"Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified ... has been raised" (Mark 16:6).

When Mary Magdalene, Mary and Salome came to the tomb, their hopes and fears intersected. They wondered aloud about the impossibly large and heavy stone that presented an obstacle to their immediate plans. Worse, what they thought lay behind the stone was unspeakably devastating. Jesus, who embodied the hope of God's promise in a fully human life, was not simply dead, but crucified -- executed in the most extreme humiliation, a savage mockery of the hope that had lived with him.

But the stone was gone, the grave empty. Where they had expected to hear the silence of death's mockery, they were met by an astonishing message that the crucified one was raised from the dead, that their hope was victorious over humiliation, and that Jesus lives and is leading the way into an unexpected, surprising future with God.

Jesus lives and resurrection hope beckons. Jesus' resurrection on the third day signals that God is not finished until the life of Jesus renews the whole creation. Sinners once haunted by the threats of judgment will live forgiven, restored, renewed and freed. All lives broken by sin's injustices and haunted by death's terrors will be transformed by joy and transfigured into the new creation in Christ.

You and I are witnesses of this new creation. You have been baptized into Jesus' death and resurrection and have heard his promise. Your lives are hidden in his and he feeds you with a foretaste of the eternal feast of joy. He will meet you in your hope. He claims your daily work and makes it into a holy calling. He lives in you and sends you into the world as an ambassador of reconciliation, a testimony of God's incomparable love. Jesus lives! Your life in him is resurrection witness.

"This is our God ... let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation!" (Isaiah 25:9).

In August 2001, the Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) elected Mark S. Hanson to serve as presiding bishop.

Before being elected presiding bishop, he served as bishop of the Saint Paul Area Synod (3H). He had been elected to serve a second term in Saint Paul earlier that same year. Prior to being elected synod bishop, he served as pastor of three Minnesota congregations: Prince of Glory Lutheran Church, Minneapolis; Edina (Minnesota) Community Lutheran Church; and University Lutheran Church of Hope in Minneapolis.

Born in Minneapolis on December 2, 1946, he graduated from Augsburg College with a B.A. in sociology. He was a Rockefeller Fellow at Union Theological Seminary, New York City, and received a Master of Divinity degree there in 1972. He also attended Luther Seminary, St Paul, Minnesota, and was a Merrill Fellow at Harvard Divinity School in 1979.

In August 2001, the Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) elected Mark S. Hanson to serve as presiding bishop.

Before being elected presiding bishop, he served as bishop of the Saint Paul Area Synod (3H). He had been elected to serve a second term in Saint Paul earlier that same year.

Prior to being elected synod bishop, he served as pastor of three Minnesota congregations: Prince of Glory Lutheran Church, Minneapolis; Edina (Minnesota) Community Lutheran Church; and University Lutheran Church of Hope in Minneapolis.

Born in Minneapolis on December 2, 1946, he graduated from Augsburg College with a B.A. in sociology. He was a Rockefeller Fellow at Union Theological Seminary, New York City, and received a Master of Divinity degree there in 1972. He also attended Luther Seminary, St Paul, Minnesota, and was a Merrill Fellow at Harvard Divinity School in 1979.

He has served as president of the Minnesota Council of Churches; vice chair of the ELCA Conference of Bishops; vice president of the Lutheran World Federation, and is a member of the executive council of the National Council of Churches USA.

In 2003, he was elected president of the Lutheran World Federation, a position he holds concurrently with his position as presiding bishop of the ELCA. In this position, Bishop Hanson has the opportunity to speak with Lutherans throughout the world about the social, economic, and political injustices that we, the people of God, are called to confront.

The son of a Lutheran evangelist, Hanson is by reputation an advocate for social justice, especially issues that impact the poor, including racial justice, housing, welfare rights, and immigration rights.

Since being elected presiding bishop, he has received several honorary degrees, including Doctor of Humane Letters from Augsburg College, Doctor of Humanities from Capital University, Doctor of Divinity from Lenoir-Rhyne College, Wartburg Theological Seminary and Wartburg College and Doctor of Divinity from The Academy of Ecumenical Indian Theology and Church Administration.

He is the author of Faithful Yet Changing, the Church in Challenging Times and Faithful and Courageous, Christians in Unsettling Times both from Augsburg Fortress, Publishers.

Married to Ione (Agrimson), they are the parents of Aaron, Alyssa, Rachel, Ezra, Isaac and Elizabeth, and grandparents to Naomi and Kingston. Before moving to Chicago, Ione was the director of social work at Minneapolis and St. Paul Children’s Hospitals.

June 18, 2007

Robert Driesen Elected Bishop of ELCA Upper Susquehanna Synod
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CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Robert L. Driesen, Messiah Lutheran Church, South Williamsport, Pa., was elected June 16 to a six-year term as bishop of the Upper Susquehanna Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Driesen was elected on the fifth ballot for bishop, 172-170 over the Rev. Daniel M. May, assistant to the bishop, Upper Susquehanna Synod.

The synod assembly was June 15-16 at Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, Pa., one of 28 ELCA colleges and universities.

Driesen, 59, will succeed the Rev. A. Donald Main, 64, who previously announced he would not be available for re-election.

Driesen received 119 votes on the fourth ballot for bishop. May led with 128 votes, and the Rev. William S. Henderson, Sharon Lutheran Church, Selinsgrove, received 103 votes. There were 59 names on the first or nominating ballot.

Driesen will assume his new role as bishop on Sept. 1. He will be installed October 21 at a location to be announced.

Born in Baltimore, Driesen received a bachelor's degree in secondary education from Towson State University, Towson, Md., in 1969. In 1979 he received a master of divinity degree from Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, Pa. (LTSG). LTSG is one of eight ELCA seminaries.

After he was ordained in 1979, Driesen was pastor at Sidman-Elton Parish, Elton, Pa. Since 1981 Driesen has served as chair of the Bishop's Committee on Ecumenical Relations, Upper Susquehanna Synod, and in the Central Pennsylvania Synod of the former Lutheran Church in America.

Driesen resides in Williamsport, Pa.

The ELCA Upper Susquehanna Synod has 41,772 baptized members in 137 congregations. The synod office is in Lewisburg, Pa.