In response to President Obama’s announcement Friday concerning an “accommodation” to a previous mandate that health plans must cover all forms of birth control (even those that can kill the unborn), The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) remains deeply concerned. We strongly object to the use of drugs and procedures that are used to take the lives of unborn children, who are persons in the sight of God from the time of conception. Drugs such as “Plan B” and “Ella,” which are still included in the mandate, can work post-conception to cause the death of the developing child, so don’t be fooled by statements to the contrary.

We see President Obama’s action Friday as significant, in that it appears to have been prompted by the many voices united in concern over an infringement of our religious liberties. But the “accommodation” did not expand the exemption for religious employers, nor did it restrict the mandate in any way. It simply described a temporary enforcement delay and a possible future change—a change that, unfortunately, would not adequately protect religious freedom or unborn lives.

We remain opposed to this mandate because it runs counter to the biblical truth of the sanctity of human life. We are committed to working to ensure that we remain free to practice the teachings of our faith, that our religious rights are not violated, and that our rights of conscience are retained. Freedom of religion extends beyond the practice of our faith in houses of worship. We must be free to put our faith into action in the public square, and, in response to Christ’s call, demonstrate His mercy through our love and compassion for all people according to the clear mandate of Holy Scripture.

The government has overstepped its bounds. This controversy is not merely about “birth control” and the Catholic Church’s views about it. It’s about mandating that we provide medications which kill life in the womb. And moreover, and perhaps even more ominous, it is about an overzealous government forcing coercive provisions that violate the consciences and rights of its citizens. We can no longer expect a favored position for Christianity in this country. But we can, as citizens of this great nation, fight for constitutional sanity against secularizing forces. As we have vividly experienced in discriminatory state legislation with respect to homosexual adoption, we, and our institutions (and those of other religious citizens of good will), are being robbed of the right to the free exercise of religion absent government intrusion or threat. The next assault will come upon church-related retirement facilities. How much longer will it be legal in this country to believe and act according to the dictates of biblical and creedal Christianity?

Jesus bids us, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mark 12:17). We will pray for and support our government where we can, but our consciences and lives belong to God.

In His peace,

Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison
President
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

Walther joined the Saxon Germans who immigrated to the United States in 1839 (the date of arrival), and at the age of 27 found himself leader of the group that settled in Perry County, Missouri. In 1847, Walther played a key role in the founding of the LCMS, which now ranks as one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States with more than 2.3 million baptized members in some 6,200 congregations and more than 9,000 pastors.

Find out more about Walther, “The Father of the Missouri Synod,” and his lasting leadership. Join the celebration.

http://www.lcms.org/walther200

See also:

1. Walther on Communion Fellowship
2. LCMS Bicentennial Lectures
3. Submit a Research Paper on CFW Walther
4. LCMS Convention News from July 13

Dearly beloved,

Grace and peace to you,

…

In the last few days over 41 churches and several evangelical mission stations or mission congregations were burned down. There are thousands of people expelled from their homes and some who are even badly beaten and killed. The perpetrators are Radical Islamist and Jihadist elements who are now operating in the western and south western parts of Ethiopia. I have spoken with Rev. Wakseyoum as he was visiting Mekane Yesus Churches and Synods close to the border of Sudan. The Voice of America (VOA) called, got in touch with him and interviewed him today and he spoke to the world from that remote spot through this international VOA radio streamed out of Washington DC.

On that interview given in Amharic he stated that, the Mekane Yesus have intentionally worked hard to establish good relationships with Muslim Ethiopians and that work have resulted in so much good and positive relationship. However he is shocked and saddened by this outbreak lashing out in heartbreaking atrocities. This brutal act is not the first of its kind. Three years ago Muslim fundamentalists have burned down several churches, killed evangelists, pastors and lay leaders. They are now repeating the same attacks. Today thousands have lost their homes, churches, family members and their rights to safely worship and conduct their ministries.

The Ethiopian government officials and security forces have intervened. The out come of their work is yet to be known. Some leaders from the central office of the Mekane Yesus Church in Addis Ababa have traveled to the area today to start getting help to the victims. There are many people who are now waiting to get some emergency aid in a camp. President Idossa is going to release another statement in the next few days as the investigation continues and as the government tries to bring these acts under control and bring the perpetrators to justice.

Please pray about this!! I also suggest that we send letters carrying words of encouragement and stating our commitment to pray for them.

…

Persecution is not new to our church, however every time it happens it opens up old wounds and breaks the heart of many. In the middle all these our brothers and sisters are walking into this holy Lenten season not with ashes on their forehead but carrying the cross of Christ and confessing their faith in the words of Psalm 23:1, “The Lord is my shepherd!”

May God renew our world in this Lenten season through the Holy Word of God and through power grace of God through Christ, Amen!!

Peace and Blessings,

The Rev. Dr. Gemechis D. Buba

Living in God’s Amazing Grace

See also:

1. The Call
2. The House Church Movement
3. Luther on the Lord’s Prayer
4. Psalm 130 – Prayer for Forgiveness of Sins

Their forefathers built their North Branch church in 1934 with two by fours cut from trees they felled here in western Sullivan County.
Their mothers and fathers, grandfathers and grandmothers were baptized, married and laid to rest in their church set among the pine trees in this hamlet tucked in the snowy mountains of the western Catskills.

And when local children couldn’t afford winter coats to keep them warm or socks to keep them dry, the people of this tan stucco church opened the Saving Grace Thrift Shop in an adjacent building donated to them. When single moms and their children needed places to live while they got back on their feet, the church rented low-cost apartments to them in that same building in this hamlet with two-story Main Street homes where most everyone knows everyone else’s name.

Read more …

See also:

1. The Anglican Church in North America
2. Church in Kyrgyzstan Celebrates Mission & Outreach Milestones
3. ELCA Tries to Keep a Certain Congregation in Florida
4. The Rights & Limits of the Individual Congregation

Session topics will be as follows:

• Vocation in a culture of death: testing Postmodern assumptions
• Lutheran Ethics in a culture of death

It should be a very interesting and insightful day. Please plan on joining us!

No registration fee, but please RSVP (for lunch count) to Travis Goeglein at tgoeglein@gmail.com

We are privileged to have as our speaker this year the Rev. John T. Pless, Assistant Professor of Pastoral Ministry and Missions at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne.

More Info

See also:

1. Apologetics Symposium
2. Conference on Christianity and Culture
3. From the Beginning of the World
4. I am a Little World Made Cunningly

Lately, those differences have centered on the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly’s adoption of a social statement on human sexuality and changes to ministry policies that include making it possible for those in lifelong, publicly accountable, monogamous same-gender relationships to serve as ELCA clergy, deaconesses, diaconal ministers and associates in ministry.

The LCMS holds that Scripture condemns homosexual behavior.

Delegates to the 2010 LCMS convention adopted a resolution that calls for the Synod’s Commission on Theology and Church Relations (CTCR) to develop “in-depth theological criteria for assessing cooperative endeavors, determining what would necessitate termination of such … efforts.” That resolution also asks the Synod Praesidium (president and five vice-presidents) to “provide an assessment of the current state of cooperation in externals and a full report of criteria for ongoing assessment of the same by July 13, 2011.”  The resolution was proposed after an LCMS task force studying the theological implications of the ELCA’s 2009 sexuality decisions issued its report.

For this meeting’s theological discussion, Dr. Albert B. Collver III, the Missouri Synod’s director of Church Relations — assistant to the president, initiated discussion of the topic of “natural law” — defined by Philip Melanchthon in 1521 as “a common judgment to which all men alike assent, and therefore one which God has inscribed upon the soul of each man.”

As background reading for the meeting, Collver offered two papers he authored — one that discusses natural law and finds that it does not allow for homosexual behavior; and another that calls for “re-examination of the principle of ‘cooperation in externals’ … to consider what ‘externals’ can be cooperated in without compromising confession.”

Collver also offered what he developed as five “theses for cooperation in externals on the basis of natural law.” The first two state that cooperation in externals “can only occur when there is agreement in natural law” and “when there is agreement in doctrine and practice, because such agreement constitutes agreement in natural law.”

Dr. Marcus Kunz, executive for discernment of contextual and theological issues with the ELCA Office of the Presiding Bishop, provided for discussion at the meeting “A Brief Response” to Collver’s papers.

In his response, Kunz expresses appreciation for Collver’s papers, but places greater emphasis on the need for acts of Christian love that result from faith.

“The motivation for Lutherans in the United States to form and support these organizations — LIRS, LSA and LWR — has been a confident faith created by the Holy Spirit that, trusting God’s promises in Christ, has liberated Lutherans to respond graciously, generously and joyfully to the needs of their neighbors in the United States and throughout the world,” Kunz wrote.

http://www.lcms.org/pages/rpage.asp?NavID=18144

See also:

1. ELCA & LCMS
2. ELCA & LCMS
3. A Letter from the President of the LCMS
4. LCMS President Responds to Actions Taken by Lutheran CORE

Jesus’ words from Mark 10:45 call us to something greater than ourselves. Our Christian service springs to life because Christ is the model of servanthood. The life that Jesus gave “as a ransom for many” is why we as Christians have any sense of service.

Jesus gave his life so that you and I might serve others in the way that he would serve. You and your congregation have a great opportunity to serve those who live in some of the most impoverished regions in China, Anhui and Jiangxi Provinces. The needs are great. The people are grateful. The experience will be gratifying.

2011 Service Opportunities include:

June 16-28 Orphanage Care Project
July 3-Aug.1 English as Second Language Training Project
July 13-28 youthconnect Culture & Service Project

Imagine yourself serving in China with chinaconnect as a short or long-term English teacher, an American youth serving with Chinese youth, a college student studying/serving aboard, or a visiting scholar. Don’t imagine it, do it. Let us help!

In Christ’s mission,

Steven F. Ray, Executive Director
chinaconnect
1.253.851.7643 or 1.253.225.5989
sray@chinaconnectonline.org
www.chinaconnectonline.org
chinaconnect is an Independent Lutheran Charitable Organization

See also:

1. Macau Ministry Center Celebrates 10 Years
2. Concordia Shanghai Dedicates New High School

This year’s annual Beautiful Feet Mission Conference will be held Nov. 11-13, on the campus of Concordia University Texas, Austin, Texas. The event, under the theme ‘Love in Action,’ includes keynote speakers, worship, exhibitors, breakout sessions, and fellowship with other mission-minded students. During this student-led conference, mission-minded students representing a variety of campuses will have the opportunity to hear from current LCMS missionaries, learn about mission work in action across the country, and consider how they can be involved in God’s mission right now or in the future.

This year’s keynote speakers include Travis Hartjen, who serves as a director of Christian education at Christ Lutheran Church in Costa Mesa, Calif., and Chaplain Eric Erkkinen, assistant director of LCMS World Mission’s Ministry to the Armed Forces.

Online registration is now open at http://bf.lcmsworldmission.org. The registration fee is $100 per student and covers lodging and meals from Thursday through Saturday, programming expenses, and a conference t-shirt. LCMS World Mission is offering travel scholarships of $100 for 150 students who register before Oct. 10. If you have questions or would like to learn more about the Beautiful Feet Mission Conference, send an e-mail to beautiful.feet@lcms.org.

LCMS WORLD MISSION
1333 S. Kirkwood Road
St. Louis, MO 63122-7295, USA
Telephone: 1-800-433-3954
Fax: (314) 965-0959
E-mail: mission.info@lcms.org
Web site: http://www.lcmsworldmission.org
Ablaze! Movement: http://www.lcms.org/ablaze
Blog: http://blog.lcmsworldmission.org

See also:

1. Recent Mission Stories at The Reporter Online
2. Lutheran Songwriters Conference
3. Church in Kyrgyzstan Celebrates Mission & Outreach Milestones
4. Conference on Archives and History

The decision to form the new church body was made at the annual Convocation of Lutheran CORE which attracted more than 1,100 Lutherans Thursday and Friday at Grove City Church of the Nazarene in Grove City, Ohio. Thousands more watched the convocation online.

The Convocation adopted a constitution and elected provisional leaders for the NALC. The Rev. Paull Spring of State College, Pa., was elected as bishop of the NALC. Spring served as the bishop of the Northwestern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) for 14 years.

Spring and other church leaders were elected for one-year terms. Those congregations and individuals who join the NALC will elect their own leaders at the church body’s first annual meeting next year. Spring has said that he will not be available for reelection.

“We have a great opportunity before us. We not only want to look back toward the past, but to look ahead to the mission God has given us — to confess Christ faithfully, to witness to others, and to grow in God’s mission. This is our opportunity now in Lutheran CORE and in the North American Lutheran Church,” said Spring.

“The NALC will embody the center of Lutheranism in America. The NALC will uphold confessional principles dear to Lutherans including a commitment to the authority of the Bible and the Lutheran Confessions. Members and congregations of the NALC will have direct involvement in the decisions and life of the NALC,” said the Rev. Mark Chavez of Landisville, Pa., director of Lutheran CORE.

The new church body was approved with no opposition. Some current pastors in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America who attended the Convocation chose to abstain because of their ELCA responsibilities.

Some of those in attendance asked to be able to sign a document noting their assent to the creation of the NALC. Many waited for more than an hour to do so because they wanted to formally note their involvement in the historic action.
Lutherans around the world celebrated the creation of the NALC. Two of the largest Lutheran churches in the world sent official representatives to the Convocation. Representatives of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania and the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus told the Convocation of the support of their church bodies for the NALC. These two church bodies from Africa are the second and third largest Lutheran churches in the world, each with 5.3 million members. They reported that Lutherans throughout Africa were praying for the Convocation and for the NALC.

“May God bless Lutheran CORE and the vision of the NALC,” said the Rev. Francis Stephanos, president emeritus of the church in Ethiopia and a former vice president of the Lutheran World Federation. “One cannot put the word of Scripture to a vote. . . . The churches of the South will choose Scripture over the mighty dollar.”

The Rev. Dr. Benson Bagonza, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania’s Karagwe Diocese, preached for the closing worship service and participated in the installation of Bishop Spring.

“The presence at our convocation of so many ecumenical and international guests is very significant,” said Spring. “Their presence among us is a reminder that we are not alone in our ministry and that we intend to forge strong ties and relationships with other Christian communities as we go forward in the North American Lutheran Church.”

The Convocation voted to request membership in the Lutheran World Federation for the NALC as a part of the church body’s commitment to an ongoing relationship with faithful Lutheran churches in Africa and Eastern Europe.

The NALC is also committed to a close partnership with Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LCMC), an association of congregations that many former ELCA congregations have joined since it was formed in 2001. More than 280 congregations have joined LCMC since last August.

“As you make your stand today, I pledge that your siblings in LCMC will stand beside you,” said the Rev. Larry Lindstrom of Farmersville, Ohio, chair of the LCMC Board of Trustees. “I anticipate many congregations will choose to join both LCMC and the NALC.”

A way to move forward together

In addition to creating the NALC, Lutheran CORE’s 2010 Convocation approved proposals designed to provide a way for Lutherans who uphold Biblical teaching to move forward together.
Lutheran CORE will continue as “a confessional and confessing unity movement for all Lutherans regardless of church body.”

“The NALC and Lutheran CORE will link us together as confessional, faithful Lutherans,” said the Rev. Paul Ulring of Columbus, Ohio, who was elected Thursday as the moderator of Lutheran CORE. “We believe that God is at work, so these are wonderful times ahead.” Ulring is pastor of Upper Arlington Lutheran Church.

“Lutheran CORE’s actions at this convocation and the launching of the NALC are significant progress in forming a community of confessing Lutherans that crosses denomination lines and national boundaries,” Chavez said.

“Our Lord’s reconfiguring of the Lutheran landscape not only in North America, but worldwide, is breathtaking and exciting. We pray that Lutheran CORE and the NALC will faithfully follow Him and in all things give glory to our Heavenly Father,” said Chavez. “It has been wonderful to witness the joy and hopeful excitement of so many Lutherans to move forward and do the main thing — proclaim Jesus Christ and His Gospel to make disciples.”

“The future that we envision for confessing Lutherans in North America is one that is centered on the absolute truth of Christ Jesus and committed to making disciples for Him,” said Ryan Schwarz of Washington, D.C., chair of Lutheran CORE’s Vision and Planning Working Group. “Both Lutheran CORE and the NALC will stand in continuity with the tradition of the Christian Church over the past 2,000 years and will orient their activities primarily for the support of congregations in their ministries.”

“Lutheran CORE and the new NALC are two pathways for faithful, confessing Lutherans in North America to remain connected to each other and to the vast majority of Lutherans and Christians globally who reject the theological innovations of the ELCA and ELCIC,” added Schwarz, who was elected to serve on the NALC’s Executive Council.

The NALC is a member of Lutheran CORE and will do much of its mission and ministry in conjunction with Lutheran CORE to help maintain unity among confessing Lutherans and to carry out mission and ministry efficiently.

Lutheran CORE’s 2009 Convocation Sept. 25-26, 2009, in Fishers, Ind., asked that a proposal for the “reconfiguration of North American Lutheranism” be prepared and brought to the 2010 Convocation. In response, “A Vision and Plan for The North American Lutheran Church and Lutheran CORE, a Community of Confessing Lutherans” was released in February.

“The North American Lutheran Church places great emphasis on congregational ministry and congregational renewal.” Spring said. “We know that the congregation is not the sole form of ministry in the church. But the congregation is surely the chief community of faith for ministry and renewal. We are hoping that our congregational focus will be evident in the way we carry out our ministry.”

Spring noted that Lutheran CORE and the NALC are committed to faithfully teaching the historic Christian faith as it has been confessed by Lutherans and also to moving forward in faith and mission.

“We are inspired by the groundswell of congregations interested in joining the NALC, as well as the other Lutheran and Christian church bodies interested in discussing fellowship and shared ministry opportunities with the NALC,” Schwarz said.

“Our common commitment to Christ’s Great Commission — making disciples of all nations — is a firm foundation for continued growth of the NALC, broader unity through Lutheran CORE, and building of church-to-church relationships in coming years.”

Lutheran CORE and the NALC are also committed to close ties with Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ.

Theological Conference addresses crisis in Lutheranism

More than 800 people attended a theological conference featuring some of the most significant Lutheran scholars in America that preceded the Convocation. “Seeking New Directions for Lutheranism” was the theme of the Aug. 24-26 conference at Upper Arlington Lutheran Church in Hilliard, Ohio.

“We are at a crossroads where our theological tradition and the teaching of the Christian faith are being placed in jeopardy,” the Rev. Dr. Carl Braaten told the conference. Braaten is one of the most respected Lutheran theologians in the world.

Lutherans throughout the United States have been wrestling with the implications of recent actions by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America reversing the ELCA’s policy on pastors in same-sex sexual relationships. ELCA pastors are now allowed to be in same-sex relationships and to officiate at same-sex union ceremonies. The ELCA Churchwide Assembly approved a social statement in August 2009 that changed ELCA teaching on sexuality and authorized a reversal in policy regarding pastors in same-sex relationships.

Lutheran CORE leaders note that the problems in the ELCA are really not about sexual behavior but rather about an ongoing movement away from the authority and teaching of the Bible throughout the ELCA, on issues far broader than simply human sexuality.

“It was not our choice to leave the ELCA, but the ELCA has chosen to reject ‘the faith once delivered to the saints,’ so now we are acting to maintain our position within the consensus of the Church catholic,” said Schwarz.

“The ELCA has decided that it is in a position of authority over the Bible itself rather than submitting to the authority of the Bible over all matters of faith and life,” Chavez said. “And unfortunately, most of the attention is given to the sexuality issues, but there are actually much more disturbing trends within the ELCA.”

Via the Lutheran CORE blog. For more information see the CORE or NALC websites.

See also:

1. Update on the Lutheran CORE Convocation
2. CORE Responds to Stephen Bauman Letter
3. WordAlone, CORE & LCMC
4. What do we do now?

Lutheran churches in Philip, Midland and Long Valley voted Sunday by large margins to leave the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America for the newly created North American Lutheran Church.

First Lutheran Church in Philip, Trinity Lutheran in Midland and Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Long Valley, which share a pastor and a parish structure, all voted by margins of 98 percent to 100 percent to end their affiliations with the ELCA over theological differences. A fourth church in the parish, Deep Creek Lutheran Church of Midland/ Hayes, had to schedule its second vote for Sunday, Sept. 5, but it has already voted 12-0 to leave.

“We are not divided on this at all. We just feel renewed, like the Holy Spirit is moving among us,” said the Rev. Frezil Westerlund, pastor of all four churches and an ELCA minister of 23 years who will move her credentials to the NALC. The NALC was officially created Aug. 27 at a convention of the Lutheran Coalition for Renewal, a group that opposes the new gay clergy policies that the ELCA Churchwide Assembly passed at its 2009 convention.

The four parishes are the most recent of the 13 former ELCA churches statewide that have taken the requisite two congregational votes to depart the ELCA in the past year. They will not be the last.

Lutheran churches in Whitewood and Lead have each taken first votes, by overwhelming margins, to leave the ELCA. Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church in Lead has a second vote scheduled for Sept. 26. Immanuel Lutheran Church in Whitewood will vote again Oct. 10, following its first 40-0 vote July 11. Two people abstained at Immanuel.

Two Buffalo-area churches have also left the ELCA: Ladner and Capitol, Mont. A new Lutheran church is being formed in Ludlow, and Mobridge has a new Lutheran congregation, Sacred World Lutheran Church, formed by a group that broke away from the main church after a failed vote to leave.

Churches voting to leave the ELCA may take their church properties with them, as long as they are transferring to another Lutheran entity. Because the four Midland-area congregations previously voted to affiliate with the Lutheran Church in Mission, they retain ownership of their churches.

“We were very intentional in the way we came out,” Westerlund said. “Since we’ve decided to do this, we’ve gained members.” The four churches have a combined membership of about 400 people, she estimated.

Many of the new members are younger people, she said. “Social relevance isn’t what younger people are looking for.”
The NALC is not focused on opposition to gay clergy, insists Westerlund, who attended the Aug. 26 and 27 convention in Ohio and says homosexuals are welcome in the new denomination.

“There’s very little talk at all about sexuality. That is really not an issue. What we’re interested in is a return to our Lutheran traditions, to reading the Bible, to letting the canon be our guide in life.”

The NALC was formed, in part, because of what people saw as poor stewardship of resources in the ELCA and a disconnect between the national church and local congregations, Westerlund said. “We’re really happy to be out of that.”

Many of the departing churches might have left, even without the 2009 vote that allows ELCA churches to roster homosexual clergy in committed, monogamous relationships, Westerlund said.

“That just came as the final blow. People realized how totally out of touch the church was with people,” she said.

Via The Rapid City Journal

See also:

1. Anglican Bishop Minns Advises Leaving the ELCA
2. ELCA News Reports
3. Church of Joy Votes Unanumously to Leave ELCA
4. Rosenbladt on the ELCA

November 9 at 4:00pm – November 10 at 10:00am

Location

Concordia Theological Seminary
6600 North Clinton Street
Fort Wayne, IN

About

This year’s Advent Preaching Seminar will examine the Advent sermons of three German theologian/preachers: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Helmut Thielicke, and Gerhard Ebeling. Drawing on their work, suggested outlines and illustrations will be offered for a midweek Advent series as well as the Sundays of Advent. Presenter: Prof. John T. Pless. For more information visit The Good Shepherd Institute or call 260-452-2224.

See also:

1. Luther’s Advent & Christmas Preaching
2. Lenten Preaching Workshop
3. Advent I
4. Advent Devotion

Dear Brothers in Christ,

Grace and peace be with you, from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

This will be my last “Pastoral Letter” as president of The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. My term officially ends Sept. 1, so I’m spending some of the days of August moving out of the fourth-floor International Center office, not an insignificant challenge!

My thoughts and feelings these days are many and varied. I’m thankful for the privilege and humbled by the burden of having served as president of our beloved Synod, which has been led by men whose names are fairly familiar to many: Walther, Wyneken, Schwan, Pieper, Pfotenhauer, Behnken, Harms, Preus, Bohlmann, Barry, and Kuhn. Kieschnick is now leaving and Harrison is coming. Men with feet of clay, touched by God’s Spirit with a variety of gifts, recognized and asked to serve by people with hopes and dreams for the church body we all know and love – The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod.

My hopes and dreams for our Synod have not been fully accomplished. No surprise there, for we are still the church militant, not yet the church triumphant. During my time in office, I’ve been perplexed by a number of things, some of which I identified and described in my verbal report to the Synod Convention a few weeks ago. One matter in particular continues to be a concern for me and for many. Here are slightly paraphrased excerpts from my report dealing with that specific concern:

This spring, at a pastors conference in Minnesota, I talked about the report of our convention-mandated Task Force on Synod Harmony, specifically, the seven “Aspects of the Present Disharmony in Synod.” As I listed them, you could hear a pin drop. The men in the room sat silently, some with heads bowed. I think what made them so still, so pensive – even melancholy – was that they realized just how much truth was contained in these points. Here are those seven aspects of disharmony among us:

1. An “inability to deal with diversity” in such issues as admission to Holy Communion, worship substance and style, the Office of the Public Ministry and the role of laity, and the service of women in the church.

2. A “lack of civility” that leads to rumors, lies, slander, sarcasm, and cruel satire, doing violence to the Eighth Commandment and sorely wounding our church.

3. A “politicized culture” that has turned our Synod into “a denomination of parties.”

4. These problems are “primarily a clergy problem.” Pastors “seem to be in the forefront of practices and attitudes unbefitting God’s people.”

5. “Poor communication across ‘Party Lines’” hampers the ability, or the will, to listen to one another.

6. A “lack of accountability” for “sinful attitudes and behaviors,” falling on the shoulders of district presidents and circuit counselors to “admonish, teach, encourage, and model ‘churchmanship.’”

7. “Distrust,” particularly among clergy, resulting in increasingly partisan politics.

Delegates to this convention have witnessed or experienced some of these firsthand. As disconcerting as these aspects of disharmony are, it is important that we acknowledge them. For only by facing up to our problems can we hope to fix them. Unity, harmony, and concord among us are not what they ought to be and need to be improved significantly.

This will not be accomplished by changes in structure and governance, but by the Spirit of God working within us through Word and Sacrament. That does not make structure and governance improvements insignificant or unnecessary. All problems we face must be addressed. A person who has both heart disease and kidney malfunction cannot ignore either of those conditions.

From my perspective on this side of the convention, those words have not diminished in importance. Unless and until these matters are addressed and resolved, our Synod will continue to be blown about by the changing winds of political persuasion. We are not at our best when finding fault with each other, when believing rumors and promulgating innuendo, when failing to “defend, speak well of, and put the best construction on everything.”

Satan delights at these failures, which I’ve described elsewhere in these words: “It is my own sense that the propensity for political propaganda that seems imbedded in our denominational DNA all too often divides our well-trained clergy, dispirits our godly lay men and lay women, weakens our witness to the world, and leaves us feeling torn and empty.”

In the place of such division, may God find us faithful in fulfilling vigorously the ONE Mission of seeking the lost for Christ, by communicating the ONE Message that Jesus Christ, and He alone, is the Savior of the world, as ONE People – Forgiven, striving side-by-side for the faith of the Gospel.

To that end I share with you these words of biblical encouragement and counsel:

• “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood” (Acts 20:28).
• “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses” (Mark 11:24-25).
• “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me – practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you” (Phil. 4:8-9).
• “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 15:5-6).

The peace of the Lord be with you all!

Jerry Kieschnick

Dr. Gerald B. Kieschnick, President
The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod
e-mail: president@lcms.org
Web page: www.lcms.org/president

See also:

1. Kieschnick’s December Letter to Pastors
2. January Letter to Pastors
3. Kieschnick’s May 2010 Letter to Pastors
4. A Plea from Hispanic Pastors in the ELCA

Thanks to Tony Stoutenburg for the link.

The findings have surfaced with ominous regularity over the last few years, and with little notice: Members of the clergy now suffer from obesity, hypertension and depression at rates higher than most Americans. In the last decade, their use of antidepressants has risen, while their life expectancy has fallen. Many would change jobs if they could.

Public health experts who have led the studies caution that there is no simple explanation of why so many members of a profession once associated with rosy-cheeked longevity have become so unhealthy and unhappy.

But while research continues, a growing number of health care experts and religious leaders have settled on one simple remedy that has long been a touchy subject with many clerics: taking more time off.

…

As cellphones and social media expose the clergy to new dimensions of stress, and as health care costs soar, some of the country’s largest religious denominations have begun wellness campaigns that preach the virtues of getting away. It has been described by some health experts as a sort of slow-food movement for the clerical soul.

…

Read the full article at the New York Times

See also:

1. Episcopalians, Lutherans Taking Action on Sexuality Topics

The priest gave the Host – considered by Christians to represent the body of Jesus Christ – to an Alsatian cross called Trapper.

St Peter’s Anglican Church in Toronto has since been deluged complaints from Christians all over Canada.

Donald Keith, the dog’s owner, said he had taken his pet to the church because he had been told animals were welcome.
He said that because he was newcomer the vicar invited him up in person to receive communion.

“The minister welcomed me and said come up and take communion, and Trapper came up with me and the minister gave him communion as well,” said Mr Keith.

“Then he bent his head and said a little prayer,” Mr Keith said.

“I thought it was a nice way to welcome me into the church,” he said. “I thought it was acceptable.” He added: “There was an old lady in the front just beaming when she saw this.

“Ninety nine-point-nine per cent of the people in the church love Trapper and the kids play with him.” He said one member of the congregation was unhappy about the vicar giving the dog communion and complained to the archbishop, Colin Johnson.

The dog has since been banned from receiving the sacrament.

Read the full article at the Telegraph

See also:

1. Walther on Communion Fellowship
2. Full Communion and GLBT Clergy
3. A Communion Admonition

The Dodoma Statement

(Kiswahili)

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT hereinafter), thanks GOD that in His immeasurable wisdom, and through His Son Jesus Christ, all believers worldwide have been joined as one body; thus, making us be in communion. In this way, we can walk together to prosper in God’s mission.

1.2 In our relationship as one body, we have co-operated in many and varied ways through both trying and undemanding issues. We were able to hold together all this time because of God’s favor, and also through our unrelenting devotion in the entire Church, in regular services, where we confess the Creed and believe in God’s Church as being One, Holy, Universal and Apostolic. Therefore any action in any church which is abnormal and non-conforming to the received and affirmed position and teachings of the church over the centuries in the whole Church of God, will inevitably produce shock and varied reaction from other churches around the world.

1.3 Currently, one such abnormal incidence, as viewed by ELCT, is the one associated with some churches – especially in Europe and America – deciding to accept same-sex marriages. The respective churches give several reasons in an effort to justify their decisions; and here we briefly make mention of only a few of such reasons.

1.3.1 They claim that church teachings on marriage, according to the Holy Scripture, are directed to “man and woman” – giving them room to decide; as opposed to the age-old interpretation, meaning that marriage is only for “man and woman”. In this way they erode the foundation, bit by bit, to weaken the authentic Biblical truth that marriage is between “man and woman” only. They introduce these “new and misguided” interpretations which negate long-held Church teachings and understanding of the Word of God dating from time immemorial. Some of the verses in the Bible that fall prey to the pundits and supporters of same-sex marriages are as follows: Gen.1: 27-28, 2:24; Mt.19:5-6a; Rom.1:26-27a and Gal.3:28.

1.3.2 And that, what is essential in marriage or other forms of matrimony is love. Provided the two love each other, they claim, such relationship is correct and legal.

1.3.3 And that the circumstances nowadays, they claim; are different from conditions and settings in biblical times as regards what is, and what is not legal in love and marriage. They further claim that the question of values, virtues and morals changes with time, places and circumstances. Such claims distort what is classified as sin to depend on where and how it is committed. In this connection they want the whole Church to adopt their view regarding love and marriage especially between same sex partners as having evolved over time. Furthermore, they claim that the church is not changing with the times; and that it is “old-fashioned” to reproach and reprimand same-sex lovers and proponents. They insist that the whole Church should shake up and move with the times, like them, in the contemporary circumstances!

1.3.4 They further claim that, marriage laws in the countries where same sex marriages are taking place have changed so much that churches in those countries would have been in dire straits if they did not follow suit to the changed laws. It is our understanding that churches in these countries fear the backlash from political or authoritative vendetta. This will imply that churches in those countries might lose their perks with authorities if they continued in this stance – refusing and rejecting legalization of same-sex marriages.

1.3.5 They further claim that the issue of relationships – marriage, love-making and other forms of copulation – is the prerogative of the affected two individuals. And that they are free to make their own decisions in these matters; and should be left alone to do so – thereby stressing personal freedom as the virtue. So, there are many reasons such as enumerated above that have surfaced through word of mouth, writings and even actions from the churches that have legalized same-sex marriages.

2. THE COUNTER POSITION

2.1 Regarding these views from the same-sex marriage supporters/proponents, the ELCT does not accept any reasons whatsoever of legalizing such marriages.

2.2 This Church, (ELCT), stands firmly on the foundation of the Word of God; that marriage is as taught in the Bible through the texts described in section1.3.1 above. These texts are being given perverse interpretations, which we cannot accept. All of us in this church, and elsewhere in the world, who reject same-sex marriages, believe that the Bible is self interpreting; and does not need imposition and wishes according to certain people, certain place, or certain authority. Holy Scripture is accurate, fixed and unchangeable.

2.3 This church firmly believes that love is the basis for relationship and real marital union between two lovers. Nevertheless in Holy matrimony this love is between two people of opposite sex. In addition, ELCT recognizes that the subject of love is very broad, and that there are specific values involved in the divine attributes of love and loving. That is why, if taken lightly, it could lead to ideological acceptances and varied use of love to implicate, accept and legalize marriages that neither the Bible, nor society has countenanced over the years. If such a situation were to develop, and be allowed to flourish; then the Church and society may soon find itself in a complicated scenario in which it would be difficult to disentangle – where marriages are accepted between relatives, parents and children, and even between humans and animals – so long as there is “love” in between! Does it not matter what interpretation is used? What we are stressing here is that, we have to be very careful in referring to love especially by making it the most profound and only factor in marriage.

2.4 In making the foregoing statement, ELCT is fully aware of contentions in the various countries where same-sex marriages have been legalized, that conditions and cultures have evolved to accommodate ‘modern’ living styles, where it is no longer seen as bad taste for same sex union. It is inevitable that changes will occur within society. But this Church also recognizes that some things will change, while other things will never change. For example, ELCT knows and believes that, there is not going to be a time when the nose will change and be the mouth or when the ear will turn to be an eye!!

2.5 It is true that values viewed in a negative outlook in years gone by, may now be perceived in a positive and acceptable manner. And it is obvious that modern-day society will see many things differently. It is also true, though, that the Church cannot be based on shifting values and foundations. It is imperative that Church values and principles remain steadfast even within scientific, cultural, political, social, economic, and other forces. This Church believes that in the Word of God dwell principles of life that cannot be changed or redirected by time, place, or circumstance. One such principle is the principle of holy matrimony, and its derivatives. Consequently, accepting same sex marriages sabotages the foundation of the Word of God concerning continued procreation.

2.6 In addition, cultural or societal changes in some areas such as Europe or America should not be construed as directives to other areas worldwide. And such societal changes should not be forced on to countries outside of the immediate culprit locality; because in other locations people have their own values and cultures they may wish to protect and perpetuate. We as Tanzanians/Africans have our own values and cultures, built over the years, that have guided our lifestyles and which accept only marriages between man and woman. Hence, while some areas may have their circumstances changed to accept same-sex marriages, it should be clearly understood that our conditions (cultures and values) do not allow such marriages.

2.7 The view that marriage or relationship between two people is “between the two people” is a view held only by the one side. We believe that ELCT, on our part, that the subject of marriage is not a practice of just two people, but one where the ‘two’ remain part of a family that continues to affect others for many years. That’s why the two cannot be allowed to just take everybody for a ride on the basis of, “Leave us alone, don’t interfere with our things; these are our own things, and it’s just our own decision to do what we’ve done,” etc. No!! The Church and society, in general, have areas, like environmental and cultural preservation, where we must concern ourselves in human issues, regardless of where they are taking place, in full cognizance of humankind responsibility; that no one will do anything that destroys someone else’s human-hood, in broad daylight and get away with it. That is how it is, in this same-sex marriage issue.

3. IN CONCLUSION

3.1 Therefore, based on this firm foundation and understanding of the One Church concept, and in view of the necessity to direct the Church in pastoral reverberation, always mindful of the Word of God and its profound meanings, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania is not ashamed to stand with the Lord. ELCT ardently wishes to record its stance in prophetic voice, that same-sex marriage is disastrous and a thorn to the body of our Lord Jesus Christ (1Cor.12:12-27); a thorn that is causing a lot of pain on an old wound in ELCT and elsewhere the world over; where similar views are shared on a tasteless and scandalous subject of same-sex marriages. A taste that is already causing untold cacophony, friction and embarrassment in many levels of international relations and leadership.

3.2 The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania considers any one-sided decisions oblivious to generally accepted and recognized norms in marriage as flouting, and dreadfully detrimental to the Church as a Body of Christ.

3.3 The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania vehemently refuses misinterpretations and scandalous use of Holy Scripture to legalize same-sex marriages.

3.4 We believe that there is not a single area in the Church of God which can effectively deal with all challenges single-handedly, without the synergies of unity found in the Body of Christ. As the saying goes: Unity is strength. And this subject of same-sex marriage has grossly undermined our unity and diminished our common strength.

3.5 Undoubtedly, it is not going to help, nor be enough, to blame and judge each other about our differences on this issue. We pray for the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to prevail and guide us in prayer, repentance, and continued loving spiritual admonition. We must remain forever mindful of the Word of God as in Col.3:5-17.

3.6 We encourage and firmly join hands with those inside the church around the world – whether they are many or only a few – who oppose the decision to legalize same-sex marriages, we extend a call to stand together in continuing to be the ‘salt’ and the ‘light’ in our relations, thus directing our strengths towards communal unity amongst us – unity that will not ever again allow any more wounds on the body of Christ, meaning the Church.

3.7 We see these as wicked times; wickedness that seeks to destroy the Church of God. Therefore we call on Christians in ELCT and other likeminded churches to stay in intense intercessory prayer, and preserve individual testimony to bless the entire Church of God.

3.8 We have to signal the warning to every ELCT member to be vigilant; stand up, study the Word of God, and refuse strange teachings which can easily devour, new as well as old, believers in this globalized setting.

3.9 In all our actual relations – with churches in Europe, America and elsewhere – this Church has made its position clear. For example, responding to the questionnaire of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) regarding exchangeability of Ministers – believing that the objective of such questionnaire was to integrate extensive views of the wider LWF membership – we said;

3.9.1 ELCT, as an LWF member, declares that our church will not be ready to entertain exchangeability of Ministers who are in same-sex marriage relations or their supporters or fanatics. Plainly, ELCT will not welcome anyone living in or supporting same sex marriage or relation to work in this Church. ELCT remains firm and cannot change its position on this matter and thus solicitation, financial conditionality and undue pressure are not acceptable.

3.9.2 Even in its relations with other organizations such as LWF, WCC, LMC and others, ELCT will not endorse any efforts of campaigning or eventual infiltration of people from same-sex marriage camp, or supporters of same-sex marriages, or other forms of homosexual practices.

3.10 ELCT cannot force people in Europe and America to view and work like us in this issue of same-sex marriage, but what we can do, is to be candid in our explanation on the subject. It is our belief that the other side will understand and respect our stance as unmistakably seen in this statement. In addition, ELCT expects that her friends and partners, wherever they may be, who now, however, heatedly disagree with us as ELCT on this issue of same-sex marriages, will not try – and please refrain from trying – in any way whatsoever, at whatever time, or whatever place; to meddle with ELCT standpoint on same-sex marriage or any, or all, other forms of homosexual practices.

BISHOPS OF ELCT

1. Bishop Dr. Alex Gehaz Malasusa, ELCT East and Coastal Diocese and Presiding Bishop of ELCT

2. Bishop Andrew Gulle, ELCT East of Lake Victoria Diocese

3. Bishop Thomas Laiser, ELCT North Central Diocese

4. Bishop Michael Adam, ELCT Diocese in Mara Region

5. Bishop Festo Ngowo, ELCT Dodoma Diocese

6. Bishop Dr. Owdenburg M. Mdegella, ELCT Iringa Diocese

7. Bishop Dr. Benson K. Bagonza, ELCT Karagwe Diocese

8. Bishop Dr. Martin Shao, ELCT Northern Diocese

9. Bishop Elisa Buberwa, ELCT North Western Diocese

10. Bishop Dr. Stephen I. Munga, ELCT North Eastern Diocese

11. Bishop Eliuphoo Sima, ELCT Central Diocese

12. Bishop Dr. Israel-Peter Mwakyolile, ELCT Konde Diocese

13. Bishop Cleopa A. Lukilo, ELCT Southern Diocese

14. Bishop Dr. Hance Mwakabana, ELCT South Central Diocese

15. Bishop Job T. Mbwilo, ELCT South Western Diocese

16. Bishop Zebedayo Daudi, ELCT Mbulu Diocese

17. Bishop Paulo Akyoo, ELCT Meru Diocese

18. Bishop Jacob Mameo Ole Paulo, ELCT Morogoro Diocese

19. Assistant to the Bishop Rev. Eliraha Mmwiri, ELCT Pare Diocese

20. Bishop Renard K. Mtenji, ELCT Ulanga Kilombero Diocese

Dodoma

7 January 2010

==================================================
Elizabeth Lobulu
Communication Coordinator,
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania
Box 3033, ARUSHA, Tanzania.
Phone: +255-27-250-8856/7
FAX: +255-27-254-8858
E-mail: Elizabeth Lobulu

See also:

1. Lesbian Priest Ordained Bishop in Stockholm
2. Episcopalians, Lutherans Taking Action on Sexuality Topics
3. Statement on Roe v. Wade
4. The Brief Statement of 1932

As a former church musician in the Evangelical Free Church, I was for years immersed in efforts to use music to create enthusiasm for and numerical growth in worship attendance. The LCMS is going where I was, and subsequently left, in favor of a truly Lutheran brand of worship. The LCMS is looking more and more like the Free Church; not everywhere, but in enough places to cause alarm. And it is not so much about who is doing what, as much as there is a consciousness pervading the LCMS that is bound to make us into a more and more mainline protestant church and a less and less Lutheran church. Lutheran theology and worship is distinctive and has certain hallmarks that make it what it is. If we want to preserve these things, we need to speak more clearly about how we are not.

When Jesus comes again in glory to judge both the living and the dead, nothing will be set ablaze more quickly than 21st Century popular culture. Yet, it appears that we cannot wait to befoul ourselves with it. And the 2010 LCMS Convention provided some very good examples as to how. It was disappointing to me to witness the egalitarian manner in which worship music styles were treated. The arguments about how differing musical styles communicate different messages are well established, yet we insist on acting as if they do not, as if differing musical expressions carry no implications, for better or worse, one way or the other. At very least, the music of the pop-culture is carnal and not churchly.

The mainstream evangelical protestant denominations have seen fit to make their worship music reflect the sounds and moods of the secular popular culture almost exclusively. This trend is steadily increasing in the LCMS. The more the music sounds like the world, the better. This usually involves a drum kit, electric bass, electric guitar, and some kind of keyboard. And this has become the essential accompanying entity for their services. Out goes the organ, and even a piano, and in come the trap set, electric bass, and guitar. And this core group of instruments, with the timbres they produce, is the sound that defines contemporary worship music–– and for supporters, it is a requirement. Any other manifestation of a contemporary sound is of little to no interest for congregations intent on going in this direction. This, no matter how much better other contemporary initiatives may serve to uphold and illuminate the texts of the music being sung or how creative and masterful other stylistic renderings may be. For supporters of this approach, there is only one kind of contemporary music: rock-n-roll (or maybe jazz). How many of our churches are moving in this same direction?

Read the full article here.

What indeed is distinctive about Lutheran worship that is lost in the American Evangelical style? And if the message is intimately related to the medium in which it is communicated, what does this mean for church music and musicians?

See also:

1. Lutheran Songwriters Conference
2. LCMS Convention News from July 13
3. LCMS Convention Update
4. Recent Mission Stories at The Reporter Online

The July 10-17 convention is meeting at the George R. Brown Convention Center, Houston, with the theme “ONE People–Forgiven.”

Harrison is elected LCMS president, Mueller first vp

Convention delegates elect praesidium

Delegates address LCMS finances

Delegates OK electing regional BOD members

LWML President highlights ‘target areas’

Synod responds to ELCA’s actions on homosexuality

Colorado pastor relishes church planting

Additional information is available on the LCMS Convention and Reporter websites.

Via LCMS eNews

See also:

1. LCMS Convention News from July 12
2. LCMS Convention Update
3. ELCA & LCMS
4. Summary of the ELCA Youth Convention

The July 10-17 convention is meeting at the George R. Brown Convention Center, Houston, with the theme “ONE People–Forgiven.”

Delegates adopt four restructure proposals

Delegates continue work on Floor Committee 8 resolutions

Convention adopts changes in elections of vice-presidents

Convention honors veteran missionaries

Bible study reminds delegates: ‘Forgiveness is for everyone’

LCMS convention recognizes Florida, Ohio congregations

Florida church builds ministry through community outreach

CPH anxious to serve, says Kintz

Additional information is available on the LCMS Convention and Reporter websites.

Via LCMS eNews

See also:

1. LCMS Convention Update
2. Summary of the ELCA Youth Convention
3. ELCA & LCMS
4. LCMS President Responds to Actions Taken by Lutheran CORE

“Actions and happenings from today’s business sessions of the 64th Regular Convention of The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod are summarized in the media releases below. Simply click on each headline to read the entire story.

The July 10-17 convention is meeting at the George R. Brown Convention Center, Houston, with the theme “ONE People–Forgiven.”

Kieschnick formally opens Synod’s 64th Regular Convention

Kieschnick: LCMS needs new ways to share Gospel

Bible study focuses on reconciliation

Convention starts structure, governance work

Additional information is available on the LCMS Convention and Reporter websites.”

Via LCMS eNews

See also:

1. ELCA & LCMS
2. A Letter from the President of the LCMS
3. Summary of the ELCA Youth Convention
4. LCMS President Responds to Actions Taken by Lutheran CORE

“Teenagers are consistently among the most religiously active Americans, with nearly six out of every 10 teens engaged in some type of group spiritual activity in a typical week. Yet, the spirituality of teenagers is also remarkably diverse and fluid.”

Changing Faith

In several ways, teenagers are much less inclined toward spirituality than were teens a dozen years ago. The study assessed nine different forms of teenage involvement; six of those religious activities are at their lowest levels since Barna Group began tracking such teen behaviors. These included small group attendance, prayer, Sunday school participation, donations to churches, reading sacred texts other than the Bible, and evangelism by Christian teens (explaining their belief in Jesus Christ with others who have different faith views). [...]

Ashamed of the Gospel?

The most striking change was the fact that teenagers today seem much less inclined to have spiritual conversations about their faith in Christ with non-believers. The survey question specifically asked if the survey respondent had “explained your religious beliefs to someone else who had different beliefs, in the hope that they might accept Jesus Christ as their savior.” Among born again Christian teenagers, the proportion who said they had explained their beliefs to someone else with different faith views in the last year had declined from nearly two-thirds of teenagers in 1997 (63%) to less than half of Christian teens in the December 2009 study (45%). [...]

Denominational Changes

Within the larger shifts taking place in teen faith, there are some intriguing differences between Catholic and Protestant young people. In comparison to young Protestants, Catholic teenagers are more likely to show diminished religious activity.

However, even when compared to past behavior among self-identified Catholic teens, today’s young Catholics exhibit diminished religious engagement. The current data show that Catholic teens are less likely to attend Sunday school, small groups, and to donate than were Catholic teenagers 12 years ago.

Among 13- to 17-year-old Protestants, there are actually signs of increased religious activity: they are more likely to pray, go to worship services, read the Bible and attend youth group meetings than were Protestant-affiliated teens a dozen years ago. Given that religious participation is improving among this group, the drop in personal evangelism among born again Protestant teens is even more striking, dropping from 72% in 1997 to 53% in late 2009. [...]”

Read the full report at the Barna Group.

See also:

1. Teen Trends
2. Faith, Hope & Love
3. Dead Faith

Oprah Winfrey is the “pastor” of the largest church in the country.“The Church of O,” Christianity Today noted, has a congregation of 22 million vigorous, faithful, evangelistic members, making Oprah Winfrey “one of the most influential spiritual leaders in America.”1

Oprah’s theology is based on a secret. That secret is in a book: The Secret, by Rhonda Byrne.2 Oprah and Bryne think their secret is consistent with Christianity, as do tens of thousands of their followers. Many of them consider themselves Christians.

The Secret, though, has no kinship with Christianity. It is something completely different. It trades on Christian language and biblical prooftexts, but uses them to construct a view of reality that is totally foreign to the worldview of Jesus. In fact, the secret of The Secret is that it is not the deep wisdom of the universe, but the oldest lie in the universe.

What Is “The Secret”?

The Secret, introduced in the book by Rhonda Byrne and 24 other “teachers”-and aggressively promoted by Oprah-is what Byrne calls the “Law of Attraction.”According to the authors, the universe responds to each of us according to an inviolate natural law that works like a magnet in reverse. (7) With magnets, opposites attract. According to this secret law of the universe, though,“like attracts like.” (25, 157)

Think good thoughts and good things will happen because you attract them to yourself. Like a genie who always says,“Your wish is my command” (46, 59), or a catalog you flip through and point to the person, product, or experience you want (48, 101), the Law of Attraction discharges on your every desire.

Think bad things, though, and bad things find you just as easily. If you are poor, it’s your fault because you “are blocking money from coming to [you] with [your] thoughts” (99). If you are in a car accident, you have no one to blame but yourself because you
attracted it (27-28). For good or for ill, the Law of Attraction is at work creating your reality from the thoughts and images you give it to work with.

The Secret endows its user with virtual omnipotence: “There isn’t a single thing you cannot do with this knowledge,”Bryne writes. “It doesn’t matter who you are or where you are,The Secret can give you whatever you want” (xi).

According to this book, the greatest thinkers and the finest creative minds in history have known The Secret, from Plato to Lincoln, from Galileo and Newton to Shakespeare and Beethoven, from Carnegie to Emerson, Einstein, and Edison. You alone, it seems, have been left behind.

And this, Byrne claims, is the same secret known and practiced by all great religious masters- including Jesus-and taught by all religions-including Christianity. Indeed, Byrne writes,“The creative process used in The Secret…was taken from the New Testament in the Bible” (47)-with verses cited in support (54). Even Mother Theresa knew, understood, and practiced The Secret (143). Therefore, The Secret is consistent with Christianity.

But is it?

For the full article, view Stand to Reason’s Solid Ground

Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

We continue to monitor the devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and pray fervently for all those who have been affected. Indeed, while the long-term effects of this tragedy will be felt by all of us, for those whose lives and livelihoods have been directly impacted, the needs for help are acute and overwhelming.

Earlier this week, Jessica Vermilyea, disaster coordinator with Lutheran Social Services of the South, took part in an ecumenical listening tour into the bayou marsh areas of Plaquemines Parish in southeastern Louisiana. As part of this group, Jessica heard from fishermen, business owners, and other local leaders about how the oil spill is affecting them, even as many of them continue to struggle with recovery from Hurricane Katrina.

We have received numerous inquiries from Lutherans around the country about volunteering in some capacity along the Gulf Coast. At this moment, only people who are being specifically trained and equipped by BP are being permitted to work directly in the clean-up process. This has much to do with the health and safety risks of handling the crude oil. In the future, opportunities may emerge for other types of volunteer roles, and each state in the area is receiving names of volunteers who are interested in helping. To register, follow one of the following links:

Louisiana: volunteerlouisiana.gov
Mississippi: volunteermississippi.org
Florida: volunteerfloridadisaster.org
Alabama: servealabama.gov

Several questions have been raised about whether a national funding appeal should be launched in response to this tragedy. Our commitment has always been that we will find the most efficient ways possible to use financial contributions to meet unmet needs that arise from disaster. At this time, BP has pledged that it is their responsibility to pay for all costs related to clean-up as well as to reimburse those who have experienced a loss of income as a result of the spill, and anyone seeking to file a claim can do so directly through the BP Web site. Given the unique nature of this situation, we will not be seeking funding for this response.

Instead, we lift up the unfolding needs of those in the many states affected by flooding and tornadoes so far this spring, including as recently as this past weekend in Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois. I ask you to consider giving a gift to support the responses getting underway in places like Yazoo City, Mississippi and Nashville, Tennessee. Click here to give today.

In the mean time, we will continue to listen for emerging unmet needs along the Gulf Coast and for meaningful ways that we might engage there. As we do, I ask for your continued prayers for the beautiful land and people of the Gulf Coast as they struggle to overcome this continuing tragedy.

In service,
Rev. Kevin A. Massey, Director

Preface to the Reader

I admit that something just said “Enough already!” as I read Mark Hanson’s (Presiding Bishop of the ELCA) release regarding the Gaza strip. This came only days after news that the Tanzanian, Ethiopian and Chinese church leaders would be engaging in ongoing, private conversation with him regarding their concerns with the ELCA’s actions last August at the churchwide assembly. Bold public witness based on the Word of God and the historical, confessional Christian teachings were met with an invitation to continue to engage in deep conversation in private behind closed doors. Even if money on or under the table is not in this particular mix we all should be concerned that those leading vibrant, growing Lutheran churches across the globe are in danger of being indoctrinated by those bearing a false gospel.

Mission and support dollars are already being used to coerce the inclinations of member congregations. Such strong arm tactics seem to be in store for any who stand in opposition to the ELCA leaders. Once again, the clear Word to resist the tempting call of mammon that demands allegiance, loyalty and obedience to itself and not to our true God must be proclaimed.

None of us can serve two masters. Jesus warned us clearly about this in the gospels (Matthew 6; Luke 16). When a Christian fellowship morphs into a partnership, then to a business relationship, then to discussions regarding the things that make for institutional unity and peace, the alarm should sound.

The Tanzanian Lutherans are my family. They taught me how to be a pastor and they let me serve in a church, country and culture that not only “allows” for a Biblical worldview but lives it. That isn’t the case because it is a “Christian nation,” but because it is not. The Christian Lutherans in Tanzania received the Word of God in Jesus Christ from our missionaries. That Truth has given them life and salvation in Him alone and they are not ashamed of Him or His name. Islam is all around them in addition to many other religions. Demon possession is a reality that no one tries to dismiss as impossible, pre-enlightened thought or mental illness. Spiritual warfare is real and engaged in appropriately by preaching, teaching and confessing Jesus as Lord over life and death, this world and the next, Crucified and Risen. They don’t mess with the truth. We now are the ones sorely in need of such missionaries and evangelists in this emerging pagan land.

So “enough is enough” and the time to stand up according to the true Spirit of God as revealed in His Word is now. Your Heavenly Father has not given you a spirit of timidity. It is His temporal adversary who demands this type of silent, even cooperative, obedience. I share portions of an open letter Mark Hanson, Presiding Bishop of the ELCA, not in order to stir the pot (which would not necessarily be a bad thing in these apathetic days of conformity) but to give “some” of you hope, knowing others will enraged by my words.

There are those of you who have ears to hear the Truth of God’s Word, eyes to see His creation through a Biblical worldview and a conscience truly captive to His Word not the sinful self. You, like a growing number of other Christians-some of them Lutheran-know what it means to be in this world but not of it. More than ever before, you don’t seem to “fit.” The post-modern understanding that there is no absolute truth outside of the self is not understandable to you. You struggle with yourself wondering if it is just you that thinks things have radically changed and not for the better. You may be among those who don’t recognize the message of your “church” as anything like what you grew up with. You don’t understand what happened to the basic fabric of society that seemed to be common sense and good order. You don’t have any trust in your leaders in church and society. You wonder why nobody says or does anything to push the proverbial pendulum back at least for the sake of the children who must navigate themselves through all this relativity, plurality and uncertainty. To even note your concern out loud would make you some sort of negative, judgmental, fundamentalist, fanatic fuddy-duddy. You would be labeled a sexist, racist, hate filled, homophobic, name calling “Pharisee” or worse. You are left wondering why you, the one being called the names, the one being judged, the one being put down are accused of what you are experiencing at the hands of the loving, tolerant, accepting, non-judgmental Christians. The irony of the repeated experience confirms that you are out of sync.

You aren’t crazy. It is happening and you are not alone. Your sense that a spiral downward is in motion for church and society is not your exclusive personal opinion and to say so does not automatically make you a naysayer. On this earth it seems that the only group actively speaking out is doing it in song—many of our country music singers have had enough too. They sing out what many conceal down deep within.

Because your hope is in Jesus Christ alone you need to hear, here and now, that you do not struggle alone. Hope that you do not stand alone. Hope that you aren’t the only one who thinks our church and our society are spiraling downward. Hope that others want to not only acknowledge the problems but engage in faithful solutions. Even when all seems to be confused or lost, know that Jesus Christ is your only hope and all that you need.

I share the following excerpts from a letter written the first week of June, 2010.

Dear Mark Hanson, Presiding Bishop, ELCA

I have just read your politically motivated statement about the situation in the Middle East. My gut, my head, my heart and, most importantly, my faith require from me a long overdue, direct response to your manner of leading the ELCA and to the unfinished business you have with me personally.

While you involve yourself in every international crisis, deliver new revelations contrary to God’s Word regarding His created order and preside over a once mainline, now sidelined, denomination in complete free-fall, many wait for some of that “proportionality, peace, and justice” that you continue to “talk” about but fail to engage in or to live. Your type of talk is not cheap but is costly in the way it is damaging the witness of Christian Lutherans and other Christians in an ever-expanding infectious manner.

Unknown to many is the ongoing persecution of countless pastors, families and local churches who have dared to stand up and confess the historic, Biblical faith of the church passed down from generations before. You and the other elected leaders do so through private meetings and passive-aggressive actions that involve unjust terminations, recalled mission grants, tainted call processes and threats against pension and property, to name just a few examples, none of which are marks of the faith or of followers of Jesus.

This is your doing and you must now, as elected leader, shoulder the blame along with the other 60+ bishops who cooperate under your heavy hand. Though all will be held accountable for their actions, myself included, I wonder if you will enjoy as much the final “stage” at the end of time when you face your Lord as you seem to revel in the present limelight. Your perpetual people pleasing and your personal cries for justice and unity ring out like those of the false prophets of old for . . . “peace, peace” but there is no peace. (Jeremiah 6)

“Peace, unity, mission, love, grace, gospel” . . . words you use repeatedly apart from their Biblical meanings, are therefore devoid of true content and only carry a false message of hope in self and sin not in our Savior. The religion you preach, teach and confess is based on your own self-revelation of social justice, equality and rights which have not been the basis of the Christian faith for 2000 years. We have rightly, over the ages, referred to those faith groups that add another new revelation to the Scriptures as cults. How is the revelation of the new thing that God is doing in our midst any different?

I have no more patience with this false teaching and destructive action. But who am I to protest? I am just a country pastor unintentionally “on leave from call.” Over the years I have had the opportunity to serve as a missionary in Tanzania and in three calls here in the states. For the last decade I’ve been elected and re-elected to lead a lowly group of Christian, Lutheran confessors called WordAlone Network, now WordAlone Ministries.

I am nothing. I am no one. I have been treated as such by you and yours. How dare I question you and your ways? Who am I to question your judgment, your leadership? You have power. You have position. You have international voice and exposure. I have none of those and for that I thank God, literally, because they would perhaps tempt me to believe that any of this was about “me” or my importance or my personal opinions.

A word of caution: don’t continue to make the mistake of underestimating what and whom it is you oppose with your words and deeds. It is not me. It is not WordAlone or LCMC or LCORE. You are at odds with the only “Head” and “Shepherd” the true Christian Church has ever had. If I did not believe that to be the case then I would not have continued for the past 11 years as one of the voices opposing the ELCA leadership’s words and deeds.

So while it is not about me, I have now witnessed too much of what has happened to others to “wait” any longer. Because I have personally suffered under your wayward leadership and know what is real and true, I am duty bound, as a follower of Jesus Christ, as a baptized believer in Him alone and as a called and ordained minister of His true church (both hidden and revealed) to uphold the Holy Word of God and the confessions of the Lutheran church, to now, most reluctantly, respond and submit to my present, personal calling to expose the true nature of leadership in the ELCA.

The time has come for someone–unfortunately me–to step up, no matter what the consequences are for doing so and call, “Foul.” I intend to bellow like an over-padded umpire in this, my attempt, to stop the exportation of this false gospel and new religion you have presided over and imported into the ELCA and beyond.

I personally have grown weary of waiting for your repentance and public accountability. I have patiently prayed for you and others in the ELCA to come to terms with what you are doing to old pastors, young seminarians, local churches, faithful preachers and international leaders. The confusion and chaos that has resulted is your doing. However, you continue to try to point fingers at others for being the “schismatics” (myself included) while you ignore the words of the Scriptures that remind us that confusion comes from those who preach “another gospel” though there is not another gospel. (Galatians 2).

The Lord has put the writing and sending of this message on my heart in such a burning fashion since you persuaded confessional, Christian, Lutheran, international leaders to engage in “ongoing conversations” with you on a private basis. Then today you address the crisis in the Holy Land as one who seems to have wisdom regarding those things that would make for peace.

I sadly remember the comments of some of the bishops upon their return from an expensive trip to the Middle East. They were “surprised” by how deep the divisions are. Surprised? The whole of Scripture tells the story of the land, the covenant, the blessing, the enmity, the pruning and the grafting.

Surprised? People of the Word are not surprised and know that our Jewish ancestors were blessed to be a blessing while their children still struggle with that identity each day. Those who are held fast by the Word of God know that as Christians, we have been grafted on to the tree and any position of power or arrogance in these matters is unfaithful to our very nature as Christian children of our one Heavily Father who claimed us in Jesus Christ.

You have presided over the importation of a new anti-Biblical revelation into the ELCA and you actively engage in exporting that false gospel through the LWF and the news media. You should be the last person to be called to speak to the ongoing crisis in the Middle East. One should get their own house in order by rediscovering its firm foundation in the Word of God, living, spoken and written, before attempting to bring order to another.

This public news release about the Middle East converged with the recent release regarding your desire to engage in “ongoing conversation” with the African and other leaders “in private,” to sound a clarion call for me to act.

So this simple country pastor of 25 years cries, “Foul!” I add, “not if I have anything to say about it” will your influence spread to other international Lutheran churches. The ELCT (Tanzania) is one of my home churches and I know what happens in private behind closed doors in “deep conversation” with you and the bishops who serve you and not their crucified and risen Lord.

Our one and only Lord Jesus Christ was crucified and raised from the dead in order to save sinners from themselves, not to deliver them over to their sin and away from Him and His forgiveness and life-changing grace. Those who preach, teach and confess otherwise should not be in positions of authority and allowed to continue the exportation of this new social religion to the mission fields where we once brought the “Good News” as revealed to us in the Bible and embodied in Jesus Christ Himself.

If it is the last ministry that I do on this earth, I will actively preach, teach and confess according to the power of the Holy Spirit that works through and in the written Word, not in opposition to it. Many have risked and given their lives in order to impart this pure, absolute Word of Truth and no post-modern, politically correct, social activism is going to persuade those of us still living by a daily portion of His grace and forgiveness to remain silent or to attempt to cooperate any longer.

Under your leadership the ELCA has become embroiled in the worst internal conflict in its history. Congregations and members have become like sheep without a shepherd, scattered and led astray. That is not the work of the Good Shepherd but of His temporal adversary, the Wolf in sheep’s clothing and his hirelings. The Word of God is neither confusing nor duplicitous. It guides and comforts by killing and making repentant, forgiven sinners alive again. To be raised up in Jesus Christ is to put off the desires of the flesh, not to surrender to them, and to be given a measure of self control, like daily manna from above, that makes possible serving our Savior and our neighbor, not the self.

The call to feed and tend His sheep is a mandate not a request. Those who abandon His flock to the sheep stealers are hirelings themselves. The Bible is a clear Word. It interprets itself and has its way with sinners by its own God given authority. Lutherans and most Christians have believed and understood this for years. Now you and your court theologians try to convince the innocents in the pews, the generations to come and those yet to hear God’s Word, that this is not true. You openly proclaim that Scripture lacks clarity and is unable to address this present age with authority. This is blasphemy against God, His Word and the work of the Holy Spirit.

I may be nothing but a lowly, Minnesota born, mother of four, Lutheran pastor who wears cowboy boots and has friends in low places, but I know what and who is the Truth. He owns me. He bought me with a price, His life, and in this life I will not rest until His Word is preached and His sacraments are administered rightly in His name and the name of His Father.

You may continue to work and witness publicly and privately as an elected leader of a human institution that calls itself church, but others will gather by twos and threes in His name, and there He will be in the midst of them. Others . . . individuals, families and churches . . . will find the faithful and free pastures of new and faithful churches like LCMC. Jesus’ own know His voice and they will follow. It may not be a majority, perhaps only a remnant, but they will not bend their knees to another god and a false gospel.

May God our Heavenly Father have mercy on you and bring you to repentance for what you continue to do in “His” name–knowing even the use of “Heavenly Father” is problematic to you and yours. God help us all.

I intend to release this email publicly within the week.

In repentance, bound by and captive to the Word of God not to my own sinful conscience or that of my neighbor,

Jaynan L. Clark
President, WordAlone Ministries

Via WordAlone Ministries

See also:

1. Another Open Letter to Bishop Hanson

The largest Protestant church in Africa grabbed the world’s attention when it publically denounced homosexuality and said people who support gay rights were not welcome in the church—and neither was their money.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT) posted a notice on its Web site entitled: Church rejects homosexuality.

“Those in same sex marriages, and those who support the legitimacy of such marriage, shall not be invited to work in the ELCT,” a press release states. “We further reject their influence in any form, as well as their money and their support.”

In addition the fastest-growing church in Africa with 5.3 million members said it “supports all those around the world who oppose churches that have taken the decision to legalize same-sex marriage.”

This loud warning was seen as a prelude to split from its main financial partner, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), which now supports gay rights.

But those strong statements have toned down considerably since the head of the ELCT recently conferred with ELCA officials here.

“I hope there will be time to discuss it and see what we can do,” said Presiding Bishop Alex Malasusa in an exclusive interview from Tanzania. “We have been with ELCA for a long time, so we hope there will be room for discussion.”

In April there was no apparent room for discussion. The declarations from Tanzania were loud and clear. Now, asked directly if he will lead the ELCT out of ELCA he is not certain.

“Well I can’t say that,” Malasusa said. “As I say, I can’t really commit to anything.”

Last summer at their national convention in Minneapolis, the ELCA committed to supporting gay rights, when it narrowly voted to ordain practicing gay and lesbian ministers who are in a “committed relationship.”

The unexpected decision on August 21 threw traditional Lutherans into a state of shock and started an exodus from the largest American Lutheran body with 4.6 million members.

Many traditional-minded Lutherans in the US have left the ELCA and support others around the world who follow a traditional reading of the Bible.

“I fully applaud their decision (ELCT) to follow what God’s word says,” said Lois Carlson, of Grantsburg, Wis., who was born to medical missionaries in Tanzania, is the wife of a retired Lutheran pastor and has left the ELCA over the controversial issue. “Their stand is certainly based on Scripture.”

The head of the ELCT once expressed support of this US exodus in his last Easter sermon. He said gay-rights advocates had gone astray from the Bible, and it was up to Africa to get them back on the straight and narrow.

“It’s time Africa preached to the rest of the world, and remind them of God’s word,” Malasusa is quoted saying in The Citizen newspaper in Tanzania.

And the bishop warned this scriptural mission will have a cost.

“We should be independent so that they don’t use their money and wealth to threaten us…we should leave them with their money and stick to the word of God,” he said.

But Malasusa is now walking back his unequivocal stance since his trip to America, where he openly visited ELCA synods and then met with church officials in Chicago behind closed doors.

Church officials characterized the meetings as “confidential” and declined to shed any light on them.

“We believe that concerns are best worked out through church-to-church relationships rather than through public statements,” ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson is quoted by the ELCA News Service.

The two bishops, and other church heads, will again meet at the Lutheran World Federation meeting in Stuttgart, Germany in July.

But for now, Malasusa is no longer saying Africa will lead the fight against those who “do all they can to destroy one Biblical passage after another in order to legalize homosexuality.”

He now says, “It’s not our duty to do that.” Adding, “we are not forcing anybody to follow us.”

After the May 28 exclusive interview, the bishop and his secretary general further declined to answer any subsequent phone calls or emails.

His last statement was, “I think you can contact Bishop Mark Hanson and he will tell you what we have discussed.”

An interview was requested with the head of the ELCA.

“As for your request, I wish I had better news,” said John Brooks, director of ELCA News Service. “Bishop Hanson declined to be interviewed.”

The Tanzanian bishop also said his Easter sermon containing unwavering statements was reported out of context. However, the newspaper reporter stands by his story.

“It’s true,” said Mkinga Mkinga, in an email. “That was his statement, and it was a news headline in Tanzania!”

The journalist also offered an explanation for Malasusa’s now softer stance: money and politics.

“The problem I can see here is, that the matter has involved financial assistance from countries that supports homosexuality,” he said.

The ELCA is a major contributor to the ELCT. For the fiscal year of 2009 the ELCA gave $1,073,966 to their African global partner.

“This figure does not include any direct support…from ELCA synods, congregations, individuals, or other Lutheran organizations,” Brooks said in an email.

The ELCT greatly depends on the financial contributions, missionaries, doctors and other personnel from the ELCA. This sizeable support admittedly can be an influence.

“Yes. And that is always the struggle when we work with developing countries,” said Rev. Thomas Skrenes, bishop of the Northern Great Lakes Synod and a long-time friend of Malasusa.

Skrenes, who voted against ordaining practicing homosexuals at the convention because “the case had not been made biblically or theologically,” said Tanzanians have the “right to come to their own conclusions…and we respect that. They won’t see money as a manipulator. We can’t do that. That would be wrong.”

But Bishop Skrenes said the practice of ordaining homosexual ministers will not likely split the two churches.

“No, we are hopeful…even confident that we can work together with our brothers and sisters in Tanzania and other places who hold a different position.”

But not all Lutheran pastors see it that way.

“There’s no basis in the word (Scripture) for compromising or changing or softening one’s position,” said Rev. Jaynan Clark, president of Word Alone Ministries, an organization assisting congregations to leave the ELCA.

And she is suspect on the influence and motivation.

“I can’t see how anything but the money could be influencing their position,” said Clark.

As a former ELCA missionary to Tanzania, she warns against taking “any blood money and not to compromise their position.”

Of the 70 million Lutherans worldwide, many traditionalists expressed optimism when Malasusa posted his clarion call to return to “God’s word.” Some said it was like when founder Martin Luther nailed his 95 Thesis to the church door.

But for whatever reason, Malasusa’s once Luther-like unwavering stance is now on the way to a table of compromise, where it all began in Germany.

Via WordAlone & Wayne Anderson

See also:

1. Church in Roanoke Votes on Leaving Denomination
2. Church of Joy Votes Unanumously to Leave ELCA
3. Luther on Homosexuality
4. ELCA News Reports

This summer at Gnesio we will be launching a new design and adding two new publication channels. Here’s a preview of what you can expect.

Design

The look and feel of the magazine should not change too much, but we have added some aesthetic and interactive features that we hope you will enjoy. We’ve maintained the clean, minimal style of the magazine for easy reading, and added a few image features to enhance the presentation of artwork. The main new interactive feature is that you will be able to easily contribute your own articles, submit news and events, and share resources like sermons, essays, pastoral letters, bible studies, or a review of a book you’ve read. We know a lot of you are writing and producing great stuff, and we want to hear from you and provide a way for you to share what you’re doing with other readers.

There will also be a change in our weekly features. Wednesday with Augustine and Thursdays with Iwand will be discontinued. We will still publish occasional pieces from Augustine in writings from the church fathers under History. Wednesdays will now feature selections from C.F.W. Walther. Thursdays are as yet undecided, but we are discontinuing Iwand for the time being due to low availability of his writings in English, and lack of time to complete regular translations. We have several ideas in mind, but any suggestions you have for a new Thursday feature are welcome.

Channels

We are also working on two new channels for Gnesio: Gnesio Tech and the Gnesio Guild.

Gnesio Tech will deal with the impact of technology in our life and work. We will give analysis of current trends, and present tools, resources, and tips for putting the ever-present applications and devices of the internet age in the service of your faith and witness.

The Guild will feature tools for writing, music, and art, with a focus on how our creative capacities in these areas have been (and can be!) used in the service of devotion, worship, and proclaiming the gospel of Christ Jesus.

The new channels are tentatively scheduled to launch in early July and early August, respectively.

Feedback? Other ideas? Please share with us what you think in the comments.

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever!

Keynote Speaker: Roland F. Ziegler, Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne, IN.

Bible study speaker: V. F. Bud Thompson, Gonzaga University, and managing editor, The Lutheran Quarterly.

Discounted room rates available through June 26th
Ramada Limited
9601 N. Newport HWY
Spokane WA 99218
(509)468-4201

- + -

Download the Full Brochure .doc or .pdf

Registration Form Only .doc

See also:

1. Lord Acton’s Dictum
2. Word Alone Mount Carmel Meeting
3. God's Word is Like a Flaming Sword
4. Lord Where Shall We Lutherans Go?

Abortion continues to split the nation.

The Barna study of 1,001 adults explored Americans’ views on abortion by asking if they believe “abortion should be legal in all cases, legal in most cases, illegal in most cases, or illegal in all cases.” Given this set of four options, the nation’s population leans toward retaining legal status for abortion: 49% prefer keeping it legal in all or most cases versus 42% who would like to make it illegal in all or most instances.

However, most Americans take a moderate, rather than hard-line, stance.

Only about one-third of Americans take a strong position on one side or the other. For instance, 15% want abortion to be legal in every situation and 19% prefer the practice to be illegal in all cases. Most others hold moderate views – 57% expressed a mildly supportive or unsupportive opinion. Meanwhile, one out of 11 adults simply responded “not sure” or declined to answer (9%). Compared to tracking data conducted in the 1990s and early 2000s, the new research suggests that Americans are more likely these days to take a “middle ground” or “not sure” position toward abortion.

Faith remains a significant dividing line of opinions.

Among evangelical Christians, 78% believe that the practice should be illegal in all or most cases, a proportion which is virtually mirrored by the 72% of atheists and agnostics who support keeping the practice legal. Also, each of these segments was the most likely population group to express unyielding resistance to (evangelicals) or support for (atheists and agnostics) abortion.
Other faith audiences were less polarized, but still had distinct perspectives on the matter, either for or against. Non-evangelical born again Christians favor making abortion illegal (55% illegal versus 39% legal), as did active churchgoers (60% versus 33%) and non-mainline Protestants (58% versus 34%). Those faith segments that prefer keeping abortion legal were self-identified Christians who are not born again (54% legal versus 31% illegal), Catholics (53% versus 36%), mainline Protestants (53% versus 40%), and faiths other than Christianity (54% versus 42%).

Interestingly, when faith and political allegiance are combined, born again Republicans (72%) were among the most ardent critics of abortion. Born again independent voters also favored making abortion illegal (58%), while born again Democrats were split between those who were for (47%) and against (47%) the practice.

Young born again Christians retain similar abortion views to older Christians.

While there has been much discussion about the changing perspectives of young Christians, the research revealed that born again Christians under the age of 45 were not substantially different from older generations of Christians. Overall, 61% of 18- to 44-year-old born again Christians said they wanted to see abortion be illegal in all or most cases, which compares to 55% among born again believers ages 45 and older. (The six-point gap is within the range of sampling error for the two subgroups.) Interestingly, when compared to older born again Christians, the younger set are much more likely to express strong views about the subject (either keeping it legal or illegal in all cases) and less likely to say they are not sure.

Keeping abortion legal elicits more demographic pockets of support than resistance.

A significant number of demographic segments prefer retaining legalized status for abortions, including: whites, Hispanics, and Asians; upscale adults and college graduates; the nation’s two largest generations, Busters (ages 26 to 44) and Boomers (ages 45 to 63); women; unmarried adults and those currently without children; political moderates and liberals; registered Democrats and independent voters; and a plurality of residents living in the Midwest, West, and Northeast.

Those groups most resistant to abortion are residents of the South, political conservatives, Mosaics (ages 18 to 25), and Republicans. A handful of population segments emerged as equally likely to take both sides of the issue: blacks, parents, married adults, non-college grads, Elders (ages 64-plus), and downscale adults.

Read more @ the Barna Group

See also:

1. Barna Study on Weakness
2. Health Care & Abortion
3. Teen Trends
4. New Barna Group Report

The congregation at Christ The King Lutheran Church in Fallbrook has voted to leave the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and join the Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ, citing the ELCA’s recent decision to allow non-celibate gays and lesbians to serve as clergy.

Church leaders said the allowance was “clearly a move against the Scriptures and undermines God’s plan for families and the institution of marriage.”

“For years as a congregation, we have been resolute in staying with God’s word and not changing what the church had previously decreed,” said Pastor Phil Tukua. “The process of making this decision has been a powerful time for the congregation, for years. We have been diligent and have tried to keep the congregation aware of what was going on. The subject was discussed in Bible studies, and there were many meetings.”

Read more @ North County Times

See also:

1. Church of Joy Votes Unanumously to Leave ELCA
2. Church in Roanoke Votes on Leaving Denomination
3. Votes at ELCA Congregational Meetings
4. ELCA Tries to Keep a Certain Congregation in Florida

Concerts will be presented on Tuesday evenings from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on the following dates:

June 1 – Karel Keldermans

June 8 – Stefano Colletti (alumni reunion)

June 15 – Karel Keldermans

June 22 – Sue Bergren

June 29 – Karel Keldermans

Concordia Seminary is located at 801 Seminary Place in Clayton. For more information about the carillon recital series, contact the Communications Department at 314-505-7362; communications@csl.edu.

Via Concordia Theology

See also:

1. Seminar on Eastern Religions @ Concordia Bronxville
2. Record Enrollment for the Concordia University System
3. Concordia Shanghai Dedicates New High School
4. Kieschnick’s May 2010 Letter to Pastors

This is a crusade to defend the Word of God. To challenge a denomination that hopes their members will be complacent and uninformed and at the same time fund their heresy.

See also:

1. ELCA Update for Wednesday
2. ELCA Update
3. ELCA News Reports
4. ELCA Begins Revision of Ministry Standards

Tue Aug 3, 2010 – Thur Aug 5, 2010 at Redeemer in Ft. Wayne.
Cost: $25/adults, $20/18-12, 11 and under free, maximum cost per family: $90.
BBQ dinner and Square Dance and lesson provided Wednesday evening.

Description and Rationale

Our retreat will be marked by a gravitas and reverent approach to all aspects of our time together. When we worship, we will worship. We will not work at or play during our worship. When we work, we will work. We will not worship our work or play at it. And when we play, we will play. We will not work at, or worship, our play. Uniquely, this conference is designed for families. See the FAQ below.

Worship: Matins, Holy Communion, Vespers

Worship will be central to our retreat. Holy communion will be offered every day. God will refresh and encourage, feed and nourish His people. We will use historic liturgies and ceremonies exclusively. Rev. Dr. Daniel Reuning will accompany the services along with help from Dcs. Sandra Rhein and Dr. Jason Thompson and the choirs the Gregorian childrens’ choir. Worship will also feature the preaching of Rev. Dr. Rick Stuckwisch, Rev. Peter Bender, Rev. David Petersen, and others.

Work: Lectures, Sectionals, Workshops

Our work will be done in the main plenary sessions and in smaller sectionals. We will not play at it. We will not waste your time with inside jokes and silly skits. We are bringing you a world-class theologian and expert on Luther’s Small Catechsim in Rev. Peter Bender. He will challenge you and stretch you. You will leave his sessions tired, with your mind popping with ideas. He will help you bring more of Lutheran orthodoxy to your daily, family life.

We will also bring you seasoned homeschool educators, pastors, and other specialists in our smaller sectionals. We will have sectionals geared specifically for grade-school children, parents, high-school-aged youth, pastors, and more. But we will not worship our work. We know the distinction between works and faith. We know that we can all improve, and we are forgiven, so we will respect you and challenge you. We will ask you to work, but we will not be condescending.

Play: Plenty of time to visit and relax, a square dance lesson, a cookout

We will also play at the retreat. We will sing, dance, and visit together. Free time will be provided. We will not try to sanctify this. We will believe that music, food, and good company are gifts from God to be enjoyed, not apologized for, and need no sanctification. We will embrace them in their proper place, confident that these things are also good for God’s people.

Plenary Sessions: Rev. Peter Bender, Concordia Catechetical Academy

Parents and their children will be engaged by the Word of God in Pastor Bender’s presentation and encouraged in their use of the Small Catechism even as their understanding deepens. While Pastor Bender will speak at length about how to use the Catechism at home and its central role in the piety of Lutherans, he will also include many practical examples and provided resources for further use for homeschooling, un-schooling, and schooling.

Sectionals

Featuring seasoned homeschool parents, pastors, university professors, and moms. They will be targeted for parents, teens, and younger children on a variety of practical topics.

Cost & Registration

Cost: $25/adults, $20/18-12, 11 and under free, maximum cost per family: $90.
BBQ dinner and Square Dance and lesson provided Wednesday evening.

To Register or ask questions -

e-mail: secretary.redeemer@gmail.com
phone: 260-744-2585

Mail registration to:

The Catechism
Redeemer Lutheran Church
202 W. Rudisill Blvd
Ft. Wayne, IN 46807

Please include contact information with names of all adults and children, payment of $90/family or $25 for each adult and $20 for each child 18-12, whichever is less. (Children 11 may attend with their families for free.)

How can this cost so little?

To send a single child to a Higher Things conference costs over $300 plus transportation. To go to the National Youth Gathering costs even more. How can we take your entire family for just $90? By not having any paid staff or executives, getting the space donated by Redeemer, not paying for preachers or sectional leaders, but using volunteers, and by the extra generosity of many attendees. We are grateful to have these resources, to be able to do this, and are glad to share it with you.

For more information see the website

See also:

1. ReClaiming the Home
2. A Christian Home
3. Heart & Mouth & Deed & Living
4. On Giving Jesus Your Heart

Dear Brothers in Christ,

As you know, the theme for this year’s Synod convention is “ONE People–Forgiven.” This is the third of the three facets in our Synod’s vision as endorsed by the 2004 convention: “ONE Mission, ONE Message, ONE People.” As ONE people, we are called together to carry out the ONE mission God has given to proclaim to all the ONE message that there is forgiveness and eternal life in Jesus Christ alone.

One of my biggest concerns as Synod president is that when we foster disunity and refuse to forgive one another, our proclamation of the Gospel is hindered. The apostle Paul writes, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called to one hope when you were called – one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Eph. 4:3-6).

It sometimes seems that we have a long way to go in our Holy Spirit-driven quest to “stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel” (Phil. 1:27). Yet, positive signs abound among us. One of the keys to standing “firm in one spirit” is the development of relationships between and among penitent sinners who confess and repent of sin and receive with thankful hearts the precious words of absolution: “Your sin is forgiven!” Those relationships are rooted firmly in the forgiveness won for us by God through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ – forgiveness then freely extended to and received from our brothers and sisters in Christ.

As noted in Part 1 of my report to the convention, printed in the Convention Workbook, the grace of God in Christ moves us to be in conversation with one another, celebrating our areas of agreement and oneness, and working on those matters where we have not yet achieved complete harmony. Our time together in convention will focus on our unity in Christ. We will have opportunity throughout the convention to speak and to hear words of confession, absolution, and forgiveness.

Please join me in praying for our Synod’s convention, that God would continue richly to bless us as ONE People–Forgiven.

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Prayers for the Convention

One of the special prayer opportunities for the Synod convention will be a national 24-hour, seven-day prayer vigil held during the week of the convention. The vigil will begin on Sunday, July 11, at 8 a.m., which is also when the convention delegates and attendees will gather for an hour of prayer before the official opening of the convention. The vigil will last until Saturday, July 17, at 11 a.m., when the convention is scheduled to adjourn.

During this special week of prayer, participants are invited to pray specifically for the proceedings of the Synod convention and for the work of the Synod as a whole. Daily information about specific convention activities will be available on the convention Web site, www.lcms.org/convention.

To sign up as a prayer vigil participant, go to the vigil Web site at http://www.lcms.org/prayervigil. Follow the sign-up instructions, which include selecting a specific hour to pray during the week. During the week of the convention, the names of those praying will be displayed daily at the convention and on the convention Web site.

It is the hope of the prayer vigil planners that every hour of that week will be filled with prayer. So, please share this information with the members of your congregation and invite them to participate. The dates to sign-up for the prayer vigil are April 30 to June 25.

Also, please include the following convention prayers for May-June in your personal and corporate prayers. Please pray:

• that the men and women serving on convention floor committees will be granted wisdom and discernment as they meet to consider reports and overtures that have been submitted for consideration and to prepare proposed resolutions for convention action;
• that the Today’s Business staff will be encouraged in their task of assisting the floor committees and in the preparation of the first issue of Today’s Business;
• that the compiling, editing, printing, and mailing of the first issue of Today’s Business will be accomplished in a timely manner;
• that the delegates will receive the guidance of the Holy Spirit as they review all of the convention materials and as they read the daily devotions on forgiveness in preparation for their service as convention delegates;
• that the convention worship, devotion, and Bible study essay leaders will be blessed in their ongoing preparations for leading the convention in these important elements of spiritual nurture and growth;
• and that the many details required for the convention to be conducted will be completed in a timely manner – for God to be in the details!

“The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” (James 5:16, NIV).

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Five critical considerations

In my report to the Council of Presidents last month, I shared “five critical considerations” facing the Synod as we prepare for this year’s convention. The five are:

1. Doctrinal agreement
2. Unity – Concord – Harmony
3. LCMS mission
4. Global confessional leadership
5. Financial realities

I’m using this month’s pastoral letter to say a little about each of these.

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1. Doctrinal agreement

This is a matter close to my heart, as it is to yours. As I have said many times, I thank God for the doctrinal agreement we have in our Synod on the vast majority of issues related to faith and practice. You may recall the rather lengthy, though certainly not exhaustive, list (click here to view list) that I have cited from time to time to illustrate that we in the LCMS simply are not arguing over or even debating the major doctrines of the Christian faith that are in contention today in many parts of the church militant. We in the Missouri Synod are undeniably blessed with God-given harmony and have so much more that unites us than those things that would divide us!

The official position of the Synod on a wide variety of issues is presented in the book sent this spring to every congregation and now in its second printing, This We Believe: Selected Topics of Faith and Practice in The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. I do hope that you are finding this resource, available from Concordia Publishing House (www.cph.org), to be of assistance to you and helpful for Bible studies and discussions in your congregation.

Of course, I have also spoken on many occasions on matters about which we in the LCMS are not in complete agreement. These include issues related to the administration of Holy Communion, the service of women in the church, forms of worship, and inter-Christian relationships. We must continue to work under Holy Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions to achieve solidarity also in these matters.

As those efforts are underway, I respectfully and evangelically encourage each of you to continue to take seriously the covenants of love to which our Synod has agreed regarding these matters.

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2. Unity – Concord – Harmony

“We are convinced that until we find a way to speak and to listen to one another in love, little hope exists for moving toward greater concord in doctrine and practice. Luther’s insight is compelling: ‘Where there is no love, there doctrine cannot remain pure’ (LW 24, 244).” This is one of five “initial conclusions” reached by the 12-member Task Force for Synodical Harmony appointed by the Council of Presidents and LCMS Board of Directors in response to Res. 4-01A adopted by the 2007 Synod convention.

The task force members developed definitions for the concepts of unity, concord and harmony in their initial report, which you will find in the Convention Workbook (R4-04-01, pp. 74-76), before identifying several factors as contributing to disharmony in our Synod. They include inability to deal with diversity, lack of civility and accountability, a politicized culture, and distrust. And the observation was made that “disharmony in the LCMS is primarily a clergy problem” and that there is “poor communication across ‘party lines.’”

These factors are of great concern. They diminish the health of our Synod and distract attention from the mission God has given us to accomplish. Evangelically and respectfully, I encourage you to read the report and urge your patient, pastoral, and persistent attention to and care for individuals with whom you have a relationship – members of your congregation or others, including brother pastors – who violate Eighth Commandment injunctions to speak the truth in a way that puts the best construction on everything.

The task force says it intends to develop strategies to address those factors that contribute to disharmony among us. In its initial report to the Synod, the task force concludes, “Surely our unity in Jesus Christ and our concord in doctrine are treasures to be cherished and preserved. And surely God’s mission on earth unites us in a common cause with eternal consequences. May the harmony we share as we walk together increasingly enhance our unity and concord for the sake of God’s mission.”

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3. LCMS mission

“In grateful response to God’s grace and empowered by the Holy Spirit through Word and Sacraments, the mission of The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod is vigorously to make known the love of Christ by word and deed within our churches, communities, and the world.” That, as you know, is the mission statement adopted for our Synod by the 1998 convention. It is also behind the 2004 convention resolutions that encourage us to share the Gospel with 50 million people in the United States and another 50 million internationally, to plant 2,000 new congregations in the United States, and to revitalize 2,000 existing congregations. The goal is to accomplish this, under God’s blessing, by the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017. A few weeks ago, I heard a report from LCMS World Mission staff that more than 600 new missions have been started so far and that 363 existing congregations are part of the revitalization process developed through LCMS World Mission. The ONE mission that Christ gave His Church remains a high priority for the LCMS.

As you are aware, one of the mission-focused initiatives of our Synod is called Ablaze! This movement, approved by the 2004 Synod convention, was actually initiated by the Board for Mission Services in 1999.

In my report in the Synod Convention Workbook, I shared these words:

“My observations are that the efforts of those congregations, individuals, and districts who are participating in these [Ablaze!] initiatives have been greatly blessed in the process. For various reasons, a number of congregations and individuals have chosen not to participate in either Ablaze! or Fan into Flame. Some have cited theological objections, others more practical matters, as their reasons for non-participation. I have listened to these concerns and have deep respect for those who have expressed them.

“One fairly common practical objection is to the suggestion that LCMS and our partner church folks should go to the Ablaze! Web site and record the Gospel witness given. Over 10 million people have already actually done so! However, since the movement’s inception, I have expressed my own feeling that this process is cumbersome and that most evangelical, confessional, Lutheran people who share the Gospel with someone else are not generally in the habit of telling about it. On the other hand, there are some very moving and exciting stories submitted by ordinary people who have had extraordinary experiences in verbalizing their faith!

“With all this in mind, I have asked the executive director of the Board for Mission Services to address the concerns of those who are not involved in Ablaze! or Fan into Flame in an effort to invite sincerely and encourage evangelically broader participation in these efforts.

“In the meantime, the goals of Ablaze! remain on target for the future mission of the LCMS. Sharing the Gospel, planting new churches, and revitalizing existing congregations to be mission outposts are foundational for our mission to the world.”

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4. Global confessional leadership

During the nine years I have served as the Synod’s president, I have been surprised – pleasantly so – by the amount of time, energy, and attention demanded by church-relations matters. Much of this has involved communicating with potential partner churches about issues of doctrine and practice and with partner churches about assistance with mission plants, missionary support, theological education, and the like.

Most of these church bodies are much smaller than the LCMS. But in recent months, we have had contacts with Lutheran church bodies that are much larger than the LCMS – the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania, each of which has more than 5 million members.

While I can’t predict what future relationships we might have with such church bodies, I find it encouraging that leaders in these growing churches are coming to us for help with pastoral training and theological education. For example, a diocesan bishop from the Tanzanian church asked us last month to help bring their pastors to LCMS seminaries for theological support on matters – such as the role of women, ecumenical relationships, and human-sexuality issues – that are posing a challenge to his church body.

In addition, I have received contacts from the newly developing Anglican Church of North America and similar groups from within the ELCA, all of which are searching for a confessional, conservative theological foundation at a time when the larger church bodies with which they have been associated have abandoned historic Christian doctrines.

It’s difficult to explain in writing how excited I am about these possibilities! I shared that excitement verbally at this month’s Minnesota North and South District pastors conference, and wish I could do so in every corner of our Synod! It is a blessing from God that we are being asked by these fellow Christians to help provide them with theological and doctrinal stability. We do so with great humility at having received these blessings from God and with the awesome burden of sharing them with the world, which is also a huge privilege. I’m reminded of Paul’s vision in Acts 16: “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” How can we do anything but respond!

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5. Financial realities

As I reported in last month’s letter to you, Chairman Don Muchow of the Synod’s Board of Directors and I have had telephone conversations with the presidents and chairmen of the boards of directors of our districts. At the time this letter is being written, those calls are almost completed, with only a few more to go. These calls have included prayer and discussion of such topics as appreciation for faithful ministry and financial support, fiscal matters relating both to district and national Synod, and pastoral care and concern for challenges being experienced at district and national level.

We also are concerned about the challenges, struggles, and stresses that congregations are facing in the current economy. Some have had to cut staff, which has affected teachers, DCEs, and even pastors, especially assistant and associate pastors. In all such cases, it is imperative for congregations to proceed cautiously, responsibly, sensitively, and thoughtfully as they make difficult and life-changing decisions about those whom they have called to positions of ministry.

During the Great Depression, Synod President Friedrich Pfotenhauer told the 1932 Synod convention: “It is true that the present economic conditions throughout the world induce us, if we do not keep our vision clear, to curtail our church activities. No doubt money is more scarce than in previous years. All the more must we keep before us the lesson of history: first, that, the more evil the days, the greater our prospect of success in our Christian work; and secondly, that, when children of God are eager to promote their Savior’s glory, the Lord supplies the necessary means and blesses them.”

President Pfotenhauer’s words remind us that leadership in overwhelming times calls for clear vision. When we keep our eye on the goal and we keep our people focused on that goal, trusting that the Lord will provide, we will not be swayed from that which the Lord would have us do. As we “keep the vision clear,” we will not fear or be afraid of what we cannot do. Rather, we will look forward with expectation to what God will do.

The Scriptures teach us: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths” (Prov. 3:5-6). In times such as these, it is essential to foster an environment of “trust in the Lord” whereby “the children of God are eager to promote their Savior’s glory.”

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Japan Lutheran Church

The Japan Lutheran Church (often abbreviated by its Japanese acronym, NRK) originated two years after the end of World War II with the installation of Rev. William Danker as LCMS missionary in Tokyo, Japan. Early mission efforts were developed through Lutheran Hour broadcasts, which began in 1951 – some of the first civilian radio broadcasts following the war. The NRK became an autonomous partner church of the LCMS in 1968, and by 1976 was both self-supporting and self-governing.

Today, the church body has 34 congregations and one preaching station. Membership stands today at 2,723 souls, with 878 active members. The NRK’s congregations and schools are served by 23 pastors, one deaconess, one deacon, and two ordained LCMS missionaries (serving at Japan Lutheran College and Holy Hope School). Though disagreements have come to light in recent years between the NRK and LCMS over the role of women in the ongoing mission of the church, both sides are fully engaged, as partner churches should be, in working alongside one another while addressing these issues with integrity.

The primary means for NRK Gospel witness in the wider community is through education:

• The NRK jointly manages Japan Lutheran College and Japan Lutheran Theological Seminary in association with the Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church (JELC). The college offers a Ph.D. program in social work, a master’s degree program in clinical psychology, and undergraduate programs in social work, clinical psychology, and Christian studies. The Christian studies program not only develops teachers who will teach Bible and religion classes in parochial mission schools but also provides in-depth pre-seminary instruction. The college also maintains research materials for its Luther Studies Center, which publishes regular newsletters and sponsors study groups.
• The NRK independently maintains a number of schools around the country. It administers one secondary school (Holy Hope School in Hanno), one combined primary and secondary school (Urawa Lutheran School), nine kindergartens, and four pre-schools. English-conversation classes, administered through NRK congregations for the purpose of outreach into their local communities, have been led by LCMS missionaries for more than 40 years, and today, five LCMS GEO (Globally Engaged in Outreach) missionaries take part in this type of outreach.

In addition to a new focus among Tokyo-area churches on outreach to young adults, churches in the Fukushima prefecture will be launching a new outreach initiative this summer. Although Christians currently make up less than one percent of the total population of the country, God continues to shine the light of Jesus Christ in Japan through the people and institutions of the NRK.

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A parting word of encouragement

Some of us have heard claims that this year’s Synod convention is going to see turmoil and conflict. My own sense, especially after taking part in nine regional gatherings of convention delegates and other leaders this winter, is that this will not be the case. The delegates chosen to represent their circuit congregations love the Lord Jesus and our Synod. Guided by the Spirit of God, they will make the very best decisions possible.

I do not believe that we will see anything like the conflicted assembly about which Luke reports in Acts 19:32, “Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together!” Rather, I truly believe our convention will be more accurately described by Paul’s words in Romans 15: “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (vv.5-6).

This is my prayer for the convention and my prayer for you as well. May God bless you and grant you great joy in your ministry!

Jerry Kieschnick

Dr. Gerald B. Kieschnick, President
The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod
e-mail: president@lcms.org
Web page: www.lcms.org/president

“Transforming lives through Christ’s love … in time … for eternity …” John 3:16-17

See also:

1. January Letter to Pastors
2. Kieschnick’s December Letter to Pastors
3. A Letter from the President of the LCMS
4. ELCA & LCMS

“Amazing, edifying, encouraging, affirming, equipping, and worshipful” is how songwriter Mia Koehne of Phoenix began describing her thoughts and impressions of the first LCMS songwriters conference, April 21-23 at St. John Lutheran Church, Ellisville, Mo., in suburban St. Louis.

Several other songwriters registered similar enthusiastic feedback when asked about the conference sponsored by the LCMS Commission on Worship for this article.

And overall, a solid majority of the some-75 conference attendees gave it positive marks via an online survey.

Participating in the conference funded by a grant from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans were 55 songwriters from across the Synod, members and staff of the Commission on Worship, and representatives of Concordia Publishing House and Concordia University System colleges and universities.

Conference planners also indicated that it accomplished its goals.

“The goals for this conference were simple,” said Rev. David Johnson, executive director of the worship commission — “to gather songwriters from a variety of Lutheran communities, to enrich each other with our confessional theology of Jesus in Word and Sacrament, and to hone their craft of creating songs for God’s people to sing through education, conversation, and fellowship.”

Johnson also said the commission “desired to partner with Concordia Publishing House to launch an inaugural effort to provide sacramental songs to the congregations in The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. … Through this event, vibrant faith-filled people were ignited into the joy of being Lutheran, and encouraged to shape the [Synod's] song repertoire.”

He indicated that the commission plans to develop with CPH a multimedia CD — available perhaps by late summer — with “select sacramental songs” (including audio recordings and PDFs of lead sheets) from conference participants. The publishing house will send the CD to each LCMS congregation “for congregations to consider using,” Johnson said.

A number of songwriters performed their original songs during the conference, and all of them submitted songs they had written as part of the application process for conference scholarships funded by the Thrivent grant.

“There was an unmistakable spirit of gratitude” expressed by participants in the songwriters conference, Johnson said — “an eagerness to listen to the needs of the church, and a spirited willingness to respond.”

Bobbie Schroeder, a member of the Commission on Worship who is director of music and worship at St. John Lutheran Church, Ellisville, sat on a five-member committee that reviewed the applications and songs of 175 songwriters who submitted material for conference scholarships.

Schroeder said an “amazing thing in the entire process” for him is that “our church body is incredibly blessed in musical gifts to share with our entire church. It was a challenge to decide which songs would not be chosen. We also realized this is just the beginning of networking and sharing music with fellow worship leaders and songwriters.

“I want to use many of these songs in our own worship setting here at St. John,” said Schroeder. That congregation — for which the 2010 Lutheran Annual lists an average weekly worship attendance of 2,076 — has “multiple [worship] venues and several worship leaders,” Schroeder added.

At the songwriters conference, Bob Lail, lead developer of Emerging Products for Concordia Publishing House, announced the launch of the Concordia Writers Cooperative, a social marketplace allowing freelance authors to publish their resources “with ease.”

He said that the cooperative “will serve new authors by giving them exposure and compensation, CPH customers by giving them access to a wider array of materials, and the church by increasing partnership among congregations.”

The Writers Cooperative may be previewed at http://concordiawriters.com.

In addition, Lail said that CPH will be expanding the social marketplace in the fall with the launch of the Songwriters Cooperative. This expansion will allow songwriters to upload scores, lead sheets, and MP3 previews of their musical works.

“We’re very excited about the exposure that the Writers Cooperative and the Songwriters Cooperative will give to authors,” Lail said, “and all the possibilities these sites will create for partnership and collaboration among churches!”

He added that anyone will be able to post to either cooperative. “In fact,” he said, “all an author needs is the ability to save PDFs of their books and other documents, or MP3s of their music. Before selling content on the Cooperative, each resource will be sent through doctrinal review to ensure that it is doctrinally sound. CPH is working to ensure that this process will be as quick and easy as possible.”

The program for the songwriters conference also included worship, “breakout” workshops, and presentations by theologians and worship leaders, in addition to songwriters presenting their work and resource information from Concordia Publishing House representatives. Also on the agenda were three “Making Connections” sessions, when participants could share ideas with each other and with several of the presenters.

“I can’t tell you what a good idea I think this conference is. It’s long over-due,” Dr. Jeffery Gibbs of the Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, faculty told those attending the breakout workshop he led on “singing the festival half of the church year.” Gibbs also addressed “the songs in the sacraments” in a conference plenary presentation.

Mia Koehne, the songwriter from Phoenix whose glowing adjectives about the conference began this story, said the event also conveyed “the message … that what we write matters. … I learned that we can use this gift and inspiration the Lord gives us to write music, [and that] there is a craft and a learning process that goes into writing great worship music for the congregation. It is a great calling and a great responsibility.”

Koehne is a member of the worship team at Christ Church — Lutheran in Phoenix, for which she writes and leads worship songs. She describes herself as “a stay-at-home mom who loves to worship and serve the church through music.”

Faith Martin, another songwriter, sang and accompanied on keyboard her original song, “You Carry Me,” during the conference’s “open mic” portion. She serves Somerset Hills Lutheran Church, Basking Ridge, N.J., as full-time contemporary worship leader and youth engager (with those who are confirmation- and high-school-age).

“I loved the songwriters conference,” Martin wrote via e-mail. “It was a great opportunity to grow as a Christian songwriter. I have taken songwriting classes and read books, but this was the first learning experience for me specifically targeting on what [conference presenter] Mark Roach referred to as ‘corporate’ worship music. The practical songwriting tips [and] theological information on corporate worship music are things that I will be able to apply in songwriting for my congregation. … I am excited to try some of the new techniques we learned about.

“It was also a great opportunity for us to network with other Christian songwriters who are writing corporate worship music — so we can get feedback on our songs, both musically and lyrically,” Martin said.

“I hope that the Synod continues to hold conferences like this,” she said, “so that the worship leaders and songwriters in our Synod can continue to grow as Christian songwriters.”

“I was blown away by the conference,” Brian Drever of El Dorado Hills, Calif., said in an e-mail message. He is a member of Trinity Lutheran Church in nearby Sacramento, where he has been in a nine-member praise band for 12 years, leading the band for the past eight years.

A senior technical consultant with a company that primarily contracts with the state on internet technology projects, Drever wrote that he did not know what to expect from the conference, since it was the first of its kind.

At its conclusion, he said he was “very encouraged” and “looking forward to future conferences” like it. “The musicians were all very talented, and it was great to meet other worship leaders doing the same thing that I am. … I look forward to [our] being able to share music with one another and with other churches in the Synod.”

See also:

1. Lutheran Songwriters Conference
2. St Michael Liturgical Conference
3. Conference on Archives and History
4. ReClaiming the Home