Happy Lutheran

I had a really wonderful experience last weekend that managed to be both wonderfully uplifting and break my heart a little bit.

I was privileged to be able to represent Wartburg Seminary at the consecration of the new bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy land, Bishop Imad Haddad (pictured above). He was a former student when I was still teaching at United Lutheran Seminary, and we reconnected at Churchwide assembly last summer. There, he invited me to attend his consecration, and really encouraged me to come. That conversation, combined with the fact that we have two Palestinian students at Wartburg whom I really admire and care about (and I knew I would be able to see their family while I was there), helped make up my mind to attend.

So, I rolled up my red stole, alb and some clergy shirts, and flew to Tel Aviv for the first time since 2012, ready to dive into the events of the weekend. I had the day free on Saturday to wander around the Old City and visit the Israeli museum, which I really enjoyed. My hotel was nice, and a 30 minute walk from the City, which was perfect.

Official events kicked off on Sunday morning. We were invited to meet at 1:30 at the Jaffa Gate, where we would process with the bishop-elect to Redeemer Lutheran Church, where the consecration service would be held. We were told we would be led by “scouts”–I wasn’t sure what that meant, but was eager to find out.

I quickly ran into some good friend who were with another group, and as we were waiting, the crowd kept getting bigger and bigger, and I continued to meet friends old and new. There was a good contingent of ELCA bishops, including ELCA Presiding Bishop Curry, and there was wonderful global representation as well. I had a lovely conversation with the current Bishop of Oslo, Sunniva Gylver, a former Wartburg exchange student, and it was so heartening to hear her talk about how powerful her experience at Wartburg was for her own understanding of her ministry. And I also ran into Moritz, a former exchange student from the Augustana in Germany! He is a delightful human, and that was a great surprise. I met pastors from different churches in Germany, the Netherlands, and other parts of the world as well. It was a wonderful collection of representatives from around the global Lutheran Communion, all gathered for one purpose: we were all there to support this small but mighty church and its new bishop, and to show solidarity with the Palestinian Christians who are experiencing such hardships in the current political moment.

As we were talking, the scouts finally arrived, and it turned out they were also a marching band, including bagpipes, and the first song they played was Jingle Bells! We heard that multiple times, along with Joy to the World and other Christmas songs, as we processed through the Old City into the church.

The service itself was joyful and long, as might be expected, and the church was packed. The whole day was hopeful and encouraging; and the next day, in our audience with the new bishop, he told us how much our presence meant to him and to his people. He said we had embodied accompaniment by being there and showing up; and it reminded me once again about the importance of presence.

I said that my heart broke a little bit as well; one of the reasons for that was that Bishop Imad told us that not only did he have to wait two hours at the checkpoint to get into Jerusalem, but his mother almost didn’t make it. She had to wait four hours, and there was one point where one of the guards threatened to shoot her if she didn’t leave the checkpoint. She persisted, and through a flurry of phone calls and connections, she was finally able to get through. This, the mother of the new bishop, who was being consecrated that day! It was another vivid example of the daily hardships the Palestinians face and the uncertainty that so dominates daily life.

In our conversation time Monday morning, Bishop Imad stressed the importance of our unity, our network, and the need to share stories with one another. The General Secretary of the LWF, Rev. Dr. Anne Burghardt, reminded us of something one of her predecessors said, which is often repeated [and I am paraphrasing here]: there is no church so rich and so large that it cannot receive gifts from another, and there is no church so poor and so small that it cannot give gifts to another. While Bishop Imad did not shy away from acknowledging that monetary support is needed, he also emphasized that we have much to give and learn from one another. “We are not a poor church,” he said, “we are rich.” And, having been there, we all knew exactly what he meant. We are partners in the gospel.

I would be remiss if I didn’t end with the sheer joy I experienced being with my student’s family Monday afternoon. We spent time in Bethlehem and I particularly enjoyed getting to know his young niece. It was nice to not feel like a tourist for a few hours, and to get a more intimate perspective on the current situation–as hard as it is to hear. He also took me to one of his friend’s shops, where I was able to buy a beautiful white stole for the Christmas season–a perfect purchase from Bethlehem!

Presence. Connections. Sharing Stories.

I am so glad I made the trip.