A Baptism With a Global Mission Connection
On June 12, little Hudson Lieb received the sacrament of Holy Baptism at the 10:00 service. This baptism had an ELCA Global Mission Connection. I'll try to explain -- hope I have my facts correct. Little Hudson's mom is Cheryl Lieb, who is the daughter of David and Lisa Sachs. Lisa is the first cousin of Rev. Yoshitaka Franklin Ishida. Franklin's mother, Gloria Bauer Ishida, is from Clyde. Gloria was married for 58 years to Franklin's father, Rev. Dr. Yoshiro Ishida. Dr. Ishida was the former director of the Lutheran World Federation Department for Studies, and died on November 4, 2015, at the age of 87. You can read more about Dr. Ishida's distinguished ministry career in global mission HERE.
The Ishida name has for a long time been familiar to me, probably from various articles in Living Lutheran and predecessor publications, and more recently, Dr. Yoshira and Gloria's son Franklin Ishida's name has appeared occasionally in ELCA related Facebook groups such as ELCA Clergy. Franklin is an ELCA pastor called as program director for Asia Pacific with ELCA Global Mission. You can read several articles written by Rev. Ishida that appeared in Living Lutheran HERE.
After the service on June 12, I had a chance to visit with Hudson's family, including Lisa, who explained the connection with the Ishida family. I used that information to go on Facebook and send a message to Franklin, informing him that I had baptized his first cousin's grandchild. Franklin responded with this message:
Yes, Lisa and I are first cousins (and my mother is from Clyde). And what a wonderful day for Hudson’s baptism, on this feast of the Holy Trinity.
I myself preached at the English worship of a congregation of the Tamil Ev Luth Church in Chennai, India. You should try it sometime, at 6:30 am 😅 (though that means it’s cooler than the 100 degrees midday)
Tomorrow I head into the mountains in NE India near the Myanmar border to check on refugees from the civil war in Myanmar. Lutheran Disaster Response is providing assistance to some thousands of refugees there.
Peace and blessings!
I share this information because, too often, the reach and impact of our Mission Support offerings remains too unknown for not only our faithful members who give generously, but also for us as leaders. We should take every opportunity we have to learn more about the impact our Mission Support has in our synod, and through our national and global outreach ministries.
Dr. Jacqueline Bussie at Lakeside Lutheran Chautauqua
For the past 102 years, Lutherans have gathered for a week during the summer for a time of learning, fellowship, recreation, engaging the arts, and enjoying the beauty of Lake Erie. For all the summers I was at St. Peter in Norwalk, I accompanied our high school youth who stayed the week at Lakeside and took in all that Lakeside had to offer. An inportant part of our week was attending the Chaplain's Hour in Hoover Auditorium. During Lutheran Chautauqua week, the Lutherans recruited the speaker for the week, many known nationally.
This year's speaker was Dr. Jacqueline Bussie, formerly a religion professor at Capital University and Concordia College Moorhead, and recently installed as Executive Director at the Collegeville Institute, Collegeville, Minnesota. You can read all about Dr. Bussie and her role at Collegeville HERE.
Dr. Bussie spoke movingly about grief, love, and faith. One of her books that she spoke about writing and from which she quoted was Love Without Limits.
I attended Dr. Bussie's sessions beginning at 9:00 am from Monday through Friday. Next year's speaker will be Michael Adam Beck. Our synod has brought him to NW Ohio to lead sessions on Fresh Expressions, new ways for congregations to proclaim the gospel beyond the wall of the church. Possibly a place to bring Grace of LIFT youth next summer.
Council Installation
Don't forget that Congregation Council members will be installed at all three services this weekend. Will happen after the sermon and Hymn of the Day.
