Lutheran – Page 58 – The Lutheran Zephyr

Concerning the Church

In the midst of postings regarding worship style and emergent church forms, I turned to the Augsburg Confession to recall what our tradition teaches about the nature of the church. The church is the assembly of saints in which the gospel is taught purely and the sacraments are administered rightly. And it is enough forContinue reading “Concerning the Church”

How do Lutherans engage the Government?

With the recent indictment of Vice President Dick Cheney’s top aide, and the continuing doubts regarding the (mis)use of intelligence prior to the Iraq war, I wonder how we Lutherans can and should engage our government. That is, what is a "Lutheran" basis for lobbying, for advocacy, for government reform? Lutherans are unique, I think,Continue reading “How do Lutherans engage the Government?”

On Worship “Style” – a virtual conversation

anton Dwight P. from Minneapolis gave a thoughful response to my recent post about welcoming, relevant, contemporary worship. Here’s my response with his comments in italics. Dwight: I’m a high-church, bells-and-smells, pipe-organ-demanding, historic texts hearing Lutheran. And from that perspecive, I think you either make or report in your post at least four assumptions thatContinue reading “On Worship “Style” – a virtual conversation”

On Being Welcoming, Relevant (& Contemporary?) in Worship

I have a great job – I get paid to visit Lutheran churches. Actually, that’s not what I get paid for, but a large part of my job involves traveling to Lutheran congregations and meeting with their pastors and lay leaders. I have visited congregations from Northern Virginia through New England, and have been blessedContinue reading “On Being Welcoming, Relevant (& Contemporary?) in Worship”

Too much Bible study?

Is it possible for a church to have too much Bible study? Today I met for 90 minutes with a passionately Bible-oriented, evangelical Lutheran pastor. He contends that the main tasks of the church are to bring people to Christ (I critiqued the "bring people to Christ" concept a few posts ago) and get themContinue reading “Too much Bible study?”