Final Thoughts

The 12th Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will be remembered as an assembly where we acted as the church we believe God is calling us to be. We are a church that is in transition. This means that much of what we will look like institutionally is changing. That does not mean that our mission is changing. We will continue to work through congregations to reach out into our communities with the saving grace of God. We will work together with others members of the Body of Christ through our ecumenical agreements. We will wrestle together about what to say to the world about the social issues that confront our world. We will share our resources of money, time and talents to fight the threat of malaria around the world. We will gain strength to do all of this as we gather to hear the word and share the supper of our God.

We are also doing things differently. The Conference of Bishops has been tasked to look at the responsibilities of synods and the office of synodical bishop and report back to the 2013 assembly. This means that the leadership of this synod will be engaged in a study of what God is calling us to be and to do together in the future. This may result in the redrawing of synodical boundaries. The point is that this is about the mission of synods, not the geography of synods.

It is clear that the responsibility for the work done through Campus Minsitry is shifting from the churchwide organization to the synod and local boards. This has been coming for some time, but now we know that this work will belong to us. Expect to hear more about our ministries at Western Washington University and at the University of Washington.

Finally this was the assembly where the young leaders of this church took up the mantel of leadership in a responsible and exciting way. 12% of the members of this assembly were under 30 years of age. These current leaders were at the microphones making significant contributions to the work of the church. I have been impressed this year and in past years by the quality of the younger members of our synod who have represented us at these assemblies. This year the whole church got to see the quality and commitment of these young leaders. The church will be in good hands for years to come. God continues to raise up the gifts of leadership we need. In our young people we have been richey blessed.

Wm Chris Boerger
Bishop
Christ the King, Snohomish