The Fourth Annual Conference and Second Annual Convention
June 7 - 9, 1997, Indianapolis, Indiana
Our Agenda was packed. Some wondered if we could cover all the matters before
us. But we did it! Unlike what we have witnessed in being part of so many
other church conventions, no one left the convention before all business
was completed. There was ample time for full discussion of all issues before
the body. The completion of all business before us with full discussion was
a highlight!
Three Pastors were approved for Subscriptional membership in LMS-USA. This
doubled the number of Subscriptional Pastors on the Clergy Roster.
Letters of Call were approved and extended to 3 Pastors to serve LMS-USA
as Mission development Pastors.
A historic highlight of the Convention was the final authorization of ordination
for seminary graduate Jeffrey Iverson. He was then ordained into the ministry
of Word and Sacrament in LMS-USA at the Convention's Sunday Morning worship
Service by the officers of the Ministerium and Synod.
A total budget of $41,700.00 was approved for the 1997-1998 year with $40,000.00
of this slated for Mission Congregation work. LMS-USA income for the 1996
- 1997 year was $3,091.71 and disbursements were $2,439.37. The year end
balance on hand reported by the treasurer was $1,419.44.
Three additional pastors were approved for LMS-USA membership and were advanced
from provisional membership to Associate membership status. This brought
the Associate membership roster to a total of 6 pastors. The total number
of pastors on the Subscriptional and Associate rosters thus increased by
5 from the 7 pastors (3 Subscriptional and 4 Associate) on the two rosters
at the conclusion of the 1996 Convention. As of the conclusion of our 1997
Convention LMS-USA now has 12 Pastors on its clergy roster (6 Subscriptional
and 6 Associate). We rejoice at this significant growth. The growing clergy
roster significantly enhanced our Mission development abilities as a Synod.
Approval was given for the chartering of up to 8 new LMS-USA mission
congregations in the coming year (one of these a Hispanic mission). Two of
the new mission congregations have already been begun. Resurrection Lutheran,
York PA and Word of God Lutheran, Minneapolis MN.
The LMS-USA National Constitution was updated and amended. Our bi-cameral
nature and uniqueness of organization was clarified in open discussion time
which lead up to the amendment process. We are in consensus that our unique
constitution and organizational principles truly offer an option for American
Lutherans. The amended constitution is now reported to the Subscribing Pastors
and Subscribing Congregations for discussion and final consensus approval
in light of Scripture. The Ministerium is headed by a Chairman and the Synod
is headed by a Chairman. These two officers share the leadership of LMS-USA.
The Ministerium (Pastors only) advises and recommends. The Synod (Congregations
and Pastors) is the legislative body of LMS-USA.
A major highlight was the final Synod approval of, The Holy Spirit and His
Proper Work, as a Subscriptional Document of LMS-USA. This approval was given
after further amendment and the Convention approved statement will be sent
to the subscribing congregations and Pastors for final review and approval.
If given approval, the statement on, The Holy Spirit and His Proper Work,
will become an LMS-USA Subscriptional Statement and as such an official teaching
of LMS-USA.
One of the two officially approved Catechisms of LMS-USA has now been
re-published and made available for congregational use by LMS-USA congregations.
This is the Reu Catechism.
The LMS-USA WEB site continues to expand and to develop as well as to receive
a large number of visitors.
A great deal of discussion was held pursuant to the next area for Synod Study
and reflection. We will move toward adopting the other writings of the Book
of Concord beyond the Unaltered Augsburg Confession and the Small Catechism
of Luther as LMS-USA subscriptional documents (in the Quia sense). At each
succeeding Convention we will examine a specific item from the Book of Concord.
In 1998 we will consider adoption of the Large Catechism of Luther. In addition
it was decided to begin a study of the Doctrine of Ministry. Within the context
of that topic we will be studying in light of Scripture and the Confessions
the role of women in ministry. Papers on the Doctrine of Ministry will begin
to be presented at our 1998 Convention and Conference.
A major highlight of this years Conference was a presentation made by Lutheran
Church - Missouri Synod, Fort Wayne Seminary Professor Pastor Kurt Marquardt.
Professor Marquardt focused upon the Church Growth Movement vs. the Lutheran
Confessional understandings for worship and ministry. We found his words
very helpful to us in our deliberations and discussions.
The beautiful setting for our convention in the St. Matthew Lutheran Church,
Indianapolis facility together with the wonderful hospitality of the St.
Matthew members toward the pastors and congregational representatives continues
to be a major highlight of our conventions.
The next Annual Convention of the LMS-USA Synod is set for August 8-10, 1998
at St. Matthew, Indianapolis IN.
Officers for the Synod were elected for the coming year:
Chairman of The LMS-USA Synod - Pastor Roy A. Steward, Altoona PA.
Treasurer of The LMS-USA Synod - Mrs. Anita Strickland, Chetek WI.
Secretary of The LMS-USA Synod - Ms. Diane Boekankamp, Indianapolis, IN.
by Rev. Jeffrey Iverson
As the first seminarian directly ordained into the Ministry of Word and Sacrament
of the LMS-USA (all other pastors in the LMS-USA were ordained by their former
denominations), I am often asked how I came to be here. The short answer,
of course, is easy: I believe that the Holy Spirit has brought me into the
fellowship of the LMS-USA, for what often appears to our limited mortal view
as the random chances, changes, and choices of life are often, in retrospect,
the guiding hand of God.
Born in 1955, I was baptized, nurtured, and confirmed in the Lutheran faith
at a congregation of Norwegian heritage in Hudson, Wisconsin. I attended
Sunday School and worship regularly from childhood through my high school
years.
I attended the University of Minnesota, majoring in History, where, regrettably,
I disengaged from the faith of my childhood. I seldom attended worship over
the next decade. After graduation, I went to work for a local book publisher,
beginning as a proofreader, but working my way into a position in computer
type-setting.
I returned to graduate school at the University and earned a Master's Degree
in Business Administration. There I met my future wife, Jean, who was a committed
Christian and active in her Methodist tradition. I credit her positive witness
with bringing me back to the fellowship of the Christian community. We were
married the next year and we joined a United Methodist Church, where I soon
became actively involved in leading adult Bible study.
Jean and I both obtained professional employment in our fields and we bought
a home. After the birth of our daughter Emma, Jean left full-time employment
to care for her. Later we were further blessed with two sons, Trent and
Blake.
I read Dietrich Bonhoeffer's The Cost of Discipleship in the fall of 1989.
Bonhoeffer's exposition of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount awakened in me a calling
to Christian discipleship. I pondered this calling for two years and during
the summer of 1991, I struggled with it a great deal. I explored God's call
to individuals in the Bible and their responses. I looked at Moses, Samuel,
Isaiah, and others noting their confidence, their hesitance, their willingness,
and their doubts. I re-read The Cost of Discipleship and read Martin Luther's
Basic Theological Writings. The Scriptural witness, Luther's doctrine of
grace, and Bonhoeffer's sense of discipleship combined that summer to give
me the answer I needed. I began to listen to my call, not with questions
and doubts, but with faith and obedience. I accepted God's call to ministry
that summer and applied for admission to the M.Div. program at Luther
Seminary.
By this time, I had been attending the United Methodist Church for nearly
seven years. That faith community had nurtured my return to the family of
God, performed my marriage, and baptized two of my children. I had a great
deal of appreciation and love for this tradition, yet throughout those years
I had become keenly aware of my Lutheran theology. I discussed these concerns
with pastors of both traditions and concluded that I should follow my calling
in the Lutheran tradition. I joined an ELCA Church in January of 1992 and
began full-time seminary work at Luther Seminary that summer.
I soon discovered, however, that the ELCA of 1992 was not the Lutheran Church
of my childhood or my heritage. During my seminary career, I became more
and more convinced that the so-called "higher" criticisms of the Bible were
wrong. I was afraid at first of being labeled a fundamentalist, but God gave
me the strength to realize (and proclaim) that my faith rested on an inspired
and inerrant Word of God, regarded as the infallible authority for faith
and life. One of my interests in seminary was Lutheran history, and my research
showed that this type of language was part of my heritage in the Norwegian
Lutheran Church and the American Lutheran Church. I could not believe how
far down the wrong path the ELCA had trod.
Knowing what to do was a real struggle. It's hard to leave the church of
one's tradition, but I came to realize that it is really the ELCA that has
abandoned the tradition, not me. Our faithfulness rightly belongs to the
Gospel of Jesus Christ, the inerrant Word of God, and our Lutheran Confessions.
Our faithfulness should never belong to bricks and mortar or earthly
institutions.
I met up with the pastors who started the LMS-USA shortly after it was formed
in 1995, keeping contact primarily through computer-based electronic mail.
After about a year, it seemed clear to me that the Spirit was leading me
to work with them, and I applied for admission to the LMS-USA clergy
roster.
Our lives are always full of misjudgments and wrong turns, but at those times
when we are successful in making God's will for our lives a reality, He affirms
our actions by giving us "the peace which passes all understanding." That
is how I feel about joining my ministry for the Gospel to the work of the
LMS-USA, and I humbly request your prayers for the work ahead.
by Melva Rorem
Editor's note: The following article is from the volume, Ten Studies on THE
CHURCH THROUGH THE CENTURIES, Augsburg Publishing House, Mpls., MN, 1949.
But in actuality it is a revision of C. A. Sendell's, Little Journeys in
His Kingdom, 1923.
One of the concerns of the founders of the LMS-USA is the whole matter of
Worship. In our brief statements we express that concern this way, "We are
a liturgical church. We practice, without reservation, the use of the lectionary,
vestments, and an order of service such as that found in the Common
Service."
It is interesting to note how Rorem looks for the day when Lutherans can
have a form of worship that is somewhat uniform so when persons go from place
to place they can feel somewhat 'at home'. One wonders what he would think
today, when the Common Service, which was in time arrived at, has now, by
most been abandoned, so each congregation can 'do its own thing.'
In the Lutheran Church, there is order and plan (or there ought to be) from
beginning to end. There is the opening hymn, the confession of sins, the
prayer for pardon, the assurance of forgiveness, the reading of the Scriptures,
the preaching of the Gospel...
In the early days, however, everything was simple and informal. There was
no fine church, nor a great pipe organ and choir. The pastor did not wear
vestments. Perhaps there wasn't even a pastor. Going to church simply meant
that a few friends would get together in a safe place - perhaps a home, or
in the woods, or in a mountain cave - and there worship as best they could,
while perhaps at the same time Roman soldiers were hunting for them because
they would not worship the emperor.
"On the day called the Day of the Sun (Sunday)," says Justin Martyr, who
died for his faith in the year 166, "there is a gathering in one place of
us all who live in the cities or in the country, and the writings of the
apostles or of the prophets are read as long as time allows. Then when the
reader has ceased, the president speaks to us and urges us to imitate these
excellent things. Afterward we all rise at once and offer prayers."
But when persecutions came to an end, leaders of the Church began to plan
a more orderly form of worship. The place of worship was built in harmony
with the teachings of the Holy Scripture. A special style of dress was adopted
for the pastor, so that he would not have to follow the fashions of the world.
Hymns and set prayers were composed. Great events in the life of Christ were
commemorated by special festivals. The Church Year was planned and appropriate
Bible passages were chosen for each Sunday or holiday.
During the Middle Ages the simple form of the early days blossomed into a
glory that resolved itself in beautiful details. There was Preparation,
Confession, and Introit, Keri Elision and Gloria in Excesses, Collect and
Epistle, Gradual, Alleluia, Tract, Sequence , and Gospel, Creed and Antiphon.
There was washing of hands and sprinkling of Holy Water. There was swinging
of censers and burning of incense, bowing and kneeling and praying and chanting.
And all of this was done in a certain, definite order, by priests and cantors,
deacons and choir boys. Robes that were worn received careful attention as
to color, design, and material. And all was impressive with pomp and
circumstance.
All of this would naturally reflect the teachings of the church which were
only partly Biblical. When Luther found his way back to the Holy Scriptures
as the only authority in matters of faith and there took his firm stand,
he did not feel at ease admidst all this ceremony. He found it necessary
to prepare a new Order of Worship in harmony with the simple teachings of
Holy Scriptures.
In doing this he did not reject everything that had grown up through the
centuries. He rather pruned away what was unbiblical, leaving more room for
the preaching of the gospel, and giving the worshipers a chance to take a
more active part in the service.
Luther, however, did not insist that all churches follow exactly the same
form. He merely pointed out certain fundamentals that ought to be observed
in all orderly public worship. He left his followers free to work out the
details.
And so in each country where the Lutheran faith was established, a somewhat
different order of worship was established too. There is no objection to
this. But in our country, where so many different nations have met, and where
different forms of worship are so much alike, it is apt to be confusing.
There is the hope that some day we shall be able to have a Common Service
that all Lutherans will use.
In an article reprinted from the Con-cordia Theological Quarterly, in the
November 1996 issue of Table Talk, William E. Thompson quotes Wilheim Loche
(middle 19th century), "The Small Catechism of Luther is a confession of
the church and of all the confessions, it is one most congenial and familiar
to the people. It is the only catechism in the world that one can pray. But
it is less known than true that it can be called a veritable miracle in respect
of the extraordinary fullness and great wealth of knowledge which is here
expressed in so few words." Thompson continues by pointing out that "Loehe
wrote an explanation of the Catechism which was narrative in form and which
focused on developing a life of prayer based on the text of the Catechism.
The narrative explanations explained the Catechism word for word. Scriptural
citations were also included in narrative rather than proof-texting form.
This tradition was brought to America by the Franconian colonies of Michigan.
Following the break with Missouri, the Iowa Synod theologian Johann Michael
Reu carried the tradition forward."
This explanation of the Catechism was first published in 1904. More than
a hundred thousand copies were sold. In the early 40's this explanation was
revised and was again published, this time by Augsburg Publishing House.
Now we (LMS-USA) have received permission and have this explanation available
in a new 8 1/2 x 11 inch format.
Theo. L. Fitschel wrote a workbook for this explanation which was also published
by Wartburg Press, and which was, in 1951, assigned to Augsburg Publishing
House. This too we have reproduced, not in book form this time, but as individual
worksheets.
Reu's explanation was (is) written, as mentioned above, in narrative form;
it is not divided up into lessons as is the case with most explanations.
Fitschel's workbook, however, has, of necessity, made such divisions, with
the result that there are 50 lessons. Each lesson heading includes the relevant
page numbers from the explanation (text). The material is easy to use.
Although we were limited in not being able to update material in a couple
minor areas where that would have been helpful, we were given permission
to include the NIV Scripture verses, and we did so in a parallel format.
The explanation includes, the complete Luther's Small Catechism, The Explanation
of the Five Chief Parts of the Catechism, and in the Appendix - excellent
articles on 1) The Bible, 2) The Christian Year and, 3) The History Of The
Church.
If you have questions, or would like further information, or if you would
like to place an order - contact Rev. John S. Erickson, P. O. Box 31, Chetek,
WI 54728. Or call - 715- 924-2552. Cost of the 50 lesson, two year program
is $10 each.
A copy of the answer key to the Fitschel worksheets is also available upon
request.
Do you have hymnbooks - or Bibles - or reference / library books that need
replacing because of bad repair?
There is help available. The South Dakota State Peniteniary has a book bindery.
The bindery regularly does work (especially hymnbook work) for churches of
a number of denominations. For example, a hymnbook that is in good condition
(no loose pages - just needs a new cover and binding) the cost is $5 per
hymnal. If there is considerable work to be done the cost may be $9.50 per
hymnal - still considerably less than most new hymnals.
If you have a Bible that needs repair - minor repair and binding will cost
from 10 to 17 dollars - there are loose pages and some renewing to be done
maybe around $ 25. If the Bible is to be bound in leather it will cost more.
The will also work on large family Bibles. There may be discounts for volume
orders.
If interested, it is best to contact the bindery at:
South Dakota State Penitentiary
Prison Industries, Inc.
Book Binding Plant
1600 N. Drive
P. O. Box 911
Sioux Falls, SD 57117-0911
Or call: 1-605-367-5064
by Rev. Ralph Spears
The strength of the Church was recently proved all over again in a way
unexpected.
Half way to a call on the west side of Indianapolis, a neighbor to our church
called my cell phone to tell me that someone had run into the church at a
high speed. (She usually lets me know when stolen radios are being sold in
our parking lot, etc.)
Ten minutes later and back at the church - sure enough two young boys (15
and 13) in a stolen car, trying to evade the police attempted a turn into
the alley and hit the corner of St. Matt. at 40 to 45 mph. Gasoline and pieces
of the old Plymouth were all over the place and the boys in cuffs were in
the police cars by then.
The corner of the building had made its imprint on the car... a perfect two
and a half foot wedge depressed into the front end.
And the Church building? Well, it is made of Indiana oolitic limestone, not
unlike the material in the Great Pyramid. Except for some rubber and paint
that had come off on the stone - THERE WERE NO MARKS at all!
Old St. Matts. holds up to sin pretty well - especially on the outside.
For the most part, it has been very interesting to see the extensive news
media coverage that has been given the various LMS-USA mission efforts. The
secular press has picked up on our efforts in an amazing way.
As we consider all our new church starts and as we look for direction to
begin in still other areas, let us be in prayer that the Lord of the Church
might lift up willing and effective lay and pastoral leadership to work in
the carrying out of the Great Commission of our Lord; providing worship and
fellowship opportunities for those seeking such in light of Scripture and
the Lutheran Confessions.
by Rev. Ralph Spears
One of the reasons for attending Seminary was to learn to pray. Not that
I would have admitted it to anyone - because if there was a sense of vocation
in me, then certainly I should have had a firm grasp on the matter of how
to pray. But this had eluded me.
Behind me were the broken sessions sometimes on my knees (which always hurt
on the bare floor) when I repeated the Lord's Prayer but my mind got side
tracked and I was obliged to repeat it- yet again. There was some concern
and embarrassment over all of this. All the more reason then to "learn" how
to pray.
But the seminary experience was no help at all. As the three years went by,
it was assumed that everyone knew how to pray already. It was fair to wonder
if others felt this way - but there was no way to ask.
Finally well into the fall of my first call, very helpful printed resources
came together and the regular 'times' of prayer began in earnest.
Each day
The paradox of reality dawned on me that I had gone through elaborate preparation
to discover something readily available to anyone.
Christ IS always present as we ask, and WAS there as I struggled with His
prayer as a boy. Why didn't I know it then?
Soren Kierkegaard said that we should 'work out our salvation with fear and
trembling to God'. More likely it is that this applies more so to prayer.
With great respect (fear and trembling) we should work out our own prayer
communication with God
For Martin Luther said; - "you cannot find a Christian without prayer, just
as you cannot find a living man without a pulse. The pulse never stands still;
It is always throbbing and beating by itself, even though a man is sleeping
or doing something else and, therefore, is not aware of it."
Yet Luther reports of himself that it was in the midst of a great lightening
storm that he prayed in 'fear and trembling' to God through St. Anne. If
it had not been so, then perhaps the job of Reformer would have fallen to
another, later in time, for he vowed that he would dedicate his life to God
if he was spared the terror of that experience.
Even so, as a young priest, Luther seems to have found the solace of prayer
with great difficulty at times. It was there as it is with all of us but
at times we are just "not aware of it"!
Indeed for the remainder of his life, Luther found the 'rhythm of Prayer'
in the 'hours' of the morning canticles to the evening vespers while writing
with great enthusiasm that we pray also morning and evening, in thanks, for
guidance and forgiveness.
"Praying" Luther said, "is the work of Faith alone!" And so in Faith, Prayer is the "work" of every Christian.
Why and How to Pray - ...elsewhere I have often taken up and discussed the
component parts and the characteristics which every real prayer has to possess;
therefore I shall only summarize them briefly here. They are as follows:
first, the urging of God's commandment, who has strictly required us to pray;
second, His promise, in which He declares that he will hear us; third, an
examination of our own need and misery, which burden lies so heavily on our
shoulders that we have to carry it to God immediately and pour it out before
Him, in accordance with His order and commandment; fourth, true faith, based
on this Word and promise of God, praying with the certainty and confidence
that he will hear and help us - and all these things in the name of Christ,
through whom our prayer is acceptable to the Father and for whose sake He
gives us every grace and every good. [Weimar ed. of Luther's Works, 32,
415]
No Christian Without Prayer - Here he [Peter] exhorts Christians to pray
and thereby shows incidentally that the duty (Amt) to pray is imposed on
every Christian, for "the Spirit of grace and of supplications" is poured
out on all believers (Zech. 12:10). Therefore let the man who fails to pray
not imagine that he is a Christian. [Erlangen Ed. of Luther's Works, 52,
162]
Luther's Daily Prayer Life - I still find it necessary every day to look
for time during which I may pray. And I am satisfied if, when I retire, I
can recite the Ten commandments, pray the Lord's Prayer, and then add a Bible
verse or two. Meditating on these, I fall asleep. [Table Talk, in Weimar
ed. 5, No. 5517]
As we approach another anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation (our next
issue of Table Talk will not be out until November) it is appropriate to
take a moment to pause and reflect on the meaning of our Seal.
The center is Luther's Seal. Luther desired that the cross be black for
mortification, the rose white for the joy of faith, the field blue for the
joy of heaven and the ring (not included in our seal) gold for eternal
blessedness. His seal symbolizes the truth that even under a cross the heart
of a Christian abides on roses.
We have enclosed the seal in an equilateral triangle, which expresses the
idea of the eternity of the Three Persons of the Godhead.
Around the triangle we have the three 'Solas' of the Reformation, Salvation
by Grace Alone, through Faith Alone, as revealed to us in the Scripture Alone.
Added to this is a fourth 'Sola' reminding us to preach 'Christ Alone'. (see
I Cor. 1:23 and Acts 4:12).