President Harrison Accepts Call as Assistant Pastor


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 doubly important given the recent changes in synodical structure that bring more of a CEO emphasis to his position. President Harrison came to his office as a pastor-at-heart. Commenting on his previous position in that regard he writes that "In the core of my being, I am a pastor. I view life pastorally. I view the mission of the church pastorally (Jer. 3:15). My work at LCMS World Relief and Human Care moved the church’s work of mercy to a pastoral model, closely connecting care with local altars, fonts, and pulpits worldwide."

Interestingly, Harrison is doing something which he admits has not been done in "decades." It is a new thing to go back to an old thing. This is in concert as well with his book At Home in the House of My Fathers, where he helps translate and collect many documents from the early fathers of our Synod. Sometimes the most progressive thing we can do is return to the past and rediscover long lost roots. I think that returning to the pastoral roots of our church body can only bring blessings to the Office of the President and our synod as a whole.

May the Lord bless you in this new call, President Harrison!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Historical Roots of the Warham Guild Hood

Image
In doing just a little checking on the internet, it's interesting to see how the Warham Guild hood, which I have as part of my STM degree attire, is actually a throwback to the Medieval hood. One article notes "the work of the Warham Guild in its imaginative renderings of medieval hoods" (reference is from here ). Again, here is my hood: The Medieval hood, which was originally a very practical outer garment to cover a person's head and shoulders, protecting both from the elements, bears striking resemblance to this revived form: This hood was also a part of the garb of monks in that era. The Medieval hood, in some cases, also had what is known as a "liripipe," a long tail hanging from the back of a hood. You can see the modern stylized version of this on my own hood. From an article on "Academic hood development" we read that "By 1463 the favourite dress of doctors was the hood with round bell-shaped cape, and the lir
Read more

The Firefighter's Cross

Image
[Note: A similar article to this will be shared with my department at their next meeting. During this Lenten season when we are meditating on the significance and meaning of the Passion of our Lord and the Cross at Golgotha, it seemed like one way to offer a witness to the department that captured their interest and yet was not too heavy.] [Editorial Note: In response to a recent comment on this article I have made some changes to the original version of this article especially in regard to references to the so-called St. Florian's Cross. For any confusion the previous unreferenced information may have caused I apologize. I hope that the changes are satisfactory.] THE STORY OF THE MALTESE CROSS In many ways the familiar symbol to the right requires no explanation. It is the universal insignia of firefighting nationwide. Yet the precise origins of this symbol are less clear. The most popular explanation proposes its beginning in the far distant past of medieval Crusaders fi
Read more

KFUO-FM Sale: Editorial from Board of Directors

October 9, 2009 Letters to the Editor St. Louis Post-Dispatch 900 N. Tucker Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63101 RE: “Missouri Synod agrees to sell KFUO” - Oct. 7, 2009 Dear Editor, The ongoing news coverage of the sale of KFUO-FM has been disappointing in its lack of completeness. There is significantly more to the story than has been reported. The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod’s (LCMS) Board of Directors is elected by convention delegates and is responsible—on behalf of the 2.4 million members of the church—for conscientiously evaluating the assets of the church to determine how best to use those assets to further the proclamation, mission, and ministry associated with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Synod’s board has been open about its intentions regarding the disposition of its FM station. Since as early as February 2008, this item has been on the board meeting agenda. Board minutes are made public by posting on the LCMS Web site and summaries are reported in the board’s insert “Board
Read more