At the opening worship of the 2013 Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod, Bishop Claire Burkat challenged the assembly to focus on God-sight as Philip did in the gospel of John. After having been invited by Jesus to follow him, Phillip saw things through “Jesus-colored glasses.” The bishop urged SEPA Lutherans to be Philips – and our congregations...
May 10, 2013
See Through “Jesus Colored Glasses”
At the opening worship of the 2013 Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod, Bishop Claire Burkat challenged the assembly to focus on God-sight as Philip did in the gospel of John. After having been invited by Jesus to follow him, Phillip saw things through “Jesus-colored glasses.” The bishop urged SEPA Lutherans to be Philips – and our congregations...
May 9, 2013
Show Jesus Fearlessly
Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Phillip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” (John 12:20-21 NRSV) “The Greeks noticed something about Jesus,” said Bishop Claire Burkat in her address to the 2013 Southeastern Pennsylvania...
April 16, 2013
From Birmingham, 50 Years Later
On April 16, 1963 — fifty years ago today — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a letter to eight white Alabama clergymen who had sent him an open letter imploring him to stop the civil rights demonstrations and civil disobedience in Birmingham, Alabama, where Dr. King was in jail for breaking the racist laws...
January 21, 2013
Honoring Dr. King With a New Narrative
Fifty years after the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. penned his famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” the American civil rights story is “turning a chapter and, I hope and pray, writing a new narrative,” Bishop Claire Burkat said at the Jan. 20 worship service celebrating King’s life and dreams in the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod....
August 27, 2012
Introducing ‘A Word from our Deans’
In a new feature, "A Word from our Deans," the Rev. Serena Sellers of Upper Bucks Conference reflects on the gifts God has given us to share ideas and support each other to help congregations nurture the seeds faith, service and outreach. "Each of our congregations has areas where we are strong. We also have areas where with some additional focus and attention, we could build our capacity in ministry," she writes. "The way to make the Synod strong is to make the congregations strong. The way to make our congregations strong is to focus on the things that matter so that we grow our faith in the place that we are planted."
May 6, 2012
Plant. Water. Grow!
“This is a new season of health and vitality…for the Kingdom of God, for the ELCA, and right here in the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod,” Bishop Claire Burkat said in her address to the 2012 Assembly. “I see lots of life,” the bishop said, reflecting on her visits to congregations throughout her first term as bishop....
May 6, 2012
Assembly Re-elects Bishop Burkat
“I’ve learned over the last six years that the synod elects a pastor and forms a bishop. And you have formed me,” Bishop Claire Burkat told the 2012 Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod Assembly Friday after it re-elected her to a second six-year term as bishop.
March 29, 2012
LSH Women of Courage Honor Bishop Burkat
Lutheran Settlement House will celebrate its 110th Anniversary with its Women of Courage Awards Ceremony and breakfast on Thursday, May 31. The Awards Ceremony will honor Bishop Claire Burkat and four inspiration clients from LSH’s homeless services, domestic violence program, literacy program and senior center. You can join in supporting LSH and honoring Bishop Burkat by attending the breakfast, which will be held May 31 from 8-9:15 am at the Racquet Club of Philadelphia, 215 S. 16th Street. Tickets are $50 per person and include a donation to LSH.
March 15, 2012
Bible Study Explores God’s New Thing
Explore God’s promise of hope and renewal expressed by the Prophet Isaiah in a bible study based on Bishop Burkat’s presentation at last fall’s “God Is Doing Something New” conference events. This bible study, suitable for council retreats, small groups or ongoing bible study groups, will help you look at what central traditions need to be honored in your congregation as well as what “former things” might be clouding the view of what God is doing right now.
December 20, 2010
Religious Leaders support freedom and understanding
"We live in a Commonwealth that was established on the vision of religious freedom and are committed to striving to actualize that vision. Together, we repudiate discrimination against the followers of any religion and reject violence of any sort," members of the Religious Leaders Council of Philadelphia wrote in an October statement on "Living a Vision of Religious Freedom and Understanding." Click on the headline to read the entire statement.
September 8, 2010
Tanzania Safari 2010
As I reflect on my journey (safari) in the day-to-day account that follows, I hope you will sense the great privilege it is to be joined by Christ to this diocese, and that you will see in the lives and witness of the people, the great love of God in Christ that continues to be lavished on the world.
March 30, 2010
Religious Leaders Council celebrates fourth year
The Religious Leaders Council of Greater Philadelphia celebrated its fourth year as a Council at its March 22 meeting. Members gathered to share their wisdom as they face common challenges. They also decided to launch ‘Zones of Peace’, an interfaith, grassroots initiative will bring together congregations and schools throughout the region to address the root causes of violence and work for peace. Bishop Burkat, a co-convenor of the council, presented on ministry with people who are "spiritual but not religious."
February 4, 2010
Bishop’s journal from ecumenical journey
Bishop Burkat is part of a delegation of ELCA officials led by Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson on the 2010 Ecumenical Journey to visit Christian leaders in London, Istanbul, Rome and Geneva, including the heads of the Anglican, Orthodox and Roman Catholic communions. "I thank God, ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson, and the people of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod for allowing me this most remarkable opportunity to visit the major faith centers and major Christian leaders of the global and ancient Church," the bishop writes in her first message from the trip. "More than any other time in history the one holy, catholic and apostolic Church is connected and accessible. By air, by sea, by land, by internet, by cell, and, yes, by clear, mutual conversation, consolation and communion, we have opportunities as never before to work pray for the peace of the whole of God’s world, the well being of the people of God, and the unity of all."
January 31, 2010
Bishop joins global Ecumenical Journey
Bishop Claire Burkat will be part of an official Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) delegation of clergy and lay leaders visiting world Christian church leaders and key staff based in London, Istanbul, Rome and Geneva Feb. 3-17. The delegation of 12 official ELCA representatives, headed by ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson, plans to meet in London with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan D. Williams, leader of the Anglican Communion; in Istanbul, Turkey, with the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, world Orthodox leader; and in Rome, with Pope Benedict XVI, leader of the world's Roman Catholics.
