A panoramic view affords a wide-angle look at a scenic vista or a group of people. The panorama of our synod’s ministry was fully on display this weekend. And, from the first notes of energetic praise music at opening worship on Friday afternoon to the final ones from a stately organ and a volunteer choir in Grace Chapel on Saturday afternoon, worship at this year’s North Carolina Synod Gathering invited the faithful into what Bishop Emily Hartner referred to as the “ministry of panorama” that is the Lutheran church in North Carolina and the world.

“Come and see, go and tell” was more than a neat catch phrase for the weekend. It encapsulated the spirit of worship that was present in each service, each Scripture passage that was read, each story shared from our preachers, Bishop Emily Hartner, and the Rev. Christy Lohr Sapp.

Pastor Christy, who is called to serve the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan & the Holy Land, preached for the Gathering’s Opening Worship and gave us a glimpse into the part of the world she serves. Through her eyes, we were able to see the daily lives of “indigenous Christians,” whose ancestors walked with Jesus, answered his call, and have lived for more than 2,000 years in the land Christians call Holy. This land is more than ruins and ancient cities. Their reality is daily bombings, military occupation, and injustice. Yet the people remain faithful witnesses to God’s grace and love. And right now, it is a land devastated by war, foreign governments, and revenge. It is a land living with a slow, painful genocide. Yet we cannot turn away from it.

“As Lutheran Christians,” Pastor Christy said, “we are challenged to pay attention to what is going on in the world around us, to call a thing what it is, to see sin as what it is, and to repent of it.”

‘Come and see’ is about bearing witness to the pain of others and repairing the breaches in a war-torn world. Yet the work of the church is expansive, and it means bringing needed resources, support, safety, and help to the region. As Christians, ‘come and see’ invites us to bear witness to possibilities, to what the church can be, and not turn away from brokenness in the world.

And so we came to see.

Closing worship on Saturday afternoon was a commissioning in more ways than one. The latest cohort of lay preachers was commissioned on Saturday. And along with them, we were reminded that “go and tell” is a task to which we are all called, together. Jesus sends us to “go and tell” both individually and together, as his church.

We see what God has done in our lives, in our communities, for our siblings, and we share the good news with others. Jesus sent his disciples off to spread the word without instructions.

Bishop Emily shared the story of a youth mission trip where her group was assigned the task of building steps at a house in the mountains of West Virginia with inadequate supplies, no experience, and a hungry goat that ate the only instructions they had. Most of the time, when God gives us a job, that’s how we feel. Unprepared, overwhelmed, and ill-equipped. But help arrives, and we can fulfill God’s call. Together.

The ministry of panorama is not about seeing everything clearly or perfectly. It is about widening our view enough to recognize that we belong to one another—across congregations, communities, and continents—and that God is already at work among us. Over the course of the Gathering, worship invited the church to come and see both the beauty and brokenness of the world, and then to go and tell the story of a God who still calls ordinary people into shared work, shared witness, and shared hope.

Watch the Synod Gathering worship livestream recordings published on YouTube.

Read Bishop Emily Hartner’s sermon, published as a post on this website.