August 2019 Beloved siblings in Christ, Last week at our Churchwide Assembly, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America recommitted itself to walking alongside immigrants and refugees as a matter of faith.This Assembly action affirmed our history as an immigrant faith in the United States and the Lutheran church’s long history of assisting strangers in...
Category: Bishop
August 16, 2019
Bishop’s Message on ELCA as ‘Sanctuary’
August 2019 Beloved siblings in Christ, Last week at our Churchwide Assembly, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America recommitted itself to walking alongside immigrants and refugees as a matter of faith.This Assembly action affirmed our history as an immigrant faith in the United States and the Lutheran church’s long history of assisting strangers in...
May 10, 2019
Bishop Davenport: “We are co-creators of our joint mission”
Bishop Patricia Davenport, the Fifth Bishop of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the ELCA, opened the Synod’s 2019 Assembly (her first as Bishop) with a reading from Psalm 34: 1-3. “… O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt God’s name together.” From the excitement of her election at the 2018 Assembly, to...
April 10, 2019
Bishop Davenport: A Pastoral Message on Standards for Pastors and Deacons
Dear Sisters and Brothers, This past weekend in Chicago, the ELCA Church Council considered how to move forward with a new statement describing the church’s vision for its rostered ministers. Titled “Trustworthy Servants of the People of God,” it is intended to replace the current document known as “Visions and Expectations.” Last month, the Conference...
March 20, 2019
Chrism Service Tuesday in Holy Week
Ministers of Word and Sacrament and Ministers of Word and Service will gather for the annual Chrism Service on Tuesday of Holy Week, April 16, at 10 am at Christ’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, 700 E. Pennsylvania Avenue, Oreland. This traditional service of Word and Sacrament includes the blessing of oil for anointing, healing prayer, and...
March 16, 2019
Presiding Bishop’s Message on Christchurch Shootings
In a pastoral message to the church in the wake of the massacre at mosques in New Zealand, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton quoted the words of Psalm 16:1: “Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge.” This is my prayer – for our Muslim neighbors, for the people of Christchurch, and for...
March 11, 2019
Feedback Sought on ‘Trustworthy Servants’ Document
“Trustworthy Servants of the People of God,” an expression of the aspirations of the ELCA for its rostered ministers and candidates, is expected to be voted on by the Church Council in April. The Conference of Bishops, which reviewed the document and issued a pastoral message this month, is accepting comments on the content of...
February 7, 2019
What is God up to?
A new question. Amid all the talk of the church in decline, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, in her February column for Living Lutheran, wants us to ask a new question. Instead of “What can we do?” we should ask, “What is God up to?” so we can open ourselves up to the life-giving promise of...
January 23, 2019
A Civil Conversation on Race and Faith
Bishop Patricia A. Davenport was one of five conversationalists who participated in Interfaith Philadelphia’s “Conversation on Race and Faith” at WHYY January 17. The bishop joined the Rev. Steven Lawrence, president of NewCORE (A New Conversation on Race and Ethnicity), Rabbi David Strauss of Main Line Reform Temple, Sheikh Anwar Muhaimin of Masjid Quba, and...
December 22, 2018
Make a Difference Through “It Takes All the Saints” Appeal
An invitation from Bishop Patricia A. Davenport: Beloved Saints of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod – Greetings! In my first few months in office I have been overwhelmed by the many ways our congregations and leaders support the ministries of the office of the bishop …. With your energy and creative ideas, your collaborative spirit, your...
December 12, 2018
Christmas Message from Bishop Davenport
Share this message: Right-click and save the image above to share via email or website. Download: Christmas message insert (printable) Copy and paste the text below into your word processing program Best wishes for a blessed celebration of Christ’s birth, and new beginnings in 2019 Bishop Patricia A. Davenport Bob Fisher, Cynta Outterbridge,...
November 9, 2018
Bishop’s Message on the 80th Anniversary of Kristallnacht
Bishop Patricia A. Davenport shares a pastoral letter on the 80th Anniversary of Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, in light the murders at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh last month and a rising number of hate crimes against Jews. Noting that later-life writings of Martin Luther were used to justify the pogrom, the...
October 31, 2018
Interfaith Leaders Stand with Jewish Community
Hundreds packed Temple Rodeph Shalom in Philadelphia Sunday night as people of many faiths and political leaders gathered to stand in support of the Jewish community after 11 worshippers were murdered during prayers at a Pittsburgh synagogue Oct. 27. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported: The tone was largely spiritual. The Rev. Mark Tyler of Mother Bethel...
September 25, 2018
Leading SEPA in Dance, to the Glory of God
The Rev. Patricia Ann Curtis Davenport is installed as SEPA’s new Bishop, making history as the first African-American woman to hold this position in the ELCA. By Brenda Lange A palpable sense of joyful history-in-the-making filled the New Covenant Church in Philadelphia September 22 as The Rev. Patricia Ann Curtis Davenport was installed as the...
September 12, 2018
A Welcome Greeting from Bishop Patricia A. Davenport
Hear a word of greeting and encouragement from our new bishop, the Rev. Patricia A. Davenport, as she takes office on August 1, 2018. “Let me say with a grateful heart: I am honored to accept your call to shepherd Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod in her quest to do God’s work through our hands,” Bishop Davenport...
May 16, 2018
Historic Bishop Elections: ‘There is Room at the Table’
“I came into the church during an era of ‘You’re welcome to come, but leave your baggage and all of your gifts, all the things you bring, at the door,’ ” Bishop-elect Patricia A. Davenport tells Living Lutheran magazine for a profile of the ELCA’s first two African-American woman bishops. “So this (election) says to...
May 9, 2018
Prayer for Bishop-elect and Church Leaders
Please join us in prayer this Sunday for Bishop-elect Patricia A. Davenport and all leaders of the church: Grant, Almighty God, that all who confess your name may be united in your truth, live together in your love, and reveal your glory in the world. We pray for the leaders of this congregation, the...
May 5, 2018
Rev. Patricia Davenport Elected Bishop
Pastor Patricia A. Davenport was elected the next Bishop of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Saturday, May 5, at Franconia Mennonite Church. Pastor Davenport is the first African-descent woman to be elected a bishop in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. On the fourth ballot, Bishop-elect Davenport, currently our...
March 29, 2018
Holy Week Message from Bishop Burkat
Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light. — John 12:35-36 Blessings to you as you gather in...
December 19, 2017
Christmas Message: Blessing Generation Upon Generation
Bishop Claire S. Burkat reflects on Mary’s visit with Elizabeth, a Spirit-filled encounter that may have allowed the realization of God’s great promise and fulfillment that was visited upon Mary begin to really sink in. “God did not promise Mary an easy life, a trouble free heart, an unburdened mind…but God promised her a life worth living, a purpose...
October 31, 2017
The Reformation Was Not Once-and-Done…
In this 500th anniversary of the Reformation, we Lutherans are mindful that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther sought to reform the Church of the 16th Century — not to start a new denomination. The resulting split from the Catholic Church into a Protestant movement resulted in five centuries of division, as well as renewal. I am pleased...
