Bishop's Sabbatical Report

Bishop's Sabbatical Report

2006 Sabbatical Report
July-September

As I conclude my sabbatical, I want to express my deep appreciation to the Northwestern Ohio Synod, the Synod Council, Synod Vice-President Craig Klopfleisch, Acting Bishop Ray Gottschling and to the Synod staff for making it possible. What follows is a brief report with respect to how I have used this time.

I. Where I Have Been

July 10-14 – Gethsemani Abbey, Kentucky
This personal retreat, held at a Trappist Monastery, offered opportunity for silence and prayer, some things I greatly needed as the sabbatical began. During the retreat I was drawn to participate in the daily seven “hours” of community prayer, which provided opportunity to hear the Scriptures and to pray the Psalms. It felt good to be known only as a retreatant. Opportunity for quiet thought/meditation, prayer, walking, reading and journaling proved most refreshing. However, I confess that I was ready for some conversation by the end of the retreat!

July 20-31 – West Coast Family Gathering
I am one of 10 siblings. Every three years we gather together with our families for a week some place in the United States. This year we traveled to Seattle to celebrate the wedding of a nephew and then headed south to Waldport, Oregon for a week together on the ocean. A day of “crabbing” and a day of deep sea fishing were particularly delightful. The opportunity to walk along the beach, to take hikes and to simply be a husband, father and uncle proved wonderful indeed.

August 1-8 – Holden Village
Holden Village is, perhaps, one of the most well-known Lutheran Retreat Centers. Its focus includes daily evening prayer (Vespers) and an accent on environmental issues and matters related to peace and justice. It is located in the Cascade Mountains of central Washington. One needs to take a boat ride for 17 miles on Lake Chelan and then take a 13-mile bus ride through the mountains to get to Holden. While there, one can choose from a variety of workshops/conferences and also choose to hike any of a number of trails. It features fresh bread, a largely vegetarian menu and great ice cream. The one daily requirement is for retreatants to participate in Evening Prayer.

In addition to attending a variety of lectures, I particularly enjoyed the daily Bible studies led by the Rev. Dr. Barbara Rossing, Professor at the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago. She is author of the recently published book, The Rapture Exposed. She lectured and led discussion on the topic, “The Bible, Ecology, and the Last Times.” I also participated in daily workshops on the Middle East led by Jonathan Frerichs, a staff person for the Middle East from the World Council of Churches who was on the staff of Lutheran World Relief in the same territory for many years.

While at Holden, Heidi and I took great delight in hiking in the mountains to some particularly beautiful and isolated lakes.

As we made our way back to the airport in Seattle, we did so by way of Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainer where we enjoyed several more days of good hiking.

August 11-14 – Convocation for Teaching Theologians
On Aug. 11, I traveled to St. Peters, Minnesota to attend the Convocation for Teaching Theologians at Gustavus Adolphus College. I was one of two bishops who participated in this gathering of about 70 Lutheran theologians who teach at our seminaries, colleges and universities and a number of secular universities. Most of the presentations related to the topic of the central Lutheran theological theme of “Justification by Faith in Jesus Christ.”

When asked by a theologian concerning why I would come to this event during my Sabbatical, I offered the quick response that it was an easy decision. Because the ELCA covered the cost for my participation, the price was right! More importantly, I find it to be pure joy to renew acquaintances, to meet theologians who care about the Church and teaching young people. I think that theology matters and relish opportunities to engage in theological reflection

August 16-20 – Backpacking in the Porcupine Mountains
When my son, Adam, heard that I was taking a Sabbatical, he challenged me to join him for several days of backpacking, something we had not done together for about 12 years. We agreed to do so in the Porcupine Mountains in the Upper Peninsula on the shores of Lake Superior. While driving north, I kept saying to myself, “Why am I doing this? This is stupid. My back will never hold up. I’m too old for this. Why didn’t I invite him to come to northwest Ohio and go hiking in Oak Openings?”

In fact, this trip proved to be a wonderful experience that combined good backpacking (we covered about 22 miles in three days), and re-connecting with Adam, a veteran back-packer, a good theologian and a caring son.

September 8-12 – Connecting with Folk Who Have Shaped Me
The purpose of this trip was to “check-in” with my mother who is in a nursing home in St. Louis, with three sisters and families in that area. I also was able to touch bases with two mentors – the Rev. Dr. Ed Schroeder, a theological mentor, and the Rev. Dr. Arthur Strege, supervising pastor for my “field work” in seminary days and who was Senior Pastor in the context where I served as Associate Pastor for 13 years. On the way to St. Louis, I stopped in Indianapolis for “mutual consolation and conversation,”with the Rev. Dr. Steve Albertin, a seminary classmate and dear friend and confidante. As one might expect, all of these visits were “rich.”

And In-Between
The sabbatical days provided opportunity for a number of tent-camping trips with Heidi, reading, tending my flowers, being a neighbor, cleaning house, cooking supper for the “working” women of my home (that would be wife, Heidi, and daughter, Rachel!), and watching the Cardinals and Tigers collapse at the end of the regular season. One Sunday I enjoyed worshipping with a local Greek Orthodox congregation where I learned that our services are really not all that long!

II. Some Observations

Throughout the sabbatical, I was largely “out of the loop” with respect to matters of the Synod. There were only a small number of exceptions. A number of folk got through to me for letters of reference/recommendation. One Sunday I visited Advent, Sylvania, to welcome a new colleague to our synod. Of course, I was informed of health concerns related to Pam Jacobs, a member of our Synod Support Staff, and made a number of telephone calls and personal visits. Towards the end of the Sabbatical, I chose to accept the invitation to preside at the funeral of beloved colleague and friend, the Rev. Erv Walther, on Monday, Sept. 25.

Being “out of the loop” was really important to the possibility of maximizing this Sabbatical. Confidence in the Lord of the Church, in Synod leadership, Acting Bishop Ray Gottschling and the Synod staff made that a possibility. I confess now that I needed this sabbatical and probably should have taken it several years ago. By the time I began the Sabbatical, I was feeling physically, emotionally and spiritually depleted. My proverbial “well” was getting low and I was experiencing some days of great discouragement and fatigue. Candidly, for the first weeks of the Sabbatical, I had little desire to read anything related the Church, this church, or theology in general. For the first month to six weeks, I would feel a heaviness descend upon me when some knowledge of church difficulties or problems made their way through to me (not through staff).

Prior to the Sabbatical, when asked, I would describe this sabbatical as being one of “low expectations.” I admit to frequently pushing hard and setting too many goals for myself. I did not want to approach this sabbatical in that manner. I think that I have largely accomplished most of what I hoped would take place. I had hoped to write about personal experiences in life and in the church that have shaped my theology and leadership. I only did a little of that. I also did not do quite as much journaling as I’d hope. Finally, I’d hope to visit a number of non-Lutheran parishes. On a number of Sundays I chose to worship with my wife (and family) in our home parish instead of “going on the road.”

I am pleased to report that I do feel refreshed by the Sabbatical. It proved a bit ironic that, despite my fears, I felt no back pain for the first time in a number of years after backpacking. It has been good to get back in touch with family members on a deeper level. Daily exercise and relaxed time for prayer and meditation and reading have been a precious gift. Importantly, I can say that I am looking forward to re-engaging in my calling.

III. A Concern or Two

As a bishop, I reluctantly confess that I have not figured out how to maximize “mini-sabbaticals” and providing sufficiently for “filling the well” while seeking to fulfill this calling. I was better at doing that as a parish pastor. The expectations for this calling are personal, relational, legal, local, ecumenical, national and international and “the stakes are high” with respect to this church’s life and witness. I also confess to having “high expectations” for myself, for the Synod staff, for rostered and lay leadership and for this synod and this church. The result is that I know myself to be vulnerable to physical, emotional and spiritual depletion.

I do believe that Jesus is Lord of the Church, and that the Church and this church are in his care. Yet I take most seriously my calling to this office and to be a servant of the Lord.

A growing edge for the next years will be for me to utilize the promises our Lord Jesus gives us with respect to the Church and to those who are called to service and to actualize those promises in stewarding my personal resources (spiritually, physically and emotionally) as I serve in this office. I give thanks to God for the prayers of many in this synod, for faithful colleges and for the many individuals who help me with such stewardship. Please know my deep gratitude for this sabbatical to help with that stewardship process.

Some Good Books Read During The Sabbatical

Buechner, The Magnificent Defeat
Duncan, The Brothers K
Friedman, The World Is Flat
Glass, Three Junes
Hunter, Discovering Your Windows
Lischer, The End of Words
McCaughrean, The Kite Rider
Rossing, The Rapture Exposed
Russert, Big Tim and Me
Sanders, Staying Put
Wiesel, Night

And a great DVD… The Gospel of John