The following is from page 10 of the Spring 2009 edition of Caring, from LCMS World Relief:

Free Resource Explores Clergy and Depression LCMS World Relief and Human Care’s newest resource reflects Rev. Todd Peperkorn’s personal journey through depression, I Trust When Dark My Road: A Lutheran View of Depression. LCMS WR-HC Executive Director Rev. Matthew Harrison recommends the book to all associated with professional church work: “This book offers a path to hope, and a future through Christ.” Dr. Beverly K. Yahnke, a licensed clinical psychologist, writes in the book’s forward: “When one’s mind and soul journey across the ghastly landscape of clinical depression, the adventure may challenge faith, hope, and life itself. … Peperkorn invites us into the world of a depressed Christian who remains reliant upon God’s grace.” The book is expected to be available in mid-June. To request your complimentary copy, call 800-248-1930, ext. 1380.

Pastor Todd Peperkorn is a 1996 alum of CTS, served in the Admission Office from 1996-1999, and also taught at Christ Academy in 1999 and 2008. He has a long history with our school, and his words are worth reading for anyone who is either in the pastoral office, or is considering it.   Pr. Peperkorn also had a chapter in our book “Formation: Essays for Future Pastors.”

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CTS was pleased to have Dr. James Arne Nestingen as a visiting professor for a two-week intensive term course on “Luther and Walther on Law and Gospel” this January. Dr. Nestingen has distinguished himself with long service to the church as a parish pastor in Oregon and Canada, an editor at Augsburg Publishing House, and as a professor at Luther Seminary in St. Paul. Now retired, Dr. Nestingen is in demand as a speaker in the USA and abroad. He is leading voice of the confessional movement within the ELCA. Dr. Nestingen is the author of Martin Luther: A Life and co-editor with Robert Kolb of Sources and Context of the Book of Concord. While at CTS, Dr. Nestingen spoke on the significance of Luther’s On the Bondage of the Will for preaching and pastoral care at a fireside chat. We think that you will enjoy and be edified by his words.

Audio:

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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

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!

In a study of Christian church members who approached their church for help with a personal or family member’s diagnosed mental illness, researchers found that more than 32 percent were told by their pastor that they or their loved one did not really have a mental illness.

Read the article here.

I think of young Samuel.  As you may recall, Samuel was lying down in the temple, when he heard a voice calling his name. (1 Samuel 3) Thinking it was Eli, he ran to the priest.  But Eli said that he had not called Samuel, and told him to go back to bed.  Again, Samuel heard a voice calling out his name, and again he ran to the priest.  Sensing what was going on, Eli advised, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.’” So, Samuel went back to bed, and heard the Lord calling,  “Samuel, Samuel.”  At which point, Samuel answered, “Speak for your servant hears.”

Well, that’s all well and good, you say.  But, the voice in your head is a thought not a sound.   So, you remain restless, and wondering, “Is the Lord calling me?” If only there was someone like Eli who could help me out!”

Now, unless you’re some raving egomaniac, you’ll probably have some self-doubts.  Moses was worried he wouldn’t be a good enough speaker.   Isaiah thought of himself as too great a sinner to stand in the presence of the holy Lord, much less serve as his spokesman and prophet.  And bold, brash Peter, upon being called, cried out, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” (Luke 5:8)
Who among us is better educated than Moses?  And, will I even be able to pass Greek?  And who among us is more holy than Isaiah or Peter?   Indeed, none of us is truly worthy to be a pastor. And, it seems only right that we say, “No, I can’t do it.  Better men are needed.”

Perhaps, though, you do have an Eli, someone who can see your potential.  That Eli might be another member of your church, or perhaps, your pastor.  And your pastor might be saying, “Have you ever considered becoming a Pastor?”  Or, “You know what, I think you’d be a good preacher.”  Or, “I think you have what it takes.” If you have doubts, if you are wondering, give your pastor a call.  As is very often the case, others often have a better perspective on us, than we do ourselves.  And, if others confirm what you suspect, then you’re probably on the right track.

And, one last thing to consider.  There are many folks like Jonah, who come to the seminary only after many years of wondering.  After many sleepless nights.  If you think the Lord is calling you, and your pastor agrees, then he probably is.  And, frankly, life’s short.  The harvest is great and the workers are few.  So, yes, admit that you are unworthy of the office.  But, then, be bold in answering the Lord’s call.  For it is through unworthy servants that his gospel is preached, and people are brought into life and salvation.

Dr. Peter Scaer

But this year I had a feeling—confirmed by a quick show of hands—that our entering class had on their collective minds a little less thrilling concern. Nearly all of them had heard that 31 men—13 from our seminary and 18 from St. Louis—hadn’t been able to enjoy call night this past spring because there simply weren’t enough requests for candidates to go around. So here’s what I told them.

First, this is actually a great time to be starting at the seminary, call wise. To begin with, I updated them on those unplaced guys. Nearly all are now in congregations, which means we’ve nearly completed placing the two largest classes since the 1980s. Fact is, we’ve placed more men the last two years than in almost three decades. Last year’s class and this year’s class were identical size—huge! And, yes, there were calls enough for all of them. It’s just that with two consecutive classes that large, it took a while for enough calls to come in. Now the upcoming classes are substantially smaller. But the number of requests for candidates should continue to be large and growing. That’s because the even larger classes of the early 1970s are now reaching retirement age. Do the math. Our recruitment at the two seminaries today is nowhere near replacing the men from those classes. Men starting the seminary this year will be stepping into all those shoes—and right now that looks like more shoes than we’ll be able to fill.

But, second, I told the guys, you didn’t come here “to get a job.” If that’s what you were all about, you could have stayed where you were already living or mailed your resume to all those companies who do what you already know how to do. You didn’t come here to get a job. You came here to serve the Lord. Which means you trusted Him to care for you in matters a lot more challenging than mere creature comforts. Sure, He knows you and your family need an income, a place to live, a way to pay for your kids’ college. And He knows how to provide. He fed Elijah by a flock of ravens! But you trust Him for much more important things than that. You know He’ll be with you in each sermon you write, each time you comfort a woman who’s lost her husband, each time you say that silent prayer for tact and diplomacy before addressing a touchy issue at the voters assembly. You trust Him to give you and your family eternal salvation by Jesus’ death and resurrection. And you came to the seminary because you wanted to share that trust—and the reason for it—with lots and lots of other people. Didn’t you!

It was a different kind of pleasure sharing all that with the new class . . . but it’ll be just as thrilling for them when call night comes!

Dr. Carl C. Fickenscher II
Associate Professor in Homiletics
Dean of Pastoral Education and Placement

_________________

It’s almost ten years since work began in earnest on the Synod’s latest hymnal, Lutheran Service Book. Among the many big issues that we knew would challenge us was the matter of language. What style of language would we use? An older style? An updated style? Something in between?

Lutheran Service Book

As far as our work on LSB was concerned, we felt somewhat vindicated by the direction we were taking, which was to aim for a literal translation of texts wherever possible, yet to strive for translations that weren’t stilted or wooden. Of course, that is easier said than done. Our most difficult challenge concerned the old “Page 15” service from The Lutheran Hymnal (now Setting Three in LSB). With a full one-third of our congregations still using TLH, we knew that this service needed to be treated carefully. We actually went through three or four “test” versions that we tried out in congregations that were using TLH. We toyed with updating the language and providing dual translations, but eventually settled on a fairly conservative course. For those parts of the service where text was wedded to music, we kept the text “as is,” in other words, using the archaic language as found in TLH. But, for the spoken parts of the service, we gently updated the language, something that many pastors were already doing in their spoken parts. For the most part, reception of this service has been good.

If you’re interested in reading more about the new directions in the Roman Catholic Church, go here where you can see examples of the changes that have now been approved—seven years later.

If you want to see the language guidelines that were used in the development of LSB, go here. Take a look at the discussion on page 4 concerning “Archaic and Obsolete Language.”

Rev. Dr. Paul Grime

There is much that could be said about the text of this hymn.  It holds up some of the best characteristics of twentieth century hymnody: powerful word painting, vivid imagery, strong biblical connections, etc.  But I mostly want to talk about the music of this text.

The music for this text, entitled “Lord of Life”, can be best described as haunting yet hopeful.  The topic of the text is death and resurrection, and following the biblical imagery, there are three stanzas that really address the grief of the bereaved.  The music beautifully holds this up.  There is a strength in classic Lutheran chorales that they don’t hide from grief.  Paul Gerhardt is perhaps best known for this.  In the same way, the music has to hold up this very real tension of grief and hope.  Hildebrand’s melody does this well.

But it’s more than that.

In the span of a day, I sang and taught this at our K-8 school chapel, sang and prayed it with a parishioner in the hospital with multiple chronic illnesses, used it to meditate on the text for the upcoming Sunday, and then sang, taught and prayed it with my own family before going to bed.  What a gift!  What a treasure!

Any music that can be taught to kindergartners and then used to comfort an eighty year old man is worth learning.

This is also a great example of why I love being a pastor.  We get to hold these great treasures of the Gospel up to God’s people, young and old.  I probably sang this hymn a dozen times today.  I’ll sing it a dozen more times tomorrow.  What could be bad about that!

-Pastor Todd Peperkorn

Not many of us get a burning bush in the desert telling us, like Moses, to be God’s spokesmen.  But the above examples are good indications that you’d be well suited for the pastoral office.

So now you’re more than interested.  The idea of becoming a pastor is on your mind every day.  Naturally, you are worried about how you’ll support your family if you go back to school.  You wife is supportive but cautious.  The kids don’t want to move.  Self doubt roars in the background.

All of that is common and natural.  Jesus never promised that your life on earth would be easy.  And if the easy life is what you seek, you should definitely not become a pastor.  If you are not willing to lose everything, including your family, don’t become a pastor.  If you are not willing to be ruined, humiliated, tortured and killed, then do something else.  Obviously, most pastors don’t face those extremes of persecution but the willingness is all.  Die to the world.

If you’ve now been sobered and are still reading this post, then you should definitely take the next step.  Every long journey begins with those first few tippey toes.  What is your next step?  For some of you, the next step is to phone my office (800-481-2155).  For others, the next step is to pay a campus visit.  But for many of you who have already talked to us and have been to the campus, now is the time to fill out the application.  Go here to download an application form.  Fill it out and send it to me today.  You don’t know what tomorrow may hold.  Do it TODAY!

If you think that you could be at the seminary in fall 2009 or 2010, then RIGHT NOW is the best time to apply.

If you have received a set of the posters and have them hanging in your church, school or home, please take a few snapshots of them and send them to me (email: scott.stiegemeyer@ctsfw.edu).  I’d like to create a little album showing all the places our posters are at work.

If you would like to receive a set, simply email me at the above address.

Christians sometimes over- intellectualize the faith, making God a mere object of study.  Other times, we over- emotionalize, making the Holy Spirit captive to our fickle moods.

Both those excesses have their critics and correctives.  It seems to me, however, that contemporary Christianity is in a different kind of pinch that relatively few have even noticed. Our capacity for imagination is atrophying. Our ability to hypothesize and fantasize is anemic. We associate the word “imaginary” with childhood (i.e. childishness) or lunacy.

Our ability to use words to create stories and drama is downright godlike. No other creature can transmit knowledge, elicit emotion and inspire action by storytelling.

Everyone should imbibe great literature but most especially those who wish to be pastors. Personally, I can’t think of anything more practical than reading good fiction and good poetry. If you serve a congregation, what is the best way to gain insight into the people you serve? By conducting scientific surveys, questionnaires, and objective analysis? Or by listening to their stories? When you sit at the potlucks and listen, when you chat with the old-timers over coffee, when you go to their sickbeds or visit them in their homes, you learn how to be their pastor by hearing them tell about their past, talk about their grandkids, complain about their last trip to the doctor’s office.

If you want to grow as a pastor (and as a human), you had better learn how to listen to people’s stories. And how to tell them. The great novels and poetry of Western civilization, whether written by Christians or not, are valuable because they are instructive.

And by “great,” I don’t necessarily mean old or flowery or even well-known. Snobbery is a waste of time. Great books are not necessarily those on the bestseller lists nor on the so-called canons of the past.

Finally, please don’t piously assume that fiction at the religious bookstore is automatically good for you while the pulpy paperbacks in the airport are bad. Don’t underestimate the value of man’s natural knowledge of God or of everyman’s ability to exposit wisdom. There are mountains of insight to be discovered in the talented works of those who confess Christ as well as those who do not. It’s time to mine those mountains.

This round, however, we brought a friend with us. As soon as the youth met him, like frenzied fans, they wanted to take pictures of him and with him. And take pictures they did! Decked out in a “Dare to be Lutheran” t-shirt, Dr. Martin Luther joined us for the festivities- and happily stood by the youth to ham it up for the camera.

Along with Luther, we brought a television that displayed various pictures of Concordia Theological Seminary; and after a few days of snapping shots of the youth at the Higher Things Conference, we put their pictures up on the tv, too. It was quite the active booth; and we-Rev. Cholak and myself, well…were compelled to match their energy!

All in all it was another wonderful conference, filled with great people, youth and adults alike. The chapel at St. Louis University was absolutely magnificent, too. Our very own Kantor Resch accompanied the youth choir on the organ, which only added to the transcendent quality of the the chapel services. It truly lived up to the organization’s name, “Higher Things,” in which the youth could receive and focus on the gifts of forgiveness, life and salvation that God brings to us in His Holy Word and Sacraments through Christ Jesus our Lord. As God faithfully promises to transform our lives in the Gospel, I am confident that this conference aided in bringing the Gospel to the youth and giving them a firm foundation on which to live and see how God works in the world and in their respective home congregations. They learned (and relearned) that through water, bread, wine and Word, God reveals Himself, works faith, and makes us His own in Jesus Christ. What a blessing to behold with so many young people! Amen!