Hello, church,
What a gift today is for all of us. Thank you for being here.
On behalf of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod, thank you, Bishop Gohl from the Delaware-Maryland Synod, for your leadership and your presence with us at my installation. After months of planning, we are grateful that we were able to celebrate together, and I thank you for helping to make that happen.
When I spoke with Bishop Curry the day before the installation, he shared that we would get a date on the calendar when he can come for a visit to northeastern Pennsylvania. He looks forward to that visit with us.
I do wish to take a moment to thank all of you who have been part of my life and faith journey thus far. To my family, for planting seeds and putting up with me through the rough spots and the growth. To my husband, Billy, for your constant support, encouragement, and willingness to take on the role of First Dude, thank you. To lifelong friends and colleagues who have become besties along the way, you keep me humble and laughing, centered and true to myself. To the congregations of Redeemer Lutheran Church and St. John’s Lutheran Church in Indiana, and to Trinity Lutheran Church in Robesonia, congrats, you made a bishop! My faith has been shaped by all of you, by the seeds planted at Faith Lutheran Church in East Hartford and First Lutheran Church in Ellington, Connecticut, and by all of those summers at Camp Calumet Lutheran.
While this call officially began on September first, we began this discernment together at Synod Assembly in June. Together with all the folks who were open to this call as bishop, we prayed, we asked questions, we had heartfelt conversations, we prayed more, we asked more questions, and most importantly, we were open to the work of the Spirit. As we spoke and prayed, we wondered together who God was and is calling us to be as the Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod.
Every day, there is a part of me that is still in holy awe of that process, of the way the Spirit moved, and how in three days, we moved through a call process together. As I shared at Synod Assembly, those three days reaffirmed my sense of call to Word and Sacrament Ministry. I am called to be a pastor, and now I am called to be the pastor of this synod as your bishop. A pastor to the leaders, to the congregations and worshipping communities, and to the people.
And in these first two months, I am grateful for the visits, connections, conversations, and time in worship that we have already had together. It is an incredible honor and gift that you have welcomed me to be part of your worship services, installing pastors, preaching, presiding, and all the coffee hours! It is a gift to be in holy spaces where you all as rostered leaders and councils feel safe and brave to have honest conversations about your own discernment.
It is a holy experience for me to be part of those intimate, heart-centered, faith-guided conversations with you about your sense of call and to actively discern with you. Thank you for trusting me and allowing us to hold space together. I can only imagine that there will be much more of that in the future. We will continue to gather for worship, hearing God’s word, sharing in the Lord’s Supper, and engaging in honest, holy, and sometimes challenging conversations.
A friend recently asked me, “So, what’s your plan?”
In June, I didn’t have a plan. Today, I may not have a plan, but I am more and more certain of who I am called to be in this new role. It is deeply important to me, and it is my deep, deep hope for this synod, that lay and rostered leaders feel seen, heard, and cared for and that they serve in ways and places that fill them with hope and joy.
I hope that with leaders that are encouraged and empowered, we are nurturing congregations and worshipping communities that are thriving in the way they worship and serve in Christ’s name. And I know that this is not something that will happen in a day or a week or even with a nice 30-, 60-, and 90-day plan.
It will take time. It takes time to build relationships, to build trust, and to learn to work together in new ways. In our first year together, we will have time to connect and build relationships.
Beginning in Advent, we will enter a year of Healing in Hope. It will offer us a time to be with one another, share stories and experiences, and help create connection across the synod.
Over the coming year, you are invited to share stories of hope or healing. We will share them via our website and social media and through a Lenten devotional. These are the stories of our synod. They are your experiences and our experiences, and I cannot wait to hear them and see them shared across the synod.
Visit the synod's website at godslove.org/healinginhope or by clicking the button below for all the details.
I’m also excited about what’s already on my calendar for the coming year. On the calendar are several congregational visits, a Licensed Lay Minister retreat, the Bishop’s Conference, a retreat for lay folks, a Gather Lehigh Valley young adult retreat, and the ELCA Youth Gathering in Minneapolis. I’ll also serve as chaplain for a week at Bear Creek Camp.
If you’d like me to visit your congregation, please contact the synod office. As you think about inviting me, think beyond Sunday morning worship, too. I’d love to see what ministry looks like in your community, whether that’s Vacation Bible School, a “God’s work. Our hands.” service day, a community meal, a youth gathering, or another outreach project. I’m so excited to connect with youth and young folks across the synod.
It is a very exciting time to be the church together.
I know there is hard work to be done, but I know that Christ is leading us, the Spirit is comforting us, and God’s got us.
This is good stuff.
This is God stuff.
+peace,
Bishop Jennifer Dee
Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod, ELCA
