“PLEASE, LORD, SPARE THE CONGREGATIONS”

That was my prayer as I read a recent announcement from United Lutheran Seminary, the ELCA school of theology that was formed by the merger of two separate educational institutions in Gettysburg and Philadelphia. That announcement, which is dated July 12, 2018 and which can be found under “News and Events” on the seminary’s website, is about the appointment of Dr. Crystal L. Hall to the faculty as assistant professor of biblical studies. It reads, “Dr. Hall’s research and teaching address the call to justice with the human Other alongside the call to justice with Earth as Other.”

When I read that, my first thought was, “What in the world does that mean?” I decided to try to determine its meaning by breaking it down into three phrases – “the call to justice” (which obviously must be very important because it is in there twice), “with the human Other,” and “alongside . . . with Earth as Other.”

I certainly agree that the Biblical authors are concerned for justice. The Old Testament prophet Amos wrote, “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream.” (5: 24) Another prophet, Micah, added, “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (6: 8) God is not satisfied with my merely being in favor of justice. I need to do justice. So Dr. Hall’s first emphasis – “the call to justice” – I completely agree with.

But what about that second phrase – “with the human Other”? I could not find references to “the human Other” in the writings of other Bible scholars, so I was left to my own devices to try to interpret it and understand it. Since the “O” is capitalized, I assume the human Other is Jesus. But how can we view calling Jesus the human Other as anything other than a lessening of Jesus? Jesus is not just the human Other. He is fully God as well as fully human. As the Gospel writer John tells us, He is the Word that has existed from all eternity who at a certain place and time became flesh and lived among us. As the apostle Paul wrote, “He is the image of the invisible God.” “In Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.” (Colossians 1: 15 and 2: 9) Jesus is not just the human Other. He also is fully God.

And then that phrase, “alongside . . . with Earth as Other.” With the word “Earth” being capitalized and with Earth being referred to as “Other” in the same way as Jesus is “Other,” how can we view this as anything other than deifying a part of creation? How can we see it as anything other than placing a part of creation on par with the Creator? The apostle Paul had some very harsh words to say about people who do that. He said that they have “exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator.” (Romans 1: 25) What can we call placing a part of creation on par with the Creator as anything other than idolatry?

So as best as I can understand the language of the announcement, the newly appointed professor’s research and teaching emphasize justice (I completely agree with that one), de-emphasize Jesus (I have a major problem with that one), and promote idolatry (I also have a major problem with that one).

If emphasizing justice, de-emphasizing Jesus, and promoting idolatry are not what Dr. Hall’s research and teaching are all about, then I wish the announcement would have been made clearer and would have been worded in a way that even I can understand.

Speaking of being clear, the only part of that sentence that is clear for me are the four words “the call to justice.” And those four words must be the most important words because they are included twice. But is “the call to justice” really what should be the major emphasis of someone who teaches the Bible to future pastors?

Justice, Mercy and Grace

I like the following definitions of justice, mercy, and grace. Justice is I get what I deserve – no more, no less. Mercy is I do not get what I deserve. Grace is I get what I do not deserve. Justice talks about what God requires of me. Justice speaks of what I need to do. Mercy and grace speak of what God gives because of what God has done. Is the Christian faith primarily about what I need to do, or is it primarily about what God has done and about what God has to give?

Future pastors who are being taught to emphasize justice and de-emphasize Jesus and who are being taught that the Christian faith is more about what I need to do than it is about what God has done and therefore what God has to give are not being prepared to be shepherds for God’s flock.

If that is what our future pastors are being taught, my prayer is, “Please, Lord, spare the congregations.”

ELCA’s Next Generation Pastors

I had been concerned enough with the news from a few months ago that the LGBTQIA+ community at United Lutheran Seminary had forced the firing of the school’s president. When it became known that the president – about twenty years ago – not only had held a traditional view on human sexuality but had served as director of an organization that held a traditional view, the LGBTQIA+ community became so wounded, traumatized, hurt, and upset that the seminary leadership had to cater to them and fire the president. At the time I was thinking, if these poor students become so upset just because someone who agrees with them now believed differently twenty years ago, what are they going to do – how are they going to be able to handle it – when they receive their first call and attend their first council meeting – or even worse their first congregational meeting – and find that someone does not agree with them? The ELCA is raising up a generation of pastors who emphasize justice, de-emphasize Jesus, and who do not have the resilience and stamina to survive in the parish.

Excluded and Marginalized

That same announcement from the seminary also says about Dr. Hall, “She works to privilege voices that have historically been excluded from the classroom and the church.” But what actually are the voices that are being excluded from the classroom and the church? The voices that are being excluded are the voices of the historic, orthodox, traditional Christian faith. The voices that are being excluded are the voices that believe that the Bible is true, Jesus is God, the tomb of Jesus really was empty on Easter Sunday morning, and that the prime mission of the church is to proclaim Jesus as Savior and Lord.

That announcement also says, “Dr. Hall works to read the Bible prophetically with communities struggling against the structures that keep them marginalized.” But who are the communities that are struggling against structures that are keeping them marginalized? It is certainly not the LGBTQIA+ community. That community is not marginalized. It has taken over. That community was not only able to force the firing of the president of the seminary where Dr. Hall has been appointed. The agenda of that community was also fully promoted by keynote speakers at the recent ELCA youth gathering. The communities that are struggling against structures that keep them marginalized are the people still within the ELCA who hold to a high view of the authority of the Bible and a traditional view on such things as human sexuality. They are the ones whose communications bishops ignore. They are the ones whose view of human sexuality has been called – at an official gathering of thirty thousand ELCA young people – a lie from Satan that needs to be renounced.

We Are Very Grateful

Speaking of voices that have been excluded and communities that are being marginalized, we are very grateful for all of you. We are very grateful for –

• All who are sharing our letters and newsletters with others. Please continue to do so.
• Pastors who have shared our communications with their church councils and congregations.
• People who are asking to be added to our email or post office (paper) mailing list.
• People who filled out the survey and told us how they feel about the recent ELCA youth gathering.
• All those who have spoken to their pastors and/or written to their bishops with their deep concerns over the recent ELCA youth gathering.
• All who send us an encouraging word, telling of their agreement with our concerns and their support of our work.

Links

If you have not yet read them, here is a link to the letter we have written to Elizabeth Eaton, Presiding Bishop of the ELCA, about the recent youth gathering.

Here is a link to the letter we have sent to all sixty-five synodical bishops of the ELCA.

In the letters to Bishop Eaton and the ELCA synodical bishops we have called upon them to do three things –

• Exercise the authority of their office and hold the organizers of the youth gathering accountable
• Restore sanity to the ELCA’s teaching on human sexuality, beginning with rejecting the “We Are Naked and Unashamed” movement
• Publicly affirm that the traditional view of human sexuality is still an acceptable position within the ELCA rather than what one of the speakers at the youth gathering called it – a lie from Satan that needs to be renounced

Here are links to two sample letters that you might find helpful as you compose your own letter to your bishop. (here and here) It is not too late to write. ELCA leaders need to hear that there is a vast number of people who are horrified over what took place at the recent youth gathering.

Finally, here is a link to the names and mailing addresses of the sixty-five ELCA synodical bishops.

“That’s Just the Way Things Are Now”

One person told of speaking with an assistant to the bishop of one of the ELCA’s synods. That synod staff person rejected this person’s concerns by saying regarding the recent youth gathering, “That’s just the way things are now.”

What kind of a response is that? To be told that even though current ELCA behavior is in direct violation of ELCA agreements and commitments that are less than nine years old, “That’s just the way things are now.”

What if the federal government acted like that? What if ICE and the border patrol, after being told to reunite families, were to keep them separate and say, “That’s just the way things are now”? What if promises made to native Americans were broken with the justification that, “That’s just the way things are now”?

If either were to happen, can you even imagine how many ELCA bishops would write letters and how many ELCA synods would pass resolutions? And yet how does the ELCA seem to be justifying its totally ignoring and even violating the terms of the decisions made at the 2009 Churchwide Assembly? By saying essentially, “That’s just the way things are now.”

Please pray with us that the ELCA bishops actually read our letters to them. And then please pray that they will allow the Holy Spirit to convict them and that then they will make appropriate and needed changes.

Dennis D. Nelson

President of the Board and Director of Lutheran CORE

dennisdnelsonaz@yahoo.com

909-274-8591

Lutheran CORE has sent a letter to ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton asking her to take action in light of some of the keynote speakers at the recent youth gathering. Click here to read it.

ELCA LEADERS DO NOT HONOR COMMITMENTS, RESPECT BOUNDARIES, OR RECOGNIZE THEIR OWN INCONSISTENCIES

LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR – JUNE 2018

Recent events in the ELCA blatantly reveal that ELCA leaders have no intent to honor the commitments that were made and the boundaries that were set as part of the decisions on human sexuality at the 2009 Churchwide Assembly.

The social statement, “Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust,” which was approved by that assembly, clearly states that there is not agreement within the ELCA and that there would be a place for a wide variety of views, including the traditional view, within the church. But many who hold to the traditional view feel that all of the actions and positions taken by the ELCA since then have favored those who agree with same sex marriage and even those who are advocating for all sorts of other sexual identities and expressions. Recent events at United Lutheran Seminary, formed by the merger of Philadelphia and Gettysburg Seminaries, show just how much disfavor there is even against someone who held a traditional view twenty years ago.

Members of the LGBTQIA+ community at United Lutheran Seminary have been complaining loudly about how hurt, wounded, traumatized, and unsafe they feel because of the choice that was made for the first president of that institution. Great effort has been expended by ELCA leaders to help them feel safe. A letter written by one ELCA bishop came across to me as groveling in front of that part of the student body. In our view recent events at the seminary should lead anyone who has ever held a traditional view on human sexuality to feel unsafe. I have read various reports on the reasons for the recent firing of the president, Dr. Theresa Latini. For me any of those reasons is problematic.

If Dr. Latini was fired because twenty years ago she held a traditional view, even though she fully embraces the LGBTQIA+ agenda today, that is problematic, because it shows that anyone who has ever held a traditional view is unacceptable and their employment is not safe.

Some of the reports say that she was fired because twenty years ago she was director of an organization that advocates for and practices reparative or conversion therapy. I have spoken with the president of the board of OnebyOne, the organization that she was director of back in the 1990’s. He emphatically stated that that organization has never been an advocate for and has never practiced reparative therapy. Instead they are an educational arm of the church, which speaks to groups about hope and healing in Jesus. So if once being director of an organization that advocates for and practices reparative therapy is the reason she was fired, that reason also is problematic, because it is based upon an untruth.

Some say that Dr. Latini was fired because she did not disclose to the interviewing committee her previous involvement with OnebyOne. If that is the reason, that also is problematic, because, as I understand it, she did disclose her previous involvement to the chairperson of the board, who felt that she did not need to further disclose her previous involvement.

So, if any of those three was the reason for her being fired, they are all problematic, and they definitely show that the person who should feel unsafe in the ELCA is not a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, but instead anyone who now holds or has ever held a traditional view on human sexuality.

The above is just one more example of how the ELCA is not honoring its commitments to provide a place of inclusion, value, safety, respect, and honor for the traditional view on human sexuality. Why would I say that the leaders of the ELCA are not respecting the boundaries that were set by the 2009 Churchwide Assembly?

One needs look no further than the list of keynote speakers for the ELCA’s National Youth Gathering, which will be held at the end of this month in Houston. One of the keynote speakers is a member of the “We Are Naked and Unashamed” movement, which arose out of the student body of the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago and rejects marriage by any definition (whether same gender or opposite gender) as normative for sexuality activity. Another keynote speaker is a leader in the DeColonize Lutheranism movement, which feels that Lutheranism needs to be delivered from white, male, and northern European dominance and oppression. A third keynote speaker is a mother and her twelve-year-old son, who wants to be a girl, who will be advocating for transgender issues.

The 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly addressed a specific and narrowly defined subset of same-sex relationships, namely those that are publicly accountable, lifelong, and monogamous (PALMS). It never addressed bisexuality or the issue of transgender persons or any of the other forms of sexual identity and expression that are a part of the LGBTQIA+ movement. And yet what do we see the ELCA doing less than nine years later? Totally catering to the LGBTQIA+ community within seminary student bodies, doing nothing to renounce the “We Are Naked and Unashamed” movement, and inviting a transgender activist to speak to 30, 000 young people at the National Youth Gathering.

Pastor Mark Erson, Chair of the Commission for LGBTQIA+ People in the ELCA’s Metro New York Synod, recently sent out an email in which he stated, “Our commission, that was formed in 2000 to implement our RIC (Reconciled in Christ) practice, was called the Commission for Gay and Lesbian People, but now there are a lot more letters that are used to identify members of this community.” They know full well that what they are pushing for is going way beyond what was approved in 2009.

Where is the honesty – where is the integrity – when ELCA leaders are endorsing, promoting, and allowing something far beyond what was agreed to and approved at the 2009 Churchwide Assembly? How can the ELCA claim to be an advocate for justice when it acts so unjustly? How could anyone who holds to a traditional view on human sexuality feel included, valued, honored, respected, and safe?

The ELCA suffers from nothing less than a massive breach of trust because of the way in which the actions of the ELCA since 2009 have been so different from what was actually approved in 2009.

If those are examples of how ELCA leaders are neither honoring commitments nor respecting boundaries, what do I mean when I say that they are not recognizing their own inconsistencies?

One ELCA synod had as part of its recent assembly a service of worship that featured Native leaders and Native music. The invitation from the synod said, “Join us as we reflect on the respect we owe the original inhabitants of the lands that make up our synod, repent of the harm done to Native populations . . . and commit ourselves to new levels of respect and regard.”

I cannot imagine their reflecting on the respect they owe to the original, orthodox leaders of the Lutheran Church. I cannot imagine their repenting of the harm they have done when they have bullied, isolated, and marginalized those with a traditional view of the authority of the Bible, Lutheran theology, human sexuality, and the mission of the church. I cannot imagine their repenting of the harm they have done to so many congregations because of the relentless LGBTQIA+ agenda. I cannot imagine their committing themselves to new levels of respect and regard for the traditional, orthodox people who planted the churches, built and paid for the buildings, and started the social service agencies within the territory of that synod. It amazes me how a synod can balance its budget by selling buildings of closed congregations – buildings that were built and paid for by people whose theology, moral values, and mission priorities they reject.

What kind of a future does a church body have that is doing things like that?

Dennis D. Nelson
President of the Board and Director of Lutheran CORE

LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR – APRIL 2018

REPORT FROM THE PASTORAL SUMMIT – PHASE TWO

My head and heart were full as I returned home from Chicago after the second phase of the pastoral summit on April 11, followed by an all-day, in-person meeting of the board of Lutheran CORE.  At the summit we heard from six outstanding presenters, who are serving God in very different settings, each one of them being very effective in their own setting.  The day certainly showed us that while certain principles remain the same, and the Gospel is good news for all people, the methods used need to be different, and the style, emphases, and giftedness of the leaders need to be different, for the church to be able to reach all sorts of different kinds of people.

The purpose of the summit was to hear from several different people who are doing something unique and effective to raise up leaders, including pastors, for the future.  We began by hearing from Scott Grorud, pastor of an LCMC congregation in southwestern Minnesota.  It was exciting to hear about what he is doing to raise up young people to do ministry and to provide leadership for ministry.  He told of a very thorough program of faith formation, which begins with the very young.  Fourth graders attend a weekly Bible study in addition to Sunday School, which is overseen by adults but is student led.  Incoming eighth graders are invited to a leadership retreat, to prepare them to be role models for incoming seventh graders.  A youth band helps lead worship, so that confirmation students see youth who are just a little bit older than they are in leadership roles.  High school juniors and seniors gather very early in the morning one day a week to read and discuss theology.  An outreach to college students helps them stay in contact with their home congregation and supports them in their faith in an increasingly hostile environment.  Through a summer internship program college students are involved in children’s and youth ministries, read and discuss theology, receive leadership training, and are mentored.  

We then heard by Skype from Jari Rankinen, director of the Theological Institute of Finland.  This organization was started in 1987 by several orthodox mission societies to provide support and Biblical, confessional Lutheran training for orthodox seminarians, to supplement the education they are receiving from the state church seminary, which is a part of the state university system.

Every Monday morning about one hundred fifty students receive an email describing classes in Biblical studies and theology that will be offered during the upcoming week.  Attendance at those classes ranges in number from five to twenty-five, and the classes are held in rooms in the center of Helsinki, so they are near the university and thus easy for the students to get to.  Last year twenty-five different people taught the classes.  Most of them have doctoral degrees in theology, and many of them are professors at the state church seminary.  Students receive their degree from the university rather than the institute.  There are about two thousand people who support the institute with their prayers and financially.  We were very grateful for current day technology as we were able to hear from and engage in conversation with someone in a time zone eight hours ahead of us.    

Both Scott and Jari are very effective in their own particular setting, and yet how different their settings are.  Scott described his church in southwestern Minnesota as being in the heart of deep, dark Lutheranism, so it is only to be expected that certain methods will work there that will not work elsewhere.  Jari lives in a country that is traditionally Lutheran and where a strong majority of the people are members of the Lutheran church, but only about one percent of the population there attend church on any one given Sunday.  A very different approach is needed – one that supports orthodoxy in a setting that is very indifferent if not hostile towards orthodoxy.

Another very different approach in a very different kind of setting was described by our third presenter, Brian Hughes, pastor of an ELCA congregation in Maryland.  Brian describes his county as 90% unchurched, which is very different from deep, dark Lutheranism.  He said, “The church culture has been bled out.” 

Brian began by asking what it must have been like for the early fifth century Christians in Britain when they saw the Roman church leaders sailing down the Thames River, leaving Britain to return to Rome.  What were the Christians in Britain going to do now?  Christian communities were isolated and surrounded by nonbelievers, so they had to form small groups of people who would learn and practice the faith without the “structural church” headquartered in Rome.  He then compared their situation with the position of Christians today.  Christians today are surrounded by nonbelievers, and church structures and methods that have worked in the past do not work any longer – at least not in most settings.  They have sailed down the Thames.  What are we going to do now?  After describing what happened in the development of Celtic Christianity – a lay led, monastic movement that kept the faith alive – Brian then told of how he is working to develop a similar network of equipped and empowered lay ministers.  He quoted from the words of Jesus, who said, “The one who believes in Me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14: 12).  Brian told some amazing stories of lay people in his congregation doing amazing ministry, and then asked whether pastors today are willing to let go of ministry roles and to release, equip, and empower lay people to do ministry – even “greater things” kinds of ministry. 

After lunch we heard from three more presenters.  First, we heard from Gary Pecuch, director of youth ministries at an NALC congregation in Ohio.  Gary and his wife are a blessing to the larger church as they lead their faith webinar seminars for the NALC as well as for the Southern Ohio Synod of the ELCA.  One of the things that Gary emphasized most strongly is that faith formation must begin at a very early age.  A congregation needs to “major in little people ministry.”  He told of how a person’s interests and identity are solidified by the age of twelve, so we need to immerse young people in the life of the church well before that age.  He spoke of the concept of “early and often.”  Confirmation ministry needs to be the sharpest, best ministry in the church.  If a church does confirmation well, chances are that young people will stick with the church or return to it later.  Gary mentioned that many churches want to start with ministry to high schoolers, because theirs are the parents who are panicking.  But the strength of a congregation’s high school ministry will never rise higher than the strength of that congregation’s early elementary ministry.  Gary also spoke of the need for the digital church.  He said that churches who do not embrace technology are either dead or dying.  Finally, he talked about the importance of children and youth having quality relationships with every age group within the church.  He identifies the relational voids that young people have in their lives, and then works to connect young people with the people in the congregation who will help fill that relational void. 

Our fifth presenter was Julie Smith, pastor of an LCMC congregation in Minnesota, member of the LCMC board of trustees, and dean of students at St. Paul Seminary.  Julie talked about the original vision that led to the founding of the seminary – that of training preachers of the Gospel, producing pastors who are deeply grounded in Lutheran theology to serve God in the church and in the world.  Their program is one of contextually based education – learning in place.  The concepts students learn they immediately live out in some fashion in their own ministry setting.  She spoke of one criticism of residential education – it removes people from the real church and replaces it with an idealized church that does not exist.  Pastors can end up hating the real church because it is not their ideal.  The faculty and staff are also all embedded in congregations, which keeps their teaching real.  Mentoring is central to this kind of education.  Not only are the students learning and doing simultaneously, they are also constantly being fed by mentoring pastors.  And the mentors themselves are constantly encouraged to learn, refresh, and deepen what they know, which experience reinvigorates their own ministry.  Congregations invest in theological education in more ways than just sending a check.  They see the development of the person right in their midst, from student to pastor.  This approach also creates transparency in what the professors are teaching, because it is so “immediately there” for congregations.  One significant challenge in this approach is the loss of community and collegiality.  Students need to find other ways to connect with one another.  The seminary holds an annual theological conference, which they encourage all students and faculty to attend. 

Our final presenter was Jeff Christopherson, vice president of Send Network, which is a ministry of the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Church.  We were grateful that we could have conversation with and learn from not only our fellow Lutherans of different church body affiliations here in the United States, but also from a Lutheran from another part of the world and even from a non-Lutheran.  This conversation also was by Skype.  Again we were very grateful for the wonders of modern day technology.   

Jeff began by sharing how the Southern Baptist Church planted seven hundred new mission starts last year, but then lost at least the same number of churches, so that even while planting that many, they are not able to keep up.  He said that what is needed in our post-Christian world is not addition – not just the planting of new churches – but multiplication – planting new churches that then will go out and plant more new churches.  What is needed is not inadequately fueling all church plants, but instead jet-fueling those who will be the most effective.  His organization has developed a system for assessing the skills and preparedness of potential church planters and reviewing various locations and situations in order to reserve most of the resources for the most unchurched urban areas here in the United States.  They carefully assess whether potential church planters have a vibrant relationship with Jesus, patience, tenacity, perseverance, and ability to endure pain.  They then participate in a three-year program of intense training.  Jeff shared that the goal is that four percent of the churches will be truly “multiplying” churches, and that ten percent will be more classic “reproducing/additive” churches.  Together that percentage of churches can produce a “tipping point,” where there will be sufficient energy and resources to succeed.  He concluded by sharing that a church planter needs to have a clear sense of call to this work, a high value for personal evangelism, and the ability to figure out not only how to win people for Jesus Christ, but then also how to develop these people into disciples who will win others for the Lord. 

Summaries of these presentations can be found as part of the phase two section under the pastoral formation tab on our website, www.lutherancore.org.  Audio recordings of the presentations will soon be available on our website. 

As you can imagine, our minds were swirling by the end of the day.  The next day the Lutheran CORE board met all day to process what we had heard and to begin to think through what happens next.

One thing that came to the top was this.  For a long time we have been hearing about how many of the ministries that used to be “feeder programs” that would encourage young people to go to seminary and consider becoming a pastor no longer exist, or are not encouraging young people to become the kind of orthodox, outreach-oriented pastor that orthodox, outreach-oriented churches are looking for.  We have also been hearing about how the first place where future pastors are formed is within the Christian home and within the local congregation.  And yet what we are also hearing about is pastors who are not encouraging young people to become pastors because they themselves are not happy about being pastors.  They are not encouraging young people to prepare for ministry because they themselves are burned out and/or are cynical about ministry.  And many parents are not encouraging their children to become pastors because of the bad experiences that they themselves have had in church and because they want their children to be more financially successful.

I am reminded of how the apostle Paul ends his letter to the Ephesians by saying, “Grace be with you all who have an undying love for our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 6: 24).  But then about one generation later the author of the book of Revelation writes to the church in Ephesus, “I know your works, your toil, and your patient endurance.  You have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not.  You are bearing up for the sake of my name.  You have not grown weary.”  But then he says, “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first” (Revelation 2: 2-4).  What the church at Ephesus was commended for during one generation had been lost by the next generation.   

Those who are involved with Lutheran CORE, LCMC, the NALC, and all others who have been a part of the renewal movement within the Lutheran Church have worked hard, have patiently endured, have not tolerated false teaching, are bearing up, and have not grown weary.  But is there any way in which we have abandoned our first love?  If we are going to have pastors in the future who fervently believe that the Bible is the Word of God and who are passionately committed to fulfilling the Great Commission, do we who are pastors, or retired pastors, or other workers or leaders in the church, need to rekindle our first love – our love for Christ, our love for the Church as the Body of Christ, and our love for ministry, the work of Christ in the world?

Blessings in Christ as we rekindle our first love,

Dennis D. Nelson

President of the Board and Director of Lutheran CORE

dennisdnelsonaz@yahoo.com

LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR

FEBRUARY 2018

UPDATE ON PHASE TWO OF THE PASTORAL FORMATION PROJECT

Thank you for your prayers as we prepare for the second phase of our pastoral summit. The first phase was held at Grand View University in Des Moines last June. For that phase we gathered a number of leaders from four different Lutheran church bodies – ELCA, Missouri Synod, LCMC, and NALC – to discuss what can be done to raise up a whole new generation of Lutheran pastors who believe that the Bible is the Word of God and who are passionately committed to reaching people for Jesus Christ. A list of some of the main topics that were covered, as well as written copies and audio recordings of several of the presentations, can be found under the pastoral formation tab on the home page of our website, www.lutherancore.org.

The second phase will be held at a hotel near Chicago’s O’Hare airport on April 11. For this second phase we are gathering a number of leaders who are doing something unique and/or particularly effective to raise up leaders, including future pastors, in their ministry context. Four will be present in person, while two others will be presenting by skype.

The four who will be presenting in person are –

Scott Grorud, pastor of Faith Lutheran Church in Hutchinson, Minnesota (LCMC). Scott will tell about what he is doing to raise up leaders within his ministry context, including what he is doing to raise up young people to be future leaders.

Brian Hughes, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Columbia, Maryland (ELCA). Brian will describe what it means to be a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, and multi-denominational church, and how he is raising up leaders in his ministry setting.

Gary Pecuch, director of youth ministries at St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Grove City, Ohio (NALC). Along with his wife, Gary leads the Faith Webinar seminars for the NALC and offers similar seminars for the ELCA’s Southern Ohio Synod. Gary will describe what the future church will look like (and not look like) for millennials and centennials; what the role of pastor will be in the future; what seminary education might look like in the future; and the kind of training he is offering young people and people who work with young people, in light of the above.

Julie Smith, pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Springfield, Minnesota (LCMC); member of the LCMC board of trustees; and dean of students of Saint Paul Lutheran Seminary. Julie will tell about the vision that led to the founding of the seminary and also about their various programs – their more traditional programs as well as the ways in which they are making theological education more affordable, accessible, and available.

The two who will be presenting by skype are –

Jeff Christopherson, vice president of the Send Network, which is part of the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. Jeff will tell about his work of identifying, training, supporting, equipping, and sending out church planters who will focus on new believers, disciple-making, community transformation, and multiplication.

Jari Rankinen, general secretary of the Theological Institute of Finland. This institute gives support to orthodox seminarians and provides orthodox Lutheran teaching as a supplement to the education seminarians are receiving through the state university system. One of the presenters at the first phase of the pastoral summit, Gene Veith, told us about the mission societies in Scandinavia, who are keeping orthodoxy alive in an environment that is very hostile to orthodoxy. We are very grateful to Gene for putting us in touch with the leader of one of these institutions, so that we can learn more.

Also as part of our pastoral formation project, we are featuring in our bi-monthly newsletter, CORE Voice, different organizations that are training the next generation of Lutheran pastors. We are also working on putting together a workshop that could be presented at different church gatherings and convocations, involving the people who would be attending those events. A long-term goal is to be able to put together an event that would be open to all, would be inspirational in nature, and would be based upon the words of Jesus in Matthew 9 – “Pray to the Lord of the harvest to raise up laborers for His harvest.”

We are very grateful to all of our friends for their prayers for our pastoral formation project. We also want to say “Thank you” to all who have given a gift in support of these efforts to raise up pastors and other church leaders for the future.

Please continue to pray with us and for us as we continue to work with others to raise up the next generation of Lutheran pastors.

Blessings in Christ,
Dennis D. Nelson
President of the Board and Director of Lutheran CORE
dennisdnelsonaz@yahoo.com

MARY, DID YOU KNOW?

One of the most beautiful of the contemporary Christian songs asks,

“Mary, did you know that your baby boy would one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
When you kiss your little baby, you kiss the face of God?”

But how could Mary have known what was going to be happening to her when the angel Gabriel came and said to her, “Greetings, you who are highly favored!  The Lord is with you.”  What does it mean to be highly favored – or even favored – by God?  Evidently it does not mean that life is going to be easy. The angel continued, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.”

When told that she would bear a son, Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”  Good question.  Mary is not married, she is a virgin, and she is going to have a baby.  Is this something she should be happy about?  Mary and Joseph lived in a strict community that was regulated by strict religious laws and customs.  Mary could have been killed.  She could have been stoned for becoming pregnant while not married.  And imagine Joseph’s hurt.  Is she supposed to be happy about Joseph’s hurt?  Mary must have thought, God sure has an interesting way of showing His favor.

Years ago a psychologist by the name of Thomas Holmes developed a scale for measuring stress.  He assigned numerical values to events that cause stress, such as loss of a job, moving to a new community, and a new relationship.  Dr. Holmes even included Christmas on his stress list.  According to him, even a so-called “normal Christmas” is worth a hefty 14 stress points.

A writer by the name of Bridget Kuhns took Dr. Holmes’ stress scale and applied it to Mary.  Holmes calculated that any pregnancy earns 40 points.  For an unwanted pregnancy, add 20 more points.  A change in living conditions – Mary stayed three months with Elizabeth – 25 points.  Upcoming marriage to Joseph – 50 points.  A change in financial status – 38 points.

Surely there must have been some words between them when Mary learned that Joseph had not made reservations at the inn.  35 points for an argument with a spouse.  And then the birth – 39 points.  16 points for a change in sleeping habits.  15 points for a change in eating patterns.  Not to mention all the uninvited guests – the shepherds and angels and wise men from the east.

Psychologist Thomas Holmes says that people get sick when they reach 200 points on the stress scale.  Bridget Kuhns calculated that Mary’s ordeal earned her a whopping 424 stress points.  And that does not include the flight to Egypt, or more importantly, the experience of watching her beloved son die as a common criminal on a cross.  Is that what it means to be favored by God?  Evidently being favored by God does not protect you from high levels of stress.  

It is easy to say when things are going our way, “The Lord sure is blessing me.”  But have you ever wondered if it is actually when we are going through the most difficult of times – when we feel that we can barely hold on – that God is actually the closest to us?  The angel Gabriel, in saying that Mary was blessed by God, was not saying that God would make her life easy.  But he was saying that she would be used by God.  And in the long run, isn’t that what being blessed is all about?

How about you?  Can you say right now that you are blessed because you are being used by God for His special purposes?

In response to Gabriel’s telling her that she was favored by God and that she would bear a son, Mary asked a sensible question, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”  Good question.  The angel responded, “Nothing will be impossible with God.”

Is it any more difficult to believe that a virgin could give birth than it is to believe that Zechariah and Elizabeth could bear children in their old age?  Mary in her shame could have made up a lie about the visit of an angel.  But there was no way that Elizabeth, who was far beyond childbearing years, could make up a story about being pregnant.  It was a miracle.  And Jesus’ birth was a miracle.  Nothing is impossible with God.  Remember that the next time you are in a hard place.  Nothing is impossible with God.  

Be careful whom you called blessed.  Be careful what you call impossible.  And then, third, be thankful that this young woman said Yes to God.  

Mary was free to say No to God, just like we are free to say No to God.  God never forces Himself on anyone.  But when Gabriel gave Mary the news that she would bear God’s Son, she replied, “Here I am, the servant of the Lord.  Let it be with me according to your word.”  Mary became the mother of our Savior because she was willing to be obedient to God.  Obedience is out of fashion in our “I did it my way” world.  But obedience is still an important part of the Christian life.  Some blessings we will never receive until and unless we are obedient to God.  

Mary, did you know?  How could have Mary known where her encounter with the angel would lead her?  Just as how can we know where our encounter with the living Christ during this Christmas season will lead us?  

Be careful whom you call blessed.  Be careful what you call impossible.  And be thankful that a young, teenage girl said Yes to God.  For saying Yes to God is the key to living a life that is truly blessed.

Dennis D. Nelson
President of the Board and Director of Lutheran CORE
909-274-8591
dennisdnelsonaz@yahoo.com

LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR

OCTOBER 2017

Something that for me has been absolutely astounding – as we have been celebrating the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation – are some of the things that that milestone has been used to justify and support. I have seen the anniversary of the Reformation being used to advocate for environmental issues, even though the only time that I am aware of when Martin Luther promoted ecological concerns was when he said that if he knew the world would end tomorrow, he would still plant a tree. Luther’s antisemitism later in life as well as his not supporting the peasants in the peasant revolt have been made into a jumping off point to rail against racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, and all the other awful things that people are guilty of these days.

An observance that was held on Reformation Sunday in a church in the ELCA synod in which I was rostered before I retired used in its publicity an interesting version of the Luther rose. The outer perimeter was made up not of the typical colors, but instead of the hues of a rainbow, and in the center of the rose was not a cross but an angry looking fist holding a hammer. Concerned and alarmed, because I saw Christ and the cross as being replaced by human anger and political activism, I telephoned the church that was hosting the event and left a message for the pastor, asking what was intended to be communicated by that form of the Luther rose. As I expected, I have not received a reply. Because the bishop of that synod was participating in the event and the synod was helping promote the event, I also wrote to the synod, expressing my concern that that symbol was replacing Christ and the power of the cross with the power of human efforts and anger. Again, as anticipated, I have not received a reply.

And so it was so refreshing for me to attend the LCMC gathering in Minneapolis October 8-11, where the real message of the Reformation was kept at the heart of the celebration of the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation.

LCMC GATHERING: KEEPING THE REAL MESSAGE AT THE HEART OF THE CELEBRATION

Under the theme “We Confess Our Faith,” the gathering was structured around conversation about three of the fundamental teachings of the Reformation: Justification, the doctrine of the Two Kingdoms, and the Priesthood of All Believers. Presenters first described the basic principles of each of those three teachings, then a panel made up of people serving in diverse ministry settings – both in the United States as well as in other parts of the world – discussed how that major teaching impacted their ministry in their own particular place of service. The panel discussion was then followed by discussions at tables where those attending the gathering were able to apply that teaching to their own lives and ministry settings.

My soul was stirred and my thinking was stimulated by the presentation of Steve Turnbull, pastor of Community of Grace Lutheran Church in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. He spoke on the doctrine of justification. Maintaining the real message of the Bible and the Reformation while also applying that message to real life issues today, Pastor Turnbull talked about how Paul often discussed the concept of justification within the context of Jew-Gentile relationships. For example, in his letter to the Ephesians Paul describes God as pointing to the Church and saying, “See what I have done. Sin wrecks human community. I have put it back together again.” Pastor Turnbull then shared how Paul’s evangelism had created multi-ethnic communities. He needed a way to explain theologically what was happening. And so he wrote, The cross is enough to tear down the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile. Pastor Turnbull then applied that principle to life today when he asked, “Is it enough to unite people today?”

I heard a similar emphasis during the discussion of the doctrine of the Two Kingdoms. One of the panel participants said, “We have got to be about reconciling things. If we are not reconciling things, we might not be the church.”

And then we were given the opportunity to experience a powerful, real-life, modern day example of cross cultural ministry by attending a Global Worship Service at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, south of downtown Minneapolis. At a workshop prior to the worship service Pastor Roland Wells shared how the greatest migration in the history of the world is happening right now; wherever there are jobs, there will be immigrants; and God is giving the church today the opportunity to learn how to reach out cross culturally by the people He is sending into our areas. And then, after being reminded that we also once were immigrants, we were led in worship by fellow Christians who are of Messianic Jewish, Latino, Ethiopian Oromo, and Filipino heritage. At the end of the service we were told that we had received a taste of what heaven will be like. And then Pastor Wells closed the service by saying, “Go in peace with a new sense of what God is doing in our world.”

I was struck by the number of people who attended the workshop entitled “Next Generation Leaders,” taught by Dr. Kyle Fever, director of the Nexus Institute of Grand View University in Des Moines. We of Lutheran CORE have known that many Lutheran pastors and congregational leaders and members are deeply concerned over where their congregation’s next Bible believing and outreach oriented pastor will come from. That concern is the reason why we of Lutheran CORE are involved in our pastoral formation project. The extent of the concern, as well as the importance and immediacy of the concern, were brought home to me by the number of people attending that workshop, which Kyle Fever entitled, “Resurrecting Timothy.”

The idea behind the title is this. Timothy was different from Paul, and Paul was willing to allow Timothy to be Timothy. In other words, Paul let Timothy be different from Paul. Dr. Fever shared how youth today are interested in spiritual things, but many of them in ways that we do not know how to deal with. We have virtually no training for non-traditional ministries. We have very few Timothies, who are different from Paul. Dr. Fever challenged us, What kind of church leaders do we want? Ones like what we already know? Or are we willing to be like Paul and let Timothy be Timothy?

Kyle Fever said that we need to find ways to raise up not future leaders for the church as we know it now, but future leaders for a church that we do not yet know what it will be like. We need to give young adults opportunities to participate in the vitality of the congregation, and not necessarily within the four walls of the church. We need to cultivate in them a yearning to be a part of the work of the Gospel in the world, rather than try to cultivate in them a yearning to be part of preparing the communion table for Sunday morning. He got down to basics when he asked us, “How many here are intentionally mentoring a high school sophomore or junior?” He challenged pastors, “The next time you write a sermon, target it to sixteen to twenty-two year olds.” He concluded by saying, “There are no easy answers, but there are resources.”

LATINO MINISTRIES ENCUENTRO (ENCOUNTER)

After being home from Minneapolis for a few days, I left for Chicago to attend the annual Latino ministries Encuentro (Encounter) October 17-19. This event is sponsored by Lutheran CORE and was planned and put on by Pastor Keith Forni, member of the board of Lutheran CORE and pastor of First/Santa Cruz Lutheran Church in Joliet, Illinois. Pastor Forni has an unusual gift for Latino ministries. He has an unbelievable number of contacts within the Lutheran Latino ministries community, and he is natural and comfortable leading bi-lingual worship.

One of the two main presenters was Dr. Alberto Garcia, professor emeritus of theology at Concordia University Wisconsin and co-author of the book, Wittenberg Meets the World: Reimagining the Reformation at the Margins. I was struck with how much he emphasized one of the same themes that I had heard so much about at the LCMC gathering – the theme of reconciliation. It made sense to me. Because we live in such a divided nation and divided world, one of the particular gifts that the Church has to offer our nation and our world is the power of reconciliation. And one of the chief ways in which the Church can demonstrate the power of the Gospel and give credibility to its message is if we as God’s people are able to become reconciled with those from whom we have become estranged.

The other main presenter was Ken Elkin, a retired ELCA pastor from Williamsport, Pennsylvania. During his presentation, entitled “A Pilgrim People,” Pastor Elkin described his recent pilgrimage walking the entire, approximately five hundred mile long route of the Camino de Santiago in northern Spain. After describing the characteristics of a pilgrimage as well as the place of pilgrimage in the history of the church, he then told of his own experiences in walking that route. He described what he called “the spirit of the camino” – how people are very open to each other as well as very caring for each other while on the pilgrimage. Some people who are on the camino are dealing with major issues in their lives. He presented the challenge of then bringing that spirit of the camino back into the rest of your life. He shared two of the great life lessons that can be learned from the camino. One of them he had found written as graffiti along the way – “You are capable of more and you need less than you think.” The other one was the title of a book – “To walk far, carry less.” He concluded his presentation by saying, “The popularity of this pilgrimage shows that there is a genuine spiritual hunger in people, and we are not reaching them.”

One of the best discussions we had at the Encuentro was on the ways in which the Roman Catholic traditions of baptism, presentation, and first communion, and the Latin American tradition of quinceaneras give the Lutheran church real opportunity to make connections with the Latino community. One of the most serendipitous moments was when four of us participants were sitting, wearing our clergy collars, in the breakfast room at the hotel where we were staying. A woman came in shaking and sobbing. She saw us, walked up to us, and then began sharing how her fiancé had just been killed in a motorcycle accident. She had felt abandoned by God until she saw us. Dr. Alberto Garcia responded to the moment beautifully. He shared the love and comfort of God with her and prayed with her. She was certain God had brought her to us and us to her. How wonderful it was to be part of an answer to someone’s prayer.

St. Timothy’s Lutheran Church ELCA, the host congregation, is in the Hermosa neighborhood of northwest Chicago, which has changed dramatically in the last few decades from being totally Caucasian to totally Latino. In the basement there are pictures of confirmation classes from the 1960’s, made up of thirty to forty very Caucasian looking young people. We were able to experience how the congregation still has a vital opportunity for ministry, though a very different opportunity for ministry, as some of the neighbors joined us for dinner and a prayer service one evening. That evening we also held an outdoor candlelight prayer service for peace in a city that has experienced the tragedy of five hundred homicides so far this year. The neighborhood is a fairly high density neighborhood, so we know that nearby residents witnessed our service. The need for prayers for healing and peace were brought home to us by some graffiti we saw on the way to the church – “An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.”

Pastor Keith Forni, who serves St. Timothy’s congregation in Chicago, as well as First/Santa Cruz in Joliet, told of how dozens of children and their parents walk right by the church each day on their way to and from their school, which is only two blocks away. Pastor Forni uses the strategic location of the church as an opportunity to reach out to the children and their parents, and invite them to an afternoon children’s program at the church.

We were very honored and pleased that the Rev. Hector Garfias-Toledo, Assistant to the Bishop of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod ELCA, stopped by and visited the Encuentro and brought greetings from Bishop Wayne Miller. It is our goal that future Encuentros will continue to provide inspiration, resources, fellowship, and encouragement for those involved in or considering becoming involved in Latino, Spanish language, and/or bi-lingual ministries. We hope to find ways to make the Encuentro more accessible to more people so that this annual gathering will be a resource for Lutherans of all church body affiliations.

May your celebration of the five hundredth anniversary of the Reformation be a time for you of giving thanks to God for His abounding love and His amazing grace.

Blessings in Christ,

Dennis D. Nelson

President of the Board and Director of Lutheran CORE

909-274-8591

dennisdnelsonaz@yahoo.com

Seeing the movie, “Dunkirk,” which is currently playing in theaters nationwide, made me think about and appreciate even more the very excellent article which Steve Shipman wrote for the July 2017 issue of CORE Voice, “Does Faith in Jesus Matter?” In this article Pastor Shipman alerts us to the very disturbing and alarming resolution which was recently passed by the New England Synod assembly, which would seek to amend the phrase “bring all people to faith in Christ” in the ELCA constitution to be more in line with the ELCA’s understanding of Christian witness and the mission and purpose of the church. A link to Pastor Shipman’s article can be found here. A link to the New England Synod’s resolution can be found here.

This movie powerfully portrays the evacuation of several hundred thousand Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbor of Dunkirk, in northern France, between the dates of May 26 and June 4, 1940, a few months after the beginning of World War II. After the invasion of France by Nazi Germany, thousands of British, French, and Belgian troops were cut off and surrounded by the German army. As they retreated to the seaside city of Dunkirk, and as the Allied perimeter continued to shrink, their situation became increasingly hopeless.

The tagline for the movie is, “When 400, 000 men couldn’t get home, home came for them.” What a powerful picture of the human situation and therefore what God did. When sin, death, and the power of the devil had us surrounded and we were helpless to do anything about it, God sent His Son, to die on the cross for our sins and to rise from the dead to defeat Satan and death. As 1 Peter 3: 18 says, “For Christ also suffered for sins, once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring us to God.” When we could not get to our heavenly home, Jesus came to and for us.

In the Dunkirk evacuation several hundred thousand soldiers were rescued by a hastily assembled fleet of over eight hundred boats, which included thirty-nine British destroyers and civilian merchant ships, but also a flotilla of hundreds of merchant marine boats, fishing boats, pleasure craft, yachts, and lifeboats that were called into service from Britain for the emergency. These other boats came to be known as the little ships of Dunkirk.

There is a scene in the movie where the British Royal Navy is commandeering private boats to participate in the evacuation. A man by the name of Mr. Dawson cooperates without question, but rather than let a navy crew take his boat, he and his son Peter take her out themselves. Mr. Dawson and Peter are outstanding examples of people who are willing to go way beyond inconvenience to put themselves and their property at great danger and risk in order to save and rescue others.

On their way across the English channel they encounter a shell-shocked soldier on the wreck of his ship, the sole survivor of a U-boat attack. They take him aboard. When the rescued soldier discovers that Dawson is sailing for Dunkirk rather than returning to England, he tries to wrest control of the boat. His behavior reminds me of those who say, “As long as my church is here for me, I do not care about anybody else; as long as I am saved, everybody else can go to hell.”

A little bit later they encounter a minesweeper, which is under attack by a German bomber and several other fighter planes. They maneuver to take on troops from the damaged ship, which is spilling oil, narrowly getting clear before the oil is ignited. Dawson and his crew pull as many survivors aboard as can fit. As he welcomes them aboard Dawson says, “There is plenty of room; keep coming.” His words remind me of the parable of Jesus in Luke 14 of the man who gave a great dinner who said to his servants, “Go out into the roads and the lanes and compel people to come, so that my house may be filled.” God wants heaven to be full. Do we want what God wants, and are we acting like we want what God wants?

Another one of the characters in the movie, Farrier, a British Royal Air Force fighter pilot, is making his way across the English channel to provide air support to the troops waiting at Dunkirk. He and the other pilots in his squadron have been instructed on how much fuel they can spend before they need to return. Farrier’s fuel gauge malfunctions, but he continues with his mission. After burning all of his regular fuel in maneuvers along the way and switching to reserve fuel, he finally reaches Dunkirk, where evacuation efforts are being attempted under heavy enemy bombardment. He takes out a bomber, saving ships and troops. As he flies over the beach, Allied soldiers clap and cheer for him. Finally out of fuel, he glides towards a landing on the beach and barely cranks his landing gear down in time. But he lands outside the Allied perimeter, so he sets fire to his plane before he is taken prisoner by the Germans. Here is another person who is an inspiration and a huge source of encouragement to others because of his commitment, dedication, and sacrifice, and willingness to pay the price in order that others might be saved.

I saw that movie and I was saddened even more that there is a movement in the ELCA to eliminate bringing people to faith in Christ as a prime part of the mission of the church, and to do so in the name of cultural sensitivity and interfaith dialogue.

For Dawson, Farrier, and the other characters in the movie, and for all the real-live people who participated in the Dunkirk evacuation, it did matter whether Allied troops were rescued from the Nazi German army. It did matter whether several hundred thousand soldiers were rescued or whether they were slaughtered on the beaches of northern France. But there is a movement within the ELCA – and we assume that it will be a growing movement – of people who say that faith in Jesus does not matter, at least in the way that the Bible says that it matters because “there is salvation in no one else.” (Acts 4: 12) We understand that this resolution passed overwhelmingly, and that there was little or no expressed objection.

That a resolution like that would pass should be a cause for great concern, sorrow, and soul-searching for all Biblically faithful Lutherans of all Lutheran church bodies. The fact that there is a movement within one Lutheran church body that is saying, “Faith in Jesus does not matter,” should lead all of us to ask ourselves, Do I believe that faith in Jesus matters? Do I care whether people know Jesus? And if I say that I do, what am I doing about it?

UPCOMING TRAVEL

As I am writing this, I am preparing for the NALC convocation in Nashville August 9-11. By the time you receive this, the convention will have happened. Many thanks to everyone who stopped by the Lutheran CORE table. I am looking forward to telling you about the event in the September 2017 issue of CORE Voice. We of Lutheran CORE value our ministry partnership with the NALC. It is a joy to be so warmly welcomed at the convocation, to reconnect with friends, and to make new friends.

I am also looking forward to attending two events in October – the LCMC gathering October 8-11 in Minneapolis, and the Lutheran CORE-sponsored Latino ministries Ecuentro in Chicago October 17-19. We also highly value our ministry partnership with LCMC, and we count it a great privilege to help sponsor the Hispanic ministries gathering which gives encouragement and resources to those currently involved in Spanish speaking ministries, as well as to those considering transitioning their emphasis or beginning a new, additional emphasis in outreach to Latino people. Many thanks to Keith Forni, ELCA pastor and member of our board, for all his hard work putting together such a great event. For more information about the Encuentro, or to register, contact Pastor Keith at 815-600-3030 or KeithLForni@gmail.com.

Blessings in Christ,

Dennis D. Nelson

President of the Board and Director of Lutheran CORE

dennisdnelsonaz@yahoo.com

909-274-8591

LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR – JUNE 2017

Dear Friends of Lutheran CORE –

The June 2017 letter from the director will be in two parts. This first part is coming to you as we anticipate the summit on pastoral formation, which is only a week away. You will receive the second part after the summit, as we share with you ways in which God blessed our time together.

A week from today, June 21, the board of Lutheran CORE will be gathering at Grand View University in Des Moines with ten invited participants from four different Lutheran church bodies to wrestle with the question –

How can we best raise up, nurture, and support a whole new generation of Lutheran pastors who will be Biblical and confessional in their theology and evangelistic/outreach-oriented in their perspective and practice?

We are very grateful to all the friends of Lutheran CORE who are praying for the gathering. We also wish to thank all those who have given a gift in support of this event.

On the day of the summit we will be distributing information about the summit through posts on the blog on the home page of our website, www.lutherancore.org. Each blog post will then go out on Facebook and Twitter, so that you will be able to follow the progress of the discussions. Also, a member of our board will be recording the audio and posting it as a podcast on his blog. A blog post on our website will then be created, which will have a link to the audio post on his website. Please join us through electronic media and follow along with the discussions as they take place on the day of the summit.

Recent events have convinced me even more of the importance of this gathering. Every orthodox Lutheran should be alarmed over the movement that has risen out of the student body at the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago. Taking the name “We Are Naked and Unashamed,” this group rejects marriage by any definition as normative for sexual relationships. There are some who would dismiss our concerns by saying, “It is only a group of seminarians who are promoting this.” We would respond, “But the list of signers also includes many pastors and other ELCA leaders.” And even if it were only a group of seminarians, just the fact that so many seminarians are advocating for ELCA approval of sexual intimacy and cohabitation outside of marriage should cause great concern for the future of the church. And the fact that we are not aware of any statement from the administration of the seminary, the Council of Bishops, and/or Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton rejecting this movement should also cause great concern. A link to the website of the movement can be found here (LINK), while a link to Lutheran CORE’s response can be found here (LINK).

If that were not enough, a recent letter from the president-elect of United Lutheran Seminary, formed by the merger of the ELCA seminaries in Philadelphia and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, should also raise concerns.

A link to that letter can be found here (LINK to pastoral-letter-from-president-elect-latini). Dr. Latini’s May 5 letter does contain some Biblical and theological language, such as “On the cross, Jesus cried out, ‘It is finished;’ ” “Through Christ, we have been reconciled to God and one another by the power of the Spirit;” “In baptism, we participate in Christ’s death and resurrection;” and “In Christ, all things hold together.” But beyond that it sounds like a compilation of all the typical ELCA phrases, priorities, and agenda items. There is no sense that under her leadership it will be a priority of the seminary to raise up pastors who will know and love the Bible, know the Lutheran confessions, and are prepared to lead and care for local congregations. Instead the priorities are to train people who will value diversity, work towards genuine equity, and include marginalized groups. Prior to being elected as president of United Theological Seminary, Dr. Latini has been associate dean of diversity and cultural competency at another seminary. It sounds like she will be pursuing the same priorities as she writes, “Cultural competency is the intentional commitment and active engagement in unlearning racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism, and other forms of bias institutionally and individually.” She does make it sound religious – and even Lutheran – when she says, “Peacemaking, nonviolence, and cultural competency can be understood and practiced in light of the theology of the cross.” But she also reveals her priorities when she writes, “When we hear God’s YES, we stand in solidarity with those who suffer most under oppressive systems and structures.”

Now I for one am all in favor of peacemaking, nonviolence, and standing in solidarity with those who suffer under oppressive systems and structures. I totally agree that what we believe must impact what we do and how we live for our witness to have any credibility. But I know that when I personally entered seminary, I did not know the Bible and the Lutheran confessions well enough so that I did not need a seminary that would teach me the Scriptures and how the great Lutheran theological writings help me to understand the Scriptures. Also, during the forty years that I served as pastor of a congregation, I needed a whole range of skills beyond peacemaking, nonviolence, and cultural competency.

I think of the apostle Paul and his letters to churches. Even more so as Paul was reaching out to the Greco-Roman world, he was encountering people who did not have any idea at all of the story of God’s accomplishing His great work of salvation through the history of the nation of Israel and the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. So in his preaching and letter writing he first had to teach the people the basic essentials of the Christian faith. Typically in his letters he spends the first half or so talking about what is true, what we should believe, and what God has done, and then the second half talking about what is right, how we should live, and what we should do.

If we lived in a day when everybody – all members of churches, all people whom our congregations are seeking to reach, all seminary students, and even everyone anticipating attending seminary – already knew the Bible and the Lutheran confessions, it would make sense to focus seminary education on peacemaking, nonviolence, and cultural competency. But in a day when most people do not know the basics of our faith, and members of our churches and even many people preparing for seminary, have only a limited knowledge of the Bible and the Lutheran confessions, then seminary education needs a different focus.

We certainly pray for Dr. Latini as she begins her work as president of United Lutheran Seminary. And we also pray for the leadership, faculty, and student body of every one of the Lutheran seminaries. But we also pray that God will use the upcoming summit on pastoral formation to begin a new movement of raising up pastors who know, love, value, believe, and obey the Bible and who are committed to helping people come into a faith relationship with Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

Blessings in Christ,

Dennis D. Nelson

President of the Board and Director of Lutheran CORE

909-274-8591

dennisdnelsonaz@yahoo.com

LUTHERAN CORE: FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

APRIL 2017

A LIVING HOPE

Peter begins his first epistle by saying, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (1 Peter 1: 3) During this Holy Week season – as once again you travel with Jesus from the upper room to the garden to the cross and then to the empty tomb – may you receive God’s great mercy, experience a new birth, and rejoice in the living hope that we have because of Easter.

I am looking forward to being with the congregation of Zion Lutheran Church in Wausau, Wisconsin. I will be speaking at their Maundy Thursday men’s prayer breakfast, and then preaching at both of their Maundy Thursday services. On Good Friday I will be giving the message on three of the seven last words at their noon until 3 PM service. I am very grateful to Pastor Steve Gjerde, vice president of the board of Lutheran CORE, for the invitation to spend these sacred days with the congregation. Rob Kittel, treasurer of Lutheran CORE, and Jim Speckhard, volunteer office person, are both active in the leadership of the church.

Pastor Dennis D. Nelson

President of the Board and Director of Lutheran CORE

909-274-8591

dennisdnelsonaz@yahoo.com

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ARE YOU ROOTED AND GROUNDED IN LOVE?

DO YOU HAVE A FAITH THAT CAN WEATHER THE STORM?

On Sunday afternoon, January 8, the historic Pioneer Cabin tree, a thousand-year-old giant sequoia in California’s Calaveras Big Tree Park, fell to the ground and shattered on impact. A tunnel that had been carved into the trunk in the 1880’s made the tree famous and attracted visitors, but ultimately it was a major part of the cause of its demise. With the gaping hole in its trunk, it could no longer support the growth at the top, had less ability to resist fire, and, with the shallow root system that is typical of sequoias, it was unable to withstand the rain that flooded the park.

As I read about that tree, I thought, What are the dynamics in the church today which weaken people’s ability to sustain and support growth, resist the fires of tragedy which will happen, and survive the storms which will come?

In his first letter to his young friend Timothy, the apostle Paul wrote, “Certain persons have suffered shipwreck in the faith.” (1 Timothy 1: 19) Paul certainly knew what it was like to be in a shipwreck. What factors today lead people to suffer shipwreck in their faith?

Matthew 7 records Jesus’ famous parable of the wise man and the foolish man. Concerning the house built on sand (probably the sand of a desert wash which is dry almost all of the time), Jesus said, “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell – and great was its fall!” (Matthew 7: 27) Storms will come. Even the storm of the century will come once a century. What kind of theology, and what kind of teaching and preaching will and will not enable people to weather the storm?

In his letter to the church at Ephesus, Paul wrote, “I pray that . . . you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through the Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.” (Ephesians 3: 16-17) Whether you are a pastor, a church worker, or a lay member of a congregation, you have a ministry. Is your ministry – what you say and do and how you live – strengthening people in their inner being, bringing Christ to dwell in their hearts through faith, and helping them be rooted and grounded in love?

In my February letter to you, I told of hearing a sermon on Easter Sunday, where the preacher first told of the women who came to the tomb looking for Jesus. He then said, “Wherever you find people doing good, there you find Jesus.”

Easter is about God’s great victory over sin, death, and the power of the devil. How could God’s greatest act for our salvation be reduced to people’s doing good? As I become older I am less able to do as much good. Plus, when the needs are so great, how could I ever do enough good? How can a faith that is based upon not what God has done, but what I need to do, enable me to weather the storm?

Paul wrote to the Corinthians, If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is in vain, our faith is futile, we are misrepresenting God, we are still in our sins, those who have died in Christ have perished, and we are of all people most to be pitied. (1 Corinthians 15: 14-19) How could I ever think that something as life-changing as the resurrection of Jesus can be reduced to people’s doing good?

The end of last year I heard a prominent ELCA theologian – one who is often on the speaking circuit – say in a presentation about the letters of Paul, “Whenever Paul talked about justification by faith, it was always within the context of racial reconciliation.” Now I would agree that racism is wrong and racial reconciliation is important. I agree that being in right relationship with God gives me the power to become and needs to lead into my being in right relationship with other people. But how could I ever think that the way that God in His goodness, grace, and mercy provided a way for me to be reconciled to Him and to be accepted and declared by Him as righteous through faith in Jesus Christ is not something to value, give thanks for, and experience life change because of in and of itself, but instead only is a context for pursuing racial reconciliation?

With the big, gaping hole in the middle of its trunk, the giant sequoia fell. Built on the sand, the foolish man’s house could not withstand the storm. People of God, are you rooted and grounded in love? Do you have a faith that can sustain spiritual growth? Do you have a faith that can weather the storm? Pastors, are you preaching Jesus Christ, crucified, risen, and coming again, so that your people are rooted and grounded in love, have a solid basis for sustaining spiritual growth, and can weather the storm? For as we all know, storms will come.

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WHERE WILL OUR FUTURE PASTORS COME FROM?

For me two of the most powerful and convicting passages in Scripture come at the end of the book of Joshua and then also at the beginning of the book of Judges.

Joshua 24: 31 says, “Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and had known all the work that the Lord did for Israel.” Almost the same words are said in Judges 2: 7.

But then it says that Joshua died, and all the leaders who had served with Joshua died. And then Judges 2: 10 adds these sad words, “That whole generation was gathered to their ancestors, and another generation grew up after them, who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.”

There was a smooth transition of leadership from Moses to Joshua. Joshua, and all the leaders who served with him, had experienced the Lord’s delivering them from Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, the giving of the law at Mount Sinai, the daily provision of manna, the water from the rock, being guided and sheltered from the hot, burning, desert sun by the pillar of cloud, being reassured of God’s presence by the pillar of fire, and the conquest of the Promised Land. So that generation worshiped, served, and obeyed the Lord.

But it was inevitable that eventually that entire generation would die, and the generations that followed them would not have experienced firsthand God’s great acts of delivering and providing for them. And so the following generations did not serve the Lord, because they did not appreciate what the Lord had done. All of which resulted in the chaotic time of the period of the Judges, when “everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” (Judges 21: 25)

A generation who faithfully served the Lord. A generation who believed that the Bible is the authoritative Word of God and the Lutheran Confessions rightfully interpret the Bible as the Word of God. A generation who took seriously the moral and ethical standards of the Bible. A generation who believed that fulfilling the Great Commission to make disciples of all nations, rather than addressing every social and political issue that comes along, is our Lord’s prime purpose for His Church. A generation who built up the Church, who started and established congregations, who built church buildings and paid for them, who founded various educational and social service agencies – that generation is retiring, has retired, or already is in God’s presence in glory. What is going to happen now? What will be the values, priorities, basis for motivation, sense of mission, and foundational theological understandings of those who will be leading the church in the future? In many ways it feels like we have come again to the period of the Judges, when “everyone did what was right in their own eyes.”

How much better than the situation that developed after the time of Joshua is the plan that Paul set forth for providing for future leaders and teachers for the church. As Paul wrote to his young friend Timothy, “And what you heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others as well.” (2 Timothy 2: 2) From Paul and many witnesses to Timothy to faithful people to others as well, Timothy was to make sure that the Gospel was always passed on from one generation to another.

Somebody once said, in any one particular part of the world, “The Christian faith is always only one generation away from extinction.” We know that “built on the Rock the Church will stand.” “The gates of hell will not prevail.” (Matthew 16: 18) Someday there will be a great multitude that no one can count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, that will be standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. (Revelation 7: 9) The Church will endure no matter what happens to any one particular congregation, Christian organization, or church body. But don’t we want to be among those who will be faithful and who will faithfully pass on the faith to the next generation, who will faithfully pass on the faith to the next generation, and so on?

If any of those thoughts resonate with you, please be praying for the Summit on Pastoral Formation, which Lutheran CORE will be holding on Wednesday, June 21, at Grand View University in Des Moines. We will be gathering a group of leaders from several different Lutheran church bodies – ELCA, LCMC, LCMS, and NALC – to begin wrestling with the question – What can we do to raise up, support, nurture, and sustain a whole new generation of Lutheran pastors who love God, love people, and will be Biblical and orthodox in their theology and evangelistic/outreach-oriented in their perspective and practice?

And as you pray, may we suggest that you consider giving an extra gift to Lutheran CORE – over and above your current giving – in honor of the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation to help cover the expenses for this strategic gathering which is intended to help ensure that in the future there will be pastors who will preach and teach the Gospel that we are saved by grace through faith.

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WEEKLY DEVOTIONALS AND SERMON STARTERS

Please remember that weekly devotionals, written by three members of the board, can be found on the blog, which is accessible through the home page of Lutheran CORE’s website, www.lutherancore.org. Two of us are writing devotionals based upon one of the following Sunday’s readings. A third person is writing devotionals based upon one of the previous Sunday’s readings in the Missouri Synod lectionary series. A link to these devotionals is then posted on a number of different facebook and twitter accounts.

Please help us get the word out about these resources. It is our desire that they be an inspiration to all who read them and also a source of ideas, thoughts, illustrations, and images for pastors as they prepare for the following Sunday’s sermon.

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Please consider a gift to Lutheran CORE in support of the summit which will be held on June 21 in Des Moines to begin wrestling with the question, How can we raise up a new generation of Lutheran pastors who will believe that the Bible is the authoritative Word of God, and who will be committed to fulfill the Great Commission? We estimate the cost for the day to be around $11, 000, which includes travel and housing expenses for the ten church leaders from different Lutheran church bodies who will be participating plus the seven members of the board.

Your gift to Lutheran CORE – in honor of the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation – will help ensure that in the future there will be pastors who will preach the Gospel of salvation by grace through faith.

Please detach, enclose your gift, and return to us at –

Lutheran CORE, P. O. Box 1741, Wausau, Wisconsin 54402-1741

Or, if you prefer, you can give online by going to the home page of our website, www.lutherancore.org and designate your gift for the pastoral summit

Please find enclosed my gift. I want to help make sure that in the future there will be pastors who will preach the Gospel of salvation by grace through faith.

Name___________________________________

Address_________________________________

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Phone number____________________________

Email address____________________________

Prayer request

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