From the Pastor
It was a pleasure to be with Immanuel members Genie Cubberley, Ann Bohman, Michele McGuirl and Judy Wellert at the Growing in God’s Field Event in Helena.
The five of us along with a large room full of Lutherans from across the state had the opportunity to reflect on what it means to be the branches that are connected to the vine and bear fruit as disciples of Christ. We worshipped and ate together, did Bible study and attended various workshops.
“For God so loved the world that God sent his only son…” these are the opening words of one of the best known verses in scripture: John 3:16. At this workshop on living out our faith in the public sphere, Bishop Jessica Crist emphasized the wording that God so loved the WORLD, not simply the church that he sent his only son to save. Likewise, God sends us into the world to love and care for the least and the lost, the broken and poor, those Jesus came to save and minister to.
We know the two great commandments are that we are called to love God with all our heart and our neighbor as ourselves. Bishop Crist reminds us that loving neighbor means that which is concrete among which is: feeding the hungry and sheltering the homeless.
Loving our neighbor also means speaking out about issues that affect our neighbor. We are a church that believes that God has given us resources to address the issues that affect our neighbors, and that the Christian community is the proper venue for addressing complex social issues. That is why we have social statements.
These statements are not declarations of doctrine. They are thoroughly-researched, fieldtested, debated, re-written documents that have their genesis in the churchwide assembly and are adopted or reject 6 years later at a church wide assembly, by 2/3 of the voting members. The next Social Statement due to be voted on in 2011 is on Genetics. I invite you to go to the elca.org website and discover the ten social statements our church has in place.
The Church in Society unit of this church leads this church in stepping forward as a public church that witnesses boldly to God’s love for all that God has created. One of the programs created within the Church in Society is Advocacy. That is another form of loving our neighbor.
“From its beginnings, Christianity has had a rich tradition of speaking truth to those in power. Two millennia ago, Jesus empowered his followers to advocate for justice, and today many Christians have continued in that path. The unit for Church in Society carriesout this church’s advocacy with national and international governmental bodies and with institutions in the private sector, and coordinates its advocacy with state governments.”Again, visit the elca.org website to learn more how to be involved in this aspect of our Christianity.
At Immanuel, we do not have a social justice task force or committee. Yet many of us are concerned for the issues of justice and injustice that go on in our world. We also, to date have not studied the social statements or some of the shorter “messages” on social issues available to us through the ELCA. If you are a person who feels passionate about getting together with other Christians to study or advocate, speak up and let’s take that step together.
Peace of Christ be with you,
Pastor Aprille
