“I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth; do you see it?”
God spoke these words to the people of Israel in exile in Babylon, but there is no reason to believe God isn’t saying the same thing to the church today!
Do you wonder what the Lutheran Church of the 21st century will look like? Are you concerned about the future of your congregation or neighboring congregations?
This Spring, Bishop Barbins and the Northeastern Ohio Synod Staff invited every congregation to send four people to a Project Isaiah 43 event. Each Project Isaiah 43 event included a brief presentation time, but was heavily focused on conversations as we think together about the future of Lutheran Christianity. As we wrapped up the final event, one person asked, "Could we do this more? Like multiple times a year?" The answer is, of course! There is certainly power in gathering together as a synod to hear what is happening in our neighboring congregations and to get to know our fellow members of the body of Christ.
As for Project Isaiah 43, we will continue the conversations at Synod Assembly on June 1st at the John S. Knight Center. As we are "Waiting and Watching" for the Spirit to Speak, may we be ever mindful that God is already doing a new thing! May our hearts and minds be open to see it. Thank you to every person who took the time to join us in conversation (on some exceptionally beautiful Spring days, we might add). We look forward to reporting out the harvest from our conversations in the near future.