March 3, 2008

ELCA Presiding Bishop's 2008 Easter Message

"For you have died, your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory." (Colossians 3:3-4)

"You have died." The words resonate because this world's violence and suffering -- so pervasive, so needless, so relentless -- haunt every human community and life. Where death rules, hope lies entombed in endless grief.

Another death -- the crucifixion of Jesus -- changed everything. God is not hidden, but present through suffering, sorrow, and death. Jesus is God's resounding "yes!" to the steadfastness of God's forgiving love, embodied on a cross.

The death of Jesus shows no partiality. It was for all nations and all people -- for them, for you, for me. Your life is now with Christ. In baptism you have died. Hidden with Christ, no longer entombed in grief, your life carries the promise of glory.

From that first day of resurrection onward, God has been raising up messengers of salvation, heralds of peace, and testifiers of the promised glory. You are a witness of the hope to come. Quite simply, Christ is your life, my life, our life. You have no other than this One who lives resurrected in you.

Christ is risen! Alleluia!

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.