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Elected on May 31 as bishop of the Western North Dakota Synod, Lisa Lewton envisions a table where all are invited to sit together enjoying God’s grace through Christ.
Lewton, who previously served as a pastor of St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church in Dickinson, N.D., spoke with Living Lutheran about how congregations can become unifying community leaders in a time of deep division.
Living Lutheran: What is your vision for the future of the synod?
The Western North Dakota Synod is my home synod, home to 153 congregations. Like every synod, we are discerning how to live faithfully together in a time when people hold differing convictions about our country’s partisan life. My vision is of a larger table, one where we gather with our differing perspectives and interpretations. I am hopeful that we might focus less on determining who is right or wrong and set our attention on the urgent need in our world to give away God’s grace through Jesus Christ, leaving no one out. I wonder: Could ELCA congregations become leaders in their communities by inviting people to sit together at a time in America when we so often sit apart, devices in hand? To move toward this vision, I would listen deeply to congregations and seek ways to equip one another to gather around the word, beginning with the commandments Jesus lifted up: to love God and to love neighbor.
How did you feel when you were elected?
My family had discerned with me in the weeks leading up to the assembly. As I visited with my husband and each of my kids to hear their thinking, I heard only support and pride that I would be considered for such a privileged office. My colleagues were also encouraging. When the results of the final ballot were announced, I felt both relieved and a sense of peace as the tears rolled down. Although this call will be incredibly complex and challenging, I believe it is God’s call for me. I feel humbled as well as grateful for the colleagues God has placed around me.
What experiences in your ministry do you feel have best prepared you to serve as bishop? What have you learned in your ministry that you might incorporate into your approach to leading the synod?
I have served 19 of my 22 years of ministry at St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church in Dickinson, N.D. This large, steady congregation has a heart for service in Jesus’ name. It is a congregation that has cared for its pastors, most of whom stuck around for many years. One congregation member joked that St. John had “raised a bishop,” and I think it’s true. This community of faith has helped shape and prepare me for this call. Because of these people, I know what it looks like when pastor and congregation work together, meet gaps in a community, forgive one another and trust in God’s abundance, that what we have is what God needs for the church. In the Western North Dakota Synod, we can get caught up in the falsehood of scarcity and miss out on the abundance God offers in a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish.
