A Sad Day

The home page of the Southeast Michigan Synod today announced:

Bishop John H. K. Schreiber died Saturday, August 16th. Please keep his wife, Rev. Colleen Kampke, and their children, Paul and Claire, in your prayers. 

Rest eternal grant John, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine on him. 

No more details are available at this time.

John was elected bishop at a special synod assembly in November 2005. He was 44 years old at the time of his election.

For all kinds of reasons, I'm not sure there is a harder job in the church these days that serving as bishop. I really admire those who, through all the distractions (some important and lots not) they face in that office, work hard to keep their eyes on God and stay open to the call to be a part of God's loving mission to bless and save and reconcile and set free the world. In my experience, in addition to being smart and funny and curious and kind, John was one of those bishops. Through his leadership, the Southeast Michigan Synod adopted the following vision, mission, and priorities over the past two years:

Our Vision:

God is calling this synod to be a whosoever church that by grace can grow everywhere. 

Our Mission:

The mission of the synod is to be a people in love with Jesus because he first loved us. 

Our Priorities:

• We as a synod will see mission as our first priority. 
• We as a synod will work to find and equip the clergy and lay leadership needed to support the mission.
• We as a synod will become One Synod especially as we combat poverty and the systems that keep people permanently in poverty. 
• We will be a generous people and believe in God’s abundance.

I am thankful for the opportunities I had to work with John over the past couple of years. I am deeply saddened by news of his death. I am keeping Colleen and their kids, John's staff, and all the people of the Southeast Michigan Synod in my prayers today.

What a complete and total bummer.

Comments

[Dan]

He will be missed in so many ways, and words at this stage are not easy to form. I have stated before, that when you are living God's plan it isnt easy, but remeber it's God's plan, and he dosent do things just because.

John will be missed, and we all pray for his family and the snyod, and that the plan the lord has made is well formed.