Bishop Mark Hanson -- who has spent time with Pope Benedict XVI, President Obama and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice -- is not afraid to throw his company a wide array of questions. "I'm a tenacious questioner because I want to get out what they're thinking about," he said.
These days, Hanson often works closely with world leaders, as indicated by his work in the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere on behalf of 68 million Lutherans in 78 countries.
In 2007, Hanson appeared in the CBS documentary "In God's Name," which named him one of the world's most influential spiritual leaders, in the company of the Dalai Lama and the pope.
Hanson, a Minneapolis, Minn., native, is the presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. On Sunday, he visited Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Charleston to recognize the congregation's efforts to raise money to fight world hunger.
The Rev. Ron Schlak, the pastor at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran, is in the waning weeks of a 100-day, 13,000-mile Tour de Revs bicycle ride to raise money for ELCA's World Hunger Appeal. Two other Lutheran ministers from West Virginia have joined Schlak on the tandem bicycle trek, which began May 20.
In January, Hanson joined 40 bishops who traveled to the Middle East in support of Lutherans in Palestine. He has recently worked with King Abdullah II of Jordan on three key issues: the future of Arab Christianity, deepening Christian-Muslim relationships around the world and sustaining Jerusalem as a shared city of Jews, Muslims and Christians.
Much of his work in the Middle East focuses on the need to work together to counterbalance religious extremism, he said.
Likewise, Hanson is a member of a White House task force on inter-religious dialogue and cooperation. Obama sought the task force's advice before he gave a June 4 speech in Cairo, Egypt, where he asked for a "new beginning" between the United States and Muslims around the world.
Hanson, who has served as presiding bishop since 2001, said both Obama and President George W. Bush have recognized religious communities.
"It was not always easy to be a U.S.-based religious leader during the Bush years," Hanson said. Citizens in other some countries often felt hostility toward Americans, who they viewed as preoccupied by wealth and power, he said.
He credits Bush, however, with dramatically increasing funds to fight HIV and AIDS in Africa.
Prior to the war in Iraq in March of 2003, Hanson and some other religious leaders joined Rice, then national security adviser, to debate the morality of a pre-emptive invasion of Iraq.
The Obama administration has sought the perspective of Lutherans and other denominations on policy issues such as health care reform and immigration reform.
"I appreciate that they're turning to us for our perspective," he said.
Lutherans, he said, tend to be a rather shy lot, as popular Minnesota radio personality Garrison Keillor sometimes points out. Still, Lutherans are open-minded and intellectually curious, he said.
"We don't think faith and reason are in conflict," he said.
In difficult economic times and with a changing population, Hanson said Lutherans would need to tackle tough challenges in the near future.
Within the last year, the ELCA cut its national budget by $7 million and cut 26 positions from its staff.
All but 3 percent of U.S. ELCA congregations are white, although the national leadership has a goal that 10 percent of its parishioners be persons of color, Hanson said.
The average age of a Lutheran is 15 years older than the national average age, he said. Also, it will be a challenge to encourage younger generations, who are bogged down with more debt than their parents and grandparents, to be generous stewards who give to the church and their neighbors.
"We've got work to do," Hanson said.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to us or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that we agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Source (TCG)
SV (ED)