“Grace to you and peace from our God and our Lord Jesus Christ.”
This is one of the first things Paul says to each of the early Churches as he writes to encourage and unify them in Christ’s love, and it’s the first thing I want to say to the Lutherans in South Carolina on my first day in office as your Bishop. Full of excitement and nerves, I write to you today in hopes to bless you, as you have blessed me, with God’s grace, love, and peace for the mission we share in Christ. May we be unified, encouraged, and filled with Christ’s love as we continue to live faithfully in God’s kingdom.
Thank you, South Carolina Synod, for this opportunity to serve you and to walk alongside of you in ministry. My wife Irina and I humbly walk into this call trusting that God will lead us, and the Church, forward together. I look forward with excitement to building relationships with the rostered leaders, the congregations, and the faithful Lutheran people across this state, as we worship God, love each other, and serve the people God together.
I look around the Synod with deep appreciation for the ministry and mission of the congregations that have continued their work, in some cases for hundreds of years, faithfully teaching and leading the next generations of Lutherans to be Christ’s light for today. And I look with hope for what God has in store for the future of the South Carolina Synod, and how God might use us to bear Christ’s love for every person ever created. I cannot wait to jump into this ministry with you, and it starts today!
As we walk together in the days and weeks ahead, we will look for ways to live into the unity and love of the very Church Jesus calls us to be. Where there is opportunity to partner and share ministry, we will bravely come together on the common ground of Christ’s love. Where there is need and vulnerability, we will bravely show up for each other and serve one another. And where we see division and discord, we will bravely look for God’s image in the face of those around us and stand beside one another to build up of the body of Christ for the sake of the world.
I am looking forward to being the Church together! Thank you for this opportunity to serve you and the congregations of the South Carolina Synod. Thank you for the support and encouragement you have given my family, and thank you for doing the hard work of ministry for the sake of God’s kingdom and God’s people.
Yours in Christ,
Bishop Wade Roof
