News & Messages

A Lenten Message from Bishop Miller

Dear Friends in Christ,

As we begin to walk the way of Lent this year, I found myself drawn to the words of the first two verses of Hymn #142.

Lord, who throughout these forty days for us didst fast and pray,
Teach us with thee to mourn our sins and close by thee to stay
As thou with Satan didst contend and didst the victory win
O Give us strength in thee to fight in thee to concur sin.

I hear in these words an echo of our Presiding Bishop’s Invitation for Lent 2020: A Call to Prayer, Fasting and Repentance leading to action. I encourage you to read his letter and consider its invitation.

 I also hear in this hymn a reminder that Lent is not first and foremost about guilt but rather sanctification. Repentance is re-direction, re-minding, and re-training under the guidance of the Spirit. The purpose of Lenten observance is not seasonal holiness but participation in God’s process of making us more and more into the people we are destined to be. We pray for grace to fight and conquer sin in our lives so that we may know the truth the Apostle Paul sets forth in the Letter to the Romans that “in all things we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The lessons we learn in Lent are meant to carry through to the Easter Life. The lessons learned in the Lenten desert are to empower us for service to God, just as our Lord’s forty days in the desert prepared him for his public ministry.

My prayer is that this holy season will be for us all a season of renewed faith and devotion.

Yours in Christ,

Bishop Steven A. Miller

From your diocesan Standing Committee

From Your Diocesan Standing Committee

 
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
 
The search process for the 12th Bishop of Milwaukee is underway.
 
Our diocesan consultant, the Rev. Ann Hallisey, was with us to lead the diocesan clergy conference at DeKoven Center in Racine from January 20-22. This was a time to be with one another and engage in dialogue about our common life and mission in this diocese and to share some ideas and hope about our future in the Diocese of Milwaukee. All who attended reported that this time together was a gift and a blessing.
 
Following the Clergy Retreat, Ann stayed at DeKoven and led a retreat from January 24-25 for the newly-commissioned Search Committee. They got through a good deal of material during their time together, and, even as I type this note to you, they are getting started on a variety of tasks under the careful leadership of co-chairs Fr. Ian Burch and Ms. Jan Watter. You will be hearing updates about their work in the not-so-distant future.
 
Your Standing Committee has created a prayer for the search process that we're going to ask every parish in the diocese to make a part of their regular worship. It is provided for you at the end of this message. As part of the search process work, we have also created an official "charge" (think "marching orders") to the Search Committee and we are working on a theological statement, as well. As you know, an undertaking such as this involves a financial component, and so we are also in the midst of preparing a budget.
 
While we have plenty to do, it's going well at this point and for that, we are grateful!
 
God bless you.
 
Fr. Scott Leannah, on behalf of the Standing Committee
 
Diocesan Prayer as we search for the 12th Bishop of the Diocese of Milwaukee:

Gracious and loving God in whom we live and move and have our being: We pray for your guidance and wisdom that we may faithfully follow your calling in our own lives and as we as the Diocese of Milwaukee discern the calling of our twelfth bishop. We give you thanks for the service of Bishop Steven Miller in the life of our diocese and for the blessings that marked his ministry among us. We also pray for his family during this time of transition. We pray for those whom you have called to serve on our Standing, Search, and Transition Committees, and we pray also for those who will respond to your call to enter into discernment with us to be our next bishop. Give us all listening and prayerful hearts for this most important task. This we ask in the name of the One who said, “Come, follow me.” Amen.    

Ordinations to the Transitional Diaconate

Congratulations to Michael McElwee and Michael DeLashmutt, who were ordained to the transitional diaconate on December 21 at All Saints' Cathedral!

We wish them both every blessing in their ministries.

(Photo credits: Karen Buker)

Photo credits: Karen Buker