Remembering for All the Saints: Post 1

The following is the first guest post as a part of the Remembering for All the Saints series - a series of posts on pastoral and theological reactions to Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia in observence of All Saints' Day.

This post is from Art Ruch, a Methodist layman and occassional lay preacher, who hails from my old stomping grounds in Middle Tennessee.


Bill* was recognized by the pastor during our time of "sharing joys and concerns". Bill stood and began to speak but he did not ask for prayer. Instead, he spoke about... jet fuel.

Bill had been a successful man. He was well-educated, had held an enviable job at the local Air Force base and had a seemingly happy marriage and loving children. But in late middle age, Bill was afflicted with Alzheimer's disease and became unable to perform his job. His marriage eventually failed and he became estranged from his children as well.

By the time I first met Bill, he rarely spoke coherently, required full time care by his second wife and could no longer drive. Yet Bill always attended the worship service. He could not sing in the choir or teach a Sunday School class. He could not serve on a committee or vote in a council meeting. But still he came to church and, on this particular day, he wanted to share something. He wanted to participate.

The pastor ignored Bill's outburst, immediately recognized someone else and the service continued. This had become a pattern. So many had warmly greeted Bill only to receive a blank stare - so they ignored him. Others found themselves in conversations they did not understand - so they ignored him. Some were frightened of or uncomfortable with Bill - so they ignored him.

Are those who cannot be of service to others somehow lesser children of God? Do those whose afflictions make us uncomfortable have no value? Are we relieved of any duty or responsibility to them? Are we to ignore them?

In some ways, those like Bill are gone from us just as those we usually remember on All Saint's Day. Many of them can no longer interact with us, they cannot serve in the church or the community in any significant way. But in one very important way, they are profoundly different than those who have gone on to God's glory: they remain with us physically - living, breathing and existing. And, just possibly, thinking and feeling as we do. Those with Alzheimer's disease and dementia of any type often lose the ability to express themselves and therefore those around them sometimes ignore them. So for people like Bill, one of the most basic human needs is not being met: the need for human interaction. Perhaps it is appropriate that we remember them but we can do much more than that. We can choose to not ignore them.

Stanley Hauerwas wrote that "All men have a significance beyond what they can be for us - our friend, our playmate, our brother; each of us is precious and significant because his being is grounded in God's care. The retarded the poor, the sick, are particularly intense forms of God's call to every man through the other. God calls us to regard each other as significant as we each exist in him, as we are each God's gift to the other." Hauerwas wrote those words in an essay on the Christian's proper response to our mentally retarded brothers and sisters but I think his words can apply equally well to those with neurodegenerative disease.

Today, Bill no longer comes to the church. He cannot. He is confined to a bed in a nursing home. He does not speak and requires assistance eating, bathing and dressing. His family doesn't visit him. But once a month, the Church comes to him. Holy Communion is brought, hymns are sung and scripture is read to Bill and his fellow residents in the home. Some participate joyously and some do not. Some may not comprehend what we are doing there but I like to think that, at the very least, they know they are not ignored.

*"Bill" is a composite character.

Other posts in the series:
* Remebering for All the Saints: An Introduction to the series, posted by Pastor David.

An Exciting Job

Ok, I love my job.

There, of course, some parts of it that are better than others. More than anything else, I derive great pleasure in administering God's Sacraments of grace. I love to celebrate and distribute the Eucharist, and I love to baptize. In theory, each and every occasion to do these things is equally important and should mean as much to me. But life is not theory.

Last Sunday, Reformation Sunday, we had a wonderfully joyful worship service and celebration. The local community college choir enhanced our worship with their beautiful music, the preacher had a pretty good sermon (if I do say so myself), and we had a full sanctuary. I found the combination of my weekend experiences administering communion, both during our Reformation Sunday service and on the Confirmation retreat, to be both deeply meaningful and moving.

And, as much as I find every baptism I do to be deeply meaningful, I get chills and butterflies in my stomach everytime I think about the Baptism coming up this weekend. On All Saints' Sunday, I have the great privilege of baptizing my daughter Layla as a part of our congregational worship. Thankfully I am not preaching, as I would probably get myself all choked up (Layla's proud grandfather will be our guest preacher).

Remembering For All the Saints

If one needs evidence that all of creation - not just humankind - was affected by the Fall, let me present to you exhibit one: Alzheimer's Disease. It is a demeaning, terrifying, and just plain cruel disease; the sort of thing that makes me think that there is more to this natural world than what God created, for God certainly would not have declared a thing like that to be good.

Many of the questions raised by Alzheimer's Disease are questions about identity. What is it that makes us the people we are, and our loved ones the people we know? If our memories and our personality disappear, are we still the person we have always been? And, perhaps more to the point, once the mind is gone in one fashion or another, is our loved one still the person we have always loved?

I struggle with these questions on a very personal level, as Alzheimer's has hit very close to home in my own family. I do not claim to be a psychologist, able to answer with authority the questions of personal identity; nor as a physician, able to answer with authority questions about the functioning of the mind. Indeed, I would not even claim the authority of a theologian on this question, as I have spent relatively little time delving into the theology of the mind and personality, or theological medical ethics. No, fundamentally I struggle with these questions on a personal level, claiming no other authority than that of a person who has been affected first-hand by Alzheimer's. In addition to that, I draw also from the knowledge I have gained as a pastor, who has been present with other families going through the same ideal.

What I have seen, in case after case, is that at some point - long before the death of the body - the person with Alzheimer's becomes dead to their loved ones. Now, part of the difficulty is that it can be seen as uncaring to say such a thing. Yet the reality is when the memories and the personality have been stolen by the disease, there is very little left that we can recognize as the person we love. That does not mean that we stop caring for them in all the ways that we can, but it does mean that there is a very real grief that we have to acknowledge.

It is difficult for those who have been through this struggle to relate at times with those who have not. The grief - a very real grief over the death of memory and personality - is almost never publicly acknowledged, because it is considered taboo to say "I am morning their death" about people who are still alive. And so it becomes an even heavier burden, because it is a private grief.

It also becomes difficult when the time arrives for the second death - the death of the body. Here again, only those who have been through this struggle know what a relief it can be, or even an indifferent thing, when someone who has fought a losing battle with Alzheimer's dies. To those without the experience, it can seem callous or cold, even mean. But if the person we know and love died years ago - with the loss of personality and memory - what else can be expected when physical death occurs?

It is with these thoughts in mind that I have invited a few guest bloggers to send in posts on the Pastoral and Theological Reactions to Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia. As a church, I think that we need to start talking publicly and seriously about how we should react to this disease, and what it means when personality and memory are gone. And, more personally, I feel that it is important to remember those affected by these diseases on All Saints' Day - that we remember those who have died after a long struggle, and also that we acknowledge the grief of those have watched the personality and memory of a loved one disappear.

200th Post: A mad dash to the table

My Blogger dashboard tells me I have officially reached the benchmark of 200 posts to this blog. Not bad considering the extended period of inactivity last spring.

It would be hard for me to pick a single favorite post out of the bunch. I think I am especially proud of the series on Evangelical Lutheran Worship that I posted last fall, especially my comparison of ELW and the LBW. I also enjoyed writing about "What is a Lutheran?", especially the latest post in that series, Why I am a Lutheran. It seems, for whatever reason, that I enjoy most the series that I do - I think those tend to generate the most give and take.

As I posted Friday, I took the Confirmation kids from Saint John to Lutherhill Camp for an overnight retreat. We had a wonderful time with the pastors and students from the four other churches in our cooperative confirmation program.

One thing that is true of kids in that age bracket is that they tend to move en mass. One decides something is a good idea, and all of a sudden fifty kids are doing the same thing. Well, Friday night we had a short campfire service with the kids at one of the camp's outdoor worship spaces. It was a nice, quite service. After a few songs and a reading, I celebrated Holy Communion with them. I then invited them to receive communion.

It was a mad dash, as they all swarmed at once. There were hands everywhere, reaching in and held open to receive the Body of Christ.

It was one of my all-time favorite worship experiences, as I stood there handing out communion and wondering, "Why don't we all get this excited about the Sacrament? Shouldn't it always be a mad dash to the Table?"

New Blogger Feature

I often have difficult following discussions on blogs that I only visit occassionally, or blogs that have a great deal of give and take in the comments. You have to remember which blogs you have commented on, and then remember which posts within that blog.

But the good folks at Blogger have fixed this dilemma of memory: you can now ask Blogger to email you follow-up comments after you post a comment somewhere. With your Blogger account, it is as simple as clicking an extra box when leaving a comment. No more excuses for not keeping up with follow-up comments.

Sunday Trivia Answer: Reformation Sunday Edition

Albert of Hohenzollern (Albert of Mainz) was roughly a peer of Martin Luther, being born in 1490 and dying in 1545. In 1513, at the age of 23, Albert was made Archbishop of Magdeburg and Bishop of Halberstadt. In 1514, Albert was appointed by the Emperor as the Prince-elector of Mainz. Finally, in 1518, Albert was made a cardinal in the church.

It was also in 1518 that Albert took out a large loan from the Fuggers. This money was used by Albert to purchase the Archbishopric of Mainz and his position as a cardinal, and was used by the Pope to help fund the massive project of the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome. Johann Tetzel, the Dominican indulgence-preacher, was employed by Albert and the Fuggers to help recover some of the loan money. It was Tetzel who was preaching just outside of Wittenberg on October 31, 1517, and provoked Luther to write his 95 Theses.

The interesting question is, would there have been a Reformation without Albert's provocation? How would history have looked different had he not sent Tetzel to the Wittenberg area?

Albert was known for his liberal attitudes and as a patron of the arts (the portrait above was commissioned from Albrecht Dürer). He even showed some sympathy toward the cause of the Reformation, and apart from family connections and his own involvement with the start of the Reformation, may have become an ally of the movement.

Sunday Trivia

Today's trivia question is the last in a series of questions about Lutheranism, in honor of Reformation Sunday.

If the tradition is to be believed (and isn't the tradition usually much more meaningful than the doubts of sceptical academics?), it was 490 years ago that Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses on the door of the Schlosskircke in Wittenberg. That event has come to be considered as the official starting bell of the series of events known as the Reformation.

To whom was Luther's treatise, The 95 Theses, officially addressed?

And what were the official titles of that individual?

Enjoy your Reformation Sunday.

Off on An Adventure

Well, I am off this afternoon to Lutherhill Camp for an overnight retreat with our Co-Op Confirmation Group. 24 hrs, 25 Confirmation students, and four pastors. Let the adventure begin.

Do Buildings Matter?

Alternately titled: The Idol of Utilitarianism

Saint John Lutheran Church of Prairie Hill recently adopted a new Strategic Plan for Ministry. Within that plan is a re-organization of our ministries around our new mission statement:

A family of faith Gathering around Word and Sacrament,
Forming disciples,
and Proclaiming the Gospel to the world.

Each area of the ministry of the congregation is grouped under the three concepts/actions of our new mission statement: Gathering, Forming, and Proclaiming. There was some discussion among the committee about where to place property and grounds. In short, the question is "Do buildings matter?"


There are certainly churches, pastors, and commentators who answer with a resounding "no." The building (and grounds) they argue are purely utilitarian - they provide a place to gather, and as long as they effectively serve that function they need no further thought. Indeed, many will argue, the building and grounds ought to be maintained at a very minimal level, because to do otherwise would be poor stewardship.


There are, I believe, a couple of underlying nuggets of truth to this approach. (1) Church buildings and grounds are adiaphora - that is, there is no one right form for church facilities, and we can disagree about church buildings without disagreeing about the Gospel. And (2) we are indeed called to be good stewards of what God has provided us. However, I don't think that believing these two points necessitates the conclusion that church buildings need only be evaluated and valued in utilitarian terms.


* Church buildings/grounds/architecture shape the assembly. The great Lutheran liturgist Luther D. Reed once said that "Within this fabric [church architecture] Christian assemblies worship and work." At the very least, the buildings in which we gather shape the ways we worship and carry out our ministries. A congregation which meets in a school on Sunday morning is not likely to have a weekday organ concert, or to run a soup kitchen out of the church - the building will not allow it. Similarly, the congregation which gathers in a 19th century neo-gothic marvel is not particularly likely to have a fellowship hour in the same space in which they worship, or to move the congregation down the street if that's where the majority of the members live - the building will not allow it. Every church building encourages the Gospel to be proclaimed in certain ways, while discouraging others. Choices about buildings are also choices about the ways in which we will minister.

* Church buildings/grounds/architecture tell the broader community about our congregation. In the past year, we swept the gravel off of our parking lot and added lines. Our previous unlined parking lot said to members of our church that we are a country, family church. But it also spoke to the broader community - it said to visitors that if you don't already know where to park, we aren't going to tell you because you probably don't belong here. That is not the message that anyone in the congregation intended, but it was certainly the message that was sent. And this is true not only of parking lots, but of every aspect of our buildings: from the roadside signs to the bathrooms. Choices about buildings are also choices about what we say to the broader community - especially our visitors.

*Church buildings/grounds/architecture proclaim who we say God is - both actively and passively. Passively, church buildings can tell people about who we as a congregation believe should be welcomed to God's house (is there handicap accessibility?), how we should worship God (organ & choir, or guitar & praise band?), whether or not we think God works through the sacraments (are the font & table as prominent as the pulpit?).
Actively, church architecture - indeed, even the appearance of the grounds - is an art form. The Lutheran tradition, unlike some other Protestant traditions, maintained that art is an effective and important means of communicating the Gospel message and theological truths. One can see this in the Lutheran traditions of music and art. And there is no art form that has a louder voice than church architecture - it is the first thing people see when they gather, and it is hard to avoid once the assembly is gathered. Indeed, to return to Luther Reed, "Architecture is in many respects the greatest of the arts in the service of the church."

In the end, the Strategic Planning Committee placed Building & Grounds under the heading of Proclaiming. In short, church grounds and buildings ought not be shuffled onto the backburner in our churches, sacrificed to the god of utilitarianism. Our church buildings are a part of the way we as congregations proclaim the message of God.

Coming Soon

As each generation is blessed through medical science to live to a little bit longer than the preceeding generation, Alzheimer's Disease and other forms of dementia are becoming more and more common. It is often an issue for clergy, as we deal with the effects of Alzheimer's among our parishioners. But it is also an issue for everyone, as the impact of Alzheimer's often reverberates through families and communities.

In honor of All Saints' Day (November 1), I have invited a few bloggers whom I respect to write about theological and pastoral responses to Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia. The exact slate of guest bloggers is still being hammered out, but expect to see both clergy and lay, as well as Lutherans and non-Lutherans. Hopefully this will be a resource for all of us to reflect on how we can best learn to respond to these diseases.

Look for this series of posts next week.

An Interesting New Blog

I received word in my inbox this morning of an interesting new blog. Bishop Mike Rinehart, newly installed bishop of the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod of the ELCA, has started a new Bishop's Blog. There is not much content up as of yet. However, I think this is a wonderful idea, and a great way for our new bishop to keep his ideas in front of the synod and also a great way for him to provide another means of keeping in touch with the synod leadership. Stop by the site and encourage Bishop Rinehart in his new blog.

Critiquing Evangelism: Post 3

Post 1 of this series talked about how evangelism is not a program. Post 2 talked about the fact that evangelism is not the pastor's job.
Those first two conversations got me warmed up to what I really think is the heart of my critique of the way most of handle evangelism in today's church:

Critique number 3: Evangelism is not a numbers game.

Ah, the glaring light is shone on the crass methodology which undergirds the vast majority of Christian evangelism in America. Let's own up to it: most of us are instinctively trained to believe that good numbers (i.e., growth) equal successful evangelism. And of course the inverse is also true: bad numbers (i.e., decline or stagnation) equal poor evangelism. Even if we don't say it out loud, most of us operate with this underlying assumption. And it is precisely this attitude which keeps people away from the church.

People outside of the church are turned off by the fact that, despite the virtues preached on Sunday morning, the church seems to operate as a business - a business whose commodity is rear ends in the pews. Why do they think that? Because often that's also what people in churches think. And the fact is, such an attitude is (a) offensive to the very people we are trying to reach, and (b) diminishes the power of the Gospel message.

Corollary #1: The unchurched are not chattle.
The "numbers-game" mentality treats people outside the church as objects. They are no longer people; beloved creations of a gracious God. No, they become to us potential pew fillers. Chattle. We count them. We talk of them in impersonal terms: "those people", "them", "the lost", "the non-Christians." We try to figure out what "they" want, how to get "them" in. They do not have names, faces, and stories to us - if they are just numbers. And we wonder why people outside of the church distrust church people? As long as such persons are nothing more than numbers to us, we will never be able to proclaim the Gospel in a way that people will listen to us.

Corollary #2: Sheep stealing is not evangelism.
It has always amazed me the way churches brag about their numbers, while shaking their heads about the declining numbers at neighboring churches. Friends, we are all working toward the same kingdom. If twenty committed Christians come to your church from a neigboring church, it is all the same for the kingdom. If I have twenty-five marbles in two bowls, and I move five from one bowl to the other, I still have twenty-five marbles. I can think of no other way to say it: pastors who actively seek "new" members who already belong to another church are just predators. Stealing sheep from one pasture and moving them into another does nothing to further the kingdom of God. An honest evangelist will not care which church family a person becomes a part of, but rather rejoices that that person has heard and received the Word.

Corollary #3: God is bigger than numbers.
When we tie our ideas of successful ministry to a numbers-game mentality, we limit God. We say, in effect, that God can only work through numerically growing churches. Yet God's work is so much bigger and greater than we allow it to be. God works through congregations of all shapes and sizes, and congregations in all stages of growth and decline. God's Word boldly proclaimed (evangelized) can shape the world and bring about the kingdom in so many ways beyond filling pews. Let our proclamation of the Gospel, our evangelization, work in the ways God desires - not the way that we desire.


This series of posts has focused on what evangelism is not. What is left is to talk about what evangelism is - or should be; a reconstruction of what has been critiqued. After some time to give thought to this question, and continued conversation about these critiques, look for a series of posts on Re-imagining Evangelism.

Congregational Meeting Update

We have had two congregational meetings with the current congregational President, and I must say that they are the most smoothly-run congregational meetings that I have ever had the pleasure to be a part of.

Yesterday, the family of Saint John gathered after worship for our semi-annual congregational meeting. As a part of that meeting, we approved the 2008 budget, approved the 2008 Strategic Plan for Ministry, and elected five new council members.

Our Budget Review Committee and congregational Council did an excellent job putting together the 2008 Budget. We were able to "trim some of the fat" so to speak, cutting budget lines that were never- or seldom-used. The total budget was a $8,570 increase over the 2007 budget, with the biggest single line-item increase being the Pastor's insurance, reflecting the addition of a new member to our family. Also included in the budget was a salary for a part-time Director of Music and Worship, as recommended in the Strategic Plan.

The 2008 Strategic Plan for Ministry affirmed our rich heritage as a congregation, while also plotting a course for an exciting future. Included in the Plan were recommendations for the addition of a part time Director of Music and Worship and the formation of a building committee to evaluate our current facilities and recommend next steps for our buildings and grounds. Also included as a part of the Plan was the adoption of a new Missio Statement for our congregation:

Saint John Lutheran Church of Prairie Hill:
A family of faith Gathering around Word and Sacrament,
Forming disciples,
and Proclaiming the Gospel to the world.

Sunday Trivia Answer

Once again, we have no winner on this week's Sunday trivia - it seems it is time to find some slightly easier trivia! Although this week produced some of the wittiest guesses, and on that basis alone I think I will declare Joel, our resident Roman Catholic reader, the winner based on his answer of "Three fewer than the number of differing opinions among Lutherans."

According to the Lutheran World Federation, there are 70.2 million Lutherans in the world (as of the end of 2006). That means that Lutherans compose just 3.3% of the world's 2.1 billion Christians. Wikipedia says (without a citation) that there are 590 million Protestants worldwide (a number that seems to include anyone not Roman Catholic and not Orthodox), meaning that Lutherans are almost 12% of the world's Protestant population. Of those 70.2 million Lutherans, 66.7 million (or 95%) are members of the Lutheran World Federation.

Regionally, there are 8.3 million Lutherans in Asia (a 12% increase over 2005), 37.5 million Lutherans in Europe (a 1.5% decline), 15.2 Lutherans in Africa (a 1.5% increase), 1.1 million in Latin America (a .5% increase), and 8 million Lutherans in North America (a 1.4% decrease).

Sunday Trivia

In keeping with the Lutheranism theme as we draw closer to Reformation Sunday:

How many Lutherans are there in the world?

Vision for Ministry

As a part of the semi-annual meeting tomorrow, the congregation of Saint John will be considering the 2008 Strategic Plan for Ministry. The entire plan can be read on the church's website (scroll down to the link to the Strategic Plan on the front page of the website). Part of that plan is the Strategic Planning Committee's vision for what our congregation could become if we fully live into our mission:

The congregation of Saint John Lutheran Church will be a vibrant and exciting family of faith. Our life together will be centered around at least two growing, uplifting worship services, where God’s Word is boldly proclaimed in sermon, song, and liturgy, and where God’s sacraments of grace are shared.

The family of Saint John will lovingly care for all of its members. Those who cannot be present when we are gathered on Sunday morning will regularly be included in the congregation’s ministries through visits by both lay persons and clergy. In order to form deeper bonds of connection, we will gather together not only for worship, but also for times of fellowship and recreation.

We will provide opportunities for all members of the Church of Christ – both young and old – to learn more about the faith. Through a dynamic Christian Education program for all ages, Confirmation, and Bible Studies, we will explore our Lutheran heritage, the Scriptures, and all aspects of the life of discipleship.

The family of Saint John will gather in facilities that encourage our ministries to grow and expand. These facilities will be functional, useful, and also beautiful.

We will seek to reach out beyond our walls, ministering to our community and the world. Following the example of our Lord, we will find opportunities for service, sharing the Gospel message and the love of Christ.

Grounded firmly in Scripture and the Lutheran tradition, Saint John Lutheran Church of Prairie Hill is a community of faith prepared for the twenty-first century, and for the opportunities to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the world.

Don't Forget

The Saint John Semi-Annual meeting will be held this Sunday, October 21, immediately following the 10:05 service. Agenda items include the report of the Strategic Planning Committee, the 2008 Budget, and the election of congregational council members.

Rollercoaster Ministry

Just last week, I was making the 45 minute drive from Prairie Hill to the hospital in Bryan, Texas. It was a hot, dry day in Central Texas. The sun was out in full force, and the fields along the road had recently been harvested, leaving thick dust to blow across the road. I was briefly in the hospital, making a couple of visits, and walked out to my car to find a different world. On the drive home, my windshield wipers could barely keep up as we drove at half the speed limit, and the dust had become mud in the small lakes that had formed on the roadway. In an instant, everything had changed from one extreme to the other - with very little warning and very little time to adjust.

Life in the ministry is often like that, requiring quick gear shifts from one extreme to the other.

It is one of the facts of ministry that pastors invest themselves emotionally and spiritually in the lives and events of those to whom they minister. They rejoice when they are with those who are rejoicing, and they are mourn with those who mourn. In fact, it is probably this sort of emotional and spiritual investment that often leads to clergy burn-out.

What they do not teach in seminary is how to make the sorts of emotional and spiritual u-turns that ministry often requires. That day at the hospital, I went from the oncology unit to the neo-natal unit. Four weeks ago I went from a funeral to the birth of my daughter. More times than I care to count I have gone from a baptismal celebration to a death-bed; or from painful marriage counseling to joyful pre-marital counseling.

People have often asked me why pastors often talk about our work as being so exhausting, and why we are so intentional about taking time off. True enough, life in the ministry is rarely physically exhausting (although of course there are exceptions). Yet riding the rollercoaster of emotional and spiritual demands can easily drain a pastor. It is tiring to go from being fully emotionally and spiritually invested with a family who is mourning, to being fully emotionally and spiritually invested with persons during the joys of life.

I don't really know that this is something that can be taught: you either learn to ride the rollercoaster, or you don't. For those pastors who do not learn to make those sorts of u-turns while being fully invested in the lives of their parishioners, burn-out or disengagement from the lives of the congregation members is not far behind. But for those pastors who do learn it, there is no rollercoaster that is more fun or rewarding.

Critiquing Evangelism: Post 2

In the first post of this series, I talked about how Evangelism is not a program. Once we have begun to think about Evangelism as a way of life, rather than a program of the church, we have started to move in the right direction. Yet by no means does that cover the entirety of the rethinking of our current model of evangelism.

Critique number 2: Evangelism is not the pastor's job.

Many pastor's reports include the regular rundown on the "numbers" - membership, attendence, etc. My monthly report to our congregational council is no exception. Unfortunately, this way of reporting the numbers serves to continue the idea that the responsibility for numbers (and thus evangelism) lies solely with the pastor.

We have all seen this phenomenon. Pastor's salaries are often based on numbers, and a pastor at a numerically growing congregation is more likely to see a raise at the end of the year. We often think of pastors at growing congregations as more successful (even - maybe especially - among other pastors is this true).

I think it was one of my professors who made this statement (although I can't recall who exactly said it). If indeed the pastor is our congregational shepherd, the truth of this critique becomes remarkably clear: Out in the pasture, where do additional sheep come from? Not the shepherd. Additional sheep come from the sheep you already have.

Numerically, Saint John is doing fairly well over the last 15 months. Yet this is not because the pastor is exceptional. It is because of the faithful members of this congregation, who have made this a place where more people enjoy worshiping and being a part of the family of faith.

Evangelism is not the pastor's job: it is the way of life for every member of the Body of Christ.

Critiquing Evangelism: Post 1

The techniques Christian evangelism have come into question of late, with many asking whether we are watering down - or even avoiding altogether - the Gospel message in our attempts to get more people into the pews on Sunday morning. A recent NY Times article brought the nation's attention to a church that was using the best-selling videogame Halo 3 to bring youth into the church. Of course, bait-and-switch evangelism is nothing new, as churches have long used a non-church related event (say providing meals for the homeless, or a fellowship event) to get people where the church can then preach to them. In addition, as was brought up on this blog, many church watchers question the use of secular marketing techniques to help church evangelism.

Now, before we get to high-and-mighty about talking about the evangelism techniques of other churches, take a look at this recent post from a conservative Reformed blogger. It is a wonderful reminder of how many of us have - to greater or lesser degree - followed the same bait-and-switch method.

So here is critique number 1: Evangelism is not a program.

We have shuffled evangelism off into its own little compartmentalized section of church life. In doing so, the fundamental question has become "How can we increase numbers" or "How can we save more souls" (depending on your tradition). If that is the goal - and the sole goal - of this ghettoized part of congregational life, how can we criticize any techniques that are employed?

Instead, evangelism ought to be an integrated part of both congregational life and the life of discipleship. As I go about my daily life, the question before I act and before I speak should always be "Do my words and actions proclaim the Gospel?" As we go about our congregational life, the question should be "Does this program show the Gospel to the world?"

You see (and I will come back to this in another post), it is not always about preaching - and certainly not about numbers. Does our fellowship as a congregation show forth the communion that Jesus proclaimed? Do our buildings and grounds encourage people to come in, and do they reflect the beauty of God? Are we the good stewards that God has called us to be? These actions are all ways that congregations non-verbally proclaim the Gospel. And the fact is, people listen to non-verbals more than they do to what we say.

As long as Evangelism is compartmentalized, the goal will be numbers. And if the that is the goal, the means used to acheive it can be justified. If, however, evangelism is an integrated part of life, then it is precisely the means that are the goal, and the means that matter.

Much Needed

The Official Prairie Hill rain gauge says we got 1.7 inches of much needed rain yesterday afternoon during the rainstorm.

The Pastors Hansen

It came up in Diane's Five Questions, and I have been asked about in other comments on this blog (I haven't the energy to search through the comments and discover who asked me), so here is the story of the Pastors Hansen.

I am indeed a 4th generation Lutheran pastor. The first person ordained in our family (as far as I can tell) is my great-great uncle Atlef Hansen. Atlef, who was married to my great-grandfather's older sister, was ordained in the United Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1905. The United Church, as it was known, was the church of the "sad Danes", that is, they were the Danish Pietist tradition, with a strongly anti-Grundvigian theology.

My great-grandfather, Theodore Marcus Hansen, attended the United Church's college and seminary in Blair, Nebraska (Dana College and Trinity Seminary), and was ordained in 1915. Interestingly, he attended school alongside his younger brother Henry, and the two were both married and ordained in the summer of 1915. Great-grandpa TM served in congregational ministry for only four years, before the United Church decided to send him off for further education in Europe, after which he was appointed first as a professor and then as president of Dana and Trinity (which is now a part of Wartburg Seminary). TM then went back to congregational ministry, serving congregations in Minnesota, Montana, and Canada, and also serving as district president and on various United Church committees. Two of TM's students at Trinity wound up marrying his little sisters, making five Lutheran pastors in that generation.

My Grandpa Rodney followed in his father's footsteps. However, circumstances brought him to Northwestern Seminary (now a part of Luther Sem) in Minnesota, and he was ordained in the United Lutheran Church in America (a mostly German church). He served as what we would now call a mission developer in Wisconsin, and served congregations in Minnesota. In his retirement, Gramps did interim work at a number of congregations, including congregations in Biloxi, Mississippi and Chattanooga, Tennessee (it was through the relationships formed in those calls that we wound up in the South).

Dad also attended Northwestern Seminary, and at that time was ordained in the Lutheran Church in America. He worked for a time for Lutheran Social Services, and served congregations in Minnesota, Iowa, and Chattanooga, Tennessee (the same congregation where Gramps had been an interim, and where I did my field ed during seminary).

Dad retired the Sunday before I arrived in Prairie Hill. One of the blessings of my ministry was being there for the farewell service for Dad. As a part of that service, Dad laid hands on me and blessed my ministry. He then preached and laid the stole over my shoulders as a part of my ordination.

Including the various children and grandchildren of that first generation of Pastors Hansen, I am the 12th Lutheran pastor in my family (interestingly, I am also the 12th Pastor of St John Lutheran Church). Of course, every family has its black sheep - my sister-in-law was a pastor in the United Methodist Church for ten years, making a total of 13 Pastors Hansen.


My first sermon as the pastor of Saint John Lutheran Church was all about the blessings that this congregation has received from the generations that came before, and came with the challenge of what we are going to do with those blessings. Indeed, this has been a topic that I have brought up often, because I believe that story of blessings received and used is central to our identity to a congregation. It is also central to my personal identity, and is probably part of what drew me to this congregation. I am blessed to have such a heritage, and prayerfully work to in turn be a blessing to others.

And that is the story of the Pastors Hansen.

Questions for Pastor Eric

Pastor Eric recently asked to be interviewed by me as a part of the Five Questions Meme. Glad to oblige, here are the five questions for him - look for hte answers on his blog.

1. You recently celebrated the third anniversary of your ordination. In these three years, what has surprised you most about ordained ministry? What has consistently fed you the most as a pastor?
2. This is your first call. Did you choose SW Minnesota, or did it choose you?
3. What is one book, other than the Bible and Confessions, that you could not live without? And why?
4. If you were not a pastor, what you be doing with your life?
5. What is one place you have never been, but would like to go?

And to steal Diane's bonus question: what is one question you would like someone to ask you?

Finally, here are the rules of the Meme, which you must post with your answers:

1. If you are interested in being interviewed, leave me a comment saying "interview me."
2. I will respond by posting 5 questions for you. I get to post the questions.
3. You will update your blog with a post containing your answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment, asking to be interviewed, you will ask them 5 questions

Sunday Trivia Answer & a Resource

Well, no one got this week's Sunday Trivia question.

Honorable mention to Hal for his guess of Reorus Torkillus. Torkillus was the first Lutheran pastor to settle in North America. He arrived in the colony of New Sweden (now Delaware) in 1640, and served the colonists of Fort Christina for three years before he died. (And nod to Hal the follow-up email with the correct answer).

The first Lutheran pastor to serve in North America was a Danish maritime chaplain by the name of Rasmus Jensen. King Christian IV sent two ships on an expedition to the "New World" in 1619, captained by Jens Munk. The expedition became stuck in the ice of the Hudson Bay, and all but the captain and two crew members died during the winter. The captain's journal records that Jensen preached to the crew within a month of his own death. Rasmus Jensen was commemorated on the ELCA's calendar of commemorations in the LBW on February 20 (he did not make it onto the ELW calendar).

In the course of preparing this trivia question, I came across a new resource for y'all. The Christian History Institute has some great encyclopedic entries on various figures throughout the church's history. It's worth checking out.

Sunday Trivia

Continuing the newly established tradition, here is your Sunday Trivia question to keep your noodle working on this day of rest. This week I am looking for a little known fact from Lutheran history:

Who was the first Lutheran pastor to serve in North America?


Please post answers in comments, and enjoy your Sunday.

The Theology of Johnny

Layla Margaret loves music. It is a sure fire way to get her to calm down when she starts to get fussy. She is a fan of a little bit of everything, but two of her favorites for when Daddy is trying to get her calm are good hymnody and Johnny Cash. Now, it just so happens that Daddy too is a big fan of the Man in Black, and has used this as an excuse to add a couple of new CD's to his collection.

The first CD added was Cash:Ultimate Gospel. This album is a compilation of the best Gospel songs that Johnny recorded throughout his career - some written by him, some not, and some along with the Carter family. This album is really diverse in its selections, including a guest appearance by Billy Graham on the song The Preacher Said, "Jesus Said."

The second CD added was My Mother's Hymn Book. This is a really special CD. As with all of Johnny's last albums, it was produced by Rick Rubin on his American Recordings record label. The idea behind the album was the hymnal which belong to Johnny's mother, which she would sing from to the boys (the hymnal is Heavenly Highway Hymns, you can also see it in the liner picture to Ultimate Gospel). The album is simply Johnny and his guitar, recorded in his studio in Hendersonville. The liner notes are part of an interview with Johnny about each of the hymns he selected. The interview took place in the weeks after June passed away, just before Johnny himself went home to glory.

One of my favorites on the Hymn Book album is Johnny's haunting rendition of Just as I am. In his description of this hymn in the liner, Johnny said:

"I had to finally accept it, you know, that God thought there was something worth saving, so who was I to say, "You're wrong?" I had to accept it and go along with it, so that's what I did."

I don't know that any theologian can say it more clearly than that.

Along the same lines, Diane recently posted a wonderful funeral reflection for someone with Alzheimer's, based on Johnny's Will the Circle Be Unbroken (Ok, a Carter family song). If you have a loved one in your life struggling with Alzheimer's, it is worth a read, as is this sermon posted in response to Diane's reflection.

Church Marketing

Christianity Today posted a very interesting editorial online about the use of secular marketing techniques by churches. The author, Mark Galli, writes:

Jump ahead 20 centuries, and we find a church that doesn't think twice about treating the gospel like slop, like fast food. About 30 years ago, the church-growth movement exploded onto the scene; churches became enamored with the efficiency of businesses like Disney and McDonald's, and they began fashioning their life together to meet people's needs in the same sorts of ways—except that their product was the gospel. So churches became places where thousands could be served efficiently. And where the message was served in McSermons that could be easily digested and applied. And where "marketing" became part of the church's vocabulary.

When the church starts marketing itself or the gospel, something odd is taking place ...

Read the whole editorial, it's worth it. Whether you agree with his conclusions or not, it is certainly a thought-provoking reflection - especially given recent secular media coverage of bait-and-switch evangelism. I myself disagree with his conclusions, but enjoyed the thought-process begun by the article.

I am working on some thoughts about bait-and-switch evangelism, marketing techniques, and the church. Until then, I will ask you for your thoughts on secular marketing techniques in the church: Is it casting pearls before swine, or broadly sowing the seed? Is it being as wise as serpents, or being conformed to the ways of the world?

Coming Attractions

For a Pastor with Fridays off, Thursday is the beginning of the weekend (TGIT). With that in mind, here is what is coming up this weekend and next week at Saint John Lutheran Church of Prairie Hill.

Sunday:
Signups/registration for Strokescan
- 8:00 am Service (Service of the Word)
- 9:00 am Sunday School
- 9:00 am Deborah Circle
- 10:05 am Service (Holy Communion)
- 2:00 pm Birthday Party for Mrs. Gaskamp (Parish Hall)
- 3:00 pm Confirmation (@ Zion Lutheran)

Monday:
- 7:00 pm Worship Committee

Wednesday:
- Stroke Scan (call 1-866-935-7226 to make an appointment)
- 7:30 Men's Choir

Thursday:
- 7:00 pm Evangelism Committee

And don't forget about next Sunday (October 21) and the semi-annual congregational meeting.

Visit the online calendar of St John for more info.

Happy Birthday!

Today is the 30th Birthday of my beautiful wife, Julia. I have truly been blessed to have her as a friend, an partner in life, and a partner in ministry. As we have moved from place to place in preparation for this first call (4 moves - not quite 4 years of marriage), we have had to rely on one another in unique and important ways.

It would be fair to say that one of my greatest strengths as a pastor is the support and help of my wife. She too has a seminary training (a MA in Ethics), has worked in churches, and is also trained as a musician (has a Bachelor of Music degree). She is able to understand the demands of ministry, and help me think through sermons, Bible Studies, and congregational administration.

Yet that all pales beside the wonderful mother she is becoming - Layla is blessed to have such a mother in her life.

So Happy Birthday, Julia! I couldn't do it without you.

Clergy Appreciation Month

I received a wonderful note in my inbox today, thanking me for my work as the Pastor of Saint John Lutheran Church, and reminding me that October is Clergy Appreciation Month. The email included a link to the YouTube video at the end of this post, which takes my Perfect Pastor ™ idea one step further (I also received, on my Birthday, a wonderful Superman card, informing me that I am indeed the Perfect Pastor for this congregation. It is a blessing to serve this congregation!).

Last year, Proclaiming Softly posted some ideas for how to appreciate your Pastor, and more ideas can be found on the Clergy Appreciation page of Christianity Today.

For all of that, one of the best ways to support your pastor is to pray for him or her. Prayer is a powerful thing, and those who have the responsibility of leadership in the church are especially in need of your prayerful support every day. Evangelical Lutheran Worship includes the following prayer for pastors and bishops. In this Clergy Appreciation Month, please consider adding it to your daily prayers, and lifting up your pastors and also you bishop.

Ever-living God, strengthen and sustain all pastors and bishops, especially _________, that with patience and understanding they may love and care for your people. Grant that together they may follow in the way of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

For myself, I am blessed to be the pastor of Prairie Hill. This congregation understands the demands of the life in ministry more than any other that I have been a part of, and have continued to provide me and my family with all the love and support that we could need, and for that I give thanks.

Sidebar updates again

Still working out the new blog layout. You may have noticed a font change in the last week, as I try to make the posts more readable. A new sidebar section has also been added, "Keeping in touch." Here you can add this blog to your favorite social bookmarks (technorati, google, digg, etc). You can also use your favorite feedreader to subscribe to the RSS site feed or the Feedburner feed. Finally, if all this feedreader stuff is beyond you (as it is me) you may simply enter your email address and receive the latest postings from prairie hill directly in you e-mail inbox.

Elections and Theologians

Preachers are often admonished to "Keep politics out" of their sermons - and mostly I agree with this. My personal politics are almost never mentioned from the pulpit, because the pulpit is not about me. Yet this coming presidential election has witnessed an interesting phenomena - politicians who can't keep theologians out of their political campaign.

Normally, what I consider some of the best theologians - the real heavy-hitters who swim in the deep end of the theological pool - are relegated to seminaries and other graduate schools, or to the shelves of geeky amateur theologians like myself. At best, they may get wider exposure through humanities courses for undergraduates - but even then it is but a glance.

However, in this election cycle one of the twentieth century's great theologians has become political currency - for both parties. Senators Barak Obama and John McCain have both publicly laid claim (read the whole story) to the heritage of Reinhold Niebuhr. For those of you unfamiliar with Reinhold, he is the author of the well-known Serenity Prayer. Obama said of Niebuhr's work:

"I take away .. the compelling idea that there’s serious evil in the world, and hardship and pain. And we should be humble and modest in our belief we can eliminate those things. But we shouldn’t use that as an excuse for cynicism and inaction. I take away ... the sense we have to make these efforts knowing they are hard, and not swinging from naïve idealism to bitter realism"

Now, don't get me wrong, I love that good theology is becoming fodder for the national media - even if it is only briefly. But I have very serious doubts that these politicians, or the other candidates who have allude to Reinhold, have really engaged the theological and the political claims of this great theologian. Once a war-hawk and convinced of the progressive improvement of humankind (that is, a 19th century liberal), the first World War shattered Reinhold's vision and gave him a healthy dose of realism and a sense of the true depravity of humankind. Even a move in the opposite direction, toward socialism and pacifism, was shattered by the need to enter WWII and the harsh realities of communism.

For myself, I found Reinhold's two great works - The Nature and Destiny of Man and the Ironies of American History - to be compelling and formative for my own theology. But if Reinhold is shaping the thought of these politicians, one question to ask is "Which Reinhold?" The pre-war Reinhold Neihbuhr? The Depression-era Neibuhr? The Cold War Neibuhr? Because of course we all develop and change with time, and Reinhold was formed in the crucible of great change in the world - which produced great changes in his own theology.

In the end, even if these candidates are not truly engaged with Neibuhr's thought, their comments have at least brought about a resurgence in the visibility of his works. And the fact is, we could all benefit by re-engaging the writings of this great thinker.

(Tip of the hat to Father Chris at Even the Devils Believe for bringing this story to my attention).

Our Church Mouse

Theresa (the church secretary) and I had a little visitor at the office for a few hours today while Mom got some needed rest ...

How I spend my time off ...

There was a time - not very long ago - when my spare time was spent reading theology and books on the ministry, or even watching movies with my wife. But now, my heart has been stolen and this is how I spend as much of my free time as possible (note the matching bedhead).

Layla Margaret is doing great. She is starting to vocalize a little, those wonderful little cooing sounds that infants make, and she is picking up her head (although she has yet to master holding it up). We did very well yesterday - our first Sunday in church without Daddy sitting with us. I am told that she slept through the entire service - a good sign that Daddy's sermon wasn't too long.

Organizing Ministries

As a part of our semi-annual congregational meeting (on October 21 following the 10:05 service), we will be considering the report of the Strategic Planning Committee. Included in that report is a plan for organizing our congregational ministries according to the proposed mission statement. (You can read the entire strategic plan on the church website). The committee recommends organizing our ministries as follows:

Gathering around Word and Sacrament
· Worship Committee
· Director of Music & Worship
· Musicians
· Fellowship Events
· Ministry to the sick & homebound

Forming Disciples
· Christian Education: Youth and Adult Sunday School, Confirmation, Bible Studies
· Women of the ELCA
· Men in Mission
· Lutheran Youth Organization

Proclaiming the Gospel
· Evangelism
· Social outreach
· Property & Building
· Finances & Stewardship

Sunday Trivia Answer

Well, thank you all for playing Sunday Trivia!

Our congregational webmaster, Hal, got this one. The first American president born in the United States was Martin van Buren. Van Buren, the first president born on American soil after the revolution, was born in 1782 in New York State. He served as the 8th Vice-President of the US (under Andrew Jackson), and also the eigth President. He was the first without ancestry in the British Isles, and spoke Dutch as his first language.


For all you fellow Texans, it was Van Buren who denied the newly independent Republic of Texas' request to be annex by the United States in August of 1837. He also oversaw the the 1838 Trail of Tears, moving some 17,000 Cherokees to the reservations of Oklahoma.


Van Buren was resoundly trounced in his 1840 bid for re-election, and later in his life unsuccessfully ran for re-election on third-party tickets. He died at his home on July 24, 1862.


Stay tuned for next week's installment of Sunday Trivia!

Sunday Trivia

Here is the first in a series of trivia questions for you to ponder on your day of rest. Answers may be posted in commen