Editor’s Note: Ethan Zimmerman is a junior at Ohio Northern University where he heard the call to become a pastor. He plans to attend seminary after graduation. His grandfather, the Rev. Jerry Rhea, a NALC pastor, has encouraged Ethan to apply to the NALS.

Recently, I was sitting in my car after class, listening to music on random shuffle, and eating Taco Bell, when the song, “Hands On” from Kanye West’s album, JESUS IS KING, started playing. I sat there listening to it, really listening, instead of passively enjoying it as I do with most music, and I had a revelation.

First, let me give you some context about Kanye West. For those who don’t know, he is a famous hip hop/rap star who has written many songs that hit the top of the charts; many of those songs are quite vulgar. Recently, Kanye took a 180 degree turn and wrote a gospel album. It received both surprised and mixed reviews from the secular music world and from Christians — many people thought he had lost his mind. Kanye is currently married to Kim Kardashian, a popular reality TV star. They recently split and a divorce appears imminent.

Now why do I bring this up? Why did I entitle this, “Pray for Kanye”? I did so because I have something in common with Kanye. Over the past year or so, I have been doing a lot of introspection, analyzing my life and the path that God has set me on. I am a junior in college and plan to go to seminary to become a pastor. My time in university has been quite formative as I transitioned from childhood into adulthood while growing in my faith. I have made decisions that cost me friends because I didn’t want to do things or go along with decisions that would jeopardize or go against my faith. It has been quite the perilous journey, but I would have it no other way for, as Paul says in Romans 5:3-5, “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (ESV).

What I see in common with Kanye and myself is that Kanye is going through a formative time in his life too and his faith is also under attack. I am certain that his faith is the reason for the criticism that he received for making this gospel album and for the split between him and his wife. Before Kanye converted and made his faith public, he had it all: money, power and a reality TV star wife. To the world, what more could a man desire? His decision to go public with his faith and to step away from making vulgar hip-hop is a decision that could very well jeopardize what the world sees as success.

These “Hands On” lyrics express Kanye’s worries and anxieties:

“Told people God was my mission

What have you been hearin’ from the Christians?

They’ll be the first one to judge me

Make it feel like nobody love me.”

To feel alone, because people don’t like that I am following God, is something that I’ve felt before and it is quite the agonizing feeling. I found Kanye’s plea profound as he rapped, “Somebody pray for me.” As someone who has been in his shoes, I can’t help but empathize with him.

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding Kanye West and his faith, from the secular world not liking it, calling him crazy, to various Christians criticizing him and calling his faith fake. I think we, the Church, the disciples of Christ, should forget all of that and do what Kanye asks of us — pray for him. He is going through an extremely difficult time and he is at a fork in the road in his walk with God. He could abandon it all, return to the secular world, dance to Satan’s tune, do what man thinks is right, or he could persevere and continue to walk with God, even if the world thinks differently, even if it costs him everything he had before.

Regardless of what you think of Kanye West, I encourage you to join me in praying for him. Pray that he follows the Lord, uses his fame and popularity to spread the Gospel, and that his heart would be good soil.

I leave you with a verse I find encouraging as a reminder that there is always power in prayer. From the second half of James 5:16, “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (ESV).

Click here to read an interview Kanye had regarding his faith and here to read another article about the controversy created by his album JESUS IS KING.

I have a soft spot in my heart for small congregations, congregations of any size in transition, and churches whose isolation and resources make it difficult to field an “emergency fill-in” pastor, much less an interim or called pastor. That’s one reason I compile hymn suggestions and write intercessory prayers, even though they are widely used by congregations of all sizes and staffing. Churches without a regular pastoral presence have enough to do without crafting prayers, selecting hymns to go with the appointed tests… or figuring out how the Word will be faithfully preached every week. That’s what I want to talk about now.

Yes, there are sermon resources online. They’re hit and miss. They may have great illustrations but lack theological “meat”. They may be unorthodox, at odds with classic Lutheran doctrine, or overly pedantic. The Board of Lutheran CORE hopes to provide a data base of solid, biblically faithful, and doctrinally orthodox sermons for congregations to download when the need arises. Maybe they’re house churches or are facing a long vacancy with few prospects for interim pastoral leadership. Don Brandt and his brilliant Congregations in Transition (CiT) initiative helps address some of the challenges such churches face. Or maybe the pastor took ill on a Saturday night and a supply preacher isn’t available. It’d be a blessing for them to have one place to search for good sermons to use: by Scripture, day in the church year, or topic.

So this is a call for pastors to help out congregations in such situations. I want your sermons! Please email them to cammlung@gmail.com.

  Here are some basic criteria:

1. When you submit a sermon, make a note at the beginning as to the main Scripture(s) referenced; the day in the church year/lectionary for which it is appropriate; and, if applicable, the general topic. That way we can cross reference sermons so they can be searched in several ways.
2. Select sermons that you’d entrust to a layperson in your own congregation to preach if you couldn’t be there.
3. No “First-person” sermons. They’re too unique to you.
4. Similarly, be careful about mentioning situations or people that may be specific to your own congregation and difficult to modify to be of more general use. If a person’s situation, however, may be more universally shared, please change names to protect the innocent!
5. Avoid using sermons that feature time-sensitive topics or express specific personal political beliefs. They don’t transport (or age) well.
6. Sermons should be full manuscripts, not notes, lists, or talking points. Please check for, and correct, errors in grammar and spelling!
7. If possible, sermons should take under 15 minutes to preach. Someone else will be using your words, style, and thoughts. That’s harder (mentally and physically), than using their own.
8. I will edit very lightly: Grammar, spelling, factual errors, or the stray name of a parishioner (for privacy’s sake). If I think any other edits need to be made, I will ask your permission.
9. Please don’t have your feelings hurt if a sermon doesn’t appear online. It may be a time factor and it’ll show up later. If I think a sermon is simply not suitable for use as per the criteria I’ve listed, I may ask you to either modify it or withdraw it. It does not mean I think it’s a bad sermon or you’re a bad preacher!

This is going to take some time to compile, organize, and put online. You can be selecting and submitting topical sermons immediately, as well as sermons from later in Cycle B (2^nd half of Pentecost, year of Mark). But also start setting aside, editing, and submitting sermons that can be used in Cycle C (Year of Luke). I will try to give folks a heads-up when more contributions are needed. Again, please send stuff as Word documents to cammlung@gmail.com.

Thank you!

Editor’s Note: Jacob Moorman is a student and a tax preparer with plans to attend seminary after graduation. This is his second article for CORE. Click here to read his first article.

Recently, I was honored to be asked to write about River’s Edge Ministries’ (REM) young adult Bible study and outreach group. I believe my generation is asking two questions: “Who am I?” and “What’s my purpose?” Answering these questions together as a group has been key to our spiritual growth.

I decided to share the backstory of how we formed, what we do, how we have grown, and where we are headed. We began with God’s grace and promise, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:20, RSV)

From a personal perspective, our “group” began over four years ago at a local IHOP restaurant. Fresh out of high school, my good friend Ben and I felt a little unsure of what to do next in our lives. During the summer of 2016 we both took jobs in construction and we both had friends heading off in various directions. Some moved and some, like us, stayed behind. We noticed a significant void in our lives and in the lives of many around us. We couldn’t find a strong young adult Bible study or community gathering taking place in our area. There were high school groups, but we had phased out of that. There were groups for couples, groups for the married, but the twenty to thirtyish age group seemed relatively overlooked, at least in our area. So the two of us decided to start meeting every Monday evening at IHOP. We resolved to study God’s Word together and be intentional in prayer. That first summer we read through the Book of Acts.

We met there so often we became regulars. We befriended the waiters and waitresses. It was a special time and a memory I hold dear. We began to talk about revival and envision what the Lord was doing and what He would do one day. Our yearning to see unity in the Body of Christ was a big part of those initial conversations. We then began to talk about reaching out to our peers who hail from many different denominations. The Lord lit a fire under us! He helped us lay a framework — what seemed to us to be a good model for study. I can remember one specific moment in the parking lot when Ben said something along the lines of “This is where revival begins.” He was right.

While Ben and I were meeting and talking about all these things, ironically my dad and younger brother also felt prompted by the Lord to launch a young adult group; they, too, saw that there was a great need for a post-high school group. So, together we officially launched the Bible study in 2017. My father was integral in its structure and form. Our goal was to be strongly grounded in the Word, Christ-centered, Kingdom-oriented, and mission-focused. Clearly, our backbone is Lutheran, but our young adults come from many different denominational backgrounds. We genuinely wanted to witness and experience “His Kingdom come, and His Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.”

REM was not designed to be a regular Sunday morning church. Part of our vision is calling the Church to be His Church for such a time as this, with a primary focus on discipling and equipping God’s people so they may be sent out into the world. We actively seek to work with other churches and reach across the denominational divide for the sake of the Kingdom, yet simultaneously retain our Lutheran identity and orthodoxy. We do our best to seek first His Kingdom and Righteousness (Matthew 6:33) and strive for unity in Christ. It is time for the church to live out the prayer of John 17, when Christ prayed for us, His church, and His unblemished Bride:

“I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me.” (John 17:20-23, RSV)

We need unity in these difficult, divided times. How can the church be effective in evangelism if it is just as divided as the world? Our group is a small scale “experiment” of this unity. We all come from very different backgrounds: Lutheran, Catholic, Nazarene, Baptist, Presbyterian, Non-denominational, Pentecostal, Charismatic, Anglican and others.

My dad helped design and establish our foundational studies. We began with a solid first course of study called Alpha. It was extremely helpful in grounding us in the basic tenets of our  faith while fostering an environment in which the Spirit can move easily. The first book we studied was Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. If you’re familiar with Bonhoeffer, you will know he was very much about living in community but not in isolation as the Body of Christ. He faced great evil, like the evil we see today. In the midst of this, he remained steadfast. Life Together is a great study in how to be the Church. Next, we studied 1 and 2 Peter, then many other books/letters of the Bible.

Our typical Thursday night flow is fellowship, meal, worship and study. We always end in prayer. We ask for prayer requests. We encourage and pray for each other.

I am amazed to look back and see what the Lord did with such humble beginnings. The “Thursday Night Group” exists because of God’s sovereign leading — not our exceptionally great leadership or dynamic teaching. It’s not about being super high tech or having spectacular multi-media presentations, etc. In other words, the Lord can do this anywhere.

So, how did this happen? The Lord’s moving “in and through” the prayer and the fellowship of a few. The Lord gave us a vision. We wrote it down, as my father often quotes from Habakkuk, “And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain upon tablets, so he may run who reads it …” (RSV) Once the idea formed, we had to take action. Practically speaking, we had to start reaching out to people. We reached friends first. From there, it took patience, persistence, and perseverance. In our non-committal culture, it is too easy to avoid groups and events. Gathering this group together involved texting people individually (and consistently) many times. It took “in person” communication and phone conversations. It required countless group texts to even begin to build a base. People came and went, especially during the first two years, so I was constantly adapting. I learned that this is what it means to be organic and fluid in mission work.  

We currently average anywhere from 10 to 15 young adults every week. We’ve had over 30, maybe upwards of 40 young adults involved with the group over the span of 3 years. Prepare for the ‘ebb and flow’ of doing life together! We have experienced seasons of growth as well as decline … and then regrowth. In the beginning, there were many times we would only have 2 or 3 — discouraging! But we kept at it. We peaked one summer averaging 15-20, then our numbers dropped as people went back to school. When we went down to 5 or less, I was again discouraged. It was then that the Lord stirred me up with these words, “Why do you have this study?” The answer was to glorify and honor Him! Therefore, if He is present and He is glorified, then it is worth it — whether you have 3 or 300.

Oddly enough, we are currently about halfway through studying the Book of Acts again. This is incredibly helpful as we are facing difficult and disconcerting days. This time we have been very intentional in inviting many pastors/leaders from a variety of denominational backgrounds to guide us through the Book of Acts. I have worked directly with my dad in connecting with these invaluable missional partners and have had only positive experiences. It has taught all of us to respect and stand under the umbrella of the previous generations’ wisdom and teaching. The Holy Spirit has taught us a deeper love for His Kingdom and a greater appreciation for the larger Church by introducing us to the different strengths that come from a variety of denominations within the Body.

In years past, REM has done mission outreach to Baltimore and Frederick, Maryland. We’d like to do more of that, but we ran into some obstacles because of COVID lockdown measures. But over the winter we made blankets for the homeless. We also gathered some funds to purchase items from Childfund’s Real Gifts Catalog, an organization which provides families in need with farm animals and clean water. We recently connected with someone at the Frederick Rescue Mission who encouraged us with new ideas on how we can serve as we wait for things to reopen. We are excited about these possibilities and look forward to growing as a community of faith.

We also held a night of prayer and worship on the night of the presidential election. It was a powerful time of communal worship and coming together to seek the Lord’s face for the future of our nation. We are still praying and believe that revival is coming to America and that our nation will begin to seek the face of Christ, starting with individuals and small groups. We’ve been inspired as we read through the Book of Acts — for such a time as this — to develop a deeper understanding of what it means to be the Church and to be the hands and feet of Christ. How can we actively make a difference during this time? How can we better be light and salt to those around us? These are challenging questions at any time, but especially now when tensions run high.

Our prayer as a young adult group is that we would have a clear vision of what God wants to do during this time. We pray for an extra measure of grace so that He would fill us with courage, passion, and humility so we can join Him where he is already working. Our hope is that we will see the Spirit move in a powerful way across denominational lines by bringing believers together from all types of backgrounds in His name.  May He call the remnant of His people to unite in America and the world.

I have discovered that it’s not easy to faithfully document a movement of God. I hope these words encourage you to simply step into it, however small that step may seem. Clearly, this movement is God’s not ours. Begin to gather with two or more around His Word and watch to see what God does. I sincerely believe that what we’ve done can be replicated around the nation. My prayer is the Church would arise. I pray each of us would “keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5) where He leads … “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:23-25) May the Peace of Christ rest on you as we share this life together. Amen.

Editor’s Note: Jody Ellingson is the former call committee chair and transition team member of American Lutheran Church (LCMC), Long Prairie, Minnesota. She wrote this unsolicited recommendation about the ministry of Lutheran CORE’s Congregation in Transition (CIT) program.

 It was bittersweet reading our pastor’s retirement announcement in the summer of 2019.  Pastor Bill had been the pastor at American Lutheran Church for over ten years and was deeply loved by our congregation.  We were certainly going to miss him!  However, we were also happy for him as he transitioned to the next chapter in his life.  In true Pastor Bill fashion, he set our church up for success as he prepared for his own departure.  Not only did he give our congregation an entire year’s notice before his retirement, he also set us up with CIT.

     When I was asked to join the Transition Team (and eventually the Call Committee), I was excited for the new opportunity, but naive about the process.  Honestly, up until that point in my life, I had never even heard the terms “call process” or “call committee.”  I grew up Catholic and Pastor Bill had been my only pastor since joining American Lutheran Church as an adult.  “What do you mean we have to find our own pastor?  Aren’t we just automatically sent a new one once Pastor Bill retires?”  Nope!  OK, so where do we even begin?  Thankfully, we had our CiT coach, Pastor Don Brandt, to guide us through the process.

     In the fall of 2019, Pastor Don made a trip to American Lutheran Church.  He spent the weekend setting us up for a successful transition and call process.  We held a meeting open to the congregation where he explained the current pastoral supply situation.  We discussed the future of our congregation, including the potential challenges and opportunities facing us during our transition.  Pastor Don then met with the Transition Team, where we dove deeper into the unique characteristics and needs of our congregation.  Over the next several weeks, the Transition Team held multiple conference calls with Pastor Don.  Together, we made a plan to keep all areas of our church ministry functioning during the transition between pastors.  We discussed CiT’s “Wish List” congregational survey results, which indicated the hopes and concerns of our members moving forward.  We also discussed the next steps to take in the call process.  The Transition Team then compiled all the information we gathered into a detailed report for the Call Committee and Church Council.  Pastor Don also provided specific step by step recommendations for the Call Committee to follow.  With all the background work complete, once the Call Committee was formed, we were able to hit the ground running.  We had already received materials from applicants by the time our Call Committee first met!  Even though, at this point, our scheduled calls with Pastor Don were complete, he still maintained close communication with our Call Committee.  He was available via email to answer any questions and to coach us through the call process.  

     We all remember March of 2020 and the difficulties the country faced as the pandemic brought our lives as we knew them to a halt.  As we were in the interview phase of the call process, the shutdown created a whole unique set of circumstances that we had never before encountered.  Words cannot express my gratitude for Pastor Don’s guidance and patience during this time.  His responses and advice were nothing less than thoughtful, thorough, and timely.  With CiT’s help we were able to overcome hurdles, forge ahead (although there were definitely delays) and find the pastor God already had in mind for our congregation.

     Should your congregation face a time of transition and a search for a new pastor, I cannot recommend enough the Congregations in Transition ministry.  What an amazing gift for taking an overwhelming transition process and breaking it down to specific, simplified steps.  I am so thankful we had CiT to guide us through our transition process!

Note regarding CiT assistance during Covid: As the pandemic is still presenting unique challenges for all of us, the CiT process is now entirely “at a distance.”  This involves Zoom meetings, conference phone calls and on-going email communications with “client” congregations.  The good news is that because of this congregations do not have any coach traveling costs to cover.  As a result, the only cost to your congregation is an initial $175 registration fee paid to Lutheran CORE.

A while back someone asked how Lutheran CORE supports faithful, confessional, orthodox ELCA pastors who are serving in ELCA congregations.  It is a good question.  In the March 2019 issue of our newsletter, CORE Voice, I sought to answer that question.  Here I will be providing an update to my answer. 

First of all, I would again want to say that when I speak of confessional, orthodox ELCA pastors who are serving (or did serve) in ELCA congregations, I am also speaking of myself.  I am ELCA rostered.  I served the same congregation (first ALC, then ELCA) for forty years before my retirement in June 2014.  So I will also be speaking of ways in which Lutheran CORE was of support to me during my years of ministry.

Let me also say at the beginning that we feel that part of our calling as Lutheran CORE is to alert people to ways in which orthodoxy is being threatened in the ELCA.  We inform people of how the ELCA is not keeping its promise to honor also the traditional view of marriage and human sexuality.  We know that there are many faithful, confessional, orthodox pastors still in the ELCA, and we want to be of support to them in every way that we can.  But we also believe that that number is continually diminishing as many of them have retired, are retiring, or soon will retire.  Our role is to support those who are working to be faithful in the ELCA, those who have decided that being faithful requires them to leave the ELCA, and those who are in the process of determining how God is calling them to be affiliated. 

Having said that, I will now list a number of ways in which CORE seeks to support confessional, orthodox ELCA pastors who are faithfully serving in ELCA congregations.

• Assurance that you are not alone.  Connection with many others who share your concerns and are engaged in the same struggles.

• Providing Facebook groups in which you can engage in conversation with like-minded people.  We have a private and visible (Facebook terminology) Facebook group that includes pastors, seminarians, and lay people with several different church body affiliations.  We also have a private and hidden (again Facebook terminology) Facebook group that is only for ELCA pastors and seminarians.  In addition, we have a third Facebook group, the Lutheran CORE Worship Group, where people can post worship services and Bible studies.  We also have a MeWe page and group.

• Resources for worship, including prayers and hymn suggestions.

• Daily devotionals.

• Our annual Encuentro – a day of support, connection, fellowship, inspiration, and resources for those who already are involved and for those who are considering becoming involved in bi-lingual (English-Spanish) or Spanish language ministries.

• Some day you will retire or resign to take another call.  Through our Congregations in Transition ministry initiative we have a group of (mostly retired) Lutheran pastors who have been trained to serve as coaches for congregations who are between pastors who either do not have an interim pastor available to them or do not have the resources for an interim pastor.  This ministry also works with pastors still serving in congregations who either already have announced or soon will be announcing their retirement.   

• Clergy Connect – a resource on our website through which congregations that are looking for an orthodox pastor and pastors who are looking for another call can find each other.

• Guidance in evaluating ELCA communications and decisions such as the social statement, “Faith, Sexism, and Justice” and the “Declaration of Inter-Religious Commitment,” both of which were approved at the 2019 Churchwide Assembly. 

• Assistance for pastors who want to gather examples to communicate to their church leaders of ways in which orthodoxy is being threatened within the ELCA.    

• Articles in our bi-monthly newsletter, CORE Voice, on such topics as critical race theory, how to share the faith with people who are hostile to the Christian faith, and how to communicate in a way that is relevant to technically sophisticated, younger generations. 

• Representation to ELCA leaders.  We have advocated for traditional views in our communications to the presiding bishop and synodical bishops concerning such things as the Supreme Court decision regarding same sex marriage, the choice of keynote speakers for the 2018 youth gathering, and state legislation regarding abortion.

• Through our sponsoring of the July 11-17, 2021 week of NEXUS at Grand View University in Des Moines, we are providing a resource for pastors who would like their high school students to attend a week of Bible study, theological reflection, fellowship, involvement in ministry, and challenge to consider attending seminary and become involved in a life of Christian service. 

• On our website an annotated List of Confessional Resources – books, magazines, ministries, and other resources recommended by other confessional pastors.

• We have video book reviews, including video reviews of some of the books on the list of confessional resources

The author of the letter to the Hebrews wrote, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us . . . run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.” (12:1-2)  Our goal as Lutheran CORE is to help you look to Jesus and to run with perseverance the race that is set before you.  

Lutheran CORE continues to provide monthly video reviews of books of interest and importance.  Many thanks to David Charlton, ELCA pastor and vice president of our board, for doing this month’s video review.  His review is about the book, The Genius of Luther’s Theology: A Wittenberg Way of Thinking for the Contemporary Church by Robert Kolb and Charles P. Arand. 

Concerning this book Pastor Charlton writes, “Twenty-first century Lutherans are often confused and conflicted about the place of good works, service to the community, and social justice in the Christian life.  Kolb and Arand use Luther’s distinction between the Two Kinds of Righteousness to help us find a way to talk about all those things without losing sight of the doctrine of justification by grace through faith in the process.”

These reviews are posted on YouTube.  Our YouTube channel, which contains four other reviews, can be found here.  Many thanks to Pastor Charlton for having done a previous review, and to LCMC pastor, Chris Johnson; NALC pastor Brett Jenkins; and LCMC pastor Bob Rognlien for making the other reviews. 

Our plan is to publish a new video book review during the first week of every month.  Many of the books that will be reviewed are described in the List of Confessional Resources on the Seminarians page of our website.  That list can be found here.

When you look at a video review for the first time, please click on the Subscribe button.  As enough people do that, it will eventually help us to get a channel name that will include our organization’s name.  

What an incredibly difficult ten months this has been for so many Americans.  In addition to the struggles many of us had with life in general pre-COVID, a recent national survey indicates that, during this pandemic, we have had a three-fold increase in the number of Americans exhibiting signs of depression! That is a staggering statistic. 

Yet there is still an amazing, under-utilized ministry tool available to us, and which can be used effectively “at a distance”: the telephone.  All of us should be considering whom we need to call; someone we suspect might need human contact during this depressing pandemic when so many are experiencing social isolation.

However, I am not suggesting one of those “Hi,-how-are-you?-Fine” kind of conversations.  I’m thinking of meaningful, thoughtful and repeated conversations where the recipient feels cared for; where you are both a friend and a counselor.

One of my favorite Scripture passages is Ephesians 3:16-19.  “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.  And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is that love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge — that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”  This text, at least in part, captures a vision of what the fellowship of the Body of Christ can and should be.  And in pre-COVID, more “normal” times I would like to think that my brothers and sisters in Christ who are struggling are being supported and encouraged by their congregation.  Well even if that was the case then, it is far less likely now.  There are so many out there who are feeling cut off from whatever social support system they could once count on from their fellow church members.  And this will be an on-going issue for many months to come.

This ministry challenge — and opportunity — came to mind when I read a November 19^th New York Times column written by David Brooks.  This article focused on some of the keys to having “deeper conversations.”  And the following insights and recommendations from Brooks are by no means limited to face-to-face conversations.  They can just as easily be utilized on the phone.  Here are five of the recommendations David Brooks shares when it comes to facilitating “deeper conversations.”

1. “Ask elevating questions…Some questions, startling as they seem at first, compel us to see ourselves from a higher vantage: What crossroads are you at?…Whom do you feel most grateful to have in your life?  What problem did you once have but now have licked?  In what ways are you sliding backward?”

2. “Ask open-ended questions.”  Instead of questions that tend to limit conversation, “better questions start with ‘What was it like…’ or ‘Tell me about a time…’”  I would add, “What has been the hardest part of this pandemic for you personally?”

3. “Treat (your) attention as all or nothing…In conversation it’s best to act as if attention had an on/off switch with no dimmer.  Total focus.  I have a friend who listens to conversations the way congregants listen to sermons in charismatic churches — with amens, and approbations.  The effect is magnetic.”

4. “Don’t fear the pause.  Most of us stop listening to a comment about halfway through so we can be ready with a response.  In Japan…business people are more likely to hear the whole comment and then pause, sometimes eight seconds, before responding, which is twice as long a silence as American business people conventionally tolerate.”

5. “Keep the gem statement front and center.”  In this time when our culture seems embroiled in partisanship and conflict this is a particularly apt insight from Brooks.  He writes, “In the midst of many difficult conversations, there is what mediator Adar Cohen calls the gem statement.  This is the comment that keeps the relationship together: ‘Even when we can’t agree on Dad’s medical care, I’ve never doubted your good intentions.  I know you want the best for him.’”

One additional quote that Brooks shared in this article is from journalist Amanda Ripley: “Humans need to be heard before they will listen.”

I have some suggestions of my own when it comes to these deeper, more meaningful conversations.  And these apply to both phone and online communication.  One is that for on-going relationships it can be helpful to set up each conversation in advance; preferable agreeing on a next time at the conclusion of the previous conversation.  That way he/she has the assurance that you will continue to be available; that this is not a one-time-only conversation.  And finally, I think that it is helpful if this person knows you will be praying for him/her.  I’m not talking about the judgmental cliché, “I’ll be praying for you.”  Instead, “I want you to know that I am including you in my prayers each and every day.”  And then do it.

Pastor Don Brandt

Congregations in Transition

Lutheran CORE continues to provide monthly video reviews of books of interest and importance.  Many thanks to Brett Jenkins, NALC pastor and former member of our board, for doing this month’s video review.  Here is a synopsis of his review of the book Live Not by Lies by Rod Dreher.

“Support for free speech is plummeting among the young, while social mobbing and shouting have largely replaced principled debate on college campuses.  There are striking cultural parallels to the early 20th century in pre-totalitarian Germany, Italy, and Russia.   At a time when orthodox, Biblically serious Christians have increasingly found themselves not only culturally sidelined, but the objects of scorn and derision in the dominant Western culture, powerful new world-shaping technologies are changing communication and the market in ways whose closest parallel is the invention of the printing press… and the levers of power are in the hands of people who despise traditional Christians.  While the reader may have serious questions as to how accurately Rod Dreher has read the signs of our times, his book Live Not By Lies is a forceful and timely call for Christians to remember the truth of the old adage that, ‘An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.’”

These reviews are posted on YouTube.  Brett’s review can be found here.  Our YouTube channel, which contains two other reviews, can be found here.  Many thanks to Chris Johnson, LCMC pastor, and David Charlton, ELCA pastor, for making the other two reviews.  Both Chris and David are members of our board.

Our plan is to publish a new video book review during the first week of every month.  Many of the books that will be reviewed are described in the List of Confessional Resources on the Seminarians page of our website.  That list can be found here. When you look at a video review for the first time, please click on the Subscribe button.  As enough people do that, it will eventually help us to get a channel name that will include our organization’s name.  

Two recent news stories from the ELCA speak loudly about the values and priorities of that church body.  The first one is dated November 16, 2020 and is entitled “ELCA Future Church design affirmed by ELCA Church Council.”  A link to that article can be found here.  The second one is dated November 4, 2020 and is a transcript of a video message from ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton about the national elections, which occurred the day before.  A link to that article can be found here.  There are four things I would like to say about those two articles.

First, the article on the ELCA’s Future Church design described the desired outcome as “so that more people may know the way of Jesus and discover community, justice, and love.”  Now certainly community, justice, and love are important.  They definitely are a part of what the church needs to work for and offer to the world.  But Jesus said that He is the truth and the life as well as the way (John 14: 6).  The ELCA seems concerned only about pursuing the way of Jesus as they define it — working against gender injustice, racism, and white supremacy and affirming the full LGBTQIA+ agenda.  The ELCA does not seem to value whether people know the full truth about who Jesus is and what Jesus did and whether people are experiencing the life that Jesus gives through a saving faith relationship with Him. 

In Bishop Eaton’s video message regarding the national elections, she describes “the gospel of Jesus Christ as the basis for equity, justice, and peace for all people and creation.”  Again, I would fully agree that as followers of Jesus we must pursue equity, justice, and peace for all people and creation.  But the gospel of Jesus is not primarily about equity, justice, and peace for all people and creation.  It is primarily about what God has done so that we can be in right relationship with Him.  Pursuing equity, justice, and peace for all people and creation, though important, is part of our response to what God has done for us, not our main message or the prime focus of our faith and mission.    

At least Bishop Eaton’s video message regarding the national elections was an improvement over the “Summary of Actions” which came from the ELCA’s 2019 Churchwide Assembly.  A link to that summary can be found here.  At least Bishop Eaton mentioned Jesus in the elections video.  But one would hope that the Presiding Bishop of a Lutheran church body would mention Jesus.  In contrast, the “Summary of Actions” from the ELCA’s 2019 Churchwide Assembly never mentions Jesus.  And it only mentions God once.  And the sentence in which it mentions God is not focused on God.  Instead it is focused on people.  It states that all people are created equal in the eyes of God. 

At least Bishop Eaton mentions Jesus as she refers to “the gospel of Jesus Christ.”  But in what she says next she does not seem to see the gospel as a record of what God has done so that we can be in right relationship with Him and with each other.  Instead – typical of the ELCA – she speaks of the gospel as the basis for what we need to do.  And what she defines as what we need to do has nothing to do with sharing the saving message of Jesus.  Instead it is all about typical ELCA priorities – our holding “fast to our commitments to gender justice, to dismantling white supremacy as an anti-racist church, to welcoming the stranger and accompanying the neighbor, to affirming LGBTQIA+ siblings, and seeking economic justice for all.” 

If anyone were to claim that I am misrepresenting the ELCA and/or being unfair to the ELCA, I would refer them to the “Declaration of Inter-Religious Commitment,” which was approved by the 2019 Churchwide Assembly.  A link to that document can be found here.  In that document the statement is made that we must be careful about claiming to know God’s judgment regarding other religions, and that our main role is to love and serve our neighbor.  In other words, according to the ELCA, the church – including the ELCA – has nothing unique to offer to the world. 

Second, the article about the ELCA’s Future Church design places great emphasis upon the need to reach and engage “new, young, and diverse people.”  Now certainly if the ELCA wants to have a future it needs to reach and engage “new, young, and diverse people.”  Any congregation that wants to have a future needs to reach and engage “new, young, and diverse people.”  Lutheran CORE needs to reach and engage “new, young, and diverse people.”  Any Christian ministry that wants to fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28: 19-20) needs to reach and engage “new, young, and diverse people.”   

The ELCA knows that it is in major decline.  It is fully aware of the fact that those who built the congregations, built and paid for the buildings used by congregations, and developed the educational and social service agencies are aging and dying.  The builders and developers are not going to be around much longer to maintain the ministries and pay the bills.  But ELCA leaders show no concern about the disaster they are creating and the fact that they are alienating those who built the organizations and built and paid for the buildings that ELCA leaders are selling in order to balance synodical and churchwide budgets.  ELCA leaders are creating a disaster in the way in which they are reaching out to and engaging some “new, young, and diverse people.”

For example, for the November 2020 issue of CORE Voice I wrote an article entitled, “You Reap Whatever You Sow.”  A link to that article can be found here.  In that article I told about an ELCA pastor by the name of Lenny Duncan, author of the book, Dear Church: A Love Letter from a Black Preacher to the Whitest Denomination in the United States.  The ELCA had made Lenny Duncan into a hero-celebrity-poster boy.  But now that hero-celebrity-poster boy has turned against the ELCA.  He is demanding that over the next three years the ELCA set aside $32 million in reparations funds in order to right the wrongs of centuries of racial injustice here in the United States.  And if the ELCA does not do that, he will work through his “Defund Churchwide” movement to get people to divert $32 million in contributions away from the ELCA to his reparations fund.  Lenny Duncan is now also advocating for polyamory (multiple partners). 

Lenny Duncan is only the latest in a series of people who are doing such things as demanding that the ELCA eliminate any kind of expectation that pastors be married in order to be sexually active, throwing out the Bible because they claim that for centuries the Bible has been used to abuse people, and eliminating the Lutheran Confessions because they were written by white males. 

As an aside, a while ago the synod in which I was rostered before I retired created a new staff position called Assistant to the Bishop for Authentic Diversity and Ethnic-Specific Ministries.  As a white, confessionally orthodox male within the ELCA, I should be an example of authentic diversity.  So I responded to the announcement by writing to the synod asking how this new staff person would be relating to someone like me.  As I expected, I did not receive a reply.  I am no longer new and young (though I once was new and young), but within the ELCA I am an example of diversity – and maybe even authentic diversity.  So the ELCA should have an interest in reaching out to and engaging with someone like me.     

Those who valued the organization of the church built the organization of the church.  Will the ELCA learn – from their experience with Lenny Duncan – what will happen if they continue to enable, empower, and cater to those who do not value the organization and would be very happy to tear the organization down?  When will the ELCA come to realize what they are eventually going to have to deal with because of whom they have been enabling, empowering, and catering to?  Or do those in leadership realize that these movements are already beyond their control?  

Third, I am concerned about the second of six “new criteria” which “were affirmed for the ELCA” in the Future Church design – “Unite all expressions of the church (congregations, synods, and the churchwide organization) into one church – together.”  That statement was not further explained in the article.  I am concerned about what that statement might mean for the future integrity and identity of congregations.    

Fourth, there was one place where I found myself agreeing with the article on the ELCA’s Future Church design.  And that is where it reported how Bishop Eaton told the Church Council that the ELCA has been witnessing “a pattern of significant decline” for more than thirty years and that “the COVID-19 pandemic has brought into sharper focus the need to respond more quickly to this rapidly changing world.”  Here I would totally agree.  Dr. Thom Rainer from Church Answers describes the pandemic as a change accelerator.  He says that during this past year the dynamics and trends present in every congregation have been advanced by about four years.  For example, if a congregation is in decline, its decline has been advanced by four years.  In 2020 it already was where pre-COVID it would not have been until 2024.  

The ELCA with its current leadership reminds me of a family where one generation built up the family business, and then the next generation is driving the family business into the ground.  One generation gathered the resources.  The next generation is consuming, if not squandering, the resources.  The ELCA will be able to keep going for a while – because of all the buildings they can sell because of all the churches that will close.  But even that source of income can only keep the ELCA going for so long. 

The ELCA needs to re-design itself in a way that is faithful to the Scriptures rather than in a way that is in line with the current, top, social justice warrior causes if it is going to have a future.  

Our Fourth Annual NALC Life Conference will be held on Thursday, January 28th, 2021 at Reformation Lutheran Church, 601 Madison Rd, Culpeper, VA 22701 from noon until 5PM. The event is free and will begin with a free lunch and will conclude with a communion service with Rev. Mark Chavez presiding.

This year’s conference will be very special. Our keynote speaker will be Chrissie Gillette, director of Word of Hope for Lutherans for Life.

Chrissie earned a doctorate in clinical psychology from Spalding University and completed her psychology residency as an officer in the United States Air Force. She served four years active duty and another four as inactive reserve. God blessed her with a range of counseling experiences in settings such as: a domestic violence shelter, a suicide crisis hotline, military mental health clinics, and a Christian counseling agency. Transitioning from an emphasis on psychology to theology, Chrissie attended the Distance Deaconess Program at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne. She graduated in October 2018 and was commissioned as a deaconess with Lutherans for Life.

In her position as the Word of Hope Director, Chrissie answers hotline calls and emails. Understanding both the secular worldview and the Christ-centered perspective, she listens without personal judgment while also responding in Christian truth and love. Motivated by compassion, she often goes above and beyond to connect people with local services and natural supports. Beyond her typical hotline responsibilities, Chrissie writes articles, publicly speaks, and leads Bible studies on a range of topics related to life issues.

Valuing a Christ-centered lifestyle, Chrissie serves her neighbor through acts of mercy. Each year, she opens her heart and home to exchange students from around the world. Amongst her church family, she regularly visits folks who are hospitalized or shut-in, and enjoys the fellowship while creating crafts with members in her home. Within the rural and small-town community, she gifts numerous people with produce from her garden, home-cooked dishes, or crocheted newborn-baby blankets. Truly, to know Chrissie is to know her as your loving sister in Christ.

There is no registration required. But please email Rebecka Andrae at rebeckaandrae@yahoo.com if you will be attending the lunch so we can get a head count.

For those interested, the following day, Friday the 29th, we will be attending the March for Life in Washington, DC. The usual prayer service before the march has been cancelled due to COVID-19, but the march is on! We will be joining the LCMS contingent at 12^th & Constitution from 12:00-12:30PM and then starting the trek to the Supreme Court at 12:30PM. If you need help on the day of the march you can call Pastor Dennis at the number below.

We are also taking orders for either baby blue or pink hats that we will wear during the march for $10 apiece.

Orders can be made by calling Pastor Dennis Di Mauro at (703) 568-3346 or emailing him at dennisdimauro@yahoo.com You can send a check payable to “Trinity Lutheran Church” (with “NALC Life” in the notes) to 276 Cleveland St. Warrenton, VA 20186. Make sure and let him know whether you want a pink or a blue hat!