LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2001, Page 352

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

352 THEOLOGICAL DOCUMENTS—COMMISSION ON THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS

work, the church simply does not exist. Proponents of this thinking
also remind us that the pastoral office exists for Word and sacra-
ment ministry. This approach further urges us not to underestimate
or miscalculate the love lived out by believers in their daily work.
On the other hand, proponents of this line of thought seem not to
give sufficient attention to the reality of the church understood as it
appears in its communal dimension in society, a social organiza-
tion of God’s temporal rule. They do not recognize the special op-
portunities the church has, in its communal dimension, to organize
and coordinate Christian care both in emergency situations and as a
community organizing for service in society.

Summary:

|. The central concern of the church will be to proclaim the
Gospel of the forgiveness of sins and to administer the
sacraments.

Nu

The primary expression of energetic Christian care will
continue to be through the faithful daily life of believers.

3. There is a place for the church, in its communal dimension
in society, to help its members organize for expression of the
active love that issues from a living faith. The ways in which
specific Christian communities organize for caring service
will vary greatly from time to time and place to place.

Discussion of the Scenarios

In the light of these conclusions, pastors and members of our
congregations can discuss the scenarios at the beginning of this re-
port, as well as real-life issues, in scriptural and thoughtful ways.
The scenarios are repeated here and brief notes are added to help
facilitate reflection and discussion.

1, A Parish Nurse Program

A group of congregations is deliberating whether to make funds
available to hire a full-time registered nurse to implement health-re-
lated programs in the congregations. The proposed plan is that this
person would do the following: keep tabs on members of the con-
gregations whose health needs are perhaps not being met in a sat-
isfactory way, conduct wellness classes for interested members;
help members interact effectively with their physicians and hospi-
tals; and in a limited way, make available some basic health care to
people in need who live in range of the participating congregations.

Some persons in the congregations welcome this proposal as a
sign that the church will finally be living the Gospel in a concrete
and visible way. Others are critical of the proposal because they
fear that it will obscure the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins
through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They also
assert that the money involved would be better spent to support
missionary proclamation, either locally or in a part of the world lit-
tle touched by the Christian Gospel.

How should we think about these reactions to this proposal?
Notes: Pages 22-24 of the report address this question
directly. Congregations often face significant questions
concerning how best to employ the resources of time,
talent and money provided by the members. What
considerations might help a congregation work out
satisfactory divisions between resources devoted to
missionary work and resources devoted to human care
initiatives such as a parish nurse program? The paragraphs
on page 6 about “nonbiblical soul/body dualism” may help
us see why no easy playing off of the two concerns is
possible. Page 26 also reminds us of the missionary
opportunities sometimes created by programs of energetic
love.

2. A Day Care Center Program

A medium-sized congregation is considering whether to estab-
lish and staff a day care center for preschool children. Many fami-
lies both inside and outside the congregation need day care. Mem-

2001 Convention Workbook

bers are suggesting that the proposed center would meet a genuine
human need, put children in a better environment than might be
found in some secular centers, and provide a way that unbelievers
would become better acquainted with the Christian community.
Many in the congregation are enthusiastic about the plan, but
some are worried that people might become confused about the es-
sentials of the Christian mission.
What do you think? How is this proposal similar to or different
from a proposal to establish a Lutheran elementary or high school?
Notes: Pages 24-26 of ithe report address this queslion
directly. If a congregation decides to proceed with this plan
or with plans for an elementary school or high school, how
might the concern nol to mislead people about ihe Gospel
and the relationship of faith and works be addressed?

3. A Food Pantry

A small congregation maintains a food pantry for people unable
to secure sufficient resources for their own or their families’ meals.
Since the pastor is the only person present at the church on a regu-
lar basis, he is the primary contact person for people bringing food
and for those who volunteer to staff the pantry at designated hours.
He also usually receives food pantry inquiries outside the desig-
nated hours. Since most members of the congregation work full-
time, getting sufficient volunteers for the program is an ongoing
challenge.

For the most part the congregation is glad to sponsor this pro-
gram, but some complain that it takes too much of the pastor’s time
away from his other tasks.

You have been asked to meet with the congregation and the pas-
tor to discuss the project. What will you bring to the discussion?

Notes: This scenario provides an occasion to discuss the
challenging questions raised as we seek to relate the
church’s central task of Word and sacrament ministry to
other necessary tasks. Are people worried that Word and
sacrament ministry is being neglected or perhaps that other
necessary community-building tasks of the pastor are being
slighted? Pages 28-29 briefly examine the mulliple roles
of pastors in contemporary church life.

4. Faith and Works

The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod has brought together
persons committed to human care ministries from all of its Dis-
tricts. At the meeting one presenter offers some comments in light
of James 2:17—‘So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.”

The speaker reports: “A year-long study conducted by Search
Institute on ‘Congregations at Crossroads: A National study of
Adults and Youth in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod’ con-
cluded that our church ‘needs to increase its efforts to help mem-
bers make the connection between the church’s teachings and the
way Lutherans live out their daily lives’ (Reporter, October 1995).
Out of approximately 1800 adults and 500 teens from 163 congre-
gations, the majority of those surveyed felt their congregations did
not show Jove and concern for people in their community. Only
22% of the adults and 19% of the youth believed that their congre-
gations demonstrated this Christian care. More believed their
churches helped their own members, 36% of adults and 35% of
youth, but these numbers reflect the sense that congregations are
not living out the call to ‘bear one another’s burdens’ (Galatians
6:2). Dr. Peter Benson of the Search Institute, reported that ‘cere-
bral faith in the LCMS strongly wins out over the faith of the heart
... those studied were strongest in trusting and believing, weak in
acting, serving, experiencing the fruits of faith’ (Reporter, March
1996). He says further that most survey respondents indicate that
their congregations do not exhibit the characteristics that distin-
guish the ‘faith-enhancing congregation’ (Reporter, October 1995).

The speaker concludes: “America’s secular welfare system 1s
collapsing, religious sponsorship of institutions is declining expo-