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| Bishop Sandra Steiner Ball |
I greet you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! I am excited, honored, and humbled to be called to come alongside you in the mission and ministry of Christ as together Bishop Moore-Koikoi and I serve together as episcopal Spiritual leaders for the Susquehanna, Western Pennsylvania, and West Virginia Conferences. I look forward to this collaborative journey with you as God does a new thing! I can already sense the movement of God’s Spirit as Bishop Moore-Koikoi and I have our weekly meetings to pray and prepare together, for new relationships with clergy and laity, and journeying together in new ways to become even more effective in making Disciples of Jesus Christ, growing vital congregations and leaders, and Building God’s Kingdom.
My vision for the Church is to be a dynamic network of faith communities passionate about sharing the hope, love, and life of Christ. What I envision is a group of collaborative followers of Jesus Christ who truly capture the meaning of what it means to “Go!” I envision a group of followers of Jesus Christ who understand that they have a gift so great in Christ that they cannot keep this gift to themselves; a community that understands that the Church’s most critical mission is to reach out, go out, and genuinely, authentically, connect with and invite those who are not yet part of the faith community. This vision will only be fulfilled as we discover and learn how to better equip and empower leaders to fulfill, and to lead others to fulfill, both the Great Commandment and the Great Commission.
How do we do this? Equip and Empower for the current, post pandemic and future generations? We give opportunities to grow. We connect people with new ways of fulfilling the Gospel story. We explore and test new strategies and structures and learn how to delegate, empower, collaborate, and share. We break down walls, build bridges, and work to make the artificial boundaries we have erected between peoples, districts, conferences, licensed, ordained, and lay, more porous. We engage scripture. We model our own lives after the example of Christ. We celebrate and share the story of Christ wherever we find ourselves, without apology. We do the work of God. We point out where God is already at work and join God there – no matter where “there” is. We constantly ask the question: “How will [this] make disciples of Jesus Christ?”
As I join with Bishop Moore-Koikoi and with you in this exciting adventure with Christ I pray that each of you, clergy and laity, will be open to what God is saying to you about your call and responsibility for making Disciples of Christ and building God’s Kingdom. I pray that you will allow the river of God’s Spirit to flow through you and overflow from you to your local church, community, and the world. I am praying and invite you to pray with me for God’s transforming power to be experienced and received in ways that will bring resurrection to your lives individually, the churches where you worship, and to the larger community of faith!
Thank you for the warm and wonderful welcome you have given to both Bishop Moore-Koikoi and to me, as we have begun some of the transitional work and meetings! Thank you to all those persons who are prayerfully preparing for this new opportunity and way of ministry and leadership. Thank you for all your prayers in the midst of transition! I would especially like to thank Bishop Park. I am grateful for the time he spent with your two new bishops sharing the gifts, the mission, and ministry of this Conference.
Please keep both Bishop Moore-Koikoi and I in your prayers as we continue to transition, listen, and to discern God’s voice and God’s Will. God is doing a new thing! It is exciting! It is renewing and invigorating! Yes, it is a bit anxiety producing – however – that just means that God is in the midst of this. When God gives us a vision that seems greater than we are, we do not have to fret. God has assured us that the bigger the vision God gives (and we embrace), the more power God promises will pulsate through us, so that in Christ, we become more than able to fulfill the vision. Our prayers, our searching should never be for small visions, but for great ones. Big visions are not occasions for doubt and discouragement. No, big visions are occasions for joy and rejoicing because the power is on the way!
Susquehanna Conference, God’s power is already moving among you! I am looking forward with joyful anticipation to joining with you and with Bishop Moore-Koikoi in that movement.
Grace and Peace.
