The Lutheran June 2012

JUNE 2012

Print Post Approved PP536155/00031 VOL 46 NO 5

NATIONAL MAGAZINE OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH OF AUSTRALIA

The Lutheran June 2012

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EDITOR/ADVERTISING

phone 08 8339 5178 email linda.macqueen@lca.org.au

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Anita Habermann (President, St Peter's Lavington Fellowship Group, NSW) enjoys a lie-in with The Lutheran on one of Warrambui Retreat's new innerspring mattresses.

As the magazine of the Lutheran Church of Australia (incorporating the Lutheran Church of New Zealand), The Lutheran informs the members of the LCA about the church's teaching, life, mission and people, helping them to grow in faith and commitment to Jesus Christ. The Lutheran also provides a forum for a range of opinions, which do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editor or the policies of the Lutheran Church of Australia. The Lutheran is a member of the Australasian Religious Press Association and as such subscribes to its journalistic and editorial codes of conduct.

Photo: Maureen Thomas

Send us a photograph featuring a recent copy of The Lutheran and you might see it here on page 2 We Love The Lutheran!

CONTACTS

Editor Linda Macqueen PO Box 664, Stirling SA 5152, Australia phone (+61) 08 8339 5178 email linda.macqueen@lca.org.au

People like you are salt in your world [ Matt 5:13 ]

Beyond10K Project Officer Janise Fournier phone 08 8387 0328 email janise.fournier@lca.org.au National Magazine Committee Wayne Gehling (chair), Greg Hassold, Sarah HoffZweck, Pastor Richard Schwedes, Heidi Smith Design and layout Comissa Fischer Printer Openbook Howden

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Anthea Habel

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Trinity, Pasadena SA

Christ Church, Highfields Qld

Holy Trinity, Mildura Vic

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Enjoys her children's company, photography and the outdoors Fav text: Ps 150

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ON THE COVER 'You're welcome!' (p8); photo courtesy Luther Place, Washington DC. Vol 46 No5 P146

There was a flurry of atheistic activity in April, with Australian media people grasping the opportunity to interview some of the world's most celebrated atheists, who were in Melbourne for the Global Atheist Convention.

One of the most anticipated events was the Q&A spar between Cardinal George Pell (in the 'faith' corner) and the man who made 'the new atheists' a household name, Richard Dawkins (in the 'reason' corner). Many commentators said Dawkins won hands down—but that was to be expected. In a head-to-head such as this, where the only adjudicators are logic, reason and hard evidence, faith is destined to lose, no matter how learned or eloquent its defender.

Faith can never be reduced to mere reason. It's so much more than that.

Pell (and all of us who've ever had a go at defending our faith on the basis of reason) shouldn't feel too disheartened, though. We're in good company. Jesus failed there, too. More correctly, he didn't really try.

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God doesn't ask us to fight for him, but to love for him— to be his agents of gentleness, self-control, compassion, forgiveness and reconciliation. Against these things, atheism's arms hang limp at its sides, defenceless.

In our cover story for this edition of The Lutheran, 'You're welcome!' (p8), you'll find examples of the sort of loving Christ-like action that renders atheism impotent. Ask any of the people who've been embraced by the two Lutheran congregations in this story why they believe in God now, and I bet that not a single one will answer, 'I was argued into it'.

Have faith! God's love in Christ will win in the end.

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05 An unholy trinity?

08 You're welcome 13 The golf ball 28 Carry on

COLUMNS

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04 From the President 12 Bookmarks 15 Inside Story 20 Letters /Directory 22 Stepping Stones 24 Notices

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25 Little Church 26 Rarely Asked Questions 30 Heart and Home

Probably he knew that you can't argue people into the kingdom of God. You have to love them into it.

For every argument for God, there's a counterpunch, and quite likely a knock-out blow. But there's no counter-punch for love. The love of God is our weapon—our only weapon—against aggressive atheists, and also against the softer, more prevalent, I-don't-know-what-I-believe agnostics, for that matter.

FEATURES

32 World in Brief

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34 Coffee Break

Words matter.

How we use them and hear them and understand them counts.

Words matter. Our response to the same words may be different when they come in an email from when they are in a face-to-face conversation. Facial expression and context indeed add meaning to a discussion. But the words themselves still matter.

Words can be misunderstood, not understood, or poorly used and abused both deftly and aggressively.

Keep up to date with news, prayer points and call information by visiting http://www.lca.org.au/ presidents-page-archive. html or by subscribing to the president's electronic newsletter. To receive the newsletter, send an email to itofficer@lca.org.au giving the email address you would like included. LCA pastors and layworkers are automatically included in this list.

Rev Dr Mike Semmler President Lutheran Church of Australia

Most of us are not skilled wordsmiths, but we do use words. God himself uses words through which the Holy Spirit brings us faith. God used his word to create us, to reclaim us in baptism.

Jesus used his word to heal, to calm a storm and to call his disciples.

As we gather with the baptised people of God in worship, we delight to hear the clear name of God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), who serves us in this most amazing encounter in a place consecrated for the means of grace to be administered.

Words are important. In worship we need the performative word of blessing, rather than a performing pastor sending us out to our tasks in life with a pious wish.

Across the ecumenical spectrum words are important. Should we say 'universal', 'Christian' or 'catholic' in the creed we share with other denominations? Our church has long ago decided on the word 'catholic', as universal, beyond denomination.

As the divine touches the human in Christ the Son of God, there will always be a mystery, but that is not an excuse to put a spin on words.

In fact, Jesus is 'the Word made flesh'.

choose ineffective expressions—if they choose to speak at all.

That becomes an issue not just for honest discussion and integrity, but for our witness that Jesus Christ is risen.

Words matter when Jesus says, 'This is my body', 'This is my blood'. These words are clearly spoken for our comfort and strength in faith, and we do not wish for any misunderstanding, which could be to our detriment.

There was a time when we more frequently heard the additional 'true' body and blood of our Lord. That is a confessional and pastoral attempt to be clear.

Words matter. How we use them and hear them and understand them counts.

We should always be ready to say 'sorry' should we use words that are unhelpful or have caused a problem.

Sorry words are important too.

God has given us a voice and a vocabulary, so we need not feel that because others can use complex, and sometimes less than precise words, that we cannot contribute with simple, uncluttered, clear words.

Celebrate the gift of those who have an impressive command of language.

But never underestimate your own simple uncluttered expressions of truth spoken in love.

Forgive us for succumbing to the temptations of using both clever words and simple words to abuse or lord it over another.

'The Lord be with you'. I trust I hear: 'And also with you'. Plain, simple and a blessing.

Political correctness and society's sensitivity to offence has made many 4

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an unholy trinity

by Linards Jansons

New atheists Dawkins, Hitchens and Harris have

rallied unbelievers from benign complacency to aggressive action.

Should we be listening?

Over the Easter weekend this year, some of you may have watched the popular Q&A program on the ABC. Tony Jones moderated between two high-profile representatives of two very different worldviews: Australian cardinal George Pell and British biologist and outspoken atheist Richard Dawkins.

Who 'won' is quite beside the point, but in my opinion it did seem that Dawkins represented the atheist position more satisfactorily than the cardinal promoted Vol 46 No5 P149

ours. And the fact that Richard Dawkins has become something of a household name also demonstrates the prominence of what has been dubbed the 'new atheism'.

The long road of listening It is this prominence that prompted me to focus on these 'new atheists' in last year's Evening Class program held at Australian Lutheran College. But the aim was somewhat different to what many might have expected. We did not undertake to present a sure-fire

way to refute and demolish the atheist platform. Our task was more difficult: to listen carefully and understand their arguments and reasoning as best we could. We didn't simply want to strike at their Achilles heel; rather, we wanted to face up to the very best the new atheism has to offer.

An important starting point was to resist the natural tendency to immediately go on the defensive and to overcome the all-too-common temptation to misrepresent those with whom we The Lutheran June 2012

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Dawkins ‌ has written in The God Delusion: 'If this

book works as I intend, religious readers who open it will be atheists when they put it down'.

disagree. This longer road of listening to and learning from those who are opposed to our faith would be the basis for thinking through a Christian response that takes seriously the challenges of our day and age, especially contemporary science and religious pluralism.

Who are the new atheists?

Who, then, are the 'new atheists' and what's so 'new' about their atheism?

The term, coined in 2006, applies first and foremost to four high-profile, best-selling and outspoken opponents of religious faith, who promote instead a scientific-materialist worldview and a secular-humanist ethic. They are UK men Richard Dawkins (a biologist and keen promoter of Darwinism), and the recently deceased Christopher Hitchens (journalist and author), and US men Sam Harris (neuroscientist) and Daniel Dennett (philosopher).

The first two are possibly best known to us through their immensely popular books, The God Delusion and God is not Great respectively. While Dawkins and Hitchens have written in their respective fields for some decades, it was the religiously charged international scene following 9/11 that brought these and other critics of religion to the public's attention.

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Particularly in the USA, where faith and politics have grown ever more entwined in recent years, Sam Harris' The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation have also struck a chord. So the escalation of religious conflict, together with the rise of fundamentalism of various stripes, is one major reason for the lifting up of the atheist voice.

But atheism wasn't invented yesterday.

True, for much of history those who denied a divine or transcendent basis for life were often at the fringe, or worse, at the stake (It's worth remembering that the earliest charge brought against the first Christians was their 'atheism', that is, in relation to the accepted gods!) But from the French Revolution onwards the unbelieving constituency has become a somewhat established significant minority group in most western societies, and perhaps in some a practical majority. The 2006 census in our country reports that 18.7 per cent registered as 'no religion', and that figure is considerably higher among 18–25-year-olds.

What's so new about the new atheism?

There are, however, some features of the new atheism that help it to stand out and gain attention today. First, the

new atheism is better described as 'antitheism', even by some of its own proponents. This is because religion, far from being a harmless system of 'personal beliefs', has a profound effect on society and public life. Therefore religious beliefs should be exposed, critiqued, and if necessary, opposed.

The new atheists are often antitheist because they believe, as Hitchens wrote, that 'religion poisons everything' (God is not Great, p13). Such antitheism is therefore accompanied by a kind of 'missionary' zeal or 'evangelical' fervour, since it is often the express purpose of the new atheists to change people's minds.

Dawkins, as well as having a 'Converts Corner' on his website, has written in The God Delusion: 'If this book works as I intend, religious readers who open it will be atheists when they put it down' (p28).

Secondly, for the new atheists, religion falls within the orbit of scientific enquiry. Dawkins writes, 'I shall suggest that the existence of God is a scientific hypothesis like any other ‌' (The God Delusion, p72). Therefore, questions such as the healing power of prayer or the virgin birth of Jesus are again not just matters of 'personal faith' but, in principle, questions of Vol 46 No5 P150

open investigation. For if such things 'really' happen, as believers claim, then they can also be disproved.

It follows, thirdly, that many of the new atheists reject NOMA (not some lady called Norma!). NOMA stands for 'non-overlapping magisteria', and basically means that science has its realm of expertise (the 'what' questions, such as the physical world), and likewise, religion has its own preserve of authority (the 'why' and 'how' questions, such as the meaning of life and how we should live). The new atheists reject this parcelling out of expertise, since in practice religion often makes claims about our natural

to know about atheism (but were too afraid to ask) is available online.

Blogs and online book reviews alone can supply more than you need to gain a basic familiarity with the ideas circulating 'out there'.

people. The new atheists will readily concede the strength or sincerity of your faith, but they will question the plausibility of your beliefs: Did suchand-such really happen? Is this belief objectively and factually true?

Words, words, words!

Most importantly, the question must be asked: Is Christianity a 'religion'? The new atheists obviously think so; to them it is simply one brand of a common product. And in a sense they are right.

Standing at a distance, one observes Christians occupied with the same kind of things that you find in other religions: central beliefs and defining narratives, ritual and liturgy, prayer and devotion, holiness and morality, community, institutional life and tradition ‌ in short, a system of belief, belonging and behaviour (as Tom Frame puts it in Losing my Religion).

By now you may be feeling somewhat frustrated with the rather loose terminology being thrown around.

'Religion' in particular is such a catchall term, throwing Christians, Muslims, Hindus and pancake worshippers all together into the same tub. Hardly helpful! So defining the words we use, and what we mean by them, is a vital part of understanding and engaging the new atheism.

Dawkins himself on Q&A recognised that such a little word as 'why' (used in the question 'Why are we here?') is used by atheists and believers in very different ways. Along with 'religion', which we'll return to in a moment, there are a host of other words that emerge in this light: belief, faith and spirituality; unbelief, disbelief and non-belief; doubt and uncertainty; atheism, agnosticism and rationalism. Far from simply 'playing' with words, such a list shows us that the nature of belief is complex, and that there are indeed many contours and valleys in the human 'heart', that centre of connection with God, the world and ourselves.

world, and science (for example, evolutionary biology) has much to say about the origin of behaviour and the basis of morality. You can't keep science and religion apart, according to the new atheists.

Finally, as a movement that has emerged in the internet era, the new atheism is a popular and web-based phenomenon. Much of the literature is aimed at the general reading public, and practically everything you want Vol 46 No5 P151

So, for example, although we can't separate them, it helps to distinguish between 'belief' and 'faith'. Beliefs refer to those things which we hold to be true, to be real, to have happened: God created this world, Jesus rose from death, prayer is heard. Faith, on the other hand, is what you do with your beliefs, how you take hold of them, and how they orient you. This distinction is particularly important when studying the new atheists, because as the topics of science, morality and Scripture will reveal, new-atheist literature is largely focused on the core beliefs of religious

But a Christian responds that God sent Christ into the world precisely to rescue us from religion. Religion, as the human attempt to reach (and control) the divine, is none other than what the Bible calls idolatry, and it's found as much among adherents of Christianity as elsewhere. But God's gift of Christ completely reverses this idolatrous orientation by putting us and our religion to death and raising us up to live by faith and the Holy Spirit. It is crucial to keep this God–to–human orientation in mind as the new atheism is encountered.

In the July edition of The Lutheran I will touch on the three key 'cases' made by the new atheism: the case from science, the case from morality and the case from Scripture itself. This gets us to some of the central objections the new atheists have against 'religion' and will provide us with a basis for response and witness.

Rev Linards Jansons teaches liturgy and worship at Australian Lutheran College, but is on study leave in 2012, commencing PhD studies in the area of hermeneutics/interpretation.

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What lies at

the heart of both congregations is their radical welcome, their

openness to every opportunity the Spirit places before them, and their heart for the needs of all people in their local community.

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Vol 46 No5 P152

by Wendy Mayer

An Australian Lutheran is challenged by the radical inclusive openness of two North American churches.

What happens when your church steps out in faith, instead of protesting, 'We can't do that because ‌'? What happens when you and your pastor believe that Christ welcomes everyone—and it shows? What happens when everyone in your congregation is convinced that Christ is present in each person you meet, and you pray that they may see Christ in you too?

live out our faith. What lies at the heart of both congregations is their radical welcome, their openness to every opportunity the Spirit places before them, and their heart for the needs of all people in their local community. What they also share is a conviction that the traditional faith divisions are no barrier to serving Christ, when in the poor and imprisoned he cries out in need.

None of these teachings is strange to Lutherans. Yet it took being transplanted from Australia to the USA and Canada for me to understand them—to see how powerful and exciting the gospel's call to love one another as ourselves is when it is lived out in practice; to see how much of the Spirit's energy is released when we stop debating whether God really means that we should love everyone, and we set aside our fear of what that might mean.

When, in a winter in the 1970s, a homeless person died of hypothermia on the steps across the street, the members of Luther Place asked themselves: how can we prevent this from ever happening again? In the Reformed Jewish community they found a partner who shared their passion. Together they set up the beginnings of what has today grown into N Street Village (www. nstreetvillage.org), a continuum of care that empowers over 900 homeless women a year. It is considered a model within the capital and across the US.

In the six years since our family left Australia, we have been blessed to be a part of two wonderful Lutheran faith communities: Luther Place in Washington DC (www.lutherplace.org) and St Mark's in Kitchener Ontario (www.stmarkskw.org). Neither is a mega-church; they're just the usual size by Australian standards. Yet rarely have we seen God's grace so clearly expressed.

Never have we been so warmly welcomed or so challenged to openly Vol 46 No5 P153

In Kitchener, St Mark's sits in a lowincome area of a city that lost a large percentage of its employment sector when in the 1980s local factories, unable to compete with cheap overseas labour, closed their doors.

In the 1990s, when the people of St Mark's began to look increasingly outwards rather than inwards and their eyes became open to those suffering in their neighbourhood, they teamed

up with Calvary United Church, just around the corner.

They recognised that in this way their resources could be increased, since their call to serve was one and the same.

Today the two communities jointly fund a full-time community minister (an ordained United Church deacon) and share the running of a weekly community supper, which is attended by members of both congregations, the lonely, the low-income community, addicts, the physically disabled and those who struggle with mental health.

A wider faith network within the local community, including Mennonite farmers, helps to supply the ingredients for the meals.

Both Luther Place and St Mark's have a 'can do' rather than a 'can't do' attitude. Neither is afraid to speak out against injustice. Nothing they have done has weakened their Lutheran theology or identity.

In the 1960s Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated, leading to riots in cities around the US. As fires were burning in DC and streets around the church were barricaded by police, Luther Place, contrary to the advice of its chairperson (an insurance agent), opened its doors to neighbours displaced by the riots and unable to return home. The food, clothing, sleeping place and safe haven Luther Place provided for the African American community were protected The Lutheran June 2012

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by local members of Black Islam, who quietly stood guard over the church.

Today, as the same neighbourhood is becoming predominantly white and yuppified, members of Luther Place are once again asking themselves: What is our call? What can we do to engage with our neighbours? How and where are we being asked to help?

A few years back, St Mark's increasingly encountered aggression from teenage students of the public high school next door, who regularly hung out in the back alley (also the entrance to the church office) to smoke.

Rather than increase the divide between church and school, the church staff and congregation asked themselves: how can we get to know the students and invite them to know us?

"It is not about pressing the gospel upon anyone. Through our actions, we allow the gospel to speak for itself. Just as not everyone at the community suppers attends the Bible study beforehand or the worship afterwards, and yet each year one or two seek baptism."

In response to that question, St Mark's and Calvary initiated a nutritional breakfast program—a first among high schools in the province. It has led to improved performances and graduation rates at Kitchener Collegiate Institute (KCI). The program continues to grow each year, as does the relationship between church and school. Recently the pastor and community minister were invited by KCI staff to work through a reconciliation process with a group of students enraged when classmates were killed in a car driven by one of their own.

The community garden run by students at the school provides food in the summer for the community suppers, while beautician students practise their haircutting skills on those who attend.

When we apply the gospel and grace, hostility can be transformed into forgiveness, and needs can be met in unexpected ways. As each new ministry settles into place, St Mark's continues to ask itself: How else can we help our neighbours? What new paths are we being shown?

It is not about pressing the gospel upon anyone. Through our actions, we allow the gospel to speak for itself.

Just as not everyone at the community suppers attends the Bible study beforehand or the worship afterwards, and yet each year one or two seek baptism. Another feels so called that she is attending seminary. We sow the seed, we water, and we wait to see whether it will bloom.

As I think of the bleak entrance to the 14th Street side of Luther Place church (its architecture does much to make it appear an unwelcoming place), I think of other examples of the gospel at work at that very door. Each Sunday that one of us who is rostered as assisting minister (yes, over here, lay people assist with the liturgy), my husband or I stand out on the steps of that side of the church in our robe

something new Last year our friends at Luther Place dedicated a new installation in their Junk Art Garden that communicates to the entire community the message of 'recycle, renew, recreate'.

Commemorated in photos on the Flickr site on their webpage is the story of new member Mark Morgan, who is in recovery from a long-term addiction.

The concept of taking junk and recreating it into art so spoke to him about his own journey that he ended up 10

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creating dozens of pieces and having his story communicated on a plaque and celebrated as part of an outdoor liturgy.

'Each piece I've created represents some facet of my life—situations, friends, family, support—the consequences of my use, and the rewards of my recovery over the past year. Much like the discarded and broken items found in each piece, I am recovering, recycled and transformed into something new', Mark says.

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before worship and smile and say 'Good morning' to passers-by. It isn't always comfortable, but if the building is unwelcome, then it is up to us to communicate that it is open and inviting and that all are welcome inside.

An even more powerful opportunity is open to us on DC Pride Weekend each year. The annual Pride parade route ends literally outside the doors of our church. Some of you may wonder why we faithfully open our doors on that day, offer the use of our bathrooms, and hand out cups of cold water and lemonade to the sweaty and weary participants. As a 'Reconciling in Christ' congregation, our radical welcome extends to all. It is not for us to judge, since all are broken and Christ came to save all. If we kept our doors closed, what a cold and condemning message that would convey.

Over the years, as an active member of the Luther Place community, I have witnessed how important it is to welcome and accept everyone in a family. When the unconditional love of the gospel is at the forefront, every other kind of identity fades. I am constantly surprised when I eventually discover that a person has a sexual identity different from my own. It is simply that unimportant. When you are accepted as a forgiven child of God alone, all the other identifying features on which we, as sinful creatures, place importance (man, woman, Lutheran, non-Lutheran) fade into the background.

everyone who believes is forgiven, instead of protesting, 'Yes, but ‌'?

What actually happens when you and your pastor believe that Christ welcomes everyone, and it shows?

What is the result when everyone in your congregation is convinced that Christ is present in each person you meet, and you pray that they may see Christ in you too?

SoulFeast is a cooperative venture of Luther Place and N Street Village celebrating radical hospitality and diversity that creates spaces for mutual transformation and community building between the two. It was started several years ago to reconnect the two after N Street Village had gained independence as a registered non-profit organisation.

What happens? The church grows.

People hear and see the gospel.

Men and women hear the call to the seminary. Luther Place is one of the few congregations within its district that is slowly but steadily growing.

At St Mark's old members have returned and new ones continue to join, including young families who appreciate the liturgy and find little welcome in their own faith community, as it seeks increasingly to exclude rather than include.

Events this year include a Lenten Fish Fry and Vespers and in June we'll be having a huge block party outdoors with activities for friends and families from both communities, food, performances, and sales of handmade items by women of N Street who are part of the new Community Craft Collective.

In both congregations a larger-thannormal percentage of people are sponsored to attend the church's seminaries. Even more importantly, many lives that will never make it into church membership statistics are touched in profound and permanent ways. Living out the gospel fully as Lutherans can be scary and challenging and uncomfortable, but it is so absolutely worth it.

One bite isn’t enough, is it?

Dr Wendy Mayer is an Australian research historian who moved with her husband to the US in 2005. She served on numerous committees in the LCA and has chaired and led Lutheran congregations in Australia and the US.

Here’s how to get the whole apple.

So, what does happen when your church accepts unconditionally that

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