Last week, the Metropolitan New Synod released a press release about the implementation of parts of the Synod’s strategic plan. Read it here. Before I toot my own horn about the part I’m participating in, you should read it. I’ll wait. Do do doo do dooo. What are you doing here? Go click. Read it! Got it? Great.
First, I’m going to ignore (mostly) the content of the press release right now. There’s a lot in there and I’ll admit I have a stake in this strategic plan since IMP is the project I’m working on. But I wanted to point out just the overall tone of the press release and who the target audience of that press release is. Doesn’t it just scream “oh hey, pastor; look at me!” All six, to some degree, are painted as being pastor oriented. Two might target lay people (even though IMP should too) but maybe also to members of congregational councils. Either way, it is a press release for pastors and no one else. And that’s kinda sad.
Now I pray that soon, God-willing, I’ll be ordained into the ELCA. I’m not a pastor but I’m close. I’ve been at the synod office; I’ve met a handful of bishops; my paperwork has graced the ancient halls of that great mythological beast run by Formatta Filer. I’m more plugged into the ELCA than others but even I was a little “come on” when I read this. Where is the love for the lay person? Where is the basic attempt to engage with those who are not in the know? Where is the “less is more” mentality that fits a social media world? I’m still scratching the surface with the possibility of what can be possible with social media but I know that this press release isn’t shareable online. It’s an artifact of another era. And that’s what bugs me because it doesn’t need to be. We can do better than this. We can actually create releases that excite people in the pews. I don’t want to see pastors sharing this on Twitter or Facebook. I want to see lay persons, young people, old people, and everyone passing this information online and through the mail. We’ll know we got it right when the pastor isn’t the primary conduit for information coming out of the synod. “Which Game of Thrones Character Are You” shouldn’t be the only thing I see my friends sharing online.
This quote, in some ways, describes why I am doing my thesis. I want to know what space & place meant in the first century hellenized world. There is meaning there – a meaning I’d like to be grafted onto. Then, I’ll be able to take my supposed placeless/spaceless world of “new media” and just see what it brings to a contemporary interpretation of Scripture. 
I thought the ELCA changed my name on my candidacy documents. I was wrong. Yesterday, I received an email from the head of the candidacy committee connecting me with the staff person at the ELCA in charge of such things. When I married and took my wife’s last name over three years ago, I was already entranced into candidacy. At the time, I was told not to worry about it and that my paperwork will be resubmitted under my new name. It seems that didn’t happen. However, I’m impressed with how the ELCA handled my name change. They didn’t need my marriage certificate, a copy of my new passport, or a social security card. They just needed my wife’s name and date of birth. I know that I have (what feels like) dozens of forms at the churchwide offices with that information but they wanted it in email form. A few seconds of typing, a quick send, and I believe that my name change is officially taken care of at the churchwide level. That only leaves my Library Card as the last piece document in my old name. However, I was told that