Ginny, Rev. Megan Lineberger, and Rev. Ginger Litman-Koon led us in a winding communion line around the worship space. It gave us a chance to sing, pray, and greet a few friends along the way.
We are truly blessed to have the opportunity to ground ourselves in worship before such an important few days together. God’s blessings to all of you in the days ahead!
