Nebraska Synod ELCA

For you yourself created my inmost parts;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
 I will thank you because I am marvelously made;
your works are wonderful, and I know it well.
— Psalm 139.13-14

The Nebraska Synod was part of two remarkable events in early July. From July 6 to July 11, 137 Nebraskans
traveled to Pittsburgh for Journey 2026, our youth service learning trip. They spent several days working and learning
about the people of Southwestern Pennsylvania, especially our siblings in the Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). That same week, from July 6-10, 14 Nebraska Synod deacons and
pastors traveled to Indianapolis for the 2026 ELCA Rostered Ministers Gathering, joining several hundred deacons
and pastors from across the nation for continuing education, fellowship, worship, and more. “Woven Together,” the
theme for the Rostered Ministers Gathering, was taken from Psalm 139.13, reprinted above. Keynoters and worship
leaders alike emphasized both the holiness God has woven into each of us individually and the holy interweaving the
Holy Spirit does in making a group of people into a church. The two events occurring that week give a “both/and”
glimpse of the church to which we should pay attention.

The Nebraska Synod Journey group did not include any pastors or deacons; every participant, from the
directors to the bus drivers down to the sponsors and kids from local churches, was a lay member of the Nebraska
Synod. I think this is a great example of what we mean when we talk about a transforming church that is lay-led, clergy
supported: the people of God stepping forward to learn from and serve their neighbors as part of our baptismal calling
to “proclaim the word of God in Christ through word and deed, and to serve all people, following the example of
Jesus.” These 137 people are marvelously made, both individually and collectively, and you will hear more about their
wonderful works in weeks to come.

At the same time, the pastors and deacons who gathered in Indianapolis represent a group of folks who are
also following their baptismal callings, albeit in a different way. ELCA deacons and pastors continue to learn and grow
and transform our leadership from what many of us learned in seminary to what God is asking of us in this time and
this context, and it’s not an easy task. Many of the hallmarks we thought would mark our ministry have shifted
dramatically in recent years, and most of us are making our way forward in uncharted territory. I was a bit surprised,
then, to hear so much hope in the conversations we shared in Indianapolis. There was an energy in this assembly of
clergy I did not expect, from the Presiding Bishop on down, and I think this is also a good sign for the life of this
church to come.

We should be grateful to all of the deacons and pastors who have committed their professional lives to
serving in this uncertain time, even as we exhort them to faithfully support the priesthood of all believers and
encourage a richer, fuller, wider array of leadership in God’s church. We should be grateful to all of the workers,
parents, volunteers, and friends who commit their time and energy (and quite often their vacation days, a significant
sacrifice) to walk alongside the youth of the Nebraska Synod for events like the Journey. These are both signs of
God’s holy handiwork in the world, and deserve to be lifted up in celebration. Let’s be thankful for these and all the
other ways that God continues to weave us together, one church, better together, marvelously and wonderfully made.

Yours in Christ,
Bishop Scott Alan Johnson