Bishop’s Message for April 2010


The Feast of the Resurrection of our Lord is the highpoint of our liturgical life together. The mystery of the faith finds its clearest expression at Easter: “Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.” So profound are these truths of faith, and so earthshaking is Jesus’ resurrection, that we celebrate Easter over seven consecutive Sundays this year.

Indeed, even as we embrace the mystery of Easter-faith we also cry out for the resurrection of our lives, and for the renewal of our life together as congregations, synod and national church. In our life together, we are experiencing lethargy and apathy. And we are not alone. The mainline denominations in general are experiencing a drift into what National Bishop Susan Johnson recently referred to as “Christianity Lite”. She noted in the March issue of Canada Lutheran that God is calling us to “a deeper discipleship as expressed in our prayer life, study of scripture, generosity in giving money and time, service to those in need, and sharing our faith” (pg. 34).

George Barna founded the Barna Research Group in 1984 and helped it become the leading marketing research firm focused on the intersection of faith and culture. One of the themes that emerged from his research regarding religion in 2009 had to do with biblical literacy – or more correctly, the lack of it. He noted that the problem facing the Christian Church is not that people lack a complete set of beliefs; the problem is that they have a full slate of beliefs in mind, which they think are consistent with biblical teachings, and they are neither open to being proven wrong nor to learning new insights…. By the time most people reach the age of 13 or 14, they think they pretty much know everything of value the Bible has to teach, and they are no longer interested in learning more scriptural content. We Lutherans are not immune to this trend; and that is a puzzlement considering that one of our faith-pillars is sola Scriptura – the Word alone.
So I have been heartened this Lent and Easter season to hear reports from a number of our congregations and pastors who are making concerted efforts to engage God’s Word in Scripture. The resources to do this abound, and Augsburg-Fortress Publishing is happy to provide them. Not least of these is the Book of Faith initiative undertaken by the ELCA and approved by the ELCIC. Foundational courses include Opening the Book of Faith (an excellent way to prepare new and seasoned lay leadership to teach Scriptural interpretation), Rediscovering the Book of Faith (a shorter course that introduces how the Bible came to be our book of Faith), and Making Sense of Scripture (a great way to bring your group into conversation around seven big questions about the Bible.) As your bishop, I commend these materials to you and encourage you to re-engage the Scriptures personally and in your congregational life. And I invite you to live out your life under the banner of God’s love. Christ is risen!

+Ronald B. Mayan, Bishop
Synod of Alberta and the Territories,
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada 

 

2010 Archive

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AGM Greeting 2010

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H1N1 Letter
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* REVISED * Statement on Marriage, Family and Sexuality in the Alberta Context
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A Pastoral Letter Regarding The Confessional Ministerium" And "We Believe in the Gospel"
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Introductory letter for Statement on Marriage, Family and Sexuality in the Alberta Context
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A Lutheran Perspective on Biblical Interpretation
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Equipping the Saints Greeting
A Way Forward
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