Bishop Hanson in Iowa City
Presiding Bishop addresses Iowa City audience
IOWA CITY-----"I hope we're known as a witnessing and inviting church," said the Rev. Mark Hanson, Presiding Bishop of the ELCA. "Evangelism is the vocation of the baptized," he said, it's not just about committees. Bishop Hanson made these remarks on the afternoon of December 12 at a question and answer forum held at Christ the King Lutheran Church in Iowa City. The bishop spoke that morning at another Southeastern Iowa Synod location, Capitol Hill Lutheran Church in Des Moines, where he also preached at a morning worship service.
Bishop Hanson spoke of the ELCA presence at 2002 synod assemblies. "We came to listen," he said. "We came to ask you questions about what God is calling the ELCA to be." Bishop Hanson said some of the things learned from this approach included that there is a need to "strategically align the expressions of the ELCA around mission." He said there is also concern that the ELCA focus on the "faith that unites us rather than the issues that divide." Bishop Hanson said that the important question to focus on is how to keep the church healthy despite the conflict and continue to do God's work "in and for the sake of the world."
Bishop Hanson also spoke of the need for the ELCA to have a voice in societal concerns. "Now is the time to be engaged in public deliberation," he said. "We are called to be public leaders in a public church."
Among public issues Bishop Hanson commented on was the possibility of war with Iraq. He said he believed such a war would elevate tensions between Palestine and Israel. "If we go to war with Iraq, we will further destabilize the Middle East," he said. Bishop Hanson said he has been asked by leaders of Evangelical Lutheran Church bodies in other countries why the U.S. isn't exercising its power in humanitarian efforts instead of war.
Regarding the sexuality studies being undertaken by the ELCA, Bishop Hanson said that he wished those who think the issue has already been decided would let the studies committee know what that decision is. He said the studies committee is in the process of hearing all the willing voices on the subject and that he has "no idea what the outcome will be." Bishop Hanson said this was another example of where the church needed to have a public voice. If we do not engage in this discussion "we leave sex to culture," he said. "We need to reclaim sexuality as the gift that it is in the context of faith."
Bishop Hanson reported that the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod has said that it will end its relationship with the ELCA in its work through joint social service agencies if the ELCA changes its current position on the ordination of gay and lesbian persons for rostered ministry. ELCA policy currently states that pastors who are homosexual in their self-understanding must abstain from sexual activity.
When asked what the ELCA can do to identify and support candidates for rostered ministry, Bishop Hanson said that we have been "just plain lazy." He said that we need to "identify and name the gifts of six, seven, eight-year olds-whether for leadership or otherwise. We need to pray for them. We need to nurture them," he said.
