October 2, 2007
Ordination, Consecration and
Installation of New ELCIC National Bishop a Joyous Celebration
Amid the roar of thunderous applause filling the sanctuary of Lutheran Church of the Cross, Winnipeg, Rev. Susan C. Johnson was acclaimed as the fourth National Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) on September 29, 2007.
"Receive Susan as a messenger of God, pray for her, stand with her in witness to Christ," said retiring Bishop Raymond L. Schultz, presiding at the service. "Receive her as a messenger of Christ," he continued, "a fellow servant in God's everlasting household of peace. Thanks be to God!"
Over 300 people filled the church which is located in downtown Winnipeg's. The service began with a lengthy and brightly coloured procession of vested clergy who were greeted with the hymn, Open Now Thy Gates of Beauty.
"This is the day the Lord has made," declared Archbishop Fred Hiltz of the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) as he delivered the sermon. "Let us rejoice and be glad in it!"
The newly installed Primate, who was also elected to his position in June at the ACC General Synod said he was, "humbled and honoured by the opportunity," to preach at the ordination and consecration service for Bishop Johnson. "I hope this marks the beginning of a long and happy relationship as partners in ministry. Called... not only to provide leadership in our respective churches but to call them, by our example, into yet Fuller Communion in the service of the Gospel and in the Spirit of Jesus who prays we all may be one, as he and the Father are one."
As part of the service, Bishop Johnson was presented with four signs of ministry.
Don and Lois Johnson, parents of Bishop Johnson, presented a Bible and asked her to, "remember to learn and live the Holy Scripture as a trustworthy steward of God's holy mysteries."
Bishop Michael Pryse of the Eastern Synod, place a pectoral cross around the new bishop's neck and called on her to remember her service to Christ, "crucified, risen and passionate for the life of the world."
Archbishop Hiltz presented the bishop's staff and asked Bishop Johnson to remember that she shepherds, "Christ's flock on behalf of God."
The bishop's ring was presented by Dr. Joy Johnson, Bishop Johnson's sister, who noted that the ring was a sign of her office and prayed that Bishop Johnson's love, word and witness to the church would be God's love, word and life for our time.
A full festival choir, complete with clarinet, oboe, flute, french horn, bassoon, and percussion accompanied the clearly celebratory hymns that were selected for the occasion. The hymns and songs were from Evangelical Lutheran Worship, the ELCIC's new hymnal.
Breaking with the well-structured service, Bishop Johnson addressed those in attendance, thanking all who took part in the service for the joyous celebration as she declared that she will, "do all [she] can to move [the ELCIC] into the future."
The entire service was video-taped and it is hoped that a commemorative DVD (approximately 10 minutes in length) will be available for purchase. Further information will be forwarded once available.
A photo montage of the service is available on the Bishop's Page on the ELCIC website: http://elcic.ca/From-the-Bishop/Ordination.cfm
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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is Canada's largest Lutheran denomination with 174,555 baptized members in 620 congregations. It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, the Canadian Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.
Material provided through ELCIC Information is intended for reproduction and redistribution by recipients in whatever manner they may find useful.
For more information, please contact:
Trina Gallop, Manager of Communications
302-393 Portage Ave. Winnipeg MB R3B 3H6
204.984.9172
tgallop@elcic.ca
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Difficult to Find Biographical Information
Pastor Susan C. Johnson currently serves with Pastors Guenter Dahle and Phil Heinze as an Assistant toBishop Michael Pryse in the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. She is also Bishop Pryse’s commissary while he is on sabbatical. One of Susan’s current responsibilities is working with the Eastern Synod’s Mission Renewal Task Force. In addition to her Synod responsibilities, Susan is an Advisor to the Council of the Lutheran World Federation and an ecumenical Canon in the Anglican Diocese of Niagara.
GJ - The above paragraph was taken from an event at St. Peter's Lutheran, Kitchener, Ontario. The sainted pastor, Henry Opperman, would have croaked at having Johnson speak there, not to mention becoming the ELCIC bishop. In 1973, Dr. Opperman phoned me in Cleveland, torn between rage and sorrow, because the seminary sent over their first gay activist seminarian to serve as a student assistant at St. Peter's.
Guenter Dahle helped move Ichabodian furniture from Kitchener to South Bend, to facilitate our year at Yale. Like I said, I have been everywhere.
This is from Wikipedia, not always a reliable source, but it does link to an Eastern Canada document.
In November of 2006, Pastor Frank Haggarty, the pastor of the ELCIC's largest congregation, St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kitchener, Ontario, announced that, given the approval of two thirds of the congregation, he would begin solemnising same-sex marriages. Bishop Pryse responded that if this occurred, he would impose the lightest forms of discipline [4].
Another website confirms the information about St. Peter's.
Waterloo Lutheran Seminary was started due to the shortage of Lutheran pastors in Canada. WLS began with an orthodox Lutheran president, whose doctrinal textbook was praised by Dr. Robert Preus. How times have changed!
