The Peace and Grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, esteemed, lay and ordained Lutheran siblings. May the Spirit guide your hearts and minds as you embark in the culmination of this amazing spiritual discernment process with the celebration of this historical synod assembly.
God’s everlasting love and grace will continue to heal, renew and call us into ventures and trails we’ve yet to travel, amidst the rapid and dramatic ways in which the world around us continues to change. It is with resilient sisterhood and brotherhood that we must help each other during these difficult times, to be faithful, trust, and follow the movement of the Spirit, be humble, love mercy and practice justice together.
As your ecumenical partner from the Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement, I am grateful to God for calling me to serve among you, and to Bishop Egensteiner for his foresight and invitation.
Epiphany 2020 marked the beginning of my journey as Assistant to the Bishop. I have since served nine conferences across the synod. I currently serve seven conferences comprised of 51 congregations. Twenty-four are served by regular call pastors and 28 are in vacancy, served by transitional pastors, with 14 relying on stipendiary pastoral coverage.
Most of my time has focused on securing the pastoral care and oversight of congregations in vacancy, by completing the process and executing the Bishop’s appointments of Intentional Interims, Interims, Term Call, and Coverage Pastors. The other aspect of this part of this exciting call is guiding the spiritual discernment and hard work that so many amazing lay leaders take on at the ground level, as congregational councils, transition teams, and call committees during the lengthy Transition and Call process. All throughout our precious synod, I have humbly accompanied, guided, prayed, and witnessed this journey culminating in the elections of settled pastors.
I have also met with the anguish of declining congregations that resist the process ,and default to survival modes that do not enable them to fully embrace the congregation’s cycle of life. Oftentimes it is displayed in unhealthy and hurtful ways toward those of us who are sent as fellow disciples to accompany them in finding new and gracious pathways.
The traditional models of doing church are no longer sustainable in so many places. I wholeheartedly believe that developing sound, respectful, and close ecumenical relationships among full communion partners is a key factor in meeting the gospel imperatives of this new emerging era. The other essential pathway is for declining congregations to seriously discern joining with one another in creative collaborations that will contextualize vibrant regional ministries that honor the legacy of aging congregations, while engaging in missional endeavors aligned with the demographic shifts on the ground.
The definition of faith as the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1), strengthens and encourages us to trust God and each other, and to find joy and excitement in following the Spirit as she reveals how she will once again, guide the church anew.
New emerging trends are unfolding rapidly across the MNYS that require us to learn, to face our fears and challenges, and discern new creative and innovative ways and opportunities for doing church and outreach differently. This means taking risks never taken before, with compassion and diligence; opening ourselves up to being vulnerable is very hard in today’s society, but it helps to remind us that obedience to one of God’s requirements is to be humble before God, to let go and let God be God. Part of facing and overcoming our fears is to name, accept, and mourn what was but no longer is, turning to God as we transition and absorb God’s love, transforming us into a new creation for such a time as this.
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.
While frustration abounds as demographic shifts continue to rapidly change the landscape, the groundwork for missional opportunities and enterprises loudly points to the need for a makeover, and for a radical response to equipping a new generation of leaders for contextual ministries aligned with this new age. I have continued to identify and conveyed some of the realities faced by pastors at the margins, ministering to them as I experience and speak my own truths as a Puerto Rican, Latine Woman Priest from the Episcopal Branch of the Jesus Movement serving among you.
I articulate, whenever possible, the urgency to develop and re-develop Latinx Ministries using best practice models that are empowering, and focus on the urgent need for equipping Latine, Black and Asian lay leaders, to raise them from the ground up. Another urgent need is for the raising of Latinx, Black, and Brown pastors—as well as the setting apart of well-equipped Latinx, Black, and Brown synodical deacons.
I am forever grateful to Bishop Egensteiner for appointing me as the Coordinator of the Bronx Strategy. As such, I have poured out my theologically-based vision and ideas informed by deep prayer and many years of professional experience, directing non-profit community-based organizations, and a relentless yearning for reparative justice. As someone who has lived, worked, and served in the Bronx for decades, this work has been very exciting and life-giving. It embodies the MNYS values and leadership call for a renewed Lutheran witness. The Spirit is ushering us into the next chapter of the Jesus Movement, a call for us to be “all hands on deck.” So, beloved, do not fear, but believe! Following Jesus is always Pa’lante!