Bishop as Unifier and Diversifier
We will elect our next bishop in only 8 weeks. Assembly registration is strong. People have been lifting up names. Pastors have been discerning the call. I have been writing about the role of bishop. Today I want to talk about unity and diversity.
Bishops are called to tend to the unity of the church. We are called to be bridge-builders who bring people together around our common faith, regardless of our differences. We must encourage people to work together, even when they don’t understand one another. The Reformation words of Rupertus Meldinius spell it out:
In essentials, unity.
In non-essentials, liberty.
In all things, love.
It would serve us well to remember that the Creeds and Confessions outline our essentials. Beyond that, people of good will disagree about things. We must call them to remain at the table and work together in the vineyard, even when they disagree. When there is conflict the bishop is often called to intervene. This is a challenge, because when the bishop comes in, the anxiety goes up. Also, if a mediation goes off the rails, the bishop has to adjudicate. So, we often put together listening teams to help with reconciliation. Often, just listening to people opens up the dialog and suggests ways forward.
Part of tending the unity of the church is ecumenism. Jesus prayed that his church would be one. We must always be in dialog with Christians from other traditions. We have years of dialogs with Roman Catholics, Orthodox, Disciples of Christ and others. The bishop participates in these dialogs and raises awareness among church leaders. We have full communion partnerships with Episcopalians, Methodists, Presbyterians, UCC, Moravians, and more. The bishop tends these relationships. In full-communion relationship, we exchange pastors and in some cases deacons. Locally, judicatory leaders meet from time to time to tend the unity of the church, dialog, and speak with one voice when we can.
Another form of unity is within the global Lutheran communion. Every synod has a relation with one or more Lutheran church bodies elsewhere in the world. Our global companions are the Lutheran Church of Peru and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Central African Republic. The bishop tends these relationships. Like most of the work of the bishop, this work can be led by staff, but the bishop is always involved at some level.
The bishop is called to lead the mission of this church. The mission is the proclamation of the gospel to the people in southeast Texas and southern Louisiana. As such, this is a call to diversity. 50% of the people in Houston speak Spanish. 50% of the people in New Orleans are African American. This means our ministry must be carried out with and for them, as well as all the rest with their various backgrounds. The heart of a bishop is directed toward those who are poor, marginalized, or struggling in any way. It is the call of the bishop to speak with and for the people. This is a call to diversity. It is a call to equity. It is a call for inclusion.
Unity is not uniformity. Unity is being together in the essentials and giving liberty in all other matters (adiaphora). Diversity does not threaten unity. It strengthens it, just as a woven pattern strengthens a tapestry. It strengthens it, just as cross-pollination strengthens the strain of a crop. My prayer is that our next bishop will be passionate about unity, partnership, dialog, and cooperation, and that the followers of Jesus might come together when and where we can so that the world might
20 “I ask not only on behalf of these but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
John 17:20-21