Pacifica Synod - ELCA
1801 Park Court Place,
Bldg. C
Santa Ana, CA
92701-5010
Phone: 714-692-2791
Fax: 714-692-9317
E-mail: Office@pacificasynod.org
Width and Breadth and "Yes"

s I write this article for the February newsletter, I am in the midst of an annual event called "The Academy." Every year, in the first week of January, the Lutheran bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America gather together, along with spouses, for a few days of continuing education, worship and time to "just be together" without heavy agendas, resolutions and decision-making. It is very similar to the time our rostered leaders spend in Palm Desert each October.
For these gatherings, we do not always go to the cold and snow of Chicago, but occasionally we venture out to another climate to see other parts of the church and the creation of God. The last time and only time, before this year, that The Academy was held in the territory of the Pacifica Synod was in the mid-90s, before I was serving as the bishop of this synod. (It was held in Orange County then.) In 2012 we again gathered in this synod … this time in San Diego.

We were challenged by the presentations of our three presenters-Pastors Peter Steinke and Marcus Borg, and Mr. Kenn Inskeep. They serve the church as consultants, authors and researchers. They pointed us to the future and tried to help us see more clearly the landscape over which we will be traveling in the next years as the Christian Church in North America.

The diversity of our population and of our mindset when it comes to religious matters and participation in communities of faith covers a very wide spectrum, with a growing number of people in the categories of un-churched and unaffiliated, non-churched and non-affiliated, de-churched and disaffiliated. The numbers of neighbors and co-workers and classmates and friends that fall into those categories is staggering, and the projections for the next 20 years cause us to rethink how we are the church. While those who are still actively participating on a week-to-week level within communities of faith are still a very significant part of our population, the average age of those participants is fairly high. There are always many good exceptions in some of our congregations, but we were confronted with the national trends across the whole church, spread from coast
"…grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
for the facing
of this hour."
God of Grace and
God of Glory
Hymn #705 ELW
to coast and from our most southern states to the far reaches of the church in Alaska and Canada. There is great opportunity in store for us and those who follow us, but how the Christian Church will welcome and invite and deliver its proclamation in the days and years to come is a huge question before us.

As part of The Academy, the bishops and spouses have free time, to do whatever they so choose, either individually or in groups. Coming to San Diego gave them many choices, of course, and we helped to orchestrate some possibilities for them. Some came early and enjoyed a day traveling north and experiencing the Temecula Valley and taking a tour through one of the wineries where some of our ELCA people work. Most of the group joined with Gilberto Martinez, Pastors Darin Johnson and Manuel Retamoza and spent an afternoon traveling to and across the San Diego/Tijuana Border, seeing the latest addition to the wall that divides our two countries. We spoke with people on the Mexican side, we circled together to pray in the area that has been known as Friendship Park, now gone as a whole new section of the border is being revamped with steel and wire and separation zones. We again so clearly saw how families and humanity divides itself, one from another.

We spent an afternoon with several active duty and retired military chaplains and docents from some of our ELCA congregations on the USS Midway, reconnecting with the many different aspects of military life, ministry and the role the military plays in everyday society, especially in this synod. We are especially grateful for the Reverends Karla Seyb-Stockton (retired chaplain) and Timothy Eichler (CAPT, CHC, USN) and other ELCA members, including retired military officers, Bill Gilchrist and Don Whistler, who serve as docents and are members of ELCA congregations in San Diego and Poway.

A most wonderful way the participants in The Academy experienced the width and breadth of the Pacifica Synod was in our multiple times of worship, at least once, and sometimes twice, each day. The people who came to assist are too many to mention without leaving out some unintentionally from that list. But they were amazing! The time they gave, the music they played and sang, the worship they led, the sermons they preached gave the bishops and their spouses a wide view of some of the gifts and talents we enjoy in this synod. I will name some of them who offered themselves in exceptional ways these past days in leading our worship life together. Many are part of the Pacifica Synod Worship Ministry Team: Ms. Mary Shaima and Jason Klein, Pastors Laura Ziehl, Daren Erisman, Karen Marohn, Wilk Miller, Heidi Hester, and a large group of musicians from Bethlehem Lutheran, Encinitas. Their every contribution was excellent! The congregation of bishops and spouses were so grateful and showered them with gratitude and applause.

One of our services on the evening of Epiphany was at Mission San Diego de Alcala, the first of the 21 California missions and the oldest church in this state. We are grateful to Bishop Brom, his staff, and the two priests who serve that parish for opening wide their hearts and doors and giving us that rare privilege. It was an amazing week in the Pacifica Synod, and a bit of us is being taken back to 71 other parts of the Lutheran family across all of North America.

Leaders from the church-at-large, of which we are all a part, experienced some of the "width and breadth" of this synod and it was wonderful (and the weather truly cooperated, too). I included the word "yes" in the title of this article because that is the only word I heard whenever I asked anyone to help with some part of this gathering. The Synod Staff and I suddenly had more responsibilities, but all were willing to do whatever they could to assist. Pastors and chaplains and lay members from a number of our congregations and specialized ministries came forward. No one said "no" or that they were not interested
or could not carve out a bit of time to be there, to be present, to offer themselves, and to lead these many guests of Pacifica to this place or to that one and especially to lead them in our times of worship. One bishop asked how we orchestrated all those different events and opportunities and I said, "it was like driving down a boulevard, where as I drove, one light after another turned green as I approached it … no red or even yellow lights … all go, all green, all "yeses." Thank you to this synod and to those who represented it so very well as you opened your hands and arms and hearts to these leaders of Christ's Church who came to be among us. I am a very grateful bishop as I put my final thoughts into words for this message!

In the Epiphany Light of Christ,
—Murray D. Finck†, Bishop
Bishop and Director of Evangelical Mission

More Bishop's Journals January 2012-A Public Church