Living Theology
in the Metropolitan Chicago Synod
Evangelical Lutheran Church In America
Volume 6, Number 1
Easter 2001
Where Do We God From Here?
Where Do We Go from Here?
As we listen to you talk about life in the church we
hear many things: a new venture in your congregation, a synod assembly or other
synod event you’ve attended, a book you’ve read, a comment on an article in Let’s Talk. (The latter really
gets our attention!) Rarely are you
neutral about these ventures, events, books, articles. You have opinions, often
strongly expressed, and often theologically grounded as becomes members of the
Body.
We’ve brought together some of this “theological buzz” in this issue.
Usually the theme of an issue signifies a particular topic for discussion. This
time our “theme” is a question implicit in your discussion of your experiences:
Where Do We Go from Here? We’ve asked this question before and it seems right
to ask it often amidst the ferment.
Readers of Let’s
Talk (and of many other publications) have appreciated Frank Senn’s pungent wit and wisdom. We are pleased to announce
that Frank Senn will write our first-ever regular column: As I See It, in which he will share his view of happenings in
the church. He takes seriously the name of this journal and expects your
responses! (See our new address in the
editorial box.) In his first column
Senn asks, “What’s the Business of a Synod Assembly?” He asserts that in recent
years the synod “has seen itself more as an agency that services congregations
than as the arm of the congregations that does on our behalf what we cannot do
individually.” “Little by little,” he says, “pastors and congregations have been
distanced from strategic reflection on the mission of the synod.” Senn goes on
to suggest how synod and congregation can interact in their respective
expressions as church.
Paul Buettner also reflects on the
relationship between congregations and the larger expressions of church with
particular reference to how the institutional church views the distinction
between faithfulness and success. He has grown fearful that we are “evolving a
veritable cult of success in the church.”
The prominent use of success-oriented language at church-sponsored
“leadership” and “spiritual” events bespeaks for Buettner “an uncritical adoption and use of many of
the concepts and terms of the secular corporation, as if those concepts and
terms were theologically neutral.” He asserts
that these concepts and terms are not neutral and that the attitude they
express is a source of estrangement for congregations “near the margin of existence.”
Brian
Halverson
reviews The Unnecessary Pastor:
Rediscovering the Call by Marva J. Dawn and Eugene H. Peterson. Dawn and
Peterson’s thesis is bold. We live in a culture, they say, that attempts to
defeat the Good News by accommodating and co-opting the gospel’s
counter-cultural message, thereby removing its power to transform lives. This
culture “seeps into the church through the pores of our congregations: a
religion without commitment, spirituality without content, aspiration and talk
and longing, fulfillment and needs, but not much concern about God.” Have these cultural forces succeeded in
domesticating pastors, in making them “unnecessary?” Halverson critically
examines Dawn and Peterson’s claims and their encouragement of church leaders
to recover their gospel identity.
Julie Ryan reports a presentation by Barbara K. Lundblad. The Metropolitan
Chicago Synod is sponsoring a series of events collectively called Refreshing the Hearts of the Saints.
Each event is a one-day forum held at Gloria Dei, Downers Grove and featuring a
distinguished presenter. Barbara Lundblad’s presentation had two parts. In the
first, “Passionate Particularity: Naming Jesus” she examined how we as
Christians living in an increasingly pluralistic culture can honor and respect
other faith traditions while remaining passionate about the gospel. In her
second session, “New Ways of Getting Back to the Bible,” Pastor Lundblad
asserted that current debates about human sexuality often get stuck on exegesis
of certain biblical texts. She offered a guide to interpretation using Luke
through Acts and Second Isaiah to help us move beyond the exegetical impasse.
Julie Ryan surveys Lundblad’s presentation with clarity and insight.
Andrew Leahy reflects on his recent
experience as a Lutheran pastor presiding at a weekly healing mass at an Episcopal
church. Ecumenism has been a recurring topic in the pages of Let’s Talk, featuring discussions of
confessional and ecclesiological questions surrounding Called to Common Mission. Leahy’s “view from the parish” shows us another
dimension of the full communion we have begun to enjoy.
Finally, this issue includes an index of Volume Five (Year 2000).
Your thoughts about where we, in this corner of the
church, go from here are always welcome. Your letters and e-mail will get our
attention. Let’s Talk! (And, we
hasten to add, your contributions are welcome. An envelope is enclosed for your
convenience.)
The Editorial Council