As we continue to live out our call to join God's reign of justice and radi-cal love for the world by traveling the way of Jesus, knowing that we are united with Christ in bap�sm, the questions I have been asking this past year are:
What's church got to do with it?
How does being the church enable us to paticipate in God's mis-sion? Why do we need the church?
At our Fall Theological conference, Dr. Cheryl Peterson helped me re-frame those questions by asking: Who is the church? The answer lies with the Spirit. The church is the community of faith brought to life by thebreath of the Spirit who blows us out to serve God's world. In the ELCA, we live out this identity in an interdependent relationship as con-gregetions, the synod, and the churchwide expression. As the bishop of
the synod, I have worked with these three expressions this year in the following ways: Congregations
*Preached and participated in worship at 35 congregations across the synod, celebrating anniversaries and installations or simply visiting and being present.
*Had conversations with Trinity Lutheran in Otis, KS, about their concerns re-garding the ELCA prior to their vote to disaffiliate in December of 2023.
*Have been working with volunteers, city officials, attorneys, and real estate brokers to sell the property of Bethany Lutheran Church in Webster Groves after the synod assumed administration of the property and closed the congre-gation. We were finally able to sell the property to another church.
This serves as a reminder that every congregation should develop a plan should they no longer be able to fulfill their purpose as a congregation; they, and not the synod, can make decisions about their property and
legacy.
*34 of our congregations are served by Parish Ministry Associates or Synod Au-thorized Ministers – trained lay leaders who preside at communion by my au-thorization as bishop as an extension of my responsibility as the pastor of the synod. I am deeply grateful for the ministry of these individuals. In August, I conducted two online classes for individuals serving these congregations, lift-ing up the gifts of Lutheran Theology and how they inform our preaching and presiding at the sacraments.
* My associate, Rev. Dave Whetter, and I work with congregations to help them clarify their purpose and find pastoral leaders. This continues to be a challenge because of the shortage of rostered candidates and the inability of some of our congregations to afford a full-time or even part-time rostered minister.
As we continue to live out our call to join God's reign of justice and radi-cal love for the world by traveling the way of Jesus, knowing that we are united with Christ in bap�sm, the questions I have been asking this past year are:
What's church got to do with it?
How does being the church enable us to paticipate in God's mis-sion? Why do we need the church?
At our Fall Theological conference, Dr. Cheryl Peterson helped me re-frame those questions by asking: Who is the church? The answer lies with the Spirit. The church is the community of faith brought to life by thebreath of the Spirit who blows us out to serve God's world. In the ELCA, we live out this identity in an interdependent relationship as con-gregetions, the synod, and the churchwide expression. As the bishop of
the synod, I have worked with these three expressions this year in the following ways: Congregations
*Preached and participated in worship at 35 congregations across the synod, celebrating anniversaries and installations or simply visiting and being present.
*Had conversations with Trinity Lutheran in Otis, KS, about their concerns re-garding the ELCA prior to their vote to disaffiliate in December of 2023.
*Have been working with volunteers, city officials, attorneys, and real estate brokers to sell the property of Bethany Lutheran Church in Webster Groves after the synod assumed administration of the property and closed the congre-gation. We were finally able to sell the property to another church.
This serves as a reminder that every congregation should develop a plan should they no longer be able to fulfill their purpose as a congregation; they, and not the synod, can make decisions about their property and
legacy.
*34 of our congregations are served by Parish Ministry Associates or Synod Au-thorized Ministers – trained lay leaders who preside at communion by my au-thorization as bishop as an extension of my responsibility as the pastor of the synod. I am deeply grateful for the ministry of these individuals. In August, I conducted two online classes for individuals serving these congregations, lift-ing up the gifts of Lutheran Theology and how they inform our preaching and presiding at the sacraments.
* My associate, Rev. Dave Whetter, and I work with congregations to help them clarify their purpose and find pastoral leaders. This continues to be a challenge because of the shortage of rostered candidates and the inability of some of our congregations to afford a full-time or even part-time rostered minister.
As we continue to live out our call to join God's reign of justice and radi-cal love for the world by traveling the way of Jesus, knowing that we are united with Christ in bap�sm, the questions I have been asking this past year are:
What's church got to do with it?
How does being the church enable us to paticipate in God's mis-sion? Why do we need the church?
At our Fall Theological conference, Dr. Cheryl Peterson helped me re-frame those questions by asking: Who is the church? The answer lies with the Spirit. The church is the community of faith brought to life by thebreath of the Spirit who blows us out to serve God's world. In the ELCA, we live out this identity in an interdependent relationship as con-gregetions, the synod, and the churchwide expression. As the bishop of
the synod, I have worked with these three expressions this year in the following ways: Congregations
*Preached and participated in worship at 35 congregations across the synod, celebrating anniversaries and installations or simply visiting and being present.
*Had conversations with Trinity Lutheran in Otis, KS, about their concerns re-garding the ELCA prior to their vote to disaffiliate in December of 2023.
*Have been working with volunteers, city officials, attorneys, and real estate brokers to sell the property of Bethany Lutheran Church in Webster Groves after the synod assumed administration of the property and closed the congre-gation. We were finally able to sell the property to another church.
This serves as a reminder that every congregation should develop a plan should they no longer be able to fulfill their purpose as a congregation; they, and not the synod, can make decisions about their property and
legacy.
*34 of our congregations are served by Parish Ministry Associates or Synod Au-thorized Ministers – trained lay leaders who preside at communion by my au-thorization as bishop as an extension of my responsibility as the pastor of the synod. I am deeply grateful for the ministry of these individuals. In August, I conducted two online classes for individuals serving these congregations, lift-ing up the gifts of Lutheran Theology and how they inform our preaching and presiding at the sacraments.
* My associate, Rev. Dave Whetter, and I work with congregations to help them clarify their purpose and find pastoral leaders. This continues to be a challenge because of the shortage of rostered candidates and the inability of some of our congregations to afford a full-time or even part-time rostered minister.
Season of Epiphany
NO ROOM IN THE INN
A group of us were studying the Christmas story
according to the Gospel of Luke. We came to the
part of the story where we find the words, “The inn
was full.” One young man said, “If they had cell
phones back then like we have now Joseph could
have called ahead and booked a guest house prior
to arriving in Bethlehem with Mary. Others in the
group agreed and said, “Yes, that is true. However
, one elderly man from another part of the Island who
was just visiting us over Christmas disagreed with
us. He said to the young man, “Yes, what you said is
true. However, think again and think more deeply
about this. However, suppose there is some big
event scheduled in Lae (the largest city near them)
and we all want to attend, we would not all be able to
book a guest house or hotel in Lae. Hotels are only
available to people who have money.
We thought more about what the old man said. Was it
true that the Inn was full or was it that Mary and
Joseph didn’t have enough money to rent a room?
This kind of question is just speculation, but it is true
that Mary and Joseph were not important people (in
the Melanesian pidgin language, “nogat nem” means
that someone is unimportant, without influence).
Even so, God chose the two of them to become the
mother and father of Jesus, God’s son. This insight
led us to feel that God is with people like us who don’t
have status or wealth (man nating). God comes to
people like us who are regarded as unimportant
people (nogat nem). We concluded that God is with
people who are rich and important as well. And, in
addition, who was it that first got the news of Jesus
birth? Yes, it was another group of people who were
looked down upon as unimportant. The shepherds
. They were the first to hear the news of this great
thing that God had done. This shows us that God
comes all the way down to where we are. God
doesn’t sit down on high and call for us to come to
Him and then just wait for us to come to Him. No
way! God comes to all people. God comes all the
way down to us, and becomes one with the poor and
unimportant people, while also coming close to the
rich and important as well. So, now we join with all
the angels and sing, “Glory to God in the highest,
and peace to all people on earth. God loves us all.
by Pastore Maiyupe Par
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea
