Dear Partners in Mission:
On an unseasonably warm day in Minneapolis we installed our new Presiding Bishop, the Rev. Yehiel Curry. This was a history making event as I believe Bishop Curry is the youngest presiding bishop ever elected. He also is the first black person elected presiding bishop by the ELCA. He is however not, as I noted in a previous post, the first black presiding bishop of a Lutheran denomination in the United States. Regardless, as the first person of color to be presiding bishop of the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States this was an historic and ground breaking day.
Bishop Curry is also the first presiding bishop to have been ordained through the TEEM (Theological Education for Emerging Ministries). Beginning as a lay mission developer in Chicago and growing that ministry, being ordained, and then elected bishop. In him I believe we have a bishop who is a pastor and mission developer first, and that gives me great encouragement.
The worship service was of course grand and beautiful. We gathered in Central Lutheran-Minneapolis. An inspiring worship space I had not been in since Kendra and my graduation from Luther Seminary decades ago. In addition to the worship service, which you can watch here, it was also a time to connect with folks from across the church and see some current and former NT-NL Synod, ELCA folks. Joy to see Edy and Ingrid, Avery (who worked at Briarwood and is in her 3rd year of Seminary), former Synod council member Shirley, Pastor Mallory, and Franz and Ann (along with Dr. Barbara Rossing and the 1st female bishop in the ELCA April Ullring Larson). And I spotted in the choir Zach, a young man from my first call in Wisconsin who I was privileged to encourage to pursue church music.
Bishop Curry has called upon us as church to focus on connection. To find ways we can better connect with one another and do the mission of the church together. As he is so new to this role I didn’t have the heart to tell him we in NT-NL have been working that for years. We have focused on being #Juntosenmision #InMissionTogether for almost a decade. This is our song and we look forward to singing it with Bishop Curry as he leads the church and particularly the churchwide organization in new ways of vitality and relevance for our congregations. For without the congregations of our church, there is no need for synods, churchwide, or bishops.
While in Minneapolis I took the opportunity to get some exercise and jogged over from our hotel to the US Bank Stadium. Where in 2027 (June 28-July 2) we will be having the mass gatherings for our ELCA Youth Gathering. If you haven’t yet, you should be planning and connecting with your youth who can attend. There will be a bishop’s group for those congregations with 3 or fewer youth and no adult sponsor. And the Briarwood Legacy Endowment will again provide significant support so no young person who wants to attend cannot do so for financial reasons.
It is an energizing time to be the church. Please pray daily for Bishop Curry in his work and as always you are in my prayers and I give thanks for yours.
In Christ,
Bishop Gronberg