For the Life of the World to Come

To say it was an honor to be at our most recent Churchwide Assembly in Phoenix is an understatement. This legislative event, which currently happens every three years, is the highest legislative body of our denomination. That body is comprised of a small handful of voting members elected by each of the 65 synods. Because so many pastors hope to be able to go at some point, I have always thought that I may only have one opportunity in my career to be part of this important, church-altering work. 

Fourteen people from the Northern Illinois Synod were among the 803 voting members at the 2025 Churchwide Assembly. Together, we elected a new presiding bishop, a new secretary, and over 100 folks to serve on the various councils, committees, and boards of the Churchwide organization. We also adopted constitutional amendments, resolutions, and a new social statement.

This is all just the basics, though. So much more happened— more than can fit in an essay like this. If you yearn for all the details, voting members from our synod wrote daily reflections, throughout the week, and more of us are posting overall thoughts on the experience now that we have had time to process the whole event. All those can be found at on the Northern Illinois Synod website, under the News tab (https://nisynod.org/news).

I will share briefly one aspect of the assembly that still sticks with me. Whether by design of the Holy Spirit or the planning committee, everything seemed laser-focused on the future of the Church and our world, and how everything is changing. Perhaps that had something to do with the fact that we were in the process of electing our new presiding bishop, Yehiel Curry. That focus on the future showed up in profound worship, moving sermons, and energizing speeches. Bp. Vashti Murphy McKenzie called us to action when she preached that “prayer is not what we whisper when we lay down at night, but what we risk when we rise in the morning.” Bishop Elizabeth Eaton told us us that if you account for every Lutheran in the world, the average Lutheran looks like a woman in Tanzania. Reflecting on the theme of this year’s assembly, “For the Life of the World,” Rev. Dr. Chad Rimmer reminded us that the whole of that phrase in the Nicene Creed is, “We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.” 

When Bishop Eaton gave her final report as Presiding Bishop, she echoed something else that Dr. Rimmer said by quoting Martin Luther: “This life, therefore, is not righteousness but growth in righteousness, not health but healing, not being but becoming…we are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it; the process is not yet finished, but it is going on; this is not the end, but it is the road; all does not yet gleam with glory, but all is being purified.”

The whole of our lives is constant movement away from what has been and toward what will be. We didn’t finish our work in Phoenix, but I pray that our decisions helped our church look a little more like what we look forward to in the life of the world to come. 

Pastor Chad McKenna