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03/03/2019

Bishops Call Process Discernment Letter

 

To the beloved children of God in the Southern Ohio Synod of the ELCA,

Stronger and Better Together…On Our Way, the 2019 Southern Ohio Synod Assembly, will take place at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio from Friday, June 7 to Saturday, June 8, 2019. Our time as assembly will include much fruitful discernment, deliberation and decision-making about the many ministries of the Southern Ohio Synod. Part of this work together will involve calling a Bishop of the Southern Ohio Synod through the process of ecclesiastical election to serve a six-year term as outlined in the Southern Ohio Synod’s Governing Documents. To strengthen and improve the process outlined in our governing documents, the Call Process Task Force for the 2019 Bishop Election has developed with the advice and consent of the Southern Ohio Synod Council a process that has three primary focuses: 1) Discernment, 2) Deliberation, and 3) Decision-making.

The Discernment Process which informally begins alongside the release of the registration for the 2019 Southern Ohio Synod Assembly invites all members of an ELCA and Southern Ohio Synod Congregation into a four phase discernment process.

  • The first phase of the process starts on Ash Wednesday, March 6, 2019 and concludes on Friday, April 26, 2019 with the main focus being Discernment. The task force has created devotional materials for members of the Southern Ohio Synod to reflect upon with respect to calling a Bishop and strengthen this discernment. These materials invite each person to consider our work as Many Members, One Body in Christ. Materials are available on the Southern Ohio Synod Assembly website at http://bit.ly/ELCA-SOSAssembly or by request by calling Susan Barton-Nonno at 614.464.3532, extension 5.

Within this first phase of the process on April 2, 2019, members of congregations and congregations of the Southern Ohio Synod will get the opportunity to start submitting the names of any ordained minister on the roster of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America who they request to complete a discernment form. (Please note: Requesting the completion of a discernment form does not mean the individual will be nominated on the First Ballot at Synod Assembly. Nominations are not official until the First Nominating Ballot in the ecclesiastical process.)

On April 26th, this first phase of the process will conclude. Requests for names to complete Congregational Discernment Forms are due to the Synod Office by the end of the day local Synod time.

  • The second phase of the process starts on Saturday, April 27, 2019 and concludes on Friday, May 10, 2019 with the main foci being Discernment and Deliberation. The task force has created devotional materials for the members of the Southern Ohio Synod to continue reflecting upon with regards to calling a Bishop and has created devotional materials for individuals whose names have been requested to complete a discernment form to begin reflecting upon whether God is calling them to consider nomination on the First Ballot at the 2019 Southern Ohio Synod Assembly. These materials specifically invite each person to consider our Many Gifts, One Body of Christ.

Within this second phase of the process, individuals and congregations will continue to discernment through devotions. Individuals whose names are requested to submit a discernment form will have the opportunity to reflect upon whether God is calling them to consider nomination on the First Ballot. If an individual discerns to consider nomination on the First Ballot, the task force will provide them with a discernment form to complete by May 10. If an individual discerns to not consider nomination on the first ballot, the members of the congregation and/or the congregation will be advised of their discernment.

On May 10, this second phase of the process will conclude. All discernment forms are due to the Synod Office by the end of the day local Synod time. Discernment forms turned in after this deadline will not be included in the release of the bulletin of reports on May 23rd.

  • The third phase of the process starts on Saturday, May 11, 2019 and concludes on Friday, June 7, 2019 with the continuing foci being Discernment and Deliberation. Devotional materials are still in developmental by the task force and release will take place at a later date. These materials will invite members of congregations and ordained ministers who have completed discernment forms to consider Specific Gifts, One Body of Christ. More information will follow as we near May 11, 2019.

 

  • The fourth phase of the process Sent Together as the Body of Christ begins at the 2019 Southern Ohio Synod Assembly on Friday, June 7, 2019 and concludes in the weeks following the assembly with main foci being Discernment, Deliberation and Decision-making. Devotional materials will be available during this phase of the process as well and are still in development by the task force. Also in development by the task force are the internal processes of the call process of the ecclesiastical election. More information will follow as we near this fourth phase.

The four phase process as detailed above is thorough but more importantly is to encourage and support through the grace of God the Discernment, Deliberation and Decision-making involved in extending a call through the process of ecclesiastical election to an ordained minister to serve as the Bishop of the Southern Ohio Synod.

Stronger and Better Together…On the Way, the 2019 Southern Ohio Synod Assembly, is nearing in the next few months. As each person prepares for all the work that the deliberative assembly will do together, the Call Process Task Force for the 2019 Bishop Election hopes that these materials will aid the members of our congregations in faithfully preparing this work to be done alongside and within the Southern Ohio Synod Assembly.

 

In Christ’s Humble Service,

Reverend Craig D. Richter,
Chair of the SOS Call Process Task Force for the 2019 Bishop Election