I’ve seen enough oddball services held at various LCMS gatherings. Many people have been offended by these cooked up orders of service. Sure some are offended as a matter of personal preference, but some truly take theological issue with the services. As we all know there is no order of service commanded in Holy Scripture, but it is quite clear from them and our confessions that worship should be orderly and peaceful. To that end I am going to submit the following overture to my district and the national conventions; You know “bubbling up from the grassroots” and all. If you have any suggestions to strengthen the wording, please feel free to leave a comment. I know we’ve go a couple of years, but this kind of stuff will drift out of my mind by then if I don’t put it down now.

To Use Lutheran Service Book at Services During Official District and National Gatherings

WHEREAS, God, in His 3rd Commandment, places an expectation upon us to worship Him; and

WHEREAS, God calls us to the Divine Service such that He might distribute His gifts to us; and

WHEREAS, AC XXVIII.55 states, “… that all things be done in the churches in order, and without confusions”; and

WHEREAS, Article III.7 of the Constitution states, “Encourage congregations to strive for uniformity in church practice, but also to develop an appreciation of a variety of responsible practices and customs which are in harmony with our common profession of faith;”

WHEREAS, 1998 Resolution 2-12 commissioned a new hymnal to be produced, 2004 Resolution 2-03A approved Lutheran Service Book, and 2007 Resolution 2-03A thanked the Commission on Worship for its work on Lutheran Service Book; and

WHEREAS, Nearly 70 percent of all LCMS congregations have adopted Lutheran Service Book (2010 Convention Workbook pg. 46); therefore; be it

RESOLVED, That for the sake of “love and tranquility” (AC XXVIII.55) all services during official District and Synodical gatherings use an order of service out of and as it is outlined in Lutheran Service Book.

I would like to see a lot more iPhone apps that entertain, encourage, and educate from a confessional perspective. To that end, I would like to encourage anyone who’s interested to start developing some apps and I’d be willing to help to the best of my abilities. One book I can recommend on the subject that I just finished reading is Tapworthy: Designing Great iPhone Apps. It’s not an iPhone programming book, it’s about how to design the look and feel of and interaction with an iPhone app. It’s the first technical book I’ve read from cover-to-cover in a while.

10. Meeting Pastor and Mrs. Harrison outside the Floor Committee 1 open hearing
9. My DP saying AC XIV was for 16th century Germans and his “U.S. as a foreign mission field” paradigm would be to have 1 ordained pastor managing 25 lay deacons.
8. Breaking bread with so many solid pastors
7. Mrs. Harrison waving to me as I came down the escalator and me looking around and wondering who she was waving to
6. Pr. Watt talking PDP-11 programming
5. Beers in Pr. Weedon’s room
4. All the people that I met too numerous to name
3. The Passage of 8-08A
2. The Kyrie inserted between Confession and Absolution at the Saturday service
1. Pr. Harrison elected President of the LCMS

I was getting more and more dissatisfied with my blog theme, so I modified the header and went to a cleaner theme.

I’m also dissatisfied with the content of the blog. This blog was meant to be about all my vocations not just the vocation of LCMS layman. I’m planning to blog more about my other vocations especially those that touch on the more technology-oriented aspects of my life and how theology influences me in those areas.

I don’t think anyone will actually notice any content changes except for maybe a few more posts that you can ignore

Last week, Issues, Etc. asked the question, “Where were you when Matt Harrison was Elected President of the LCMS?” Here’s my answer as best as I can recall.

My head was slumped. I had just pushed #3 and the send button on my voting machine. What hope was there that Pr. Harrison would win? We had just finished the first 2 and half days of the convention and Dr. Kieschnick had presided over it masterfully. He was fair, he was humorous, he was in his element. He had even given his “President’s Report” which was as good a stump speech as I’d heard from any secular politician give. His pet project, restructuring, had just passed the previous day in the form of Resolution 8-08A. The convention was divided. The mood of many was that we had a lot of work to do and debate was slowing us down. What hope was there that Pr. Harrison would win? Lord, have mercy.

I looked up. 4 more seconds. If Dr. Kieschnick wins, what would it mean for me and my congregation? The lack of ecclesiastical supervision which, I believe, has lead to a lot of the mistrust within the Synod would continue. Would practices become more aberrant? Would the restructuring create a political class within the Synod focusing on being convention delegates instead of churchmen? Would TCN, Ablaze, et al. continue to dominate? Could these changes cause my congregation to reconsider its membership in Synod? Could they do the same to me?  If Dr. Kieschnick wins, what would it mean for me and my congregation? Christ, have mercy.

Here come the results. What will this vote mean for the Synod? We had already made so many changes in the form of 8-08A that we didn’t know what the Synod looked like even at the moment of the vote. What staff had been let go of? What program boards were gone? We were continually told that the functions still existed even without the staff. Huh? How would the divisions that were so obvious in these close votes be healed? Would it just get worse? Would one side just leave? What will this vote mean for the Synod? Lord, have mercy.

Matthew C. Harrison – 643 Gerald B. Kieschnick – 527 What?!?! Pr. Harrison won!?!? The release of tension mixed with joy, relief, excitement caused unwanted tears to well up in my eyes. The problems of the Synod were by no means resolved by the election, but Missouri got what she needed and that is a pastor. A pastor to call us to repentance and proclaim the Gospel. A pastor who trusts the Word of God to do what it says it will do. There’s a place for programs and structure, but our hope lies in Christ and what He has done for us. Lord, have mercy, Christ, have mercy, Lord, have mercy. Amen.

One thing that was really driven home by this convention is that the terms and language we use need to be clearly defined. Bylaws and resolutions were amended and re-amended to clarify terms and languages. Some of the language that was passed is unclear and leaves room for much mischief. In promoting one viewpoint or another, language was used that was, intentionally or unintentionally, vague and misleading. There was much talk of our disunity and mistrust at the convention and I believe this stems largely from the intentional or unintentional use of terms that don’t have a clear definition.

My hot button term this week was ministry. There was much talk of youth ministry, singles ministry, ministry to Gen X, every “Red Chair” video started with the district president talking about how long he had been in ministry. I guess this stems from the notion of the priesthood of all believers which I don’t dispute, but when the word ministry is applied to just about every activity in the church then use of the term detracts from the true ministry of Word and Sacraments. It also leads to an understanding that since I’m in say youth ministry that it’s really not much of a stretch to publicly preach. The next convention needs to start with a proper explanation of the Office of the Keys. I know my pastor and a bunch of Fort Wayne pastors would be happy to do it.

Similarly, unity, confessional, harmony, mission, and more are terms used over and over in varying and sometimes seemingly conflicting ways. As we go forward, we better start using the same language or well just be walking together in isolation.

I’ve seen many comments and posts about the Divine Service that was held on Saturday at the LCMS National Convention. Most focus on the eclectic nature of the music and some of the “contemporary” influences on the service. I want to focus on one item that made the thing a complete train wreck for me. Whoever modified DS1 and placed a stylized Kyrie between the Confession and the Absolution should not be allowed to arrange a service again. I was honestly baffled and kept wondering where in the world the Absolution was after I had confessed my sins. While we were singing this Kyrie my stomach was turning and I was confused. I flipped to the next page of the worship folder and found that the absolution was coming.

I did not care for the stylized Kyrie but that’s not my quarrel. It inserted something that I needed to do between my confession and Christ’s absolution. It was a different theology. In later talking to Pr. Weedon (sorry for the name dropping), he said that this is where Roman Catholics sometimes place the Kyrie. This was a clear example of substance being lost in the name of style.

I hadn’t decided on what floor committee hearing to checkout so I just was sitting around when one of the regulars from Steadfast Lutherans, Jim Claybourn, came up and introduced himself. I decided to join him at the FC1 (Missions) hearing. It wasn’t one of the ones I was targeting, but turned out to be quite interesting.

The committee was discussing a new resolution that wasn’t yet published regarding targeting Generation X (me) and the Millennials. I kinda looked around and, if you know anything about the LCMS, didn’t see too many Gen. Xers (none?) so I figured I was obligated to get up and say something. I told them that my generation isn’t interested in being targeted by a program from some organization. We want something that gives us a foundation and something we can believe in. I told them we needed to get back to basics and clearly articulate who we are and what we believe in and that is what would attract Generation X.

I was trying to make the point that the clarity of our doctrine would attract people, not another program, but I’m not sure they heard that. One thing I don’t think the LCMS as a whole understands is that you can’t please everyone. To be a great organization you have to stand for something and that will often polarize people. The church is not an organization, but when we stand for the Gospel we will polarize people.

Outside of the hearing I met Pr. Matt Harrison and his wife. Pr. Harrison gave me a warm handshake and chuckled a thanks again for my video. Mrs. Harrison gave me a hug and thanked me for the video. She said it came at exactly the right time (during the JF #9 dust up) and she could hear him laughing from his computer.

This is a day late, but I thought I should to get it up anyway.

Travel to the Convention was uneventful. I watched some of the new Luther movie on the iPad during the flight. Much more personal experience than watching it on a big screen. The shuttle service was inefficient, but we got to the hotel.

After a quick bite to eat (convention center food prices are depressing) I went over to the Floor Committee 8 open hearing. I guess it might be the nature of this type of hearing, but one or two people seemed to be supportive of the resolutions. There was concern from many different perspectives. Some wanted to know who would be in charge of what after the changes (The answer seemed to be that the grassroots would tell Synod). Others were concerned about what things meant theologically (Of course FC8 answered that nothing was changing just clarifying what we’ve always said and done). And still others had legal or procedural questions. I still cannot, in good conscience, vote Yes on almost all of these resolutions because there are too many unanswered questions. There is no plan to transition to this new structure. Faith in God and His guiding hand doesn’t mean I need to abandon the reason He gave me.

Outside the hearing, I got to meet Mollie Ziegler Hemingway. We talked a little about the goings on and I got to know a little more about her. She was pretty much the height I expected (about the same as my wife). I also caught a glimpse of Pr. Harrison. He was busy talking to others so I didn’t introduce myself, but he also is the height I expected after listening to Pr. Wilken.

Had a nice dinner with Pr. Bestul at a restaurant near the hotel (Yes we ventured outside). Then did some email and reading and called it an early night.

Here are some of things that are rattling through my head as I prepare for the 2010 LCMS National Convention in Houston:

• 9 days in Houston means 8 changes of clothes. I don’t really want to consider doing laundry, but I’m not sure how to pack.
• Is there some type of spoken or unspoken dress code?
• Pr. Charles Lehmann is going to do this on 3 changes of clothes. Way too ambitious for me.
• What in the world am I going to be eating for those 9 days?
• What will cause me to venture out of the air conditioned hotel and convention center and battle the heat of Houston?
• Do the cool kids go to any/all those receptions or do they duck out and find something cool to do?
• What will the delegates around me be like?
• I can’t wait to meet as many online acquaintances as possible even though I am a hardcore introvert and probably won’t have much to say I still look forward to meeting them in person.
• I wonder how tall they are?
• I wonder what will surprise me the most?
• I’m going to miss my girls.
• Remember the First Commandment.
• Remember the First Article.