Ah, presumptuous sin

 Dear Bishop,

When I wrote to you earlier this month about global warming, several of your colleagues responded in a very helpful manner.  More on those responses in a moment.  As I read them, I reread my letter and realized I was not clear as to what I was concerned about.  

 

I presumed that you would know I was criticizing the Council of Bishops' (COB's) practice of setting up parallel action groups at the same time the agencies of the general church were doing those same things.  It appeared to me both a waste of time and money and it appeared to me that as a body, the COB felt it had to be in a position to take credit for what others were already doing.  

 

I also presumed that the action of the COB on global warming was more of an afterthought than a genuine concern.  The one good thing was that the COB was out ahead of the GMC on it.

 

But several of your colleagues graciously drew my attention to Bishop Dyck's 2010 book A HOPEFUL EARTH (which I am reading now) and that as a retired bishop, she is working through the COB's ecumenical office with other denominations on global warming as well as working closely with Church and Society.  I had forgotten about retired bishops being freer to focus on critical issues.  I understand the COB is realizing that and calling upon retirees to help on a number of concerns.

 

I also presumptuously forgot that bishops could be deeply involved with their own annual conference's agencies and task forces on climate change as is the case among several active bishops. 

 

My hope is that you will forgive my presumptuousness.  Life is far more nuanced than we may believe.  That is something of which even we older observers need to be reminded.

 

One other presumption I have had is that you and your colleagues would know how to handle reprioritizing what the cabinet does to help pastors and their churches to succeed.

 

In the coming weeks I hope to offer suggestions and I will try to keep my emails about a page or so long.

 

In any case, please read Bishop Dyck's book if you have not already.  I think you will encourage your conference to read it.  It preaches!

 

In the collegiality of the clergy,

 

Jerry

 

Rev. Jerry Eckert, retired clergy, Wisconsin Annual Conference

Interesting Day

 Dear Bishop,                                                                                        May 3, 2022

 

The focus of my day was preparing for and having a CT scan.  The warmth of the iodine I received for the scan reminded me of how my body warmed during a similar test when I was hospitalized two years ago.  Only that time, the warming did not stop after a few minutes.  The scan required that I tolerate the heat build up for 18 hours.  Sorry for the hyperbole - it was 24 minutes but in minute 23 I was ready to claw my way out of the machine because I could no longer tolerate the heat.  By 2031, the whole planet faces heat that billions will not be able to tolerate.

 

Then this afternoon, there was a crash of thunder and our TV went off.  Out our windows we saw the branches were thrashing all around, and suddenly we could hardly see more than a few yards because of the downpour (four and a half inches in two hours).  Typical of summer weather in Florida.  Except, it is not summer for six more weeks.  And the downpour lasted way more than the typical ten minutes.  Certain parts of our country may find themselves wishing such storms would end in two hours.  And they may be flooded out before 2031, you know, like 2019.

 

My neighbor went out after the rain and found a tree on fire (struck by lightning and still dry despite the storm).  Our fire department got it under control, luckily.  Our dry winter weather causes a wild fire season by early spring so our neighborhood was fortunate this time.

 

And the GMC is a week old, leaving you all with a ton of concerns as pastors and churches absorb your time as they seek to leave.  They will again drain the focus you've begun on global warming.  I know both Keith Boyette and Tom Lambrecht and asked them what they are doing about climate change.  I got no response. 

 

Good leaders know when to delegate.  Maybe you should hand off direct action on global warming and give that responsibility to one of the denomination's agencies who can focus on it and not be distracted by all the stuff for which you are responsible.  Let someone else save the world so that you can focus on saving the Church. 

 

In the collegiality of the clergy,

 

Jerry

 

Rev. Jerry Eckert, retired, Wisconsin Annual Conference