Lutherans ENGAGE the WORLD May – June 2015, Vol. 3, Issue 5
Lutherans
ENGAGE the WORLD May – June 2015
vol. 3, no. 5
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Teaching the Faith to Strengthen Congregations
The Secret Lives of Seminarians From Foster Care to Adulthood
Mission Friends
Rethinking Educational Ministries within Congregations
16 Engaging the Church in the work of witness and mercy across the globe in our life together. LUTHERANS ENGAGE THE WORLD is published bi-monthly by The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. © 2015 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Reproduction for parish use does not require permission. Such reproductions, however, should credit LUTHERANS ENGAGE THE WORLD as a source. Print editions are sent to LCMS donors, rostered workers and missionaries. An online version is available (lcms.org/lutheransengage). To receive the print edition, we invite you to make a financial gift for LCMS global witness and mercy work. Unless otherwise noted, all photos are property of the LCMS. 888-THE LCMS (843-5267) lcms.org
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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DELIVERING THE FAITH
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“I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.” (Jude 1:3)
Global Seminary Initiative
First Graduations Take Place at LCMS-Supported Tanzania Center
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It’s who we are. It’s what we do best. In this issue of Lutherans Engage the World, we’re talking about how we in the LCMS deliver the faith. Confirmation, Sunday school, Bible class and vacation Bible school are familiar in our parishes, bringing young and old together to learn and grow in God’s Word. What is delivered flows from and points back to altar and pulpit, where the one, holy, Christian and apostolic faith is proclaimed in Word and Sacrament. Check out our story about how an LCMS parish has made education — and especially confirmation — a top priority. In our two seminaries, we vigorously prepare future pastors and deaconesses to deliver the faith in the Synod’s congregations and institutions. Almost unique among American seminaries, our seminaries place a high value on studying God’s Word in the original languages, along with the careful study of God’s Word and Lutheran doctrine and instruction in applying these things to the care of souls.
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Strengthening the GSI, the Chemnitz Library Project is making it possible for Lutheran seminaries and seminarians around the globe to access and study the very best theological commentaries, textbooks and resources. Thank you for your ongoing support that enables Lutherans everywhere to ENGAGE the world with the Word of life! Take a few moments to read about the difference you are making, by God’s grace, as the Church does what she does best: delivering the faith that was delivered once for all to the saints!
Tackling God’s Mission ‘On the Cheap’
S TA F F David L. Strand Pamela J. Nielsen Erica Schwan Megan K. Mertz Erik M. Lunsford Lisa Moeller Chrissy A. Thomas
Worldwide, the LCMS is highly regarded for our expertise in teaching the faith. The most common request from our 36 partner churches is: “Help us train our pastors so they, in turn, can teach the children of God.” Through the Global Seminary Initiative (GSI), we are meeting those requests. Your prayers and gifts are making it possible for us to send theologians to teach in partner seminaries and for the best students from around the world to study at LCMS seminaries.
In Christ, Pamela J. Nielsen Associate Executive Director, LCMS Communications
executive director, communications executive editor manager, design services managing editor/staff writer photojournalist/staff writer designer designer
EDITORIAL OFFICE 314-996-1215 1333 S. Kirkwood Road St. Louis, MO 63122-7295 lutheransengage@lcms.org lcms.org/lutheransengage
Cover image: Ann Anderson (right), director of Children’s Ministries at Mount Calvary Lutheran Church in Holdrege, Neb., laughs with a student during a Sunday school class. PHOTO: LCMS COMMUNICATIONS/ERIK M. LUNSFORD
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Brookfield Lutheran Church (BLC), Brookfield, Wis., has been revising and improving its confirmation classes and other educational offerings since 1999. Director of Christian Education (DCE) Mary Stafford answers some questions to provide insight.
DCE Mary Stafford
by Roger Drinnon
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How were you led to this ministry? I was blessed with opportunities to be active in my home church, Mount Olive in Des Moines, to grow in my faith in Jesus, which shaped me as a person gifted with leadership and administration. My calling was affirmed in my undergraduate studies at Concordia University Chicago (CUC), as I looked for opportunities to use my gifts. Ultimately, it was my personal faith relationship with Jesus that brought me to where I am today.
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How and where did you get the necessary education? I graduated from CUC with a dual certification as a DCE and elementary education teacher. I greatly appreciated my studies at CUC, where I grew in understanding of Lutheran theology and especially the Bible.
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What are the joys inherent in this type of ministry? Being in the Word of God with the opportunity to share the Good News with others is amazing. Honestly, it is the joy that fuels my tank daily! I am charged when small groups of youth or adults are in conversation over Scripture, sharing questions, insights and reflections.
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What are the challenges? The greatest challenge for all of us is ordering our lives to remain centered in the Word while maintaining a regular relationship with the faith community. So much fills our time, our minds and our lives to distract us from what is most important in life.
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What about the revision to confirmation and other educational offerings at your parish? Changes in our confirmation program began in 1999 following [a holistic] evaluation. What resulted was an overhaul of the plans for confirmation. … Changes were made in the goals, the number of years for confirmationbased instruction, the number of confirmation/ celebration events, the handling of first communion, the timetable for implementation, etc.
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Are there any notable teaching approaches you want to mention? Life in Jesus Youth. The program comprehensively covers the developmental years of our youth in order to achieve long-term results. … Besides Sunday mornings, the program also includes personal spiritual activities, servant trips, a mission trip, discipleship events, personal testimonies, service opportunities in the church, Bible/catechism study and memorization, mentoring, and supporting youth fellowship and ministry activities.
DCE Mary Stafford leads a small-group class for parents of teens preparing for testimony at Brookfield Lutheran Church.
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hat’s the rationale behind your W teaching methods and the curriculum used? First is the concept of disciples. Nurturing disciples is different than “taking a class” or “learning a teaching.” It involves the headto-heart connection that shapes a person. Second is supporting parents in their biblical role of being the primary faith nurturers in a child’s life. … Credibility increases when a student hears a consistent message at home and at church. Third is our emphasis on relationships. We intentionally work to build relationships in every aspect of ministry.
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Do you employ any special teaching or learning concepts? In our youth program, we have four master teachers who are each training up an additional master teacher successor in a two-year curriculum for a particular level. … Students gather in small groups of peers with an adult small-group leader, who mentors and guides discussions to deeper relevance.
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How do you compare your parish education now to 10 years ago? Our approach to discipleship started in 1999 with Pastor Al Klatt, before my tenure at BLC. He had a vision to develop followers of Jesus who grew in faith nurtured by their family, supported by their church community and mentored by master teachers and small-group leaders. I came on board in 2004. My role was to put the process into motion, train up leaders, communicate with families and leaders, and monitor the needs of youth to continue to focus on relevancy.
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How do you compare your youth education now to what you had as a youth? In many ways, what we have developed at BLC is not new. We strive to encourage believers at all ages to remember we grow as disciples of Jesus our entire lives. As disciples, we learn how to share our faith every day in simple ways. Roger Drinnon is manager of Editorial Services for LCMS Communications.
PHOTOS: LCMS COMMUNICATIONS/ERIK M. LUNSFORD
▶ View photos from Brookfield Lutheran Church: lcms.org/photo/brookfield2015
Children make crosses from palm fronds during a hands-on activity at Brookfield Lutheran Church.
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“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
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(Matt. 28:19–20)
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ur Lord always keeps two things together: baptizing and teaching. One doesn’t go on without the other. This is still the pattern in the life of the church. First baptize, then teach. This issue of Lutherans Engage the World focuses on the topic of parish education — the content of the faith, the teaching and sharing of the faith with the next generation. Why is this done? How is this done? Who does it? What does it look like at home and around the world? In recent years, a few lone voices have lamented that Christian education has taken a back seat in too many congregations. All the way back in the 1990s, the LCMS concluded that if a congregation seeks to strengthen its impact on faith and loyalty, involving members of all ages in quality Christian education is essential. A recent study conducted jointly by the Institute for Religious Education at Concordia University, Nebraska and the LCMS Office of National Mission is giving further clarity to the relationship between strong Christian education and healthy congregations. As we talk about the health and vitality of congregations, the importance of the role of Christian education cannot be overstated.
The task of teaching in the church is given to the pastor, but not the pastor alone. Each of us, in our daily vocations and stations of life, has a role to play in teaching the faith to those placed into our care. The LCMS has a long and rich history of pastors who are strong teachers — pastors who are well-trained and equipped to teach the Word of God to children and adults. But there are even more. We rejoice in Lutheran educators who not only teach core academic subjects but also the faith in our day schools. We have been blessed with directors of Christian education who are uniquely trained to help lead and support the work of teaching the faith in our congregations. As the entire church talks about revitalizing and strengthening congregations, let’s keep Christian education as a critical part of those conversations.
In His name, Rev. Bart Day Executive Director, LCMS Office of National Mission
Members chat during fellowship time at Living Faith Lutheran Church in Cumming, Ga.
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Teaching the Faith to Strengthen Congregations
Seminarian Jacob Benson chats over coffee at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind.
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Secret Lives
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e’s a Clark Kent look-alike, a millennial from Worland, Wyo., who likes comics and won’t turn down a cup of good coffee. His name is Jacob Benson, and he’s studying to be a pastor at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind. Benson considered becoming a pastor while in college, where he noticed that “religious movements, especially Christianity, were compartmentalized to the point that the voices of actual adherents were muffled.” He expressed his frustration to his father, along with his desire to blend true theological dialogue with teaching and mercy work. “He told me that sounded a lot like being a pastor, and I told him that was the stupidest thing I’d ever heard,” Benson recalls. “Two years later, I’m at the seminary.” The Rev. Marcus Zill, director of LCMS U, the Synod’s campus-ministry arm, also was formative in Benson’s life. “When we first met,” Benson recalls, “I had shoulder-length dreadlocks and would rather debate whether or not Paul actually wrote the letter to the Ephesians than hear anything he had to say about Jesus or the Church.” But Zill “slowly shepherded me back to orthodoxy and, in the process, became like an older brother to
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by Adriane Heins
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Seminarian Jacob Benson studies at Concordia Theological Seminary’s Walther Library.
me … . The patience he showed in dealing with my ignorance, unbelief and apathy was the exact loving kindness that a shepherd should show to his flock.”
Intense and Rewarding Benson’s days are now “intense but incredibly rewarding.” Structured around the daily prayer offices, his seminary life involves eating in the cafeteria, studying in the library, doing plenty of coursework and engaging in conversation with classmates and instructors. “There’s no barrier between profs and students,” he says. “The professors are all ordained, and there’s an amount of respect that goes along with that, but because they’re all pastors, they truly care about the students and the future of the Church and want to get to know us and care for us in any way they can.” Even better than that? Seminary formation intentionally shapes his day around time spent in prayer and the 6
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Benson listens during class.
study of God’s Word. “Placing worship — especially receiving the Lord’s Supper — alongside academic training for the Office helps implant in us the idea that book knowledge can never exist outside of the context of a rich, Christ-centered devotional life,” Benson notes. It’s fitting, then, that his future congregation and its members are among those for whom he prays daily. “I pray that
they will be patient with me,” he says. “I know that my future congregation will have a lot to teach me, especially in my first few years out of seminary.” And he hopes they’ll know one other thing about him as a pastor, and all of his classmates, too: “We’re regular human beings,” he says simply. “We do what we do because we’re motivated by the sacrificial death of Christ Jesus.” lcms.org/givenow/globalmission
Every Day a
Sunny Day Joshua Palmer of Tuscon, Ariz., is, first and foremost, husband to Krissy and father to Juliet, John, Charlie, James, Patrick, Joshie and Isaac. While his wife and kids, he says, “make every day a sunny day for me,” it also seems keeping tabs on seven little ones will suit him well for shepherding a very different kind of flock one day. Perhaps that’s why he’s
Palmer and his family.
Seminarian Joshua Palmer studies at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis.
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Seminarian Joshua Palmer walks to class at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis.
studying to be a pastor too, at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. For Palmer, the desire to be a pastor is simple: “I basically can’t think of a better way to spend my life than spreading the Good News that Jesus died on the cross to save you from every last sin you’ve ever committed, and that now you are fully accepted as God’s child to bask in His love, which will never change or end.” Palmer’s background varies from that of some of his classmates. “My mom and dad raised me in a little Baptist congregation that had a burning desire to spread the Gospel all over the world,” he recalls. “We had missionaries in all the time to tell us about the progress they were making translating the New Testament into the language of some remote tribe in Papua New Guinea. I like to joke that my mother thought that the highest calling in life was to be a missionary who was eaten by cannibals, but a solid second place was to be a pastor.” Together, he says, his parents “showed me how powerful the Word of God was, both in their lives and by placing a strong emphasis on learning and memorizing the Bible.” And the Word works. Now at the seminary, Palmer’s days are packed full, making him thankful for the uniquely Lutheran education he’s received. 8
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“More and more seminaries in America are no longer requiring that students learn Greek and Hebrew,” he explains, “and I think that’s a real problem. I’m thankful that Greek and Hebrew were stressed during my seminary career, as they help me daily to understand the Bible better.” The other game-changer? Vicarage year. “You get two years of theological training first, which is a necessary prerequisite to shape your thinking. But then you get thrown into the life of a congregation and are given real responsibilities there for a whole year,” he notes. “It’s then that the Holy Spirit can subtly teach you a thousand things you may never learn in a classroom, as well as the humility necessary to handle God’s Word and His people.”
Tremendously Humbling And the day for this is coming. Palmer’s seminary formation will soon be complete, and he’ll receive his first call to serve the Lord’s people. “It is tremendously humbling to think that God will be working through me,” he says, “using my hands to baptize His people and to feed them Communion, for example. God will be using me to proclaim His Word. And He will expect me to care for His people just as He does. It’s a colossal responsibility.”
And yet, with that responsibility comes great joy. Palmer is already looking forward to teaching people about the Bible. “I love that moment when the Holy Spirit suddenly makes a truth about God clear to one of His people. Watching their face light up is like watching the sun come out on a rainy day,” he says. It’s a simple joy, made all the more rare by the fact that “we live in a culture that is becoming more and more hostile to the preaching and teaching of the Gospel,” he says. “I pray that God will guard and protect the minds and souls of His people … and I pray that God will keep me from giving any offense except the offense of the Gospel.” Single and married. Fresh out of college and second career. St. Louis and Fort Wayne. In and by both, the Lord is forming and shaping His servants — men like Benson and Palmer — for lives of service to Him and to His Church. And as He does, He reminds the rest of us — those in the pew — that He really does do all things well. Adriane Heins is managing editor of The Lutheran Witness and editor of Catechetical Information for LCMS Communications. Learn more: ▶ Concordia Seminary: csl.edu ▶ Concordia Theological Seminary: ctsfw.edu lcms.org/givenow/globalmission
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From Foster Care to Adulthood RSO Program Eases the Transition by Megan K. Mertz
PHOTO: LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF THE SOUTH
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very year, some 1,300 young people in foster care turn 18 and “age out” of the system in Texas. At this time, they usually have to leave their foster home and strike out on their own. But without a support system, they struggle to become self-sufficient and often end up homeless, in jail or sleeping on friends’ couches. In the summer of 2013, Michael became one of this number. The young man, whose last name is being withheld to protect his privacy, entered foster care at age 8 and spent the next 10 years bouncing between nearly 15 foster homes and residential centers. After graduating from high school — a feat only 50 percent of youth in foster care accomplish — he went to college. But after two difficult semesters, Michael moved back to Austin, Texas, where he lived out of his car and worked at a fast-food restaurant. Every evening, he either moved between his friends’ houses or slept in his car. That’s when Michael heard about the BeREAL Supervised Independent Living program, which helps 18- to 22-year-olds transition from foster care to adult life. Lutheran Social Services of the South (LSSS), a Recognized Service Organization (RSO) of the LCMS, started the program in September 2014 in response to a growing need in the community. BeREAL provides each resident with a fully furnished apartment and a stipend for utilities and groceries. A case worker helps residents set and work toward short- and long-term goals. Residents are required to work, attend college or do a combination of the two. The program currently has eight residents, including Michael, although Program Director Sarah Crocker said they plan to add about 12 more in the next few months. This summer, Crocker also hopes to begin a mentorship component that will pair volunteers from Redeemer Lutheran Church in Austin with BeREAL residents. lcms.org/givenow/globalmission
Mentors will meet regularly with residents to provide support and guidance in navigating everyday situations, such as riding public transportation, getting a driver’s license or opening a bank account. Crocker said she saw the great need for transitional services like this while working as a social worker in prisons. She was struck by the fact that nearly 90 percent of the inmates she worked with had been in foster care. “It makes sense to stop that cycle before it starts,” she said. “We provide support, hope and guidance before young people enter these lifelong systems. This is the first program of its type in Austin; there’s no one else doing what we’re doing.” In 2014, the LCMS gave the BeREAL program a $30,000 grant. The program currently relies on grants like this, although LSSS staff members hope to make the program self-supporting in a few years. BeREAL also has formed an important partnership with a company that owns several apartment complexes in the area. The company is lenient with the application requirements for BeREAL residents and gives the program a substantial discount on rent. The program offers “an opportunity to truly serve the least of these, and it provides the residents with the opportunity to hear
the Gospel of Jesus Christ,” said Dr. Kurt Senske, LSSS president and chief executive officer. “By working with these students day in and day out, there are numerous opportunities to witness through example and by our words. “We’re not only providing the earthly hope of a productive life, but also the eternal hope that only our Lord and Savior can provide,” Senske continued. For Michael, the program has been life changing. He now attends a local college, and he hopes one day to attend law school. Upon graduation, he will join the 2 percent of young people in foster care to graduate from college. “This program is probably the biggest blessing I could’ve ever received,” Michael said. “My goal for the future is to continue in school as planned, and this program gives me the amazing opportunity to save up some money … . I feel like my future is pretty bright.” Megan K. Mertz is managing editor of Lutherans Engage the World and a staff writer for LCMS Communications.
“This program is probably the biggest blessing I could 've ever received … . I feel like my future is pretty bright.” — Michael, a resident of Lutheran Social Services of the South’s BeREAL Supervised Independent Living program in Austin, Texas May–June 2015
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Global Seminary/ Chemnitz Library Initiatives The Global Seminary Initiative (GSI) strengthens international Lutheran church bodies by strengthening their seminaries, while Chemnitz Library Initiative (CLI) focuses on enhancing their libraries.
RECENT CLI PROJECTS
RECENT GSI PROJECTS
KENYA books, on-site assessment, staff and student training
GHANA seminary building
ETHIOPIA books, on-site assessment and consultation
KENYA library expansion
NIGERIA books, on-site assessment, staff training
ETHIOPIA textbooks, kitchen/dining hall, visiting professors
TOGO books and on-site assessment
RUSSIA financial support
ARGENTINA books and on-site assessment RUSSIA building library collection
LEARN MORE: lcms.org/makeagift/gsi
PHOTO: LCMS COMMUNICATIONS/ERIK M. LUNSFORD
SOUTH AFRICA books, staff training, library reorganization
TOTAL GSI BUDGET: $1.2 MILLION
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p Twenty-one new pastoral candidates prepare to be ordained at a March 15 service of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania. More than 1,000 worshipers attended.
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p Pastoral candidate Frank Mdindi is ordained in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania.
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anzanian Pastor Frank Mdindi isn’t yet used to being called “pastor.” On a Friday in March, he jotted notes during a church history class taught by the Rev. Dr. Lawrence Rast Jr., president of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind. (CTSFW). The following Monday, by the grace of God, Mdindi was ordained. Now, he said, he knows “how to stand in the Lutheran church with the Confessions.” In a nearby thatched hut, cows grazed outside while Deaconess Amy Rast, associate director of deaconess formation at CTSFW, taught a group of Tanzanian deaconess students. Deaconess candidate Edna Shoo listened intently to the lecture. She said she benefited from the deaconess training and counseling and wants to continue learning with refresher courses. Her dream is to minister to widows and children in the church because of her own experience as a widow. Mdindi and Shoo are both students at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania — lcms.org/givenow/globalmission
South-East of Lake Victoria Diocese’s (ELCT— SELVD) Bishop Emmanuel Makala Training Center in northern Tanzania. At the entrance to the center, a young boy shepherds animals along a field dotted with dazzling yellow sunflowers. The Rasts, along with other members of CTSFW’s faculty, teach short-term classes in the center’s two-year training program. Although the LCMS has worked with the ELCT—SELVD for 13 years, the partnership with the training center began in 2013 when Bishop Emmanuel Makala of the diocese requested CTSFW’s help in developing the program. The LCMS MidSouth District provides financial support for May–June 2015
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Equipping Seminary Libraries
Deaconess Edna Shoo (right) is one of seven new deaconesses commissioned in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania.
the theological education of the pastors, and funding for the training program is made possible by a grant from the LCMS Global Seminary Initiative (GSI). The Rev. Dr. Timothy Quill, dean of International Studies and associate professor of Pastoral Ministry and Mission for CTSFW, oversees the Tanzanian project. The GSI is a special initiative for the LCMS that seeks to fill the need for trained pastors and leaders who are native to the regions and cultures in which they serve. Visiting LCMS professors and pastors help increase the capacity of partner church seminaries and encourage their faculties and students. It serves as a bridge to emerging or established church partners, as they build strong faculties of their own. The initiative works in three ways: (1) it awards scholarships for the top students from established and emerging partner church bodies to attend Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, or CTSFW for advanced degrees; (2) it provides scholarships for students in other countries to attend regional seminaries in their own areas; and (3) it sends LCMS professors and qualified pastors to teach at regional seminaries around the world and to hold continuing-education classes. So far, professors have taught in South Africa, Siberia, Argentina, Chile, India, Kenya, Lithuania and elsewhere. Theological education is one of the six mission priorities of the LCMS, and the GSI is a big part of that. The day after the Rasts’ lectures, Quill stood in the towering Ebenezer Cathedral in Shinyanga and spoke to the 21 pastoral
The Chemnitz Library Initiative (CLI), named after the great Lutheran Reformer Martin Chemnitz, is part of the Global Seminary Initiative. It seeks to “strengthen confessional seminaries around the world by providing materials, expertise and training,” said CTSFW President Rev. Dr. Lawrence Rast Jr. But it’s also about the relationships that help make it possible to exist. “It’s the spirit of reaching seminary to seminary, library to library, to raise up theological education,” said the Rev. Robert
candidates and seven deaconess candidates, along with their family members and other guests. “Today we give thanks to God as we celebrate the graduation of the first pastoral and deaconess classes from the Bishop Makala Training Center,” he said. “Be alert, study, keep on reading,” Lawrence Rast advised later at graduation, reciting Martin Luther’s words as he spoke to the candidates. “Truly you cannot read too much in the Scripture; and what you read, you cannot understand too well; and what you understand, you cannot teach too well; and what you teach well, you cannot live too well. Believe me, I know by experience! It is the devil, it is the world, it is our own flesh that storm and rage against us. Therefore dear sirs and brothers, pastors and preachers: pray, read, study, be diligent! I tell you the truth: there is no time for us to lazy around, to snore and sleep in these evil, wicked times. So bring your talents that have been entrusted to you and reveal the mystery of Christ.1” During the graduation ceremony, pastoral candidate Lucas Mwigulu joyfully accepted his “certificate of accomplishment” from Rast. It was next to impossible to catch him without a beaming smile all day. “When Jesus ascended and left the apostles, and after then apostles became church fathers, so now we are on behalf of them,” Mwigulu later said, reflecting on his upcoming ordination. “Through us, the mission of Jesus will be fulfilled.” The next day, more than 1,000 worshipers gathered at the cathedral to watch as
Roethemeyer, CTSFW director of Library and Information Services. Roethemeyer and the Rev. Dr. Timothy Quill have worked since 1997 with Lutheran seminary libraries in places like Russia, Argentina, the Baltics, India, Brazil, Togo, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa and now Ethiopia. The purpose of CLI is to strengthen Lutheran identity around the world, while providing solid theological education to the Synod’s emerging and established church partners.
the 21 pastoral candidates were ordained and the seven deaconesses commissioned. Makala preached during the service on spiritual nourishment through the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Following the service, he invited Rast, Quill, LCMS Office of International Mission Area Director for Eastern and Southern Africa Rev. Shauen Trump and a group from the LCMS MidSouth District to offer greetings to the congregation. Thanks to the GSI, Tanzania is only one of many places where the LCMS is helping to strengthen the educational opportunities available to future church leaders and pastors around the world. Not only that, but the LCMS is preparing to reach out in mercy by providing Tanzanian churches with tin roofs, as churches often lack the funds necessary to build beyond four walls and the wooden pews, altar and pulpit. “We trust [the LCMS and CTSFW], and we trust their theology as true,” said Makala. Now, they look forward together in the journey of continuing education. Makala said the theological education from CTSFW cuts through the theological “confusion all around the world” surrounding the Word of God. For a church that is growing by about 2,000 new people a year, Makala said the education of church workers is of the utmost importance. Erik M. Lunsford is the photojournalist and a staff writer for LCMS Communications. ▶ View the photo gallery: lcms.org/photo/ tanzania2015
1 Martin Luther, introduction to Spangenberg’s Postille of the Year 1542, Vol. XIV, Page 379ff. (From C.F.W. Walther, “Third Sermon at the Synodical Convention,” trans. Everette W. Meier, in C.F.W. Walther, Lutherische Brosamen: Predigten und Reden (St. Louis: Druckerei der Synode von Missouri, Ohio, u. a. Staaten, 1867), Page 11.
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Updated Curriculum Explores Work in 35 Countries by Megan K. Mertz
“When I was about 7 years old,” said the Rev. David Preus, “I wanted to be a missionary just like the apostle Paul in the Arch Book.”
PHOTO: LCMS COMMUNICATIONS/ERIK M. LUNSFORD
Now years later, Preus; his wife, Jennifer; and their six children, ages 1 to 11, are preparing to move to the Dominican Republic, where Preus will serve as a missionary for the LCMS. His work will include planting new churches and supporting the growing Dominican Lutheran church. The Rev. Dr. Edward Grimenstein, associate executive director of the LCMS Office of International Mission (OIM), said Preus’ story is not unique. “We have people applying to be missionaries who are 30, 40, 50 years old, and they still remember when they were 10, and a missionary came to their church, and they got excited about missions,” Grimenstein said. “They don’t want to be missionaries just because they’ll get to travel; they want to be missionaries because they want to tell people about Jesus. That’s awesome.” To encourage LCMS members — especially children — to become more
Friederich
Tiko
mission-minded, the OIM is releasing an updated version of Mission Friends, a free program that explores the wonders God is doing in proclaiming His Good News of salvation to the world. The program, which was originally created in the 90s, is geared for fourthgraders, although it can be adapted for younger or older children. Through the updated curriculum, children will learn about the 35 countries where LCMS missionaries currently are working. Materials for each country include passages from the Bible and Small Catechism; a story about the mission field; a coloring page; games, crafts and recipes; and a devotion for families to read together. Thanks to assistance from Concordia Publishing House, Mission Friends will be available in two formats: (1) a digital version for use on computers or other devices, and (2) a downloadable PDF version. On June 15, materials for the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean will be available. Materials for the other four world regions — Africa, Eurasia, Southern Asia and Oceania, and Asia Pacific — will become available on a quarterly basis.
Gina
Eventually, Grimenstein also hopes to add a pen-pal component to Mission Friends, so children in the United States can connect by email or Skype with the Preus children and with those of other missionary families. “By this summer, we will have 200 missionary kids on the field,” Grimenstein said. “We want the LCMS to begin supporting missions again by realizing the sacrifices missionary families make. [The pen-pal component] is one way to care for our missionaries and their children.” Learn more: ▶ Visit lcms.org/missionfriends for updates about the June 15 release
Pinga
Join Friederich, T iko, Gina, Pinga and Pablo on a journey to learn about
mission work around the world. Pablo will introduce children to the work of missionaries in Latin America, such as the Rev. David Preus and his family, lcms.org/givenow/globalmission
Pablo and the Preuses May–June 2015
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Rethinking
Educational Ministries within Congregations
PHOTOS: LCMS COMMUNICATIONS/ERIK M. LUNSFORD
by Roger Drinnon and Mark Blanke
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A father and son worship at Mount Calvary Lutheran Church in Holdrege, Neb. Nathan Birtell participates in a Bible study after worship at Mount Calvary.
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As we look for better ways to teach the Gospel and the Lutheran Confessions to adults and children alike, it’s no surprise to find the Bible helps. esus was THE master teacher. He was often referred to as “rabbi,” which means “teacher.” We have more stories of Jesus teaching than we do of Him preaching. He asked probing questions that were focused on the life of the learner. He used words and stories that His learners could relate to and understand. He often didn’t give answers. Instead, He posed questions or told parables that often left His disciples asking more questions. His process of preparing His disciples was made up of many “service opportunities” and life experiences. He welcomed children to be with the crowd as He taught. Note how the focus is always on the learner, not the teacher, to instill a deeper level of understanding of the Word. Modern educational methods are beginning to echo this type of teaching method for adults and youth.
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Luther and Education Martin Luther also elevated the importance of education and used many effective educational strategies. The Small Catechism initially was published as posters that could be hung in a church to help educate people visually. He recommended the use of language that could be understood by the learners. He recommended a standard format for what was to be taught, and he planned for an educational process that was built on prior learning. Luther saw education as intimately connected to the church, helping the saved to live out their vocations. With the use of the Small and Large Catechisms, Luther sought to develop what we would now call a “scope and sequence” for education in the church — using goals and objectives to prioritize learning. Regarding his support and encouragement for education
in the church, part of Luther’s preface to the Small Catechism should provide a good understanding of the importance he placed on it: But those who are unwilling to learn the catechism should be told that they deny Christ and are not Christians. They should not be admitted to the Sacrament, accepted as sponsors at Baptism, or practice any part of Christian freedom. They should simply be turned back to the pope and his officials, indeed, to the devil himself [1 Corinthians 5:5]. Furthermore, their parents and employers should refuse them food and drink, and notify them that the prince will drive such rude people from the country. (“Luther’s Preface” from Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation, Pages 248-249) The line between pedagogy (child teaching) and andragogy (adult teaching) May–June 2015
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The Rev. Kenton Birtell, pastor of Mount Calvary Lutheran Church in Holdrege, Neb., preaches during worship.
Young parishioners participate in Bible study at Mount Calvary.
is now blurred, as younger people have the aptitude and appreciation for higher learning methods previously reserved only for grown-ups. However, this makes youth education evermore challenging.
Confirmation, Not Graduation One parish re-examined its youth confirmation classes upon the realization that after Confirmation Day, youth also were “graduating” from the church — clearly not the intent of confirmation. “After many years celebrating the Rite of Confirmation, we found that while we had the pictures of our youth on our wall with their confirmation gowns, the vast majority had simply graduated from church,” said the Rev. Kenton Birtell, pastor at Mount Calvary Lutheran Church in Holdrege, Neb. “Something needed to change, so we started over. We wanted our youth to live out the promises they made in their confirmation.”
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Parental Involvement Essential Birtell said changes were made based on well-defined learning objectives, the need to look beyond confirmation and the realization that parental education and involvement were essential to success. He said relationships among the youth also were essential to youth learning and supporting one another. Teaching methods at his parish include repetition, incremental learning, multimedia classes, discussions and placing some responsibility for learning on the students. “Each summer, our junior high youth attend ‘Basics Camp,’” said Birtell. “In this camp, we teach the Six Chief Parts of the Christian faith in a hands-on, interactive manner. Each lesson has clear objectives … . We bring in guest speakers, and youth meet with mentors, pray, watch video clips, join in small discussion groups, build relationships and explore the basics using their eyes, ears and all their senses.”
Birtell said parental involvement benefits both youth and parents in the longer term. “Each year in the fall, our sophomores along with their parents go through the basics of the Christian faith prior to Confirmation Day. This has been incredible,” he said. “Not only do our youth go through the basics of the Christian faith again, but their parents are by their side. Then, when our youth are ready to graduate, we go through the basics yet another time and work to connect them with a campus ministry or new congregation as they prepare for ‘Commissioning Sunday.’ On this Sunday, our seniors receive a special blessing from their parents and are commissioned to go and serve as the salt and light of the world wherever they may be led.” A recent study conducted jointly by the Institute for Religious Education at Concordia University, Nebraska and the LCMS Office of National Mission found that effective educational practices don’t just benefit individuals; they also benefit the churches that implement them. Children lcms.org/givenow/globalmission
A family worships at Mount Calvary.
and youth were more likely to participate in congregations that set written goals for educational practices. More adults participated if churches had teacher training for adult leaders and if the church articulated expectations for participation. The Lutheran tradition is one that elevates the importance of education. As congregations look for ways to enhance the ministry that has been entrusted to them, it is worthwhile to consider the efforts being made within congregations like Mount Calvary as possible benchmarks. What steps could be taken to enhance the effectiveness of your educational efforts? Even small efforts can yield benefits for a congregation and its members. Roger Drinnon is manager of Editorial Services for LCMS Communications. Dr. Mark Blanke is director of the Institute for Religious Education, a professor of Education and DCE program director at Concordia University, Nebraska, Seward, Neb. lcms.org/givenow/globalmission
Update
on the ‘Explanation’ of Luther’s Small Catechism Revision Project The 2013 Synod convention called for a revised “Explanation” section of Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation from Concordia Publishing House (CPH) due to “many changes in the understanding of morals, civil law and natural law in church and society” that have developed since the Explanation was last revised in 1991. In keeping with Resolution 3-13A, a drafting committee has been at work on this project for more than a year. A major proposal of this committee, which
May–June 2015
was approved by the LCMS Commission on Theology and Church Relations (CTCR) and the president’s office, is that the revised Explanation would feature a fourpart “template” for each section of the Small Catechism. An initial field-testing survey was made available through May 15. Next, a roughly yearlong drafting process will begin under the oversight of the CTCR. ▶▶Learn more: lcms.org/convention/ catechismexplanationupdate
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Discover what it's like to be a missionary. Have fun learning
about different cultures. With Mission Friends, you can download free coloring sheets, quality educational materials and find other fun ways to open up the world of international mission in a child's life. lcms.org/missionfriends
WORLDWIDE
The Leader in Christ 20
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Centered Programming lcms.org/givenow/globalmission
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STEWARD’S CORNER
nvolve
TACKLING GOD’S MISSION
‘On the Cheap’ by Mark Hofman n the fall of 1935, my grandfather and his new bride boarded a steamship and headed off to South America. In the midst of the Great Depression, few congregations in the United States were calling new seminary graduates to be pastors. Grandfather had agreed to proclaim Jesus and teach the faith in a foreign mission field, lived as attending to a community composed of seven small congregations their neighbors lived, without and six preaching stations in the mountains of Espiritu Santo, a greater wealth or comforts. And their province in Brazil. firstborn son followed, graduating seminary and becoming a He would be paid as generously as the local farmers could church-planting pastor as well. afford — sometimes in currency and, at other times, with tangible Today, the LCMS does not send its missionaries into the goods. He was supplied with a sturdy mule, Duke, on which he field under such conditions. traversed the muddy mountain Congregations expect welltrails. The parsonage, as my formed pastors and missionaries grandmother later told me, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good to carry the Gospel into the world; had a dirt floor. Grandmother pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your by combining our resources, stitched together clothing with possessions, and give to the needy. Provide we are bold to pay the costs of a needle and thread. There those expectations. The national was no telephone, no Internet yourselves with moneybags that do not grow office encourages and receives and, at the time, not even a real old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not generous financial contributions road leading to their home. fail, where no thief approaches and no moth to appropriately support and care Grandfather recorded detailed for official LCMS missionaries. destroys. For where your treasure is, there will expenditures of precious cash God’s people invest millions and the resulting balance in his your heart be also.” (Luke 12:32–34, emphasis added) each year in the formation of our journals, alongside the notes future pastors. The national office about his daily activities. encourages those donations to His career began at the either seminary, or to both via the LCMS Joint Seminary Fund. intersection of pastoral formation and missions. On his first Some may believe there are less expensive ways to provide ride through the 13 stations, a burial party appeared on the trail pastors and send missionaries, and they are right. Like other carrying a body wrapped in a blanket. Grandfather’s first act of church bodies, the LCMS could do it “on the cheap.” But why mercy was to preach Christ’s own death and resurrection to those would we? Are not faithful pastors and courageous missionaries present, under circumstances where advance preparation for a worthy of our greatest levels of generosity? They carry the one, true funeral was impossible. Gospel to others on our behalf. In some respects, mission work in that era was done “on the cheap” for those back home. The Missouri Synod did not wire money to pay his salary. It funded their travel to Brazil and back, when they returned in 1946. A world war prevented any temporary trips home for furlough, yet they were comforted by other missionaries and the few pastors of the Brazilian church. They lcms.org/givenow/globalmission
Mark Hofman, CFRE, MBA, is the executive director of LCMS Mission Advancement.
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NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE PAID Burlington, WI Permit No. 12
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Two seminaries. One mission. The LCMS Joint Seminary Fund’s purpose is to form and equip compassionate pastors for the proclamation of the Gospel through Word and Sacrament ministry. We thank our Lord for entrusting the LCMS with two world-class seminaries — Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, and Concordia Seminary, St. Louis — for this great task. May He continue to bless His Church with laborers to serve and lead as shepherds among His people.
“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.’” (Matt. 9:36–38)
LCMS Joint Seminary Fund lcms.org/jointseminaryfund • 800-248-1930