December 23, 2024 Grace and peace to you this Christmas season. At the heart of the Christmas story is a journey—a journey of a young couple, Mary and Joseph, searching for a place to stay. When they arrived in Bethlehem, there was no room for them. Yet in the kindness of a stranger, they found...
December 23, 2024
Christmas Message from Bishop Penman
December 23, 2024 Grace and peace to you this Christmas season. At the heart of the Christmas story is a journey—a journey of a young couple, Mary and Joseph, searching for a place to stay. When they arrived in Bethlehem, there was no room for them. Yet in the kindness of a stranger, they found...
September 20, 2024
Bishop Penman Installed Sept. 14, 2024
On Saturday, September 14th hundreds of people gathered in the sanctuary of the Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral and across sacred cyberspace to celebrate the installation of the Rev. Bryan Penman as the sixth Bishop of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod! More than one hundred people shared their time and talent in the service and in...
September 5, 2024
Religious Leaders Across Pennsylvania Unite for Peace During Election Season
HARRISBURG, PA, September 5, 2024 — Today, religious leaders from across the state, representing more than 3 million Pennsylvanians of various faith traditions, gathered at the Pennsylvania Capitol to issue a call for peace during this election season. Acknowledging the current climate of political unrest and polarization, they pledged to foster dialogue over division and...
June 13, 2016
Bishop’s Prayer for Orlando
On Sunday night, June 12, Bishop Burkat shared this prayer following the nation’s largest mass shooting early that morning in a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida: This is my prayer tonight… God of peace, mercy and justice. The suffering on this day is inconsolable, the tears overflowing, and the fear palpable. The slaying of your...
May 13, 2016
‘A New Dawn for Christ’s Church’
When Martin Luther seized the changes made possible by the printing press, he couldn’t have begun to imagine the exponential changes of our Internet age, Bishop Claire Burkat said in her address to the 2016 Synod Assembly. Despite the stresses posed by constant connectivity, racing schedules and financial pressure, “the Holy Spirit is bringing a...
May 7, 2016
In the Midst of Fear, Love Prevails
What shapes our lives and ministry? How do we respond to the formidable forces that threaten to pull us into the whirlpool of fear that has formed around us, reflected in public debate and in how people are treating each other? In her sermon at the assembly’s opening worship, Bishop Claire Burkat pulls together threads...
September 18, 2015
Bishop Participates in World Meeting of Families
Bishop Burkat will join other Christian and interfaith leaders in participating in the opening ceremony and Mass for the World Meeting of Families on Tuesday, Sept. 22. Archbishop Charles J. Chaput extended the invitation on behalf of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Many Lutherans are helping to welcome Catholics from all over the world to Philadelphia...
June 29, 2015
Bishop’s Reflection on Marriage Equality
Last Friday’s Supreme Court decision striking down bans against same-sex marriage “knocks the power out of long-standing assumptions that most but not all people are equal,” Bishop Claire Burkat writes in a pastoral message. “For our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters, as well as all those who have worked for marriage equality here in...
June 25, 2015
A Day of Repentance and Mourning
“As we mourn and remember” the six Christian martyrs murdered at Mother Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston last week, “it is also a time to repent of the sin of racism that continues to plague our nation and our church,” Bishop Burkat wrote in a pastoral message June 25. She joined Presiding Bishop Eaton’s call...
June 19, 2015
PA Bishops Support Anti-Discrimination Bill
Harrisburg, PA — The seven Pennsylvania bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America released a letter June 18 in support of legislation that would amend the Pennsylvania Public Relations Act to prohibit discrimination in areas of employment, housing and public accommodation on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity or...
May 12, 2015
Bishop: Embrace Our Shifting Culture
Bishop Claire Burkat is excited about the sense of excitement and renewal she is hearing all around the synod. She is excited about what we are building together and the response to the Forward Together in Faith campaign. She feels refreshed that we are becoming less attached to bricks and mortar and more to building...
November 30, 2014
Keeping Watch After Ferguson
There are no easy solutions to the inequalities that fueled the rage and despair that erupted in Ferguson, Mo. last week, Bishop Claire Burkat writes in a pastoral message to the Synod. Christians are called to find a third way between our cultural impulses to fan the flames of discord or trivialize others experience. “We...
November 21, 2014
Bishops Address Immigration
“As people of faith and leaders of the church, we support public policy that protects children, reunites families, and cares for the most vulnerable, regardless of their place of birth,” the ELCA Conference of Bishops wrote in a Nov. 20 statement on immigration. “Each day in our congregations and in our service to the community,...
June 15, 2014
Pastoral Letter: Same-Gender Marriage and the Church
In a pastoral letter to the Synod, Bishop Claire Burkat addresses the implications of the recent court decision lifting Pennsylvania’s ban on same-gender marriage, and the Corbett Administration’s decision not to appeal it, which makes same-gender marriages legal in the commonwealth. As congregations may choose to perform such marriages legally, the bishop writes, “I believe...
May 13, 2014
Assembly OKs Mission Advancement Campaign
The Assembly voted unanimously to continue work with Kairos and Associates on the development of a Mission Advancement Campaign to develop resources to reshape the Synod for the work of equipping leaders and congregations to engage their communities and deepen discipleship of their members. Prior to presenting the resolution from Synod Council, Vice President Tracey...
May 8, 2014
Join the Conspiracy
“I want to invite you all to join a new Christian conspiracy,” Bishop Claire Burkat challenged the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod in her address to the 2014 Assembly. “What does it mean to in the 21st Century to conspire with Christ and one another to heal and bless the world in whatever ways God is leading...
May 4, 2014
Videos from 2014 Assembly
Video coverage of Synod Assembly presentations are available online at the links below: Complete 2014 Synod Assembly video playlist Friday Rev. Mark Hanson Sermon Rev. Mark Hanson Keynote Treasurer’s Report ELCA Representative Presentation by Ms. Judith Roberts Recognition of Approved Candidates Saturday Bishop Burkat’s Sermon Kairos & Associates/David Lose presentation Moments with our Missionaries Bishop...
April 19, 2014
‘The Best Gifts of Easter are Unseen’
After this incredibly dreary, cold and snowy winter, I found myself craving spring more than I can remember for a long time. I yearned for longer light, warm sun, buds, blossoms, and birds singing again. Thankfully we are seeing all the signals of spring now, signs of the abundance to come. But the miracle of...
March 12, 2014
In Palestine, A City of Hope
In February Bishop Burkat joined an interfaith delegation to Israel and Palestine to learn about the various narratives complicating peace efforts and thwarting a two-state solution. In this letter she reports on an exciting sign of peace: the construction of Rawabi, a city that would restore economic, educational and secure living opportunities in this new suburb of...
