From the Director for Evangelical Mission / Assistant to the Bishop
“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
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This prayer from Ephesians is a prayer and blessing that I pray for this synod – for each congregation and individual – often. In my role as Director for Evangelical Mission, I have the unique role of being tasked with wondering alongside congregations what the breadth and length and depth and height of Christ’s love is, so that through the power of God at work in the community we might be able to accomplish abundantly more than we could ever ask or imagine.
By intentionally reaching out in mission further than we have before – beyond our church walls, outside our long-formed communities, into partnerships we hadn’t previously considered – together we have gotten to know a little bit of the unknowable. That we continue this reaching beyond ourselves to prove the vastness of God’s activity in our lives and in our communities is my prayer and hope for us all, and I am so thankful to be invited on this journey with you all in this role.
Final Worship Service held at Luther Memorial Lutheran Church May 2025
In the past year, we have reached further than we have before as we explored new ministries and asked big questions. With the development of the Care Companion Network – a lay pastoral care listening ministry – we have begun reimagining what it looks like for the church community to reach out and offer a listening presence for people who long for an empathetic listening ear as an extension of the body of Christ. This has helped us to reclaim the Lutheran understanding of the priesthood of all believers, trusting that trained lay people can indeed offer quality pastoral care alongside or, in some cases, in the absence of an ordained pastoral care presence. As the leaders of the network claim ownership of this developing ministry, I can’t help but thank God for expanding not only our synod’s, by my own understanding, of the reaches of God’s activity in our communities. As this ministry continues to expand, I invite you to consider becoming a trained care companion yourself or inviting someone else with gifts for listening to do so.
I was also privileged to journey with the people of Luther Memorial Lutheran Church in Gays Mills, WI throughout the last year as they moved toward the completion of their congregational ministry, with their last worship service held on May 4, 2025. A group of synod-appointed and congregation members served as trustees to steward the process of closing the congregation and caring for the enduring legacy of the congregation’s ministry beyond its closure, the trustee board (Dori Mickelson, Bethany Seiser, Pr. Carrie Anderson, Ross Hardie, Leslie Peterson, Pr. Meg Hoversten, and myself) experienced unexpected and healing glimpses of the expansiveness of God’s love and the relationships formed through the process. While completing the ministry of any congregation is filled with many emotions, the trust and relationships built on the trustee board helped us all to keep Christ at the center of the decisions made. This led to a meaningful completion with an openness to what God will do next in the lives of the members and the community at large. It was truly a privilege to be part of these conversations and witness God’s inbreaking throughout the process.
Pastor Dione, Ben & Cassian Stepanek
The unexpected and expansive ways that God has stretched congregations, individuals, and the synod-at-large are as broad as the breadth, length, depth, and height of the love of Christ. I say this with no illusion that all that has happened in the past year has been filled with joy and celebration. As synod, we also walked together with congregations experiencing heartbreak, unexpected pastoral transitions, financial crises, and continued concerns about the sustainability of ministries that have seen changes beyond their control. And yet, as we journey through these experiences together, the enduring love of Christ calls us back to remember that God can do abundantly far more than we could ever ask or imagine. As we walk together through the difficulties, we reach out and probe the expansiveness of God’s activity and find that there is still a future in these instances, even if they are different than we originally anticipated. This is holy work that we do not do alone. This past year has only further enforced the notion that our support of each other will help us to move toward the future for which God is preparing the church -a future that may, indeed, be beyond our knowledge, at least for now.
On a personal level, in the past year I have been reminded boldly of the nature of the care of the church that carries us forward and helps us to experience God’s love more boldly. This past fall I received such warm compassion as I grieved the death of both my grandmother and my aunt who was the main influence in my call to ministry. As I grieved, I gave thanks to God for being privileged to work in a community that “gets this stuff” and allowed me the space and compassion to attend to my family and my own spirit. We are death and resurrection people – people who believe that God can do more than we can imagine and helps one another to remember that in the tender parts of life.
I give thanks to God for you all and your witness in absentia, as my husband and I recently welcomed the birth of our first child. This year, I have been showered with love, support, and prayers from around the synod in a way that is so humbling and reassuring. Thank you for the ways that you support not only me, but for the ways that this helps me to further catch a glimpse of the ways you care for each other in these ways everyday. I look forward to joining you all again this fall when I return to work.
In the coming year, may God continue to lead us all to reach out and probe the expansiveness of God’s activity as, together, we get to experience the joy of knowing the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge and Cultivate Life-Giving Relationships Rooted in God’s love.
Written by The Rev. Dione Stepanek, Assistant to the Bishop of the La Crosse Area Synod & Director for Evangelical Mission
