DENVER (ELCA) -- The Rev. Allan C. Bjornberg, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Rocky Mountain Synod, brought greetings from the synod's 180 congregations and more than 93,000 baptized members to participants in the opening session of the ELCA Churchwide Assembly meeting here Aug. 16-22.
The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA, is meeting at the Colorado Convention Center. There are more than 2,500 people participating, including 1,039 ELCA voting members. The theme for the biennial assembly is "Making Christ Known: Hope for a New Century."
"We have been eager to welcome you," Bjornberg said. More than 800 volunteers from the Rocky Mountain Synod will help facilitate the assembly, he said.
Bjornberg traced the history of the land of the Rocky Mountain Synod that includes Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico and a portion of west Texas.
The Rocky Mountain Synod is a "land of explorers and discoverers," he said, listing Kit Carson, Brigham Young and Lt. Zebulon Pike as pioneers of the American West.
"This is a land of vision," Bjornberg said, citing the 1858-1859 Colorado Gold Rush that included a discovery on Cherry Creek in present-day= Denver.
"Welcome sojourner, welcome child of God," Bjornberg said.
This is the season in the Rocky Mountains where the last of the snowcaps melt, he said. Melting snowcaps "bring life from on high to this thirsty land," he said.
"Welcome pilgrims. Here is the water in the desert," Bjornberg said.
"This vast land is long in history, deep in faith -- bold in witness, young in faith. May you discover anew the rich abundance of God," he said.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
Public Relations Manager
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org
