LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2001, Page 353

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THEOLOGICAL DOCUMENTS—COMMISSION ON THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS 353

nentially, trust in the decisions of the political process is nearly
non-existent, the fastest growing industry is crime and crime con-
trol, family life has disintegrated, and poverty and hopelessness
exist in the midst of abundance. Ours is a world groaning for a
uniquely Christian response that incorporates the words of Christ
into tangible Christian care.”

You are one of the participants and are now in a small group in
which the speaker’s presentation is to be discussed. What would
you think important to bring to the discussion?

Notes: The section titled “A Theological Framework” on
pages 12-26 of the report addresses some of the issues
here. Important questions to ask would be this: How far do
the survey results reflect a lack of love on the part of
LCMS members? How far do they reflect an
underestimation in the survey and/or in the minds of those
surveyed of the significance of the daily work of Christian
believers?

5. A Low-Income Housing Project

Several congregations in the heart of a large urban center are
proposing to work together with the federal government to build
and administer a system of housing aimed to encourage poor, but
self-sufficient people in the city to take on the challenges of home
ownership. The congregations will not be undertaking large finan-
cial obligations, but they are proposing that the pastors of the sev-
eral congregations work together with government officials to ad-
minister the program.

Many in the congregations are delighted to see the church ad-
dressing a significant social need, but some are warning that pastors
ought not be distracted from their central calling of preaching the
Gospel.

How should we think about this proposal?

Notes: The specific question about pastors engaging in this
kind of work is taken up on pages 28 and 29. If the plan
were put into effect, what steps might the congregations
take to help themselves and their pastors make sure that the
pastoral office of Word and sacrament ministry is not
dislodged from its central place?

6. Serve God at the Homeless Shelter

Several members of a congregation are vocal in their criticism
that the members are “too focused on themselves” and “not suffi-
ciently committed to addressing human need.” They propose that
one Sunday each month the congregation should suspend usual
worship and gather instead to staff the Sunday meals program at
the local homeless shelter.

How would you respond to these members’ concerns and pro-
posal?

Notes: Pages 16-18 of the report caution us that the central
concern for Word and sacrament ministry would be
neglected by a proposal to suspend worship. What other
ways might there be for the people proposing this activity
to help the congregation reflect vigorously on addressing
human need? How could the discussion of the daily work
of believers on pages 13-16 perhaps put these members’
concerns in a more helpful light?

7. Allocating the Congregational Budget

Several influential members of a congregation have agreed to-
gether to propose that, from now on, fifty percent of the congrega-
tion’s budget should be devoted to activities that demonstrate “faith
active in love.” They argue that too large a percentage of the con-
gregation’s resources are going simply to the provision of ministry
to the members. They want to see vigorous attention paid to local
social concerns and to LCMS World Relief.

Others in the congregation argue that, if the congregation can
afford to free up half of its financial resources, the money would be
better spent on direct support of mission activities such as the the-

ological education of indigenous pastors in developing countries
and support of ministry in the military and on college campuses.
What do you think?
Notes: This scenario raises more generally the question
posed by the parish nurse proposal. Congregations often
face significanl questions concerning how best to employ
the resources of time, talent and money provided by the
members. Pages 27-30 of the report affirm that there will
be flexibility and diversity in how the church addresses
human care needs. This scenario provides another
opportunity to explore considerations that might help
Christians satisfactorily divide between resources devoted
to missionary work and resources devoted to human care
initiatives. As in scenario two, we want to be careful not to
make the distinction between verbal mission and human
care serve a nonbiblicai dualistic way of thought.

A Concluding Prayer

Stir up, O Merciful Father, your people to true brotherly affec-
tion that we may gladly do good and serve our neighbor, as did
your servant Saint Lawrence when he emptied the treasury of the
church to help the poor, through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son.
Amen!

Notes

1. See Martin Luther, “Prefaces to the New Testament”
(1546[1522]), Luther’s Works (hereafter LW), American Edition
(Philadelphia: Fortress Press and St. Louis: Concordia Publishing
House, 1960), 35:370.

2. To be sure, God in His wisdom does not always remove the
cross of physical suffering from His children in this life. Thus, the
salvation of the body may not be apparent until the resurrection and
renewal of the body (cf. 1 Cor. 15:47-49). The thief on the cross
was saved though his body expired on the cross (Luke 23:43). Nev-
ertheless, the account of Jesus’ saving activity shows that both
body and soul are objects of salvation.

3. 1983 Res. 3-06A “To Encourage Peacemaking and the Study
of Problems Concerning the Church and Nuclear Arms,” Conven-
tion Proceedings, 155-56.

4. The scenarios are more or less artificial, because they are de-
signed to encourage discussion of key questions that arise around
the topic of “Faith Active in Love.” Study of this report, however,
also provides a good occasion for congregations to become in-
formed about and review the actual human care initiatives under-
taken by their own and other congregations. The Synod’s Board
for Human Care Ministries exists to help congregations reflect on
and organize human care initiatives. The Board compiles descrip-
tions of current congregational and other cooperative programs and
is happy to share those descriptions with congregations and pas-
tors. Reflection on such examples provides another way for con-
gregations to consider what might be appropriate for faith active in
love in their time and place.

5. Edward Norman, Christianity and the World Order (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1979), 18-19; 13.

6. Cecily Halleck, Christian Quotation of the Day, December
26, 1997, http://www. gospelcom.net/cqod.

7. See pages 67-90 of the report. The report draws on work by
Robert Benne tn “The Church and Politics: Four Possible Connec-
tions,” This World 25 (Spring 1989) and in his The Paradoxical Vi-
sion: A Public Theology for the Twenty-first Century (Minneapolis:
Fortress Press, 1995).

8. Francis Pieper. Christian Dogmatics (St. Louis: Concordia
Publishing House, 1951), 2:542.

9. Further reflection on these matters can be found in C.F.W.
Walther’s The True Visible Church, The Form of a Christian Con-
gregation, and Church and Ministry.

2001 Convention Workbook