To:                 The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
From:              Gerald B. Kieschnick, President
Subject:          Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Document
“Report and Recommendations on Ministry Policies”
Date:              February 22, 2009

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

Grace and peace be with you, from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

It is with great disappointment and deep sadness that I share with The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod these brief comments on the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Task Force on Sexuality document “Gift and Trust” and the “Report and Recommendations on Ministry Policies.” The “Report and Recommendations” document recommends that the ELCA undertake a process that would result in the incorporation of “structured flexibility in decision making to allow, in appropriate situations, people in publicly accountable, monogamous, lifelong, same-gendered relationships to be approved for the rosters of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.” The two documents were released February 19 by an ELCA task force and are expected to be considered by the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in August.

If this recommendation should be adopted by the Churchwide Assembly, it would constitute a change in the ELCA’s present position, which precludes “practicing homosexuals” from being included on its rosters. More importantly, it would constitute a radical departure from the 2,000-year-long teaching of the Christian tradition that homosexual activity, whether inside or outside of a committed relationship, is contrary to Holy Scripture.

As the ELCA Task Force Report itself states, “This church [the ELCA] does not have biblical and theological consensus on this matter.” It therefore concludes that the ELCA “must seek a common way to live and serve in the midst of disagreements” such as “the understanding of the nature of sin,” “the interpretation of the Bible,” “how the Bible guides our lives,” and “the level of disagreement the ELCA can bear.”

The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod has repeatedly affirmed the biblical truth and historical understanding of the Christian church that the Bible condemns homosexual behavior as “intrinsically sinful” and is therefore contrary to the will of the Creator and constitutes sin against the commandments of God (Lev. 18:22, 24,20:13; 1 Cor. 6:9-20; 1 Tim 1:9-10; and Rom. 1:26, 27).

Our prayer in the LCMS is that our gracious God will penetrate the lives and hearts of the leaders and members of the ELCA in the coming months as they discuss, debate, and determine the outcome of the task force report and its recommendations.

In the meantime, it behooves us in the LCMS, in a spirit of sincere humility, love, care, and concern, to continue to endeavor faithfully to honor Resolution 3-21A of the 2001 Convention of our Synod that while “we cannot consider [the ELCA] to be an orthodox Lutheran church body . we of the LCMS recognize that many of our brothers and sisters of the ELCA remain faithful to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and we resolve to reach out to them in love and support .”

God’s grace, mercy, and peace be with us all.

Dr. Gerald B. Kieschnick, President
The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod

“Transforming lives through Christ’s love …  in time … for eternity …” John 3:16-17

This is a very important question for us to ponder. In fact, Jesus asked this all important question to Peter in Matthew 16:15, when, after discussing what everyone was saying about Jesus, He asked Peter: “What about you? Who do you say that I am?” Peter answered by confessing: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus was not merely a wise teacher. He wasn’t just a future telling prophet. He wasn’t just an example to us of how God wants us to live our lives. True, He was indeed all of these things, but He was much more than these. He was our sin sacrifice. He is our atoning Savior, paving the way to heaven for us by shedding His blood on the cross. He was God in flesh.

God wants us to know this truth, and so He reveals it to us in His Word. This is why Jesus performed all of the miracles and healings. Not to call attention to Himself or to randomly provide thrills and entertainment, but to show the world that He was indeed God in flesh. God sent Jesus to reveal the Kingdom of God to the world, as it is written in Luke 4:43, “I must preach the good news of the Kingdom of God, because that is why I was sent.” God loves us! Our sins are forgiven in Christ! Jesus is Lord! This is the reality of truth that God reveals to us in Epiphany, and this is what He wants us to know. See John 20:30-31 – “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His Name.” Thanks be to God for revealing this truth to us in His Son!

1. Talk with your pastor. Ask for his guidance and prayer before, during and after acceptance into seminary.   Remember, he was there. His insights and encouragements are valuable.
   
2. Prepare your home congregation. Talk with members, and maybe even attend a council meeting to prepare them for your enrollment.  Remember, financial support will be asked of your home congregation, so the earlier you can prepare your church for this in their budget, the better.
3. Show your family and friends the course catalog. [For those relatives who might be interested], the catalog gives a very nice layout of what you will be studying and training. Discuss with them your vocational goals, and fears…and ask them for their support.
   
4. Keep in touch with your Admissions Counselor. He/She wants you to be confident about your choice to attend seminary, and we know there can be various hills and valleys en route to that proverbial destination.  Allow them to counsel, pray for and direct you in your situations.  Remember, each Admissions Counselor was where you were, too.
5. Moving preparations. If you are renting, you will want to give your landlord at least 60 days notice of your leaving. This will all depend on when you can start classes (Summer/Fall). Similarly, if you own a home, putting it on the market or finding renters could be best accomplished sooner rather than later-since the state of the housing market is so turbulent.  Otherwise, moving is “simply” a matter of deciding what you will be able to bring, or need to liquidate, in order to live comfortably in a residence hall room (if single) or in a home/apartment in Fort Wayne (if married). Houses or apartments in Fort Wayne can be found on this website, but there are more websites, too. Please ask our Relocation Coordinator, Marsha Zimmerman, if you need those. marsha.zimmerman@ctsfw.edu
6. Personal Prayer! Uncertainty abounds in making major life changes.  However, our certainty and comfort always comes from Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.  Calling on him in both times of need and thanksgiving offers us the assurance of our Lord’s unchanging love, care and protection for us.
7. Reading. Along with your regular Scripture readings, these are additionally helpful in seminary preparations. “Why I am a Lutheran” by Robert Preus.  “Pastoral Care under the Cross” by Richard Eyer, and “Life Together” by Dietrich Bonheoffer.  More extensive reading lists will be sent post-acceptance into seminary.
8. Word and Sacrament. While this goes for all Christians, it is important that future seminarians and deaconess students receive God’s good and gracious gifts on a regular basis, in preparation for enrollment.  This is part and parcel of the seminary’s worship life.  God’s Word and His Sacraments benefit and reassure us of eternal life, salvation and the forgiveness of our sins; the very Means that God may call you future pastors to be stewards of, and you future deaconesses to point the lost to.

Applying for seminary is not simple paperwork, or a phone call from the Admissions Department giving applicants the “green light” to come.  Formation as a servant of the Word, and a servant of Mercy begins with the very unique relationship that God has formed with each of us at our Baptisms.  Our desire to serve God does not inherently come from ourselves, but from the good and perfect work God has done in Christ Jesus. Prepare yourself with humility and hope that you will learn and know what it means to be a confessor of Christ-crucified. Seminary is an invaluable step in shaping each student to be like our Lord; giving them a solid foundation on which to stand so they may be sent out to reach, teach and care for all.

After all, God gives us the various people mentioned in the above list to reach, teach and care for us. While it is a comfort to know that we are temporarily not alone in our situations, ultimately we have been given a Savior that assures us of our eternal communion with He, the angels, archangels, and and all the company of Saints.  We are truly never alone because Jesus applied Himself on our sinful behalf- thanks be to God!

Iwand wrote these words in 1941. They ring true for us in 2008. Theological education, the formation of servants of the church, must keep anchored in the center: Christ Jesus crucified for the justification of the ungodly. It is only the word of His cross that will renew and enliven the church. We have not only a theology of the cross but an ecclesiology of the cross.

-Prof. John T. Pless

Grace, mercy, and peace be yours, from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

It is a rare thing in this day and age that a certain date or time should retain much importance for very long. Ask your son or daughter about December 7^th . . . or any 7 year old about September 11^th.

478 years ago, a group of pastors, princes, mayors, city councilmen, and other lay people, stood before the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and articulated the points of the faith about which there had arisen dispute after that pesky monk went and vandalized a church door.

The Augsburg Confession remains, even yet today, a vital, and, vibrant document, that we, and all the faithful, should be proud to hold high, and confess to be true. Why? Because a bunch of really smart guys wrote it all down and some really important guys signed it? No, certainly not. For our faith is not founded upon the musings of men or angels, but upon the Word of God alone. It is Scripture that is the sole source of Doctrine. With these confessions of the Lutheran Church, we can weigh and measure preaching teaching and teaching, BECAUSE they fully are in agreement with that sole Rule and Norm of doctrine. And there is only one Doctrine . . . the Gospel . . . and it is to the Gospel that our faith clings . . . to Christ, His work, His substitution for us, His death and resurrection, to which we cling in this world, that in the end, Our Father would call us home with Him forever. The Gospel is the object of our faith . . . which begs the question: what is it that you believe?

How is it that you articulate your faith, those things that you believe about God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit? Children, (or first-year seminarians) likely sum it up “Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so.” A good and faithful response. Any Christian, who has suffered the sinful effects of maturity . . . like, questioning authority, the influences of friends, families, and unwholesome books and associations . . . has long since become dissatisfied with what many see as a child’s trite response. So, it is a more thorough articulation of the faith for which you cry.

But who shall teach you, who shall be your schoolmaster as you dig into the meat of scripture, laying back the petals of the perfect rose that is Salvation by Grace? Shall you sit in your room, doors locked, mood set, Bible open, hoping that miraculous revelation will bring you to complete understanding? May the Lord preserve us from such self-righteous pietism, and grant to us faithful confessors, preachers, and teachers of the faith that the World may know the great and wondrous works of the Lord.

And so He has. From the beginnings of time God has appointed His representatives in the World to proclaim His word, to teach His people, and has preserved His Church. From the days of exile for the nation of Israel, to the rise of the early church, all the way through the Reformation and even yet today, it has been Christ’s church, and will remain so, even in the face of cultural, doctrinal, and physical threats.

Today we are confronted by no fewer challenges to the truth of the Gospel. Subtle erosion of the truth in the name of tolerance, or acceptance of false teaching because of the sincerity of one’s belief, compromises the one true faith in our Lord. Instead, we must hold high the banner of the truth, dig deeply into our heritage rather than shy away from it, and remember that we are a people of unclean lips, and we live amidst a people of unclean lips.

Should they not know? Do they not deserve the assurance and comfort that salvation by Grace affords? You have been rescued from sin, death, and the devil . . . freed from God’s wrath toward our corrupt sinful selves, you are alive because of God’s Grace. This is the true flame of the church, this is the one Doctrine of Salvation, and this is the day that the Lord has made, that it might be yours anew all the days of your life. Lord’s day after Lord’s day, God’s great gifts of salvation and liberation, flow freely in His Means of Grace. Your ears and mouths are filled with the Grace of God that brings you peace, making you ambassadors and witness to the very blessings of God.

478 years ago those princes and pastors made a bold confession of faith before their ruler. Yes, it caused division in the church, but it was not they who rent to body of Christ, but it was false teaching, false piety, and the lies of faith in self over faith in Christ that had oppressed the people of God. These men, at Augsburg, held fast to the One True Faith and did not waver, even a breath, that we are saved by Grace through Faith, not by works of satisfaction, our own preparations, our own purpose driven lives, or how ablaze we might be for the lost.

So that we might confess Christ and Him crucified, we come here to hear His Gospel, to receive His gifts, and to eat and drink His Body and Blood, for “As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” This is the confession of Christ, for it is the confession of the one Doctrine of Salvation, that by His death salvation is freely won and given to all.

This is the great treasure of the Augsburg Confession, that great article on Justification:

. . . that we cannot obtain forgiveness of sin and righteousness before God by our own merits, works, or satisfactions, but that we receive forgiveness of sin and become righteous before God by grace, for Christ’s sake, through faith, . . .

This is the article upon which the church stands or falls. So upon it we shall stand. We will climb over the rubble heaps of false theology and remain steadfast in God’s Word and graces, confessing along with Jeremiah and the prophets; as Jesus before Pilate; as the Fathers of the Reformation; that falsehood has had its day and that salvation is by Grace alone! By this same grace we will not succumb to the temptations of this world, but remain bold in our confession of Christ and Him crucified . . . bold, as we proclaim His death until He comes, bold, as we seek to know nothing but Christ and Him crucified, bold as we gather here to receive His gifts, we will remain bold in our confession as we know all our sins are forgiven . . . in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

There have been some misnomers out there that describe deaconesses as “nuns” or “mini-pastors.” This blog post hopes to develop a primer discussion of what a deaconess is and what she is not, and leave you to understand the important distinctions of both. In relation to what deaconesses are alongside any other offices, this will hopefully offer development of a healthy attitude, not only about deaconesses, but the Word of God demonstrated in these instruments of Christ’s mercy.

A DEACONESS IS NOT A NUN:

• A Deaconess reaches out into the community and congregation to the lost and suffering. She has no vows or oaths that she must take, apart from being in agreement and faithful to Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions (because it agrees with Scripture).

• A Deaconess is able to be married and carry on deaconess service. Again, no vows of celibacy or monasticism are required or encouraged. Likewise, a deaconess is not required or encouraged to be married, either, if she does not desire these things; so long as she acts in accordance with Scripture in propriety and obedience to the Sixth Commandment (which goes for all people, not just deaconesses!)

• A Deaconess knows the richness of our Lutheran theology, and is able to articulate and act, in mercy, on our confession of faith with grace and wisdom for the edification of the Church, especially to the ones who she has been charged to serve.

A DEACONESS IS NOT A PASTOR:

• The deaconess is consecrated (set apart for godly service), not ordained. Her service begins at the nave and door of the Church. While she does not preach or administer the Lord’s Supper, she can certainly prepare the Altar for the Sacrament prior to the Divine Service, but does not participate in the distribution of it.

• The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod upholds and respects God’s Biblical order of Creation. Woman was created as helper of man (Gen. 2:18). Deaconesses exemplify this and other expressions of God’s Word (Eph 5:25, 1 Timothy 3:12). This is to be understood as the inerrant Word of God truly freeing both men and women to be exactly who they are, in Christ Jesus, as the ultimate focus.

• Diaconal emphasis of service is on care, teaching and reaching out to women, children, and elderly

This primer hopefully brings clarity to some otherwise confused or misleading views. The most important aspect of deaconess service is giving all glory to God, and pointing others to our Savior, Jesus Christ. A deaconess serves as a “buffer”-many times between the world and the Altar and Font, where Jesus promises to be. While all children of God are called to bear witness to the Gospel and show where God is located, a deaconess is a leader and resource to those she serves, helping and encouraging all to works of mercy and compassion. Glory be to God for sending all laborers into His Harvest!

By His incarnation, obedience, death, resurrection and ascension, Jesus Christ restores us to full communion with the Creator.  To be in God means, quite simply, to love.  Whom?  All people.  Even your enemies just as God in Christ loved His enemies and reconciled us to Himself.

But love is not merely an inner working of the heart.  Love always acts.  John 3:16 does not say that God so loved the world that He had nice warm emotions toward us.  Rather, it says that He gave His only-begotten Son.  Though the sacrifice of Christ to atone for sin was once-for-all, God is still giving His Son to mankind.  Only now, He is doing so by the working of the Holy Spirit through the Holy Church.

Christians help those who suffer.  We do not, like Buddhists, wish it away.  We work it away.  And when we cannot, we trust in the Creator to make us anew when the new creation is fully revealed.

It is our understanding of God’s mercy toward sinners that moves us to serve our neighbor in his physical and temporal needs.  We follow the example of our Lord Jesus, the apostles and all Christendom.  He has sent us first to proclaim the forgiveness of sins but also to heal.  For in the Kingdom of God, all things are renewed, soul and body.

It is precisely this understanding of God’s living mercy that has guided Concordia Theological Seminary – Fort Wayne to place so much emphasis upon our deaconess program.  Not to say that only professional church women can serve and help the neighbor.  But to invest our resources in godly women, and men, who will make the presence of Christ known, not in words only, but through their lives and deeds is our goal.  To the glory of God.

369 Where Shepherds Lately Knelt
371 Let Our Gladness Banish Sadness
445 When You Woke that Thursday Morning
484 Make Songs of Joy
491 Up Through Endless Ranks of Angels
593 See This Wonder in the Making
896 Now Greet the Swiftly Changing Year
910 Now the Silence
922 Go, My Children, with My Blessing
945 Your Heart, O God, Is Grieved

In most times and places, there probably isn’t much consideration about the authors of hymn texts and composers of hymn tunes and settings. And those writers probably prefer it that way, anyhow, since a good hymn points to Christ, rather than highlighting those who created the words and music. But when we do pause to consider those skilled lyricists and musicians such as Rev. Vajda, we can be thankful for their work of putting words and tunes into our mouths and lives.

Concordia Publishing House has a fitting tribute on their website HERE.

In a commentary on Psalm 39, Luther states in a paradigmatic shift, “This is what happened to Christ…silencing himself from the good (Ps. 39:2), and becoming sorrowful for the unteachable and jealous souls.[2]” Who are these souls? Take a look in the mirror. Even though we may believe we constantly turn away as if WE can take Jesus’ place and save ourselves. Other examples of Christ’s anguish is His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane [Luke 22:39-46] and his cries on the cross. Consequently Jesus utters “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me [Mt 27:46]” on the cross, just as the Psalter had uttered in Psalm 22:1. Yet this was His own lament for all the world and himself! Jesus Christ, who is fully God and fully man was scorned, afflicted and humiliated for us, became sin in our stead, and fully atoned for us in His death and resurrection.

We cannot pretend that laments are somehow a ‘good thing’. Pain and suffering exists and that is exactly what it is. However, our prayers of lament, as in the Psalms, are conversations that acknowledge the truth about sin, and our relationship to God. The reality is that there is no earthly or temporary quick fix that will make sin, death and the devil go away. The testing and trials can and will happen. May these things turn us to Jesus Christ, the only One who truly understands and still paid for all of our sins at the cross. If your heart is heavy with sorrow, know that Jesus laments with you, and has taken your sorrow unto himself. Be encouraged to read the Psalms and all of Scripture; so you may realize that you are not alone. May you come to know that you can take all your laments to our Triune God, and receive the continuous and mysterious Words of consolation (Ps 34:18) through your Christ-sent pastor (Mt 28:20) and the Church, the only place that can give it.

Thanks to Rev. Paul McCain for bringing this to our attention.

Christianity is counter-cultural in the sense of being highly verbal, oriented around authoritative speech and texts. The Church cares about words, specifically God’s Word. As the Savior said, “Man shall . . . [live] on every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4).

But God’s Word is never mere chat. It is alive and active. The Divine Speech which long ago brought all things into being from nothingness still today brings order to chaos and reverberates in the Divine Service to create new life and usher us into a renewed fellowship with God. Each day we recall that “the Word became flesh.” Never a mere intellectual abstraction, God’s Word entered the concreteness of our existence through Mary, the virgin, for our redemption. His incarnation speaks new realities into being.

Because of this emphasis on the Word of God, we also assign great importance to the Office of the Ministry of the Word of God. Speaking God’s speech is constitutive of the Holy Office. CTS, as a place where pastors are formed, is devoted to Divine Speech. Our community life is structured around the Word of God. We devote ourselves as seminarians and pastors to the intensive and reflective study of the Sacred Texts. We mine these treasures in the classroom using the original languages, and we gather daily to hear the Scriptures read and proclaimed in public worship. We receive Him weekly in the Holy Supper. All of this is part of a program that molds the seminarian into a Servant of the Word.

As pastors, chief among our tasks is to bring people into communion with the Body of Jesus Christ. This we do through administering God’s Word in oral proclamation (reading, preaching and teaching) and Sacrament. In this Ministry, the blessings of Divine Speech are conveyed, namely, life and forgiveness. May Christ bless you as you pray and consider entering this life of speaking God’s speech.

The Lord be with you.

From Volume 2, Issue 1, January/February 1998 of Pilgrimage

The nature of Islam and the tradition of jihad have since drawn much attention. And it has become quite clear that establishing Islam as the dominant religion is a prominent theme in the Quran.

This can and has been done several ways, from persuasion to outright conflict. Muhammad himself, just before he died in 632, told his followers that he had been ordered by God to pursue the world until all people accepted the creed of Islam: there is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger.

The current struggle with violent expressions of Islam is nothing new for Christians. The church has been dealing with it for centuries. After Muhammad’s death, Muslims followed their prophet’s path. They began to overrun the lands surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. Syria, Palestine, Egypt, North Africa, and even Spain, were all conquered by 732.

Fortunately the Muslim armies were unable to prevail over Europe. It was from Europe, after the pope learned of Christian persecution across the Mediterranean, that the church responded to Islam with the crusades (beginning in 1095). Eventually they even began to send missionaries to Muslims. These missionaries experience some success, and the crusades held the Muslim forces at bay for a few centuries. But Islam was able to muster up enough strength to begin expanding again just before the reformation.

What has been referred to as the greatest jihad took place throughout the 15th and 16^th century in the eastern regions of Christian Europe. Around the time that Martin Luther was writing his small catechism Turkish Muslim armies were even poised to take control of Germany. But the European armies were able to halt their advance at Vienna in 1529. The damage was already done, though. Muslims now dominated much of Europe east of Hungary. So the church began to renew its call for a crusade in order to deal with the threat of Islam.

Martin Luther found problems with the idea of a crusade, and loudly objected to this solution. Warfare was not the business of the church. He certainly endorsed a military response to the Muslim occupation of Eastern Europe. But he argued that it was to be carried out by the secular rulers of Europe, not the church. So what could Christians do in this war against the jihad on Europe? They could certainly serve in the military. Those choosing to do so were counseled not to see this as a religious vocation. Instead, it was a secular one, a way to love the neighbor by protecting and defending them. And while the secular forces of Germany went about pushing back Muslim expansion into Europe, the church, he argued, should be busy praying for their troops and, ultimately, a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

One of the most striking things about Luther’s writing at the time, though, is his appeal that Christians strengthen their faith through catechesis and learn about the religion of Islam. Luther actually envisioned a day when Christians would be forced by circumstance to live alongside Muslims. And even though he despised Islam, he did not lose sight of God’s mission in Christ to seek and save the lost. He strongly advocated that all Christians prepare to engage Muslims with the gospel.

We live in a very different age, but Luther’s advice for dealing with Islam is instructive. In responding to violence inspired by the Quran, we must pray that our political and military leaders respond resolutely and justly. But we must also be prepared to live alongside Muslims, and recognize the numerous opportunities this presents for sharing the gospel with those for whom Christ died. As the numbers of Muslims in America continues to increase now is the time to bolster up your faith by studying the scriptures so that you too may be prepared to respond to the Muslim “who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15).

Dr. Adam S. Francisco is Guest Professor of Historical Theology at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana.

The Mel Gibson movie brought this discussion to the surface and I was astonished (I was naive) at the number of commentators on the film saying that it is wrong to focus so much attention on the death of Jesus, as if the crucifixion were merely the unfortunate demise of an otherwise promising young man.

Concordia Theological Seminary is conducting an in-depth series of lectures on the subject of the atonement. Classic understandings are being dismissed, even in traditionally evangelical circles. What a delight it is to be part of a major institution that still boldly maintains the central truths of Jesus Christ and His salvation.

Register now to attend the Symposia, January 15 – 18, 2008. Engage with world-class theologians from our institution and elsewhere. David Scaer, William Weinrich and many others.