Northwoods Seelsorger

As one concludes a year it is always fun to look back and see the past twelve months in review. Often a lot happens and we forget. For me personally 2010 was a significant year filled with transitional events in my life and work. This blog reported one of them, namely my decision to enroll at Nashotah House and pursue graduate work in the Master of Sacred Theology (STM) program. I will begin 2011 back at the books, with hopes that this next year finds the completion of two more courses, leaving me with only one in 2012, along with the thesis. Reviewing my blog articles, here are some of the highlights that stand out for me: 2010 seemed to be a reorganization year for the liberals of the LCMS. The original DayStar site was down and up and then gone, finally being replaced by another newer site , which in turn was transitioned to the newest Daystar Journal . Dr. Matthew Becker , a younger theologian than the old guard coming out of the 70's, is now the perceived leader for th...

You can learn a lot by the mentors a person admires, as well as the historical figures to which one looks for guidance and inspiration. Dr. Matthew Becker, editor of the DayStar Journal and theological voice of a neo-liberal movement in the LCMS, recently wrote a remembrance post of the anniversary of the historical mentor of his doctoral studies, Johannes von Hofmann . Although Hofmann is described as a "conservative Lutheran theologian" by Becker, which is a confusing moniker these days with varying definitions of conservative. In doing a little Wikipedia search on von Hofmann, it was interesting to find his name appear in another article entitled "Neo-Lutherans." Neo-Lutheranism was a so-called "revival movement" within nineteenth century Lutherans in reactions to both theological rationalism and pietism. At this point one might well conclude that we are talking about the forefathers of the Missouri Synod, but you would be wrong. This group actua...

Evil remains ever close at hand, and even the most peaceful, solemn occasions are often broken by acts of seemingly senseless violence. Such is the case in Bethlehem as the deranged despot named Herod vents his angry paranoia on the innocent children of this little village. As the church's first martyrs they deserve our reflective attention this day, remembering especially that our Lord Jesus came into the world himself to suffer and die. Christmas is too often painted in soft gentle hues that fail to reflect the harsh colors of this world's real sin and evil that made the event of his incarnation a necessity for the salvation of the world. The Slaughter of the Innocents reveals that the heart of Christmas is that God came into our troubled, dying world, for the express purpose of saving it. The name with which he was christened, Jesus, in fact, means "Yahweh saves." It was a dangerous mission and in the end brought death even for the sent savior. Christmas poi...

I have the honor of being born on a saints' day, yet without the similar honor of acquiring the name. Apparently my dear mother was unaware of the important nature of this minor festival (being preoccupied with giving birth no doubt.) Nevertheless, on the occasion of my half-century mark in life, it seemed most appropriate to honor the saint whose name adorns this festival time. St. John was the only disciple of the original twelve whose day is marked by white on the altar since he is also the only one to escape martyrdom. The icon on the wall of my office notes this saint as "the theologian." Given my vocation as pastor and the additional graduate work I am pursuing in theology, it seems appropriate that I share this day with the beloved apostle and teacher of the church. I pray that I may learn from him and his devotion to our blessed Lord Jesus Christ through the exalted words of his gospel, and by God's grace grow as a theologian reaching at least a portion ...

It is hard to believe that this is now the fifth Christmas for this humble little blog. Looking back I am amazed at the journey and thankful for the interaction of the readers over the years. As I type these words onto a computer screen that will appear next to my photographed digital image, I am also reminded of the limits in this two-dimensional world in which I have long interacted, and filled with renewed wonderment in the greater mystery and miracle of the incarnation which we celebrate this day. God came into our world, taking on real flesh, close enough to touch and see. In a day when so much of what we experience is through the medium of a virtual reality, the greater reality of the enfleshment of the divine in the person of Jesus brings a unique comfort to the struggling believer. This morning, in just a couple of hours, I will kneel at the altar and receive on my hands the very body of Jesus Christ, the God made flesh. I will lift the chalice to my lips and drink the v...

I join with many others in applauding President Harrison's recent acceptance of a call to serve as an assistant pastor at Village Lutheran Church in Ladue, Missouri . A brief blog article containing a letter sent to the district presidents of Synod explains well his rationale and the support this actions have in our synodical constitution. Serving as a circuit counselor since 2006 has allowed me to live in a world that often serves as a bridge between the local parish and the structure of the district-level and national church body. Since I live and serve in a local setting my position allows me to put a far more personal 'face' on the Synod for people who may too often see such structures as distant and irrelevant. I hope that President Harrison's actions in this case assist in doing that for him as well. Yet more important still, I agree with him that a need exists for the president of Synod to retain a pastoral connection with the church. He notes that this is...

Pastor Tim Rossow over at Steadfast Lutherans offers an encouraging and interesting post on Communion fellowship and how it is received by others ( "The Communion Rail was Closed Today to Two Old Ladies" ). In discussions on this issue in my parish over the last couple of years, a few had belabored the point of the offensiveness of this practice, especially to prospective communicants such as these pleasant ladies. Pastor Rossow notes that these women understood the need for the faithful practice of Close Communion and respected it without showing angry indignation, even though they had what he refers to as "LCMS bloodlines." As I have noted before, our confession counts, and formal membership in a church with a differing denominational affiliation links us with that confession, even when we may not intend it to be that way. If membership is to mean anything, we must be held accountable for it. Apparently these ladies understood that and accepted the limitatio...

It sounded impressive to put it in Latin. However, the more familiar English derivative, vocation , or more simply yet, "call," would have done just as nicely. The concept of our work on this earth as a vocatio, or "calling," was brought home to me this morning as I watched a plumber attend to my clogged bathroom sink. There, crouched on the floor, dealing with the disgusting greyish-black sludge accumulated through decades of use, this man was performing a task for which I discovered myself quite inadequate. Not that I refused to try. I made multiple trips to the Menards and Walmart attempting to find tools for what initially appeared to be a routine household chore. I twisted and pulled and pushed until the greyish-black ooze squirted strategically in unwanted directions, soiling all in its path. As I watched this man attend to my failed chore I admittedly had renewed appreciation for his work. He, like many in our society, does what we prefer to avoid, t...

Certain comments are to be expected from clergy and professors in the liberal mainline denominations, such as the UCC and ELCA. However, although we all know that there are those within the LCMS that teach contrary to the established teaching among us, few rostered clergy in the Synod today approach the brazen openness of Dr. Matthew Becker with regard to views clearly in opposition to accepted teaching. His writings and comments supporting the ordination of women and evolution are fairly well documented now, especially through the recently published Daystar Reader . Nevertheless, he just added to this list with what I can only call bizarre. Again, over on the Gottesdienst Online site Becker posted the following in the comment section: What may be Christologically significant is that Adam in Gen 1 is both male and female, androgynous. There have been some in the Christian tradition who have said the same about the second Adam. As an androgynous Adam, Christ redeems both male and f...

I thought it a bit curious that Becker's controversial musings on his blog were receiving so little notice. Or so I thought. Unbeknownst to me until a chance comment on Becker's site, there has been quite a bit of conversation going on over at the Gottesdienst blog . Although clearly in a minority, Becker is to be credited with being as open as he is with his views. With 52 separate comments to comb through, you can get a fairly good idea of the current response to Becker's recent 'coming out' efforts. This, however, is only the second installment on the issue. The article that first responded to Becker occurred already on Thursday, the day of his post to which I responded. "SELK: Reports of Our Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated" itself generated no less than 87 comments! I read and scanned a good deal of it. Great discussion and worth time in reading. Since the abundant material there speaks for itself, I will not even attempt to summarize or...

This was a first for our little daily newspaper (at least in my memory over the last decade.) An ad appeared on Friday entitled "Harmonious Spirit," offering the availability of a meeting room or chapel at a listed address in town. It then read, "Services performed: Weddings, Funerals, Baptisms." The ad also included the name of a man entitled with "Rev." As far as I can tell he does not represent any of the local churches or cults. The ad sports a cross, so contrary to the Eastern-sounding name "Harmonious Spirit," I am left to believe he may be Christian. I can somewhat understand the idea of hiring yourself out for weddings and funerals. People are always looking for a pastor willing to do theses "services" for the unchurched. Some calls to my church are as crass as "How much do you charge for a wedding?" Funerals are the same way. When someone dies it does not matter if they seldom if ever graced a church for wor...

Apparently Dr. Becker hit a nerve with a recent post on the discussion of the ordination of women in the Independent Lutheran Church in Germany (SELK). If he was looking for attention on the issue, he now has it. Was that his goal? He certainly did not miss the opportunity to again chastise the LCMS for its apparent lack of willingness in beating this dead horse. Like the SELK there is division on this issue in the LCMS; of this we are painful aware. After all, the mere existence of sites such as The Creator's Tapestry and DayStar indicates that there are those who wish to keep the subject alive in our midst. On the other hand, both denominations also lack broad-based support within the rank-and-file of the congregations even after extended conversations on the topic. One might think that after ten years of discussing this in SELK without a positive result (for the pro-ordination side), we might conclude that the issue is indeed becoming the proverbial "dead horse....

I will be registering this week for my next class at Nashotah for January. It is entitled "Reading Romans: Exploring Paul's Theological Vision," and will be taught by Dr. Garwood Anderson , the professor I had this past summer for the course on "The New Perspective." Excellent teacher. Since Romans represents such a foundational book for Lutherans, it seemed more than appropriate to sign up for this course. I suspect that out of this course will come my thesis topic, which may be inspired by whatever major paper I pursue. At the moment my interest is centered on exploring Romans 13, and maybe a broader exploration of the "kingdom of the left" in the New Testament, with a focus in the Pauline corpus or even incorporating material from the Gospels for the thesis. We'll see. This summer I am excited for the possibility of a course offering which will explore "The History and Function of the Church Year." The scheduled professor is the L...

Some time ago I bemused at the paucity of blogging done by those from more liberal theological convictions. Then The Creator's Tapestry resurrected the seemingly dormant Voices-Vision outlet, giving 'voice' once again to those pushing for more involvement of females in the ministerial leadership of Synod. The writing here has been, like my own blog as of late, rather lacking in consistent regular contributions, although after a hiatus since August a recent post has appeared dated December 2, offering a brief tribute to one of their own colleagues recently deceased. Now, yet another from regions left of center has also appeared in the blogosphere. None other than the DayStar court theologian, Dr. Matthew L. Becker has launched his own site as well as a new replacement for the DayStar group, called "The DayStar Journal." His blog is entitled "Transverse Markings: One Theologian's Notes." You may link to his blog here . His latest article is ...

President Harrison's office at the International Center has recently launched a new blog entitled "Witness, Mercy, Life Together: In Christ, for the Church and the World." It will feature articles by the executive staff on a variety of subjects. You can follow it here .

For the first time I can now speak with some authority on the benefit of a longer pastorate. Previous to this my lengthiest stint was a mere five years. I'm not sure of the current statistics regarding pastoral residencies, but I suspect that there are still a sizeable number of men who take calls after only a few years. Perhaps they do this looking for that 'perfect parish' where in-fighting is unknown, where the pews are always packed, and the customs represent pristine Lutheran practice. In my earlier years I suspect I entertained such dreams. It's not that I have now become cynical and dour. No, age and time have simply taught me a more realistic picture of the church. As a shepherd I have come to recognize that we minister in the context of a fallen world, and that being "in Christ" represents for the shepherd a commitment to suffer with and for your flock. I also realize that meaningful ministry often comes with hard-fought relationships, as ...

Recruiting volunteers remains as one of the predominant ongoing challenges in most churches. Some years back I heard that one trend involved shifting from the traditional elected boards to "task forces." The rationale was that the younger generations showed a greater willingness to volunteer for short-term projects over long-term commitments. This may indeed be the trend of our time. However, is volunteerism in the church overall suffering a decline regardless of its time commitment? As a parish pastor I watch nomination committees and organizational committees for dinners struggle valiantly more and more each year to secure sufficient numbers to fill the election slate and duty roster. We all realize the change in the times from a half century prior, acknowledging that the church was long ago displaced from its central place in many people's daily lives. Myriads of commitments now compete for attention from sports and clubs to other volunteer appointments. Ou...

The ELCA's magazine The Lutheran formally acknowledged the formation of the North America Lutheran Church (NALC) in its most recent October issue. The article announcing it was brief - merely 203 words - and rather dispassionate, given the emotions which initially surrounded the ELCA's action on the legitimacy of active gay clergy. Actually the announcement was somewhat 'after the fact' and anticlimactic anyway, in that the editor spent even more ink talking about it several pages prior in his piece entitled "Just one more Lutheran body." Mr. Lehmann's point was to treat the whole affair rather 'mater of factly' by declaring the new church body as simply another Lutheran denomination, nothing more, nothing less. However, his editorial does not quite rest at that point. Unlike the news piece on page 8, the editorial on page 4 intends to make a point, and that point invokes the ancient Christian indictment of schism. "What we have here ...

On the last day of September I emailed my final paper for this summer's term at Nashotah House . The total number of pages of writing between the two classes came to around 80 pages. 56 of those were finished and then edited by my dear wife in that last week of September. I knew that pursuing this degree would present a needed and welcomed academic challenge, yet the sheer volume of writing still surprised me. Nevertheless, with the one transfer course from Ft. Wayne, and assuming I scored sufficient grades on these two classes, I am now officially half-way through the course work for my STM. The final two papers, by the way, were: "Romans 7: Personal Struggle, Defense of the Law, or Israel's Struggle," which was an exegetical paper for a course on the New Perspective of Paul (where I defended Luther's interpretation of Romans 7 against the New Perspective interpretation), and "Anglican and Lutheran Worship: Contributions, Contrasts, and Comparisons....

According to a PRRI/RNS poll released Thursday, fewer than one in five Americans (17%) believe Glenn Beck is the right person to head a religious movement. Interesting is the fact that Beck was correctly identified as a Mormon by the same amount, the same number who also think he is either Protestant or Catholic. You can read the full story on the Religious News Service site . The article goes into great detail by breaking down the percentages of those inside and outside of the Mormon faith who approve and disapprove of him as a religious leader. I am encouraged that so few Americans see Glenn Beck as an appropriate figure for such leadership, and not necessarily because he is Mormon, although that cannot be ignored. My main point concerns the fact that we are even asking such a question in the first place. Yes, I know about the "Restoring Honor" rally in Washington recently and how he supposedly concentrated more on religious themes than on politics. I realize that i...

Jesus First remained quite active politically before the convention. They pushed very hard for the reelection of then President Kieschnick and other like-minded incumbents. After the convention the site went dormant for a time. In a way this was appropriate. The time for political rhetoric had passed. I commend them for not immediately reacting to what certainly was a disappointing election. Some believe that Kieschnick himself did not see his own defeat coming. However, he handled the shock with grace, even if his face betrayed the mixed feelings within his mind and heart. Now, however, they are speaking up once again . To their credit they appear to be giving the new president a chance and resisting the temptation to criticize his views that are not in line with their own. This will be a difficult time for them since President Harrison represents a conservative approach not in sympathy with many of their desires, as well as similar ones in the DayStar group. So instead of ...

As a new church body forms out of the continued wreckage of the ELCA, one hears concerns about the unity of the church raised. A similar note can be heard among Anglicans as their communion continues its ongoing fracture. Many from the more liberal side of the spectrum will undoubtedly appeal to Jesus' words in John 17 about His prayer that we should be one, even as He and the father are one. The desire for outward unity, a conviction shared, ironically with Rome itself, forms a core of the modern ecumenical identity for the church. So, is any disruption of this outward unity of breach with the will of God for His church? Any student of church history will acknowledge that maintaining outward unity at all costs ultimately sacrifices something else critical to the church. Usually this involves fidelity to the truth. Agreeing to disagree only erodes the church's commitment to a clear confession which is exchanged in turn for social statements that embrace increasingly libe...

Recently I received an email inviting me to an event called PRAYER2010. The note states that this event is "designed to invite the gifted intercessors from around the Lu­theran Church–Missouri Synod to come together in one place for a time of prayer and intercession for the advancement of the Kingdom of God on earth, the blessing of our LCMS and her leaders, the provision for our mis­sionaries to the nations, and to ask the Father’s blessing on LCMS congrega­tions, pastors and people as we pray 'Come Holy Spirit' to call, gather, enlighten and sanctify us in your truth. (Daniel 9-10)." It was sent by the Rev. Dr. Victor Belton , a member of the LCMS Board of Directors. According to the website of the LCMS he is a 1986 graduate of our St. Louis seminary, although the directory fails to list any doctorate, honorary or earned. A website devoted to Dr. Belton supplies a short biography, with scant reference to his education and again any reference to his doctoral...

If you read John Piper's book The Future of Justification you will discover that one of the central points of contention with N.T.Wright's doctrine of Justification involves the imputation of Christ's righteousness, especially that of his "active obedience." Classically we have usually emphasized both Christ's passive and active obedience, His sinless life of keeping the whole law perfect and his obedience unto death, even death on a cross. In criticizing this teaching Wright seems often to characterize it in such a way that it resembles the Catholic doctrine more than the one of the Reformation - infused vs. imputed. However, the reason why he resists this teaching so much involves his deconstruction of Paul that I referenced in the previous post. While he acknowledges the law-court metaphor in justification he insists that the judge in no way shares or transfers his own righteousness, but merely creates a new "status" for the justified. At ti...

I have almost finished N.T.Wright's book Justification - God's Promise and Paul's Vision and the review essay required on it for my class. Taking a pause before lunch I thought I would jot a few notes while they are fresh in my mind. Understanding Wright requires effort. One pr oblem with Wright, to use his own analogy, is that he rearranges and discards the traditional puzzle pieces so much he leaves you more than a bit confused, and concerned, if not outright frustrated. While surfing around I stumbled across a short post entitled "N.T. Wright's Doctrine of Justification - In Layman's Terms!" For the most part his brief summary hits the main points of what I read in his book. A blog post cannot possiblly do justice to a thorough review of his work, and if time allows I may post my own paper later. Suffice it to say that Wright, while endeavoring to appear quite biblical and evangelical, has managed to completely upset any traditional understan...

A week has now passed since I returned from my studies and I thought I would muse a bit on my time away. These are relatively random thoughts, placed in no particular order, related to no single theme. 1.) As I was researching my options for graduate study over the last year or so, I looked into a variety of possible arrangements and degrees, including online distance learning. With more than a few hours back in the classroom I see even more the value of residential programs, even if only for an intensive two week period. Interaction with fellow students and the professor in a live face-to-face encounter provides invaluable learning experiences I am not convinced online programs could adequately reproduce. Now I am not arguing against online distance programs. They have their place. I simply am observing a unique benefit and possible advantage of residential programs over and against these offerings. The 60 hours I spent in class exposed me to a variety of opinions, insights, bac...

The troubles and stresses in the Episcopal Church (TEC) are no mystery. This past week while studying at an Episcopal seminary I picked up on the frustration of many within this denomination, but also from a priest within the Church of England who served as my professor. Then I read in my most recent issue of Christianity Today that this frustration has risen all the way to the upper leadership of the Anglican church. Apparently the tipping point came with the ordination of a lesbian assistant bishop in Los Angeles. In light of this Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has recently requested that TEC withdraw from ecumenical dialogue and rescind its voting rights on an Anglican doctrinal committee claiming that the ordination breaks guidelines aimed at calming tensions in the worldwide church. Predictably, however, Episcopal Presidi ng Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori defended the ordination showing concern over what she called "colonial attitudes." Well, Schori ma...