It is our privilege, at Gloria Dei, to be hosting the Installation of the Fourth Bishop of the Southwestern Washington Synod.
Bishop Keith Marshall will be installed on October 11th, at 2:00pm by Bishop Yehiel Curry, Presiding Bishop of the ELCA. This worship service will bejoy filled as Bishop Keith makes promises about working on behalf of the congregations of the Southwestern Washington Synod. YOU are welcome to attend! Gloria Dei will also need a host of volunteers, so if you’re interested in volunteering, let me know.
Important Note: The building will be closed to all other building use on 10/11.
Friends, it is such a joy for us to be hosting this event and it’s not unprecedented for us. We’ve hosted other Bishop’s installations here and what an honor it is to do so.
I understand my call as a Pastor to serve in this order:
+ First, I serve the Triune God, in speaking words of truth and justice and peace and love and grace in a public manner.
+ Second, I serve the whole Church. We are better together (as most people and things are) and we have things to offer one another and ways to be supportive of the work of other manifestations of the Church. This includes our denomination and our synod. This includes othercongregations and other denominations and other synods.
+ Finally, I serve among you, God’s beloved people at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Olympia. If my call to ministry were a garment, you are the ‘button’ that pulls it all together and keeps it all in place. What a gift that is. I am grateful for our lifetogether every day.
It also means that I understand that some of my ministry is spent in support of the work of the larger Church and the synod, which is why I have always served on a variety of synodical committees, teams, and task forces. This work of the larger church is something of a reflection of the work of a congregation, and the work of our congregation.
You, as a member of this beloved community, find a place here to worship, to pray, to learn, to gather at tables. In turn, you find places here to offer your gifts in service to the world and in service to the Church.
My encouragement to you is to be in discernment about where your gifts meet the needs of this congregation. There are a number of committees, teams, and task forces that work to keep the ministry of this place going. Would your gifts be of use on one of those? Do you have a gift for art or woodworking or music or care of others? There are places for you at Gloria Dei! Do you sing or play and instrument? Do you like to garden? Do you enjoy reading to children?
Our traditional Ministry Fair will move to later in the program year to give us an opportunity to fully engage together in the possibilities for ministry that are present in this place. But you don’t have to wait to get involved! I encourage you to read this Intercom, the E-News, and the Yellow Pages to get a sense of where you might find a spot and space for service.
This month we will welcome new members on Reformation Sunday, October 26th. On the same day we will participate in the Rite of Affirmation of Baptism (aka Confirmation). One of my favorite lines from A Mighty Fortress (some call this the Lutheran Fight Song) is found in this verse:
Were they to take our house, goods, honor, child,
or spouse, though life be wrenched away,
they cannot win the day.
The kingdom’s ours forever.
Certainly there is a new poignancy in this verse this year, but it is a long held truth. Nothing separates us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Because of that, it is both a duty and delight to give back to the One who has given so lavishly.
I look forward to seeing you in Church, on Sunday, on Wednesday evenings, at Bishop Keith’s Installation, on Reformation Sunday. It is a good thing when God’s people gather.
Faithfully,
+Pastor Julie
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