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Reaching our Children Michael Natale
O
ne of the major questions we face as the church today is how we convey Biblical relevancy to our youth. I believe this concern is very valid, and it is becoming more important to start when our children are young. As a first time pastor, I had a lot of questions and concerns about what material to use for Christian education in my congregation. I was looking for ways to help the children (and adults) in the church to interact with the Bible so that they could relate to it better in today’s culture. As I did some research I was pleasantly surprised to find that there were a bunch of resources offered by Faith & Fellowship Publishing to assist me in my ministry. In the year and a half I’ve served as pastor at Messiah Lutheran Church (Underwood, MN), I have used three resources available only through Faith & Fellowship Publishing. They are: Footsteps in the Promise for young families and for Sunday morning children’s sermons, ConfirmIT! for confirmation, and Biblical Foundations by David Rinden for adult bible study. Using these resources allows me to teach with confidence knowing that they are
doctrinally accurate, while staying relevant, and allowing me to teach within our own cultural context. I had a great time using Footsteps in the Promise for my children’s sermons! When I first received the books, I gave a copy to every child in the church and encouraged them to pester their parents to read it to them daily. The kids love running up during our worship service with their books to follow along as I read them the next section. It is always encouraging to hear children say that their parents have already read that section of the book and that it’s one of their favorites. We also give these books out to parents as their children are baptized and encourage them to read it often. If you haven’t used Faith & Fellowship before, I want to encourage you to take some time and look into the material they offer and see if they can be a resource for your ministry. Pastor Michael Natale serves as pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church in Underwood, MN.
Learn more: resources.clbnetwork.org
SEPTEMBER NEWSLETTER 2013
Our Changing Culture As God’s Church in North America, we are facing some difficult realities as we watch more and more young adults leave their faith communities. We can’t simply invest in their high school years and expect things to turn around. We need to start when they’re young. Creating a strong faith environment at home is extremely important because parents have the biggest influence on the faith of a young adult. How are we doing? • Number of minutes per week that parents spend in meaningful conversation with their children: 3.5 * • Culture’s definition of “family” is rapidly changing as 42% of live births are to unmarried women (Kinnaman, p. 46). ** Culture is influencing teenagers of all backgrounds and faiths, so it’s important that the Church come alongside parents in raising their children. Fuller Youth Institute listed three important findings for the Church’s discipleship of students growing up in the Church, and I’ll summarize them here. *** 1. Teenagers need to build relationships with adults of all ages. 2. We overestimate youth group graduates’ readiness for the struggles ahead. 3. An overemphasis on behaviors can sabotage faith long-term. As adults, let’s show our youth the power of the Gospel through our brokenness, showing them God’s grace in action. Don’t rely on Sunday School and assume they can make it on their own. Think about it, can we make it on our own? No! God is working in us, and God also gave us his Church. So love them, dischiple them and remind them that God, in his holiness, expects perfection, and Jesus is our perfect savior! Tim Mathiesen serves as Director of Communications & Prayer for the CLB.
Church of the Lutheran Brethren • United States: www.CLBA.org • Canada: www.LBCANADA.org • International Mission: www.LBIM.org • Lutheran Brethren Seminary: www.LBS.edu
Confirmation Mentors
R
esearch has shown that if one adult says “hi” to a student each day in a school setting the students’ attendance increases, discipline issues decrease, and academic success increases. This began to make me think what it would look like if each of our confirmation students had a mentor who would “walk” with them through the confirmation process? How would it impact the individual student’s faith? How would it impact the church? As the ninth grade confirmation teacher at our church, I thought it was time to try and answer these questions. As a high school science teacher for 18 years, I have spent a very large portion of my life interacting with students. One thing I have observed is the increased isolation of our youth. We have become an age segregated society in many ways. Even in our churches it is rare to have cross generational events. Our worship services and small groups are commonly established by using age as a primary factor. But I have also noticed how the positive influence of one adult in a student’s life can change the student’s life forever. The most positive influence we can have as “spiritual mothers and fathers” is to point our children to Jesus. So, it made sense to be intentional about partnering with parents to help
their children experience a real faith in Jesus Christ through a mentor in our confirmation program. In order to establish a mentor for each student we developed certain criteria for the mentors. Obviously, professing a faith in Jesus Christ was paramount. In addition, mentors must agree with the doctrinal teachings of the Lutheran Brethren Church. Students and their families had the ability to choose a mentor for their students if they wished. About half of the students’ chose their own mentors, many of whom chose a parent or close family friend. We found mentors for the rest of the students through prayer and personal invitations. The lessons allowed students to interact with their mentors through the content from the Catechism by discussing issues and questions which are relevant to students’ lives, studying and memorizing scripture, debriefing discussions and activities based on the topic of the teaching. Quite a remarkable thing happened over the course of the year. Students and mentors were growing in their relationship with one another and their relationship with the Lord. One of the most affirming parts of the whole year for me was Confirmation Sunday. On this day the mentors prayed a blessing over each of their students as they were confirmed. The personal connection was obvious as I observed a student who did not want to be in confirmation at the beginning of the year give his mentor a hug and thank him in front of our congregation. More importantly, that same student professed his new found faith in Jesus! The impact on our church from our confirmation mentor program has resulted in getting closer to one another and Jesus! This is Good News for all! Todd Lenz attends Bethesda Lutheran Brethren Church in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
You can contact Todd at the following email address: toddlenz@sbcglobal.net
Some Reasons To Give Lutheran Brethren Seminary
Distance education launched this Fall, and thirteen students have registered so far this semester. Your giving will impact the ability to continue providing this flexible in-ministry training for our church leaders. Church of the Lutheran Brethren
Beautiful artwork accompanies the poetry on each page
Equipping Parents
Footsteps in the Promise follows God’s promise of salvation from Genesis to Revelation, reaching young children with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and equipping young parents as they teach their children about God’s mission, his Son, and the salvation of humankind. Equipped with commentary, Footsteps is a resource designed to assist parents as they teach their children about Jesus Christ. Each page of poetry includes Bible verses that follow the promise of Christ, guiding families in Bible study.
How the book is being used
By Pastors: • As a resource for children sermins, and confirmation class devotions • As a gift to young parents as a baptism gift from the church. By Sunday Schools: • As a tool given to Sunday School students to help them study the Bible. For Fund-raisers: • Available in quantity discounts, Footsteps has been sold to raise money for camp scholorships.
www.footstepsbook.com
or call Faith & Fellowship 1-800-332-9232 / ffbooks@clba.org
There’s More Online! CLB resources resources.clbnetwork.org
There are many ways and reasons to give to the Church of the Lutheran Brethren. Below are some specific examples of ways that your giving will impact the future of the CLB.
International Mission
Danny and Mandy Bronson were called this year to go to the Bilala people of Chad. Please consider partnering in covering the cost of this step in reaching the unreached with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
North American Mission
Please pray for our regional pastors as they cultivate church planting efforts in North America. How is God calling you to partner in this vision to reach your neighbors and our rapidly changing culture?
Lutheran Brethren Youth Convention 2013 A Magazine for Youth
Nearly 400 students and leaders attended the Youth Convention in Estes Park, Colorado last month.
The Gospel at Youth Convention! I wish our “older” generation, who are the main supporters of our youth in attending the biennial CLB Youth Convention, could have been a “mouse in the corner” this year to hear the messages that were preached to our youth. Many of you have supported various youth fundraisers that enable the youth to attend the convention, and your efforts are well worth it! Our youth heard six “home-run messages” that clearly proclaimed the gospel to our young people, while engaging them in the world in which they live. We may never know all that happened in the hearts of those youth, but I was proud of both Pastor Roger Viksness and Pastor Jason Lang as they preached the Word of God with no holds barred. Besides the main sessions, there were also some great seminars. One pastor told
me that he was up until 1:00 a.m. talking with one of his students about the “guys only” seminar titled “The Measure of a Man.” Even the entertainment was clearly focused on worshipping our God: The concert by The Digital Age projected all of the lyrics to their songs on the screen, and it all glorified God and lifted our eyes to worship him. The convention accomplished all of this in a context of fun activities, developing new relationships, and enjoying God’s creation! My heart swells with gratitude to God, for our youth leaders, and for our youth who are learning to navigate a very difficult world in the context of God’s Word. Dr. Joel Nordtvedt serves as regional pastor for the Central Region.
God Works Through His Word Right after a parent information meeting a 17 year old girl walked up to me and begged to go to YC’13 (Lutheran Brethren Youth Convention 2013) and I was surprised because she never attended youth group since it was “her sister’s thing.” I explained that registration was closed and the only way she could go was if another girl backed out. A week later, we received news that one of our students wouldn’t be able to attend. I called her and she jumped through the phone with excitement. This ended up being more than the trip to Colorado. God had been nudging her for weeks but she wasn’t sure what to do about it and YC’13 was exactly what she was looking for. She spent 22 hours on a bus with kids she didn’t know very well and started talking to new friends, she zip-lined over the trees and rafted on whitewater, and then at YC’13
Joel Nordtvedt
Jason Lang
she worshiped God like she had never worshiped him before. God reignited her faith as we worshiped, played and discussed God’s Word together. During one of the evening sessions, as Pastor Roger Viksnes was sharing the Gospel, her future was revealed to her with new clarity that cut through her indecision. She came home excited to worship, reading the Scriptures on her own for the first time and looking forward to what God is doing in and through her life. I don’t know where her relationship with God was before we left for YC’13, but I know she is intimately following Jesus today. Rev. Jason Lang serves as pastor of Emmaus Road Church in DeWitt, Iowa. www.EmmausRoadOnline.org
I thank God for the planning committee and the volunteers who make the youth convention happen every other year. It’s a huge task, and a lot of time and energy go into the three days that we pray impacts the students who attend from across North America. Two years ago, as the Communications Ministry of the Church of the Lutheran Brethren, we asked ourselves how we could help extend the impact of convention beyond those three days? Our answer was to squeeze in another “issue of Faith & Fellowship” but with a youth-focused twist. We decided to call it “Identity.” This year was the second issue. Each issue opens with three main articles, and they address three foundational truths that we want our students to remember as they graduate high school and most likely move away from home. These three truths are Word Alone, Christ Alone and Faith Alone. This magazine is now online, and a Facebook group was created to keep these conversations going between each of the youth conventions. Tim Mathiesen serves as Director of Communications & Prayer for the CLB.
Go online to read the magazine: www.CLBNetwork.org/identity www.CLBA.org/giving
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CLB Contribution Report Received as of July 31, 2011 CLB Fiscal Year End: April 30, 2014 Fiscal Year Goal: $2,525,000 Received (May-July): $288,563 (11%)
c h u rc h p la n ti ng summit Fall 2013
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Online Church Planting Summit Date: October 5, 2013 Time: 10:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. CDT Register and Learn More Online: clba.org/churchplanting
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Citations from page 1 * California State University Northridge, The Sourcebook for Teaching Science, Television & Health, < http://www.csun.edu/science/health/docs/tv&health.html>. ** Kinnaman, David, You Lost Me, Grand Rapids, MI, Baker Books, 2011. *** Powell, Kara, What Makes Faith Stick During College?, Fuller Youth Institute, September 7, 2011.
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