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Lori Walsh: Congregations across the state are adjusting to online worship and congregational care from a distance. For Christians, the coronavirus pandemic comes during the Lenten journey and will impact Holy Week, the week that leads up to Easter Sunday. This year, that's on April 12th.
Bishop Constanze Hagmaier leads the South Dakota Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. She's joining us now with thoughts on moving forward when so much has changed. Bishop, welcome back. Thanks for being here.
Bishop Constanza Hagmaier: Hello there, Lori. It's good to be with you. I'd rather be in person.
Lori Walsh: Yes. Isn't that the truth how the things that we realize that we miss is just that face to face and being able to shake a hand and give a hug? That's so important for so many people. Are you hearing that from people across the state as well?
Bishop Constanza Hagmaier: I do. People are grieving the what I would like to call physical distancing that we're practicing because we can still be social, which that is the upside, if there is an upside, of what I observe and what I get to participate in as I lean back on Sunday mornings and get to participate, instead of one worship service, multiple worship services across the entire state or, so to speak actually, across all of the United States. Leaders have been super creative in bringing worship experiences to their people. If there is any upside to physical distancing, I don't believe that we are socially distancing, as as it forces us to be creative about how we are going to be social.
Lori Walsh: For so many people, the so many Christians, the Lenten journey is a time to reflect on sacrifice, and sometimes people give things up or think more deeply about suffering and grief in general. Then this happens, and we're being asked to think about grief and sacrifice and suffering in some very personal ways. Has it changed the message that pastors, for example, are bringing to churches across the state about journeying through Lent together?
Bishop Constanza Hagmaier: I don't think it has changed the message, but I think there is a different urgency and emphasis on the message. In times of stress and grief, people ears are generally wider open to a message of hope. I honestly cannot thank, especially the leaders of the South Dakota Synod, enough to continue to speak into this time of despair and sort of this message of hope. As I speak and engage with my leaders, they display a resiliency that is deeply rooted in the gospel. I'm deeply grateful to be able to be called their leader.
Lori Walsh: What words help? What words actually nourish, and what words just minimize what's happening?
Bishop Constanza Hagmaier: For me personally, there are different passages that speak into this. I have shared them with my leaders and the wider community. I also find that, just like last Sunday, it was Psalm 23 that was part of our readings as a worshiping community. Many, many, many people in our society still recognize these words as, "The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not be in want. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death and..." I'm just jumping around verses now, but these hold such a vivid meaning in people's life, and they speak to a deeper level of people's existence. There's also one of my all-time favorite verses is from Romans where Paul very clearly says, "Neither death nor life nor things present or things to come will ever be able to separate us from the love of God." I think, in times such as these, these snippets, these verses are food for these hungry hearts and souls and minds that are more than physical food. They nourish our body. The leaders, whether they're pastors or whether they're lay leaders, just keep repeating this message of hope and grace.
I have instructed people in the breath prayer where you simply breathe in a word of hope, for example, "True love," and then you breathe out, "Casts out all fear." As people practice just this breathing in and breathing out, there's also a deeper sense of calm. There's different techniques that we are given through Scripture.
Lori Walsh: Do you hear stories from across the state of people trying to be in action for one another while still keeping themselves safe and reaching out to one another to say, "Christians are... We need to be the hands and feet right now of our Savior. It's time to do something as well." Are you hearing stories about that, particularly from some of these smaller communities?
Bishop Constanza Hagmaier: Yeah. I hear beautiful stories, especially in smaller communities. We seem to go back to what was the model in the early church that you can read about in the Book of Acts where now small groups organize, and they have this telephone... Well, well, the Book of Acts and the early church didn't have a telephone or any multimedia available. They are now congregating virtually whether it is through a new technology, via Zoom or FaceTime, whatever is out there to gather a small groups or whether they just old-fashioned call each other up on the phone and have conversations, intentional conversations.
When you ask, "How are you doing?" you are prepared to hear, "Well, right now, I'm not doing well." Then they actually give the gift of listening to each other. I think, if anything, in some strange sense of a way, it makes us stronger people more deeply rooted in Christ as we realize, very urgently, all of us, that we can't save ourselves but that our hope really lies in something else.
Then there is this big effort that we, as the South Dakota Synod, support through the 211 Helpline where there is already great efforts going in Sioux Falls, but now the South Dakota Synod has teamed up with 211 Helpline to bring this kind of help to our rural communities. Our leaders are encouraged to fill out these forms and send them in, and then 211 will help direct all of these requests that are coming in into the smaller communities, direct them to the resources. We're partnering with the 211 Helpline to be much more efficient on how we reach everyone who is unable to physically, maybe, show up but can pick up the phone and reach out.
The Feeding South Dakota is needing volunteers. If you are a volunteer that is not sick and is healthy and not in a risk category, especially Pierre and Rapid need your help to pack emergency food boxes. If you hear this and are in these areas, please reach out to Feeding South Dakota. They could use your help.
If you hear this and you're a faith community, please fill out the paperwork for 211 Helpline so that they can direct the help in your community.
We're seeing local things happening in smaller communities, wider communities. This is the time where we partner together. That's great about South Dakota is the networking.
Lori Walsh: Oh, wonderful. Thank you so much, Bishop Hagmaier. We really appreciate your time and your voice. We'll breathe in some love, and we'll breathe out some fear because I think it washes over everybody even if, most of the day, you have it under control. We've all gotten moments, right?
Bishop Constanza Hagmaier: We do. We all have our own moments. Trust me.
Lori Walsh: Well, thank you, friend. It's nice-
Bishop Constanza Hagmaier: It makes me so human.
Lori Walsh: Yeah. Nice to hear your voice. We appreciate your time.
Bishop Constanza Hagmaier: Good to hear your voice. Thank you for being with me.
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