Faithfulness in our time: a Christmas message from the ELCA bishops and synod vice-presidents of Region 2

When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with their flocks,
the work of Christmas begins:
to find the lost,
to heal the broken,
to feed the hungry,
to release the prisoner,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among the people,
to make music in the heart.

 “The Work of Christmas,” from Howard Thurman’s The Mood of Christmas and Other Celebrations

Dear friends in Christ,

In this Christmas season, we pray that you and your loved ones have found moments of true joy and peace in your celebrations. As the world prepares to greet a new year, we also turn to the days ahead in deep prayer and honest pondering. What will this time bring to our neighbors and communities, to our families and our own lives? What will it mean to be the church and engage in the “work of Christmas” now, in the places where we are?

As bishops and elected leaders, we represent more than 500 Lutheran congregations and ministries in Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming. The people of our synods live in cities and small towns, near mountain ranges and ocean tides, in deserts and on prairies. We speak many different languages and carry many different stories: and we are all part of the same body of Christ. As members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, we also share a common theological identity, as people who place our faith and trust in the grace offered freely to all people in Jesus Christ by the God who so loved the world that God become incarnate: sharing our humanity, standing in solidarity with the suffering and oppressed on the cross, and defeating all the powers of sin and death in his resurrection.

As Lutheran followers of Jesus, we are concerned for many of our members and neighbors in our communities and nation, and around the world, who are experiencing a high degree of anxiety in these times, particularly those whose identities put them at risk or make them vulnerable as political targets. Knowing that our church includes people of every political affiliation, still as Christians we are called not simply to “agree to disagree”—but to seek, in faithful discernment, the guidance of the Holy Spirit in loving and serving God and our neighbor according to the example of Jesus.

We do this as we gather to hear the Word proclaimed and share in the Sacraments; and we do this as we are sent out in service to use the gifts God has given us for the vocations to which God has called us: in our work, relationships, and communities. In all that we do—in worship and discipleship, in our striving to share and to be good news for our neighbors—we remember that we do not do this to earn or deserve God’s love: it is already abundantly given to us and to all people. In our worst moments, we ask for forgiveness; and in humility we learn that God’s grace remains. In our best moments, we rejoice; and we realize that it was not us alone, but God acting with and through us—grace upon grace.

As “the work of Christmas begins,” We invite you to join us in participating in the liberating love of God for the world. Whether you are a long-time Lutheran, a first-time wonderer, or somewhere in between, you are welcome: to find life in the grace of God that we receive in the sharing of the Word, the communion table, and the baptismal font; to find belonging in God’s love for you, no matter who or where you are; and to find spaces of spiritual practice and life-giving purpose that can ground you and draw out your gifts for the sake of others.

Our prayers for all the people of our synods, and for all our neighbors, are that we may come to more fully know, and more fully embody, the “good news of great joy for all people” that Jesus brings to our world. May this promised good news of justice, peace, and love truly come to all people in our time!

In Christ,

Bishop Deborah Hutterer
Vice President Barbara B. Carl
Grand Canyon Synod, ELCA

Bishop David Nagler
Vice President Jeff Cours
Pacifica Synod, ELCA

Bishop Meghan Johnston Aelabouni
Vice President Ruth Hoffman
Rocky Mountain Synod, ELCA

Bishop Jeff R. Johnson
Vice President Simon Wong
Sierra Pacific Synod, ELCA

Bishop Brenda Bos
Vice-President Lisa Curtis
Southwest California Synod, ELCA