ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson delivers his final report

PITTSBURGH (ELCA) -- In his last report as presiding bishop of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the Rev. Mark S. Hanson
said there is an opportunity for the 4-million-member church -- in
anticipation of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation -- to let go of
being competitive in a religious marketplace and embrace the opportunity to be who we are in Christ.
Hanson delivered his report to the 952 voting members of the 2013
ELCA Churchwide Assembly meeting here Aug. 12-17 at the David L. Lawrence
Convention Center. The churchwide assembly is the highest legislative
body of this church. The theme for the assembly is “Always being made
new.” This year marks the 25th anniversary of the ELCA, and the 500th
anniversary of the Reformation will be observed in 2017.
“We are ambassadors bearing the good news that God is not in the sin-
accounting business,” said Hanson. “To do that, to bear the witness of
whom God is in the world is to be who we are as evangelical Lutherans. As
Paul wrote, ‘we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ.’”
Hanson said that in his past 12 years as ELCA presiding bishop he
has been blessed “to witness the Spirit’s power at work throughout this
church and among our global and ecumenical partners.”
He said he sees “the Holy Spirit at work” among ELCA congregations
who are responding to the call to be engaged in mission planning, among
the thousands of ELCA youth gathered in New Orleans in 2011 for worship
and service, in the wisdom, patience and strength of the ELCA’s 65 synod
bishops and the ELCA Church Council, among people who are affected by
natural disasters and in the lives of people overseas.
“Yes, we can trust the Holy Spirit, who is at work through this
church as we are deeply rooted in Christ and always being made new,”
Hanson told the assembly.
“We have something to say to people who are searching for the good
life. It is the story of a gracious God who calls each one of us by name
through baptismal waters, gathers us into the community of faith, the
living body of Christ and sends us forth in so many varied callings in
daily life to love and serve the neighbor, to care for family and friends
and God’s creation to strive for justice and peace and in word and deed
to share the good news of Jesus Christ,” he said.
In his report, Hanson shared that on a flight back to Chicago he
noticed a bottle of soap in the airplane restroom. “I took it out and
asked the flight attendant if I could borrow it for a few minutes ... to
copy down the brand and description [which] is called ‘Pure Grace.’”
“Think how prevalent this message is in our lives: if you live more
purely, invest wisely, pray fervently, think positively, give generously,
advocate passionately, then you will have achieved a state of grace and
made your life whole,” he said. “People deserve to hear a different
Gospel, the message about the God who really is pure grace, the God who
really does wash us clean -- body, soul and spirit. What an opportunity
we have in the coming years when attention will focus on the 500th
anniversary of the Reformation.”
Throughout his report, Hanson responded to the question, “What if
the Holy Spirit is writing new chapters for the Book of Act? What will
those chapters tell of what the Holy Spirit is doing among and with the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America?”
He said that it is his hope that the writer of the new chapters of
Acts would describe how the Spirit empowered the people of the ELCA with
attentive listening, spiritual renewal in the personal lives of members
and in the nearly 10,000 congregations of the ELCA, moving into becoming
communities of radical hospitality and deepening this church’s engagement
globally.
Among the videos shown in his presentation, Hanson shared a video of
Archbishop Kawak of the Syrian Orthodox Church and invited the
assembly “to witness to the power of the cross and resurrection in the
midst of unimaginable suffering and death” in Syria. Hanson also offered
a prayer for the people of Egypt in light of lives lost there.
“Such is the work of the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts and in the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Planting the church and being
uprooted, moving on for the sake of the Gospel, we are committed to
respond to those who have been uprooted by war and famine, by natural
disasters and political oppression, by poverty and ecological
destruction,” he said.
In his continued response to what would be written in the new
chapters of Acts, Hanson said that “let it be told with all humility that
the generosity of ELCA members became the occasion for jubilation and
thanksgiving for God’s amazing grace” and that in the coming years for
the ELCA, “let us build upon our strong system of theological education”
and leadership development in this church, particularly recognizing and
supporting the leadership already being given by youth and young adults.
As he concluded his report Hanson said, “May those chapters added to
the Book of Acts declare the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America was
anointed with the power of the Holy Spirit and in Christ is always being
made new.”
After his report, Hanson was presented with the Servus Dei Medal.