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September 2024

Dear friends,

Grace and Peace to you in the name of our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

August 31st was the conclusion of my friend Bill Gafkjen’s service as Bishop of the Indiana-Kentucky Synod in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Bill has been our Bishop for fourteen years and I give thanks to God for his years of faithful leadership. Prior to serving as Bishop, he served as Assistant to the Bishop for Bishop Jim Stuck for eight years. Upon leaving the office of Bishop, Bill will be retiring from the ministry after serving the church for thirty nine years. I pray that his years spent in retirement will be blessed.

That said, we elected a new Bishop at the Synod Assembly back in June. Pastor Timothy Graham, who had been serving Messiah Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne, was elected to be the fourth Bishop of the Indiana-Kentucky Synod. I have not met Bishop Graham yet, but I knew his Father, Vern. Pastor Vern was a delightful man who was very helpful as an interim pastor at Holy Trinity here in Muncie during their time of need. Bishop Graham has begun serving as
Bishop as of September first, but he will be officially installed on Saturday, October 12th. I encourage you to consider attending the installation, they’re wonderful services. It will be at Christ the Savior Lutheran Church in Fishers and I plan on attending. I look forward to meeting our new Bishop, and I’m excited to see his leadership visions unfold.

Here are a few excerpts from an article about him from our Living Lutheran Magazine, I’ll include the link to the full story below.

“Timothy Graham didn’t plan on becoming a bishop. “I knew my name would be lifted up, but I didn’t have any expectations,” said Graham, who serves as a pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne, Ind.

When Graham found himself on the ballot for bishop, he shared his life passage with the assembly: 1 Timothy 12-17, which centers on Paul’s transformation, made possible through God’s grace. “I said I could think of a million reasons why I shouldn’t be bishop—that’s the way I started [my remarks],” he said. “I meant it wholeheartedly.”


“It wasn’t my plan to be standing up there,” he said of the assembly election process. “The overwhelming response I’ve heard from people was that I was just down-to-earth, and theydidn’t feel like I was pushing to be there in that moment.”

Although it will be an adjustment for Graham and his wife to move from Fort Wayne—where their four adult kids and seven grandkids also live—to Indianapolis, he is eager to begin serving in his new role, which he will do when he takes office Sept. 1.

“I don’t have all the answers by any means, but I’ve had a broad range of experiences, from closing a congregation to helping one reestablish itself,” he said. “I think that will lend itself well to serving as bishop.”

I encourage you to read the whole article, Bishop Graham’s story is worth learning more about.

https://www.livinglutheran.org/2024/08/down-to-earth-leadership/

Your Sibling in Christ,
Pastor Rober