Dear Synod,

It may feel a bit early, especially for you preachers and worship planners reading this, for me to be writing about the Year of Mark, which begins Dec. 3, the First Sunday of Advent. I assume I will want to use my next column to write about the trip to our companion synod in Tanzania. So, onto Mark.

Fun fact, we are in the middle of a three-year term in which the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) and Narrative Lectionary share the same gospel. For a great review of the RCL or just the Year of Mark, I highly recommend Gail Ramshaw’s concise A Three-Year Banquet: The Lectionary for the Assembly.

In addition to my own reading of the gospel, which I occasionally need to remind myself is important to both me and those in the assembly to whom I am preaching, I have leaned heavily on two commentaries: the Augsburg Commentary Mark by Don Juel, one of Brian Blount’s early readers of this commentary, and Ched Myers’ Binding the Strong Man.

When I visited the North Central Washington Cluster this summer, I stayed with Rev. Dr. Barbara Rossing and her husband Lauren. I asked Rossing what Mark commentary she might lift up for the synod and she pulled out Brian Blount’s 2014 Go Preach! Mark’s Kingdom Message and the Black Church Today. Like Rossing, I believe this commentary has much to offer our synod today. From the introduction, “It was as though in his preaching Jesus opened up a present pocket of future power that resisted and overwhelmed the boundaries separating Jews from each other and Jews from Gentiles. In Mark’s narrative story, then, Jesus’ preaching was the future kingdom exploding transformatively into the present moment.”

It is so easy to feel overwhelmed and powerless today, but I trust that all of you have had an experience where you experienced one of these pockets. As we prepare for the Year of Mark (which will also include a lot of John—more on that later), consider how you will bring to our context the pockets Jesus points to, Mark writes of, and Blount interprets, as disciples of Jesus today. Who is your favorite Mark scholar? (Kudos to all of you living into the Expanded Advent, which begins Nov. 12.)

Bishop Meggan Manlove  

Lake Institute/Lilly Family School of Philanthropy

(Nov 2023)

In early 2021 I participated in the Lake Institute’s online Certificate in Religious Fundraising. Since then, I have received and read the Institute’s bi-weekly newsletter Insights. From the website, “Lake Institute on Faith & Giving, part of the IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, fosters a deeper understanding of the dynamic relationship between faith and giving, through research, education, and public conversation.

Lake Institute serves as a bridge between the academy and faith-based organizations or networks, and we actively share information and insights in both directions. We conduct and encourage research on faith and giving, shaped by insight from practitioners. We translate research findings into educational programs, resources, and events for practitioners; and we convene key partners and influencers to help move forward public understanding about the nature and importance of faith and giving. We work within and among faith traditions, seeking to reflect and support the diversity of religious expression in the American context.”

- Bishop Meggan Manlove

In Memory

Please remember Virginia Moen and family in prayer as they grieve the passing of Pastor Ron Moen, who died October 24.

A memorial service is planned for

Wednesday, November 15, 11am

St. Paul Lutheran Church in Quincy, WA.

Pr. Moen served congregations in Wisconsin, Montana, and Washington, including St. Paul - Quincy.

Cards may be sent to Virginia Moen in care of St. Paul Lutheran Church, 715 3^rd Ave SE, Quincy, WA 98849.

ELCA Systems Academy

I attended the ELCA Systems Academy at the ELCA Headquarters in Chicago from October 2-4. There were approximately 30 people present, including several bishops. We spent time learning about how we respond to anxiety and the various ways it may show up in our everyday lives. In addition to recognizing it, we learned about ways we might change our behavior and responses in presence of anxiety. 

-Pastor Ann Bjorklund

Greater Spokane Lutheran Campus Ministry

It is a new day and God is shining down on Campus Ministry here in the Spokane area. I know you haven’t heard from us for over a year. It has been a time of transition with Pastor Arianna resigning last year and the closing of Emmanuel Lutheran in Cheney. 

In the last year I, along with our board and colleagues, have re-visioned Campus Ministry into a new direction. We have put together a 3 point “parish” with no real home base, as of yet. Right now, the idea is to have presence not only at EWU but also the University District and Spokane Falls Community College. It is ambitious, but we have found a wonderful Pastor who will be taking on this endeavor, Pastor Emily Kuenker, who comes to us from Logan, UT where she took her first call smack dab in the middle of Covid. She comes to us with a splash of both congregational and campus ministry experience. We hope you will have an opportunity to meet and get to know Pastor Em in the coming months at your churches, area events, or in the community.

I would also like to thank Emmanuel Lutheran for their major gift to the Wells Endowment for Campus Ministry. It was one of a handful of organizations that received some of the money made from the sale of the property.

So, as you can see, we have not left EWU, we have just opened our embrace a little more. And with that open embrace we invite you all to begin, continue, re-up, and/or increase your financial support to what we are currently calling Greater Spokane Lutheran Campus Ministry. We can’t do it without you!!

Pastor Matthew Larson, President GSLCM Council

PS – Please feel free to contact Pastor Emily to welcome her, engage with her, set up a coffee time with her, or you just want to know a little bit more you can do so with this email: revemilykuenker@gmail.com.

Pr. Emily will be installed Sunday, Nov 26, 2023 at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church

Join us for "A Sherlock Carol," a festive gathering filled with laughter, music, and holiday cheer as we celebrate the season in style!

Tickets are available to purchase online: Tickets

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