Northwoods Seelsorger

In the comments section of my last post I mentioned that the rite of Confirmation is held in some churches on Palm Sunday. The only reason I could see for the choice was allowing the newly confirmed to commune on Maundy Thursday and Easter. While that may be the reason adopted by some, Dr. David Scaer in a conference paper entitled "Confirmation as a Sacramental Rite" (2002, In Christ: The Collected Works of David P. Scaer, Vol. II ), offers another explanation you may find interesting. He relates his experience at a German cultural museum in Berlin which featured an exhibit on Confirmation in its nineteenth-century section: "In what then had become a united Germany under the leadership of Chancellor Bismark, Confirmation was the rite of passage from youth to adulthood. A Confirmation certificate served also as a diploma testifying to the good moral character of the confirmed, recommending her or him to their first employers. It seems as if this view of the rite c...

This Sunday five young people will make their public confession of Christ in the Rite of Confirmation at St. Peter congregation. Mixed emotions often accompany this event for me as a pastor. Confirmation for Lutherans, unlike Roman Catholics, is not a sacrament. Nevertheless, this rite frequently attracts the kind of attention one would think appropriate and expected for sacramental actions. Although it finds its meaning within the reality of Holy Baptism, it seems too often to eclipse this sacrament and the blessings originally received, by the attention given to it. If you talk to some Lutherans you may very well get the impression that Confirmation is a kind of 'rite of passage.' Here once effectively graduates from the drudgery of compulsory Sunday School attendance. Except for the occasional ushering duty, it allows one to now see church attendance according to convenience of the young person, and Bible study as purely optional. Parents, who knew the need to pus...

Granted, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is anything but orthodox Christian, or it would appear, 'orthodox' Mormon. And yes, their polygamous lifestyle involving what appears to be child brides is disturbing. Yet, don't they have a right to practice their faith as they choose in a country where religious freedom is so widely touted? They do, to a point. However, God has established the Left Kingdom for the general good of all people, especially when it comes to the protection of our physical health and welfare. If only one child was victimized within the walls of this secretive compound (Yearning for Zion Ranch), they are obligated to respond. In fact, I would want them to respond. A child is especially helpless in the face of a stronger adult. One certainly is sensitive to these mothers who feel unjustly separated from their children. What mother would not? Yet, even from the brief news reports it is becoming increasingly clear that t...

The Pope's visit to the U.S. is unlike that of any other religious leader. It is more akin to the arrival of a head of state. Indeed, the pope is probably the only Christian clergyman who is a head of state, since the Vatican remains a self-contained country with its own diplomatic corps. The Chicago Tribune had "A primer of pope's visit to U.S." on page 3 of the Sunday edition, complete with maps and photos that occupied a full half page. In their op-ed section "Perspective" they also featured articles reflecting on the state of the Catholic church and the work of this particular pontiff. It's interesting that in our secular age a religious leader can still command such attention from the media. It will admittedly be a visit of mixed reception. From the start he lives in the shadow of his predecessor, who was undoubtedly the most popular pope of the modern era. On the news this morning someone quipped that at such papal appearances many came to ...

This past Sunday, the Fourth Sunday of Easter, has traditionally been known also as "Good Shepherd Sunday" due to the normally scheduled Gospel reading of Jesus as the Good Shepherd. It is clear from the John 10 reading that our Lord also addressed those who should have been shepherds to Israel but instead became the very opposite: thieves and robbers. Instead of caring for the sheep by leading them to the calm waters and green pastures of God's grace, they instead straight-jacketed them in burdensome legal mandates of their own interpretation. And the shepherds today? Martin Luther, in reflecting on John 10, once stated that all who do not preach Christ are thieves and robbers. Unfortunately many a would-be shepherd preaches eloquently and passionately, waving his Bible in the air, yet fails to truly proclaim Christ and the free grace and salvation He won for us in His death. How easy it is to substitute legalistic expectations for grace! How tempting to attempt ...

The Church today is subjected to many crises, and some have plagued the faithful since its inception at Pentecost. However, each generation or era has a particular crisis that defines it more than another. One of those with which the church wrestles today is its understanding of the Office of the Holy Ministry, or the Pastoral Office as it is also referred to in Lutheran circles. Protestants, in general, find themselves with more ambiguity and uncertainty on this issue, than do church bodies such as the Roman Catholic Church. In many Baptist, Pentecostal, and non-denominational groups it appears that the pastor is widely subjected to a "hire and fire" mentality not too different than one would find with "at will" employees in the outside world. In some cases longevity and personal charisma may shield the pastor from serious attack. However, for many their service is at the whim of a church that considers the office holder relevant only if he obeys the desires ...

The new light of Easter enters slowly into the darkened sanctuary. "The light of Christ," the deacon chants with ever increasing intensity. Little by little the darkness is dispelled. Life has broken in on the shadow of death. This light will remain on the altar for the 50 days of His post-resurrection work, a testimony to the continued victory of life over death. Yet with the arrival of Pentecost the light does not disappear. Now its place is by the font, the water of life, where we die to the death-dealing power of sin and rise to newness of life in Christ. It will move on only one other occasion during this coming year. Each time the earthly remains of a child of God sit in state before the altar, the light will stand prominently at the head, even as the casket is draped in its pall, symbolic of the robe of righteousness that clothed the child in Baptism. The light scatters the darkness of death once more, forbidding a grief devoid of hope. We have died to s...