People of Spirit!

The month of May is a rich one, calling for your participation and celebration on a number of fronts. Below you’ll read about EARTH CELEBRATION / ROGATION SUNDAY, May 5th.  So far, the weatherman’s forecast matches our hopes for the day:  sunny and warm!  It’s a day which will include spirited activities that activate our senses and connect us to the Earth, to our neighbors, and to one another.  Please come and be part of it!

While Peace and Calvary women are Playing with Fire on Vashon May 10-11, congregations throughout our synod will be anticipating the NW Wash. Synod Assembly at which we will elect a new Bishop.  The theme for this year’s gathering, which marks the 25th anniversary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, is ALWAYS BEING MADE NEW.  Sixteen nominees for the office of bishop are part of the process, and each week we will continue to pray for the Spirit to brood over them—and over us who will be responsible for casting ballots during the May 16-18 Assembly.  I am grateful to Bishop Chris Boerger for the excellent leadership he has exhibited during his 12 years in this role.  He has been a faithful and articulate proclaimer of the gospel and a steady partner with the congregations and ministries of our synod during a time of great challenge and change.  I look forward to celebrating his service to our synod on Thursday evening, May 16, at Trinity Lutheran, Lynwood.  Let me know if you are interested in attending.  The Rev. Jan Nesse has been his partner during these years, and I’ll be forever grateful that she included my name with others that were given to the Call Committee of Peace in 2004.  The rest of the synod staff are such talented and generous folk—we really are blessed.  Bishop Boerger’s final column (full article published below) names the hope we share as church:

The same weekend we elect a new Bishop, the wind and flames of Pentecost will descend on us once more when five young men of our congregation affirm their baptismal covenant in the Rite of Confirmation, May 19th.  What a day of joy and blessing that will be!  At a recent breakfast, an elder told of how he marvels when he sees the continuing participation of our young people at Peace—beyond Confirmation and even beyond high school.  God is continually remaking the church, and giving us reason to hope.  As we open ourselves to God’s future, we expand the range of possibilities for our personal ministries as well.  Rooted and grounded in the love of God in Christ Jesus, there is no limit to what the Spirit can do within us and through us.

God bless your growing!

Pastor Erik