wfn.org | Anderson Opens Assembly With Worship

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

August 15, 1995

ANDERSON OPENS ASSEMBLY WITH WORSHIP
97-CA-03-MR

     PHILADELPHIA (ELCA) -- "When we pray,  Come Holy Spirit,' we
had better be prepared for the consequences," the Rev. H. George
Anderson, bishop for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America,
Chicago, told 2,500 worshipers at the Pennsylvania Convention
Center.  Anderson preached at the opening celebration of the
ELCA's fifth Churchwide Assembly here Aug. 14-20.
     Anderson told listeners that the service's music and lessons
centered on the "invocation of the Spirit."  But, he asked, "what
if our prayer is answered?  Are we prepared to deal with the
unpredictable things that might happen to us if God really
answered our prayer and sent that powerful Spirit among us?" 
Anderson said, "Yes indeed."
     "Love is the wrapping that brings all the multitude of
spiritual gifts and at the same time contains them," Anderson
said.  "And we in turn can receive this bounty to our benefit
when we keep that wrapping of love." 
     Anderson noted that when the church in Corinth prayed for
spiritual gifts, "the gifts came in such abundance that the
church seemed likely to blow apart.  Some claimed gifts of
prophecy, some of tongues, some of miraculous healings."
     "But this cornucopia of gifts did not lead to a powerful
church.  Instead it polarized and paralyzed it.  It was as though
outpouring of the Spirit was about to smother the flickering
faith of the Corinthians," he said.  
     "Many spirit-fed movements constantly bubble up among us --
evangelism, worship, peace, ecumenism, justice.  These are good
gifts ... we can become paralyzed by their conflicting claims and
unknown consequences.  So we shrink back like a hiker seeking
cover or a sailor a snug harbor.  But there is another
possibility," said Anderson.
     We must open our hearts still wider to become receptive to
the whole range of spiritual gifts ... do not cut anyone out. 
The most comprehensive spiritual gift of all is the gift of love,
Anderson said.
     The setting for the service included a festival of music and
history.  The communion chalice used at the celebration was the
cup made for the ELCA's constituting assembly at Columbus, Ohio,
in 1987.  A mass choir of about 600 Lutherans, from more than 60
churches within 75 miles of center Philadelphia, provided the
music.  
     The Rev. Gladys G. Moore, assistant to the bishop of the
ELCA's New Jersey Synod, was the presiding minister;  Kathy J.
Magnus, ELCA's vice president, assisting minister; the Rev.
Lowell G. Almen, secretary for the ELCA, minister of confession;
Richard L. McAuliffe, treasurer of the ELCA, and Cyndi Campbell
Jones, vice president for the ELCA's Southeast Michigan Synod,
Detroit, readers.
     An offering totaling more than $17, 000.00 was collected and
will go to the ELCA's Vision for Mission Fund.  The fund provides
an opportunity for individual members of the ELCA to make gifts
above congregational giving in support of global and domestic
mission.
     Anderson asked, "Can we come before God and pray that this
church will exchange its faint spirit for a mantle of praise? 
Can all our motions and amendments, our statements and strategies
be folded into that single seamless garment of praise?  Can we
face the next century -- indeed the next millennium -- wrapped in
a mantle of praise?"
     
For information contact:

Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html