ELECTING A BISHOP FOR THE OREGON SYNOD

Dear Members of Oregon Synod Congregations,
Soon we will elect a new bishop at the Oregon Synod Assembly. We have been preparing for this election with a process of public conversation and discernment.

That process has three phases. Last year, in Phases One and Two, people gathered to talk about the office of bishop and the unique challenges of ministry in the Pacific Northwest. Phase Three began this year with congregations lifting up names of pastors who might be considered for bishop.

Now we’re ready for the final step in Phase Three: discernment about the gifts and priorities some of those pastors might bring to the bishop’s office.

This document has been created by the Bishop’s Election Task Force to help you and your congregation in that discernment. It includes two main parts:

1. Suggestions on how to structure conversation for discernment; and
2. Biographical information about some pastors who might be nominated for bishop at the Synod Assembly.

It is important to remember that the pastors whose information appears in this document are not nominees for the office of bishop . Nominations will be made at the Synod Assembly. Any ELCA clergy person is eligible to be nominated.

This document is a resource to help sort through some of the values, priorities, aims, and aspirations that we might invest in our bishop. It is a tool to prepare participants for electing a bishop at the 2007 Synod Assembly. By gathering prior to the Assembly to discuss the gifts and priorities some pastors might bring to the office of bishop, we will be better prepared to evaluate those pastors who are nominated at the Assembly.

If voting members wish to use this document as a guide at the Assembly, they should print copies of this document and bring them to the Assembly.

We trust that the Holy Spirit is leading and guiding us in this process of public conversation, as well as in the election process that will unfold at the Assembly. May God bless us in our prayers, in our discernment, and in our faithful choices as we elect a new bishop for the Oregon Synod.

The Bishop’s Election Task Force :Ron Pittman (Chair), Brian Brandt, Laurie Larson Caesar, Dennis Douglass, Bonny Groshong, Tim Herzfeld-Kamprath, Susan Kintner

• Bishop's Election Task Force (BETF)
  The Oregon Synod has begun a discernment process in preparation for electing our next bishop. We have asked the Holy Spirit to guide us. Bishop Swanson has asked congregations of the Oregon Synod to enter a season of prayer as part of this discernment.
  
  Discernment Document
  The BETF has now released a "Discernment Document" containing
  information about pastors willing to be considered for bishop.
  Suggestions about how to structure a discernment
  conversation using this information is also provided. It is important to remember that the pastors whose information appears in this document are not nominees for bishop. Nominations will be made at the Oregon Synod Assembly using an eccliastical ballot; any ELCA clergy person is eligible to be nominated.
  
  Download PDF of the Discernment Document.
  
  SUGGESTIONS TO HELP STRUCTURE CONVERSATION FOR DISCERNMENT
  The Bishop’s Election Task Force believes each pastor knows best how to guide this work in their own church. So we offer suggestions, not rules, to help structure conversation for discernment as we prepare to elect a new bishop.

  1. Either large or small group gatherings could work equally well. If at all possible, it would be good to include the voting members who will represent your congregation at the Synod Assembly, so they can be shaped by God through this conversation and reflection.

  2. After prayer, you might begin by briefly recounting the steps of the synod’s public process that have brought us to this event; and by stating the aim of this day’s gathering. Such orientation helps focus the group.

  3. One activity suggested for the previous round of discernment (lifting up names) was to have groups do brain-storming about what values were at stake in this election, and what gifts and skills a bishop might need to honor those values. If you have a list of those values, gifts, and skills, we suggest you use that information to help reflect on comparable data given for each of the pastors whose information appears in this document.

  4. Review your list of values, gifts, and skills. Identify the ones that seem primary; likewise, identify the ones that seem secondary. This will help the group focus on what is most important to them. If you do not have such a list, we suggest that you try to identify these things now.

  5. Write these values, etc., on a white-board or some other medium that will help the group refer back to them easily.

  6.Then have your group work through the pastors’ biographical information provided in this resource. The intent is to identify those pastors who seem best to uphold the values, etc., most important to your group. You may wish to divide the whole group into sub-groups and assign different sub-sets of the biographical entries to different sub-groups. This would minimize time for silent study and leave more time for group discussion.

  7.Once those pastors have been identified, write their names where the whole group can see them. You may wish to make a grid chart with the series of values, etc., listed along one axis, and the pastors’ names listed along the other axis. Or you might wish to use one large piece of flip-chart paper for each value or each pastor, preparing for the following steps.

  8.Remember to remind the group that the pastors whose information appears in this document are not nominees for the office of bishop. Nominations will be made at the Synod Assembly. Any ELCA clergy person is eligible to be nominated for bishop of the Oregon Synod.

  9. Then begin discussion. You might focus on the values, etc., that have been listed, and then ask which pastors seem most likely to support those values. On the other hand, you could begin by focusing on the pastors, and asking which values, etc. each one seems most strongly to uphold. On the flip-chart paper or in the open spaces of the grid, make notes to show how persons and values fit together.

  10.Finally, review the group’s discussion and notes. You might consider asking questions like the following:

   

  A. What conclusions can be drawn, if any?
  B. What values, skills, and gifts have emerged as non-negotiable for this group, and which could be left aside if necessary?
  C. Which of the pastors identified, if any, seem especially likely to uphold the group’s most cherished values and aspirations?

  11. Consider closing with a prayer of thanksgiving for the ministry of Bishop Swanson and a prayer seeking God’s guidance and blessing in the election of our next bishop. You might also consider praying for the pastor and the lay voting members from your congregation who are charged with the responsibility of casting ballots in the election process.

  ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
  The Bishop’s Election Task Force got numerous requests that results from last fall’s “Phase Two” cluster events be made known. Below is a list summarizing feedback from those events. We present this information in the hope that it may be helpful in your discernment. The items below are not ranked in any particular order of significance.

  A. The bishop should have a prominent public presence, i.e., show up as a public figure expressing the commitments and values of Lutheran Christianity in news media and various civic events.

  B. The bishop should focus on mission outreach, and should therefore understand the challenges of Pacific Northwest and post-modern culture.

  C. The bishop should be able to help pastors develop new approaches for ministry. The bishop should be a servant leader modeling the Christian life.

  D. The bishop should be willing to consider a variety of plans for reorganizing synodical governance structures.

  E. The bishop should work to develop closer relationships among congregations.

  F. The bishop should have strong conflict resolution skills.

  G. The bishop should have strong communication skills.
  
  Download PDF of the suggestions for conversation and discernment
  
  If you have any questions, please contact the Chairman of the 
  Bishop's election Task Force, Mr. Ron Pittman, 503-472-7270, 
  pittmanr@onlinemac.com