We Are 2025 Okay
In my first 90 days, I met with 90 pastors, deacons, chaplains and lay leaders of our congregations, camps, campus ministries and social ministries and this is what I learned: 1. Most said they were some version of being...
You Are Not Alone
A Christmas Message from Bishop Hirsch “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to...
Feeding Neighbors: Good Shepherd, Alexandria, VA
Recently, the Synod offered Feeding Our Neighbors Together mini-grants for congregations to feed neighbors in need. We asked congregations to get creative and to share their story with us so that we could disseminate it to the wider synod. When...
Feeding Neighbors: Saint Luke, Silver Spring, MD
Recently, the Synod offered Feeding Our Neighbors Together mini-grants for congregations to feed neighbors in need. We asked congregations to get creative and to share their story with us so that we could disseminate it to the wider synod. When...
People Get Ready
An Advent Message from Bishop Hirsch When living in times of great turmoil and despair, it is vitally important to remember that the world as it is with all its violence and displacement, deception and evil, will one day come...
Feeding Neighbors: Abiding Presence, Burke, VA
Recently, the Synod offered Feeding Our Neighbors Together mini-grants for congregations to feed neighbors in need. We asked congregations to get creative and to share their story with us so that we could disseminate it to the wider synod. When...
Bishop Phil Hirsch’s Welcome Message
This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it! It is my great honor to begin this day as Bishop of the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Synod! I am excited for what God...
Bishop Leila Ortiz’s Farewell Message
Praying Forward: With God's Help and In Jesus' Name... The time has come. My term as your bishop has ended. This calling has been both soul-crushing and life-saving, a sacred trust that has opened my heart to unconditional and unapologetic...
For Such a Time as This: A Call to Prayer and Fasting
I write to you in this hour of urgent need, compelled by the Spirit to call our Synod to a time of concentrated prayer and fasting. As I shared in my recent letter on spiritual warfare, we are witnessing systemic...
A Call to Spiritual Warfare: Remembering Our Baptismal Power
This week I’ve been forced to reflect on what I know in my bones but have let atrophy during my years in the Lutheran church. For months I’ve been listening to colleagues, friends, and strangers interpret the news and our...