Living Theology
in the Metropolitan Chicago Synod
Evangelical Lutheran Church In America
Volume 6, Number 3
Christmas 2001
In this Issue
The people of the synod who know
Stanley Hauerwas through his writing and speaking, including his recent
appearance in the series “Refreshing the Hearts of the Saints,” will appreciate
historian Gregory Singleton’s critique of Hauerwas as celebrity, theologian,
and reviver. Singleton locates Hauerwas among the admonishers, those Christians ancient and modern whose style of
discourse has been to speak “the truth that needs to be heard but seems to be
resolutely avoided.” Singleton puts
Christian admonishment in historical context and sees Hauerwas as a reviver of
the admonishing style in a culture where it has been politely ignored because
it is considered impolite. Methodist Hauerwas draws from Catholic, Mennonite,
and Neo-Thomist wells. “In his work these three factors work together as the
tradition that forms our characters, and the characters thus formed can find
expression through Christian community.” Hauerwas has, writes Singleton,
“consistently stated that his major concern is with establishing and
maintaining moral discourse within that community.”
Frank Senn has written in these pages about both
same-sex issues and the responsibilities of bishops. Now, in his column, he
observes that an agenda is being laid before the church for its deliberation,
which includes “the blessing of same-sex unions and the ordination of
candidates living in ‘committed same-sex relationships’.” Senn asserts that
advocates who are asking that a long-standing consensus in the church be
abandoned are pushing this agenda and they are “well organized, adequately
financed, and politically astute, and so far there is no organized opposition.” Writing as a busy parish pastor, he looks to
the Presiding Bishop and to the Synod Bishop because it belongs to their office
“to guard the faith of the faithful and to uphold the moral tradition by which
we try to live in obedience to God’s law.”
In our second pair of articles we move from moral
discourse to evangelism, a step that should be short and natural. Your editor
for this issue reviews Rick Warren’s book, The
Purpose-DrivenÔ Church:
Growth Without Compromising Your Message & Mission. I have tried to express my
appreciation for the questions the author seeks to answer and my admiration of
the energy devoted to evangelism and Christian formation in Warren’s Baptist
megachurch community while, at the same time, being forthright about my sense
that the community lacks fullness in its sacramental practice. I suggest that
Lutherans and Evangelicals could learn much from each other in the right kind
of dialogue.
Finally, we are pleased to reprint a reflection on
“Promise for a New Day,” the 2002 theme for the ELCA under the ongoing theme
“Making Christ Known.” Theodore W. “Ted” Schroeder underlies his theses about
“promise” and “a new day” with biblical citations, making the document a superb
vehicle for adult study. “The biblical record,” says Schroeder, “sees a promise
as something fundamental to God’s action toward and on behalf of people.” We
who live in the promise and hope that the promised Messiah offers “…face the
future eager to get on with the task to ‘make Christ known,’ because in him we
have received that sure promise that offers hope for a new day—this day and
every day into God’s future.”
Wayne R. Cowell
for the
Editorial Council