Derek Chauvin Sentencing
On Friday afternoon I happened to be listening to my radio as a judge in Minneapolis announced the sentence for Derek Chavin -- 22.5 years for the murder of George Floyd. I remember watching with horror and grief portions of the video of Officer Chauvin as he knelt on Floyd's neck for nine plus minutes with his hand in his pocket and a look of indifference on his face.
This tragic event had some personal significance for me, as I was very familiar with the location where George Floyd died, on the corner of Chicago Avenue and East 38th Street in South Minneapolis. I have previously lived in South Minneapolis, about two miles from this site, and have driven past it many times.
Before pronouncing sentence, the Judge, The Honorable Peter Cahill, said this: “The sentence is not based on emotion or sympathy, but at the same time, I want to acknowledge the deep and tremendous pain that all the families are feeling, especially the Floyd family. I’m not going to attempt to be profound or clever because it’s not the appropriate time. I’m not basing my sentence on public opinion. I’m not basing it on any attempt to send any messages.” You can read the entirety of Judge Cahill's sentencing memo HERE.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who led the prosecution of Chauvin, said the sentence is “one of the longest a former police officer has ever received for an unlawful use of deadly force." “It’s difficult to see anybody lose their freedom,” Ellison said after the sentencing. “But seeing someone lose their life through torture [for] over nine and a half minutes is incomparably worse."
After Officer Chauvin was convicted in a Minneapolis courtroom in April, I wrote a pastoral response, which was an attempt to reflect on that event in light of scripture and Lutheran teaching. It was the second to last weekly pastoral message that I wrote and shared with my members at St. John's in Bellevue. You can read that message HERE. What I said in this message about Officer Chauvin's conviction, that "government's authority is most effective when it is applied equally to all citizens," I would also say about his sentencing today.
The ELCA Constitution, which is mirrored in congregational constituions, outlines the responsibilities of pastors who are called to a Ministry of Word and Sacrament. Those responsibilities include preaching the Word, administering the sacraments, conducting public worship, and providing pastor care. The last item in that list of eight resonsibilities says this: "Speak publicly to the world in solidarity with the poor and oppressed, calling for justice and proclaiming God’s love for the world."
I must confess that I don't do this clearly enough and often enough. That's why I chose to quote the hymn that I did in my April 24 message: "Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, serving you whom we adore."
Subject: 2021-2022 Campus Ministry Microgrant Award
Heather forwarded the email below, informing her and Pastor Joshua (Hayes UMC) about a NWOS Microgrant request. Excellent news!
Hi Heather and Pastor Joshua!
I hope you are well! I am excited to share that our Campus Ministry Review team met this evening and were very excited by the dreams and plans you have for campus ministry at Terra State and the surrounding Fremont community for the 2021-2022 school year!
We are very happy to award you the $1500 that you requested and an additional $1000 to support your ministry! A check for $2500 to support your campus ministry will be cut this coming week. As the grant asks that LIFT match anything beyond the $750, we will ask that you match the $750 beyond that for which you originally applied, but the additional $1000 is a gift and does not need to be matched.
The check will be made out to LIFT and will be mailed to 705 W State St Fremont, OH 43420-2535. Please let us know if this information we have on file is incorrect.
So thankful for your ministry!
Calla Gilson
Lead Coordinator of the Discipleship Initiative
Northwestern Ohio Synod, ELCA
5 Confessions of a Pastor about Online Church Attendance
Pastor Carey Nieuwhof is an experienced pastor who publishes lots of helpful information and training pieces for pastors and other leaders in congregational ministry. As we have come back to the building to worship, I must say that I resonate with what Pastor Carey says in this article in which he offers some candid and honest observations about church online, and which you can read about HERE.
ELCA Worship News for June
Your can read this ELCA Newsletter HERE.
Bishop Daniel at Lakeside
This was Lutheran Week at Lakeside for the 100th consecutive year, and Bishop Daniel was the Chaplain for the Week. During my years at St. Peter in Norwalk, our youth group attended the Lutheran Week, living as a family in one of the rental houses and enjoying the activities of Lakeside including Chaplains Hour, shuffleboard, Youth Bible Study, late night devotions, donuts and ice cream cones at The Patio, just to name a few. Bishop Daniel shared some photos and other info in his weekly email, which you can read HERE.
Deacons
What's a deacon? In the congregation where I grew up in Hendricks, Minnesota, we had elected lay leaders called deacons and trustees. I wasn't much involved then to know much about what they did, but I do remember how my dad once explained it: Deacons assist the pastor in doing spiritual things, and trustees help keep finances and the church property on an even keel. The word Deacon comes from the greek word diakonia and simply means "service."
But now, in the ELCA, Deacon refers to someone who has been called and ordained to a ministry of "Word and Service." So a Deacon is now an ordained leader in the church. We don't have lots of them, as most ordained persons in our Church are pastors, ordained to the "Ministry of Word and Sacrament." Ordained Deacons often serve in areas of education, youth ministry, music, and administration. You can read more about this in a 2016 Living Lutheran article which you can find HERE. And it is entirely possible that Grace might someday call an ordained deacon to serve the congregation. In which case you may have to change the designation for those trusted council members who carry the Sunday offering to the safe. Maybe instead of "Deacons," you could call them "Trustees."
Eastern Conference Pastors
On Wenesday I attended the first in-person meeting of the Eastern Conference Pastors since the beginning of the pandemic. We were hosted by Pastor Ann Marshall at St. Peter in Norwalk, so it was fun to return to the place where ministry memories were built from June 1, 1995 - January 5, 2012. However, several of our pastors are still trying to keep a low public profile, a reminder that many of our members are feeling the same way, and certainly an indication that a complete return to a pre-Covid-19 life anytime soon is, perhaps, an unrealistic expectation.
Pastor Matthew Zuehlke's Welcome
A newcomer to our Eastern Conference Pastors meeting yesterday was Rev. Dr. Matthew Zuehlke, who will be welcomed as the pastor for Zion Gibsonburg. Normally, pastors are "installed" in new calls, but Pastor Zuehlke is being "welcomed" because he is not ELCA. He is on loan from the PCUSA (Presbyterian Church USA), and most recently served a UCC (United Church of Christ) congregation. His "Welcome" service will be next Wednesday evening, June 30, at 7:00 pm. You can read the official invitation HERE.
Interim Ministry Zoom Meeting
Today (Friday) I attended a Zoom meeting for ELCA interim pastors, that is an offshoot of the Facebook group Lutheran Interim Pastors (ELCA), of which I am a member. There were about a dozen of us in the meeting, and we are not quite coast to coast, but California and Oregon were represented. These meetings are always helpful, where we can both give and receive whatever kind of support and encourgement that are needed at the time.
