Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” Luke 10:27
As ELCA bishops in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota we serve in contexts that stretch from the badlands to the prairies, from fertile farmlands and forests to urban centers. Though the contexts are diverse, God’s mandates for how we are to live are the same.
In recent days, the heightened rhetoric of violence and newly enacted Executive Orders compel us to remind people of faith of God’s fundamental blessing of all human life. In the language of the Bible, we say that all people are made in the image of God. Every person - without exception - has inherent dignity and value because all people are made in God’s own image. Human dignity and value come from God. People of faith throughout our region, and indeed this world, are compelled to speak and act toward others in ways that honor the image in which we all are made. All people and groups deserve to be treated with dignity and respect in our common speech and in our public and private interactions. If we wonder what such dignity and respect look like, Jesus made it simple with a teaching known as “the Golden Rule,” “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” (Matthew 7:12)
The apostle Paul wrote in the book of Galatians, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23) These are the traits that guide our interactions with all our neighbors and inform our conduct in daily life. These are the characteristics that embolden us even as we work for justice and peace.
Across this region we are grateful for the many people of good will who are working to increase dialogue, seek the common good, and treat our neighbors, near and far, as those who bear the image of God. We are with you in prayer as, together, we seek to live lives worthy of this ancient admonition from God’s word, “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.” (Leviticus 19:18)
In Christ,
Bishop Constanze Hagmaier, South Dakota Synod - ELCA
Bishop Regina Hassanally, Southeastern Minnesota Synod - ELCA
Bishop Patricia Lull, Saint Paul Area Synod - ELCA
Bishop Tessa Moon Leiseth, Eastern North Dakota Synod - ELCA
Bishop Jen Nagel, Minneapolis Area Synod - ELCA
Bishop Amy Odgren, Northeastern Minnesota Synod - ELCA
Bishop Dee Pederson, Southwestern Minnesota Synod - ELCA
Bishop Craig A. Schweitzer, Western North Dakota Synod - ELCA
Bishop Bill Tesch, Northwestern Minnesota Synod - ELCA
