I am grateful for conversations happening between colleagues online about Ash Wednesday this year; many creative, thoughtful, caring and Covid-safe ideas are being shared, along with good questions about how to approach a service that focuses on remembering mortality during a deadly pandemic.

Like so many, we watched in appalled disbelief Wednesday as we witnessed a mob overrun the Capitol building and disrupt our elected leaders as they sought to perform their constitutional duty. We condemn this assault on our democracy. It is contrary to the principles we claim to value as a nation. More significantly for us as church leaders, it was utterly contrary to the way of Jesus Christ.

I write to share news of the Holy Spirit at work in transitions, endings and beginnings. Pastor Amy Engebose, Bishop’s Associate for Rostered Leadership and Congregations in Transition, will be leaving synod staff to return to parish ministry. She has been called to be the pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Neenah. Pastor Amy joined the synod staff in October, 2016 and has worked with congregations in transition, call process, mobility, first call, candidacy, and Reimagining Church.

This week finds the Edison-Albright family In full transition mode: preparing for and moving to our new home in Appleton. “People Look East,” one of my favorite Advent hymns, has very different resonance this year. I’m not going to lie: being surrounded by boxes and giant, rolling dust bunnies has made me think about the “make your house fair as you are able” line and cringe a little. Love is still on the way, even if my table is not set or your hearth is not lit. This is most certainly true, and just as true is that Love is with us in the truth and reality of difficult seasons in our lives, in the church, and in the world.