Vocation in the Valley

I Feel Like Bob Cratchit

Wednesday, December 24th, 2008

It’s 3:45pm on Christmas Eve and I’m still at work. I’m repenting of all the sinful thoughts I’m having about my vocation.

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I’m Not into “Transforming Congregations”

Friday, December 19th, 2008

Before Advent service on Wednesday, my pastor says, “I saw your picture on the web today. Yeah, the website for “Transforming Congregations.” My first thought was I was on some wanted list, but I remembered I had actually signed up for their social network while doing opposition research. I started to explain this to my pastor, but he just laughed. He already figured that’s what I was doing.

On that front, things are looking positive. I talked to my pastor, an elder, and several other church committee members and all were in various states of displeasure with the ideas put forth by the Transforming Congregations Network (TCN). I helped solidify the displeasure in several of them by pointing out its non-Lutheran roots which they had missed.

It’s not officially DOA until the elders meet next month, so we’ll see. I want to thank everyone for their support and prayers. I also want to thank those individuals who provided me with specific resources to fight this thing before it got any momentum.

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Congregation or Corporation

Wednesday, December 10th, 2008

My congregation, Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, is probably typical of many small churches these days. Membership is flat or declining. Giving is flat or declining. We have budgetary concerns. In short, we are struggling. What to do? As Pastor Wilken points out in his presentation, we call in our heretics, the consultant.

Last night, we had a consultant from the CNH district pitch a process for “Transforming for Mission.” Every good consultant has a mantra, so of course he did. His was, “The Gospel hasn’t changed, the Scriptures haven’t changed, the Holy Spirit hasn’t changed.” This was likely a focus grouped message to quell any concerns of the confessionally minded. I’m sure “adiaphora” will be tossed around a lot in the coming weeks.

So what was the gist of the pitch? Vision, leadership, and accountability. Now those are all words I connect with business, not the church. I envision CEOs, Boards of Directors, vision statements, etc. Well, lo and behold the outcome of this process for another congregation was just such a prescription.

I know I will stand against this, and I fully expect to be the lone voice (Oh I would love to be proved wrong). The problem is that things truly need to change and it is easy to look to man-made solutions to solve our problems. If we stick to God’s vision of the church and focus on His Word and sacraments, will this “inward focus” lead to the death of the congregation? I keep thinking about the antidote for a life without works and that is a life with more faith. I pray for that faith for myself, my congregation, and my pastor.

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