Report of the Bishop

†S8.12(g)4. [As the synod’s pastor, the bishop shall exercise leadership in the mission of this church and in so doing] submit a report to each regular meeting of the Synod Assembly concerning the synod’s life and work.

I’ve been writing reports for Synod Assembly for over two decades. I do not know how many have read them. I do know that some who have read them have complained about their length. Let’s see whether I can do something about that this year.

Synod as Synod

I leave the detailed fiscals to the treasurer, but you will see that my dire predictions of 2014 have not been realized. That we are still here as a synod must be credited to the continued support of the congregations, to Synod Assembly taking action in 2019 with respect to the budget (with the attendant consequences), and to a good deal of penny pinching.
Synod Council has appropriately raised concern regarding the need for part-time administrative and/or clerical support staffing, and this should be addressed in the coming months.
Continuing education offerings (both what we offer as our own programming and what we share from partner sources) for both clergy and laity are plentiful and varied. These are advertised on our website (http://www.wv-wmd.org/education).
Communications have been frequent through the website, The Bishop’s Roadshow, and Facebook. Resources are regularly being added. If you are not subscribed to The Bishop’s Roadshow (http://wv-wmd.org/contact.html#Roadshow), please subscribe. It is the primary newsletter of the synod.

Congregations & Clergy

Pulpit Vacancies
- Numbers
  - We have 20 congregations that do not have a pastor under letter of call.
  - Of these, 11 are in 3 multiple-point parishes.
  - 1 is in the process of closure.
  - Leaving us 11 calls that are unfilled.
  - Of these 11 unfilled calls, 3 do not have the financial capacity to engage even a half-time call.
  - 4 have capacity for a half-time call but not a full-time call.
  - Leaving us 4 unfilled calls with capacity for a full-time call, assuming it is a first-call.
  - Of those 4 unfilled calls with capacity for full-time call, 2 are stand-alone congregations, 2 represent 7 congregations in 2 multiple-point parishes.
  - Of these unfilled calls, 2 have at least half-time contractual pastoral arrangements.
  - One of these will eventually call a pastor full-time.
  - The other will likely remain in a contractual arrangement for the foreseeable future.
- Clergy Shortage & Congregational Capacity
  - Considerations
    - Even if there were not a clergy shortage, there would be unfilled calls because some congregations lack capacity (and some significantly so) to support a call.
    - At one time we could count on semi-retired clergy to cover fiscally sub-critical congregations, but this is less true in our territory for various reasons.
    - When there is oversupply of clergy, clergy are more likely to take calls in less desirable settings.
    - When there is an oversupply of clergy, clergy are more likely to take what is available.
    - Clergy compensation seems to be outpacing the fiscal capacity of fiscally critical congregations.
    - Health insurance is the major contributor to this inflation.
    - Still, compensation for clergy in WV-WMD is well-below the median compensation in the ELCA.
    - Increases to the base salary in WV-WMD have for the last two years lagged behind the cost of living adjustment.
- Possible trajectories
  - For fiscally sub-critical congregations, the following options present themselves:
    - Merger/consolidation with ecumenical/Lutheran neighbors;
    - New/expanded multiple-point configurations with Lutheran/ecumenical partners;
    - Circuit riding;
    - Perpetual vacancy (i.e., not having a pastor under letter of call);
    - Closure.
  - For fiscally super-critical congregations:
    - Securing preferred pastors by out bidding (e.g., above standard compensation packages, highly favorable working conditions, etc.) other congregations.
  - For fiscally critical congregations (* i.e., those who are able to afford the standard compensation package but could not go much beyond it):
    - “Anxiety drive” (i.e., an unproductive fretting and/or flailing that does little more than make ministry and life together difficult);
    - Denial;
    - “Hoping for a miracle;”
    - Proactive restructuring of ministry.
Reversing the trend of the previous two years, more clergy serving active calls have been added to the roster of the synod than clergy discontinuing in active calls.
Polity is a persistent issue. The ELCA is structured as a representative democracy in both its Churchwide and synodical expressions. The congregational expression is a constitutional direct democracy with an interim limited representative democracy. To make any form of democracy work, one needs people to participate in democratic mechanisms. One also needs some of those participants to be competent to the task. Reports are frequent that it is harder and harder to find people both willing and competent to take up the work of the polity. This is a serious challenge, especially when it undermines a congregation’s ability to govern itself. People are tired. People are busy. People do not feel adequate to the task. People don’t want to be badgered and beaten when they do take up the task. As congregations get smaller, simple math suggests that there will be fewer people to do the work of polity. Even without a major change to the governing documents by Churchwide Assembly, congregations have it within their power to modify many details of their local governance. Rightsizing congregational polity makes sense, but even with this some congregations are at the point (or close to it) that they cannot adequately govern themselves.

Within the context of the broader church

Social Statement Task Force on government, civic engagement, and the relationship of church and state has released a study, and all are invited to use it, providing feedback to the Task Force. The deadline for feedback is 15 October 2023. We have a dedicated webpage with more information (http://www.wv-wmd.org/education/SSTF). I serve on this task force.
Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church convenes this coming July. It is tasked with developing proposals for restructuring of the ELCA with an eye toward a possible reconstituting convention. This is a wide-open process at this point. I have been asked whether the WV-WMD Synod will be eliminated in a restructuring. Maybe. Maybe not. A constitutional revision, if it comes to that, excludes no possibilities. I am happy too meet with congregations who want to talk about this. Again, more information is on a dedicated webpage (http:www.wv-wmd.org/CRLC). Laurel Muhly-Alexander and I have been appointed to this commission.
Reconsideration of bound conscience was ordered by Churchwide Assembly 2022. A reconsideration process reopens the question. It is not a decision one way or another in itself. What comes out could be a recommendation to maintain the status quo. It could be a recommendation to change in some way. It is not something to become exercised over at this moment as this process takes time. It is something, however, that the Synod will need to address in terms of the consequences of any decision made by Churchwide Assembly in the future, for any decision (one way or the other) is likely to provoke response that will require the expenditure of human resources and possibly see a decrease in revenue.

General concerns

I continue to be concerned (as I have been for over seven years) that politics has become the dominant false religion in America. It is a dualistic religion in which one side is the army of light and the other the army of darkness, each easily accusing the other of false worship while unable to see its own tendency to sacrifice to the Moloch of its own choosing. We are more convinced of the things of this world than we are of the things of God. Let us all take up the Large Catechism and reread the explanation of the First Commandment.
Confusion of Law and Gospel accompanied by confusion of the Uses of the Law is frequently heard in conversations. When Law and Gospel become confused, we invariably end up offering a false gospel. When the Uses of the Law become confused, we exchange eternal salvation for a temporal salvation and we exchange delight for coercion.

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