Since I launched this blog back in January, one thing I’ve discovered is that if I blog on a weekly basis, it becomes a challenge to write about all the interesting topics, posts, e-mails, resources that enter my newsreader or inbox. I’ve often found myself “saving” interesting posts and resources for a future writing, but soon those “saved” items of interest get pushed farther and farther back.

To prevent further backlog, The Shepherd’s Study will now offer “Around the Study” - Links to posts, blogs and resources of interest collected over the past month or so. I’ll still write my regular posts on the blog, but this way I can get more useful items of interest for you to peruse on your own. Here’s this month’s “Around the Study”…

• Protestant Church Technology Report (28 April 2008) - I realize this one is a little old, but Barna does provide some interesting thoughts about the extent and use of technology in Protestant churches - from congregation communication to use in worship.
  • Here’s a Church Relevance summary of the report.
  • For Discussion: How are you and/or your congregation utilizing technology in the parish?
• Things Never Taken for Granted Again (1 April 2008/22 May 2008) - A friend of mine sent me a link to this post from a worship leader whose wife was awaiting a double lung transplant and their micro-preemie daughter was barely surviving. Though not of all it may apply to your ministry situation, it’s a good reminder of the “little things” that come with serving the Lord publicly - things we often take for granted.

• The More Things Change, The More Things Stay the Same (2 June 2008) - Gene Veith provides an interesting comment on a Washington Post article detailing the efforts being made to canonize Pope John Paul II. As Veith writes, “…[T]he process shows that the old Catholicism challenged by the Reformation still remains.”

• Holographic Telepresence Video (24 June 2008) - I heard about this via online news sources, but Church Relevance takes a look at this developing technology from a church usage point of view. For a regional congregation with members scattered over hundreds of miles like my own, if such technology ever gets affordable, I think there could be great possibilities for what could be done with it.

• U.S. Religious Landscape Survey: Report 2 - Religious Beliefs & Practices (24 June 2008) - Back in March, discussed the first report of the Pew Forum’s U.S. Religious Landscape Survey. Well, a new report from their nationwide survey work came out at the end of June. It did cause a stir in the Lutheran blogosphere (Cranach & Cyberbrethren), especially because Lutherans were among the 57% of Evangelical Christians who acknowledged that there is “No one path to salvation”.

  In spite of the stir, there have been two recent GetReligion posts (Questions About Oprah America & yesterday’s One More Look at Pew Forum Survey) that bring to light some problems with the actual survey questions asked by the Pew Forum. Apparently the word “religion” was never defined. Many thought it meant “denomination” like Lutheran/Baptist/Roman Catholic, while many others understood it as the dictionary defines it with a more universal concept in mind. In fact, when Pew Forum research fellow, Greg Smith was asked about how the Pew Forum defined the word “religion”, he responded, “We didn’t have a set of interview guidelines or talking points that we used when asking that question The interviewers didn’t say, ‘Well, that means someone who is a member of a different denomination than yours’ or ‘that means someone in a completely different religion than your religion.’ So people may have answered that in different ways. There may have been Baptists that interpreted that question as simply referring to members of other churches. Others may have answered with a more universal concept of ‘religion’ in mind. That’s possible. In fact, it’s highly likely.” (GetReligion 2 July 2008) As we well know, statistics can be skewed in wide variety of ways. It sounds like the Pew Forum will now be surveying with a more specific set of questions

• Issues, Etc. Returns (30 June 2008) - Back in March, the Lutheran radio show “Issues, Etc.” was mysteriously cancelled, but on Monday, the radio program re-launched online. I look forward to listening via podcast.

• Two New Additions To The Shepherd’s Study
  
  • Cranach: The Blog of Veith - Gene Veith blogs on Christianity, Culture and Vocation from a confessional Lutheran perspective. I also recommend checking out the following books by  Veith: The Spirituality of the Cross: The Way of the First Evangelicals, God At Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life, and Postmodern Times: A Christian Guide to Contemporary Thought and Culture. Welcome to The Shepherd’s Study!
  • Seelsorger.org - Pr. Rick Tuttle has created this file sharing site for those serving in ministry in the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference (CELC). Another source of useful resources!

Yes, I’m still here! It’s been pretty quiet here at The Shepherd’s Study for the last couple of weeks, because it’s been pretty busy outside the Study, because I attended Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary’s Summer Quarter for the first time last week.

For those of you unfamiliar with it, Summer Quarter is one of several ways our Seminary offers called workers, primarily pastors, the opportunity to continue their education and perhaps even pursue an advanced degree like a Master of Sacred Theology (STM) by taking classes from 1-3 weeks during the summer. The Seminary also offers Satellite Summer Quarter classes for individual conferences around the synod. I highly recommend attending at least a class if you are able!

I’ve attended the Seminary’s Winterim (between semesters) since my graduation, but this was my first Summer Quarter experience. What a blast! I took the course on Guiding Congregations Through the Rough Seas of Change - a practical course for the parish ministry that especially addressed strategic ministry planning, Christian and pastoral leadership, and equipping members for ministry. It was a great class and very applicable. I can’t wait to get back next year to take another class or two. Maybe some year they’ll start offering Summer Quarter courses online for those of us serving on the geographical outskirts of the synod.

On the long drive back from Wisconsin, I had plenty of time to think about the importance of the shepherd’s continuing education. I think too often we as shepherds get a graduation mentality.

A “graduation mentality” says, “I’ve completed the course. I’ve been through 20+ years of school and I’ve got my diploma, my certificate of ordination and my divine call, so I’m equipped and don’t need or want to learn anymore.” What results is an atrophy of one’s pastoral muscles honed in the rigors of the schools of theology (Biblical, Historical, Systematic & Practical) and exercised in the field of ministry. To use another metaphor, while at school we are well-trained to skillfully wield the sword of the Spirit, but dare not stop training with the sword of the Spirit lest it become heavy and unwieldy in our hands when we’re faced with new challenges and changes in society and ministry. (Come to think of it…That’s a good reason to have a strong personal devotional life too!) Yes, those 20+ years of school did end in a graduation, but that simply marked the laying of a foundation for a lifetime of growing in the grace and knowledge of Christ.

“The pastor who stops learning, stops leading.”

This was a comment amidst my class’ discussion on the subject of pastoral leadership, so the original stress was on the leadership end of it. At the same time, though, it emphasizes how important the shepherd’s continued education really is. Consider the impact that continual growth has on one’s ministry and ability to serve with the changeless truth of the Means of Grace in an ever-changing world. The longer I’ve been in the ministry, the more I’ve realized that. Even though the timeless truth of Scripture and the realities of the Sacraments never change, culture and society and ministry change.

A Lutheran shepherd needs to remain sharp and ready. He has to keep learning and growing in the understanding and application of God’s truth. In this way, he can adapt and address different issues in ministry with a better understanding of Scripture and the application of its principles.

For Discussion: What are you doing to keep learning as a shepherd of Christ?

We have another new addition to the blogroll!

Today I was directed to a very new Lutheran blog called Worship Ideas You Can Use by Steve Brown, a member at Messiah Lutheran Church (WELS) in South Windsor, CT. Steve provides unique and creative ideas for use in worship that they’ve tried out at Messiah. Feel free to check them out.

Welcome to The Shepherd’s Study!

As I passed through our synod’s ministerial education system and especially as my education became more focused at the end of college and into seminary, I and my schoolmates, like those before us, sought the answer to the question….

What does it mean to be a Lutheran pastor?

Seeking and understanding the answer to that question didn’t end at graduation though. In fact, for every Lutheran shepherd, it’s a worthy endeavor to review what it means to be a “Lutheran pastor”, because a Lutheran pastor is neither a Baptist preacher, nor an Evangelical motivational speaker, nor a Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox priest. He is a shepherd of souls - a Seelsorger (Soul Carer), if you will, whose best tools are the Means of Grace - the Gospel in Word and Sacraments, who like a skilled surgeon learns to distinguish when best to utilize the cutting tool of God’s holy Law and when to heal with the saving balm of the Gospel…

I could go on, but I would like to share with you a resource I came across from my final year at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. That year we held an Evening Lecture by Prof. Em. Daniel Deutschlander on the subject, “What It Means to Be a Lutheran Pastor”. During our college years, in lectures on history and theology in the classroom, in personal counseling in his office and in morning devotions in chapel, Prof. Deutschlander had taught many of us how to be Lutheran shepherds. (Readers of this blog may recall his chapel devotion I posted back around Easter.) So it was appropriate that he be a guest speaker on this important topic.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a digital recording or a full transcript of the lecture to which I can refer you, but I do have the outline of his lecture, which has some real gems for your consideration. I have not had a chance to poetically translate the poem, Des Pfarrers Predigt An Sich Selbst (The Pastor’s Preaching to Himself) by Dietrich Vorwerk, which was included with the outline. For those of you with an affinity for the German language, feel free to translate the poem for our non-German readers and if you do, please share your translation in the comment section! Enjoy!

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What It Means to Be a Lutheran Pastor
An Evening Lecture by Prof. Em. Daniel Deutschlander
Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary - Mequon, WI (2004-2005 School Year; Date Unknown)

A Lutheran pastor is wedded to the Means of Grace.

He is neither pope nor employee.

He is nothing more, nothing less than the ambassador of Christ, who has just come from the palace, from the heart of God, with a message. - St. John the Baptist: Ecce Agnus Dei! (Behold, the Lamb of God!) He must increase, I must decrease!

He has no business pretending to be anything else or wanting to be anything else; he is not an entertainer, not a belly-up-to-the-bar buddy, a glad-hander, or a some-people pleaser. His model is Christ, the apostles and prophets: Dignity without stuffiness, overflowing with love without shallow sentimentality. He does not see the ministry as the family business, or himself as the local religious professional.

He sees himself as pastor in church, in the confessional, with the sick and even in the public arena.

He wears a robe and a stole for a reason when serving in the pulpit and at the altar.

He understands as one wedded to the Means of Grace that his counseling is an application of the Law and the Gospel; otherwise someone else may be better equipped to do it than he.

To the sick and those about to die he comes carrying with him the Great Physician and often to act as the usher into heaven.

In the public arena he knows that he is always “on;” therefore he conducts his business in such a way that he does not disgrace his Master but is rather an example of a pious public life.

He is always sharpening his awareness of the theology of the cross.

His life is a roller-coaster that mirrors the liturgical year; his times on the Mount of Transfiguration always prepare him for Lent, and his time in Lent always bears the promise of Easter.

He does not become addicted to success as the world sees success, nor is he ungrateful at those times when the Lord is pleased to grant success; he looks for the hidden God in little things.

In it all he remains his whole life long a juggler; there is no such thing as a boring day; the opportunities to serve in his study, in classrooms, in sickrooms, in funeral parlors, and at home with his family give him ample opportunity to marvel at the goodness, grace and mercy of God in permitting him to be a Lutheran pastor.

IN SUM: HE IS THE SERVANT OF CHRIST IN THE MIDST OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD, WHO SERVES CHRIST BEST WHEN HE SERVES CHRIST’S PEOPLE FAITHFULLY.

Des Pfarrers Predigt An Sich Selbst
By Dietrich Vorwerk

Ein Pfarrer muss sein
Ganz gross und ganz klein;
Vornehmen Sinns wie aus ein Königsgeschlecht,
Einfach und schlicht wie ein Bauernknecht;
Ein Held, der sich selbst bezwungen,
Ein Mensch, der mit Gott gerungen;
Ein Quell von heiligem Leben;
Ein Sünder, dem Gott vergeben;
Ein Herr dem eignen Verlangen,
Ein Diener den Schwachen und Bangen;
Vor keinem Gross sich beugend,
Zu den Geringsten sich neigend;
Ein Schüler vor seinem Meister;
Ein Führer im Kampf der Geister;
Ein Bettler mit flehenden Händen,
Ein Herold mit goldenen Spenden;
Ein Mann auf den Kampfesstätten,
Ein Weib an den Krankenbetten;
Ein Greis im Schauen,
Ein Kind im Trauen;
Nach Höchstem tractend,
Das Kleinste achtend;
Gestimmt zur Freude,
Vertraut dem Leide,
Weitab vom Neide;
Im Denken klar;
Im Reden wahr;
Des Friedens Freund,
Der Trägheit feind;
Feststehend in sich, –
Ganz anders als ich!

Some concluding remarks:

The High Priest in the Old Testament wore a breastplate with the names of the Twelve Tribes engraved on precious stones, so that every time he went into the presence of God he carried their names with him. Thereby he prefigured the intercessory work of Christ, our Great High Priest. But he prefigured ours as Lutheran pastors too. I carry your names engraved on my heart when I go into the presence of God. May he grant you love for himself, for his pure Word and Sacraments and for his people whom you will one day be privileged to serve and whose names you will one day carry engraved on your heart when you go into his presence.

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Now the silence
Now the peace
Now the empty hands uplifted
Now the kneeling
Now the plea
Now the Father’s arms in welcome…
- Now the Silence by Jaroslav Vajda

Although this news is a bit late, I wanted to share it with those of you who had not heard.

On 10 May 2008, Rev. Jaroslav Vajda departed this veil of tears for the eternal rest of heaven with his Savior. Vajda was one of the most prolific hymn writers in American Lutheranism. As St. Louis Post-Dispatch writer, Tim Townsend put it, “[He] left the world of hymnody — the art of composing of sacred songs in praise of God — very different from when he entered it.” (Saying Goodbye to the Poet Laureate of American Hymns).

WELS readers will probably be most familiar with Pastor Vajda’s work through Christian Worship, which introduced seven of his hymn texts and one of his Slovak hymn translations to our synod in 1993.

One of my earliest experiences with Christian Worship actually involved a Vajda hymn - the familiar benediction hymn, Go, My Children, with My Blessing. Our freshman-sophomore (Sexta-Quinta) choir sang the hymn as the closing hymn for an ordination/installation service during my freshman year at Northwestern Preparatory School. I can’t even count how often I’ve sung that hymn in different settings since then. Since that time, I’ve become familiar with his other hymns through choirs in which I’ve participated (where we sang his Christmas hymn, Before The Marvel of This Night), through Christian Worship (CW), as well as through other resources like Lutheran Service Book (LSB) and the upcoming Christian Worship: Supplement (CWS). Here is a listing of Vajda’s hymns and hymn translations published in those hymnals:

• Amid the World’s Bleak Wilderness (CW 342)
• Go, My Children, with My Blessing (CW 332/LSB 922)
• God, My Lord, My Strength (Translation - CW 450)
• Let Our Gladness Banish Sadness (Translation - LSB 371)
• Make Songs of Joy (Translation - LSB 484)
• Now Greet the Swiftly Changing Year (Translation - LSB 896/CWS 708)
• Now the Silence (CW 231/LSB 910)
• Peace Came to Earth (CWS 707) (Added 6/12/08)
• See This Wonder in the Making (CW 300/LSB 593)
• Then the Glory (CW 218)
• Up Through Endless Ranks of Angels (CW 172/LSB 491)
• When You Woke That Thursday Morning (LSB 445/CWS 716)
• Where Shepherds Lately Knelt (CW 54/LSB 369)
• Your Heart, O God, Is Grieved (Translation - LSB 945)

The Lord blessed Jaroslav Vajda with a gift to take the rich symbolism of the Christian’s worship life throughout the Christian year and put it into simple, yet eloquent words. At the same time, there is always a feeling of new excitement and awe at the ancient realities of the Gospel in Word and Sacraments, whether it’s marveling at the birth of the Prince of Peace or the wondrous miracle of Holy Baptism or the intimate love of the heavenly Father for his beloved children through Christ.

For example, in Where Shepherds Lately Knelt, he puts us at the doorway of the stable and describes how with hushed awe we kneel before the Savior’s manger bed alongside the likes of shepherds and prophets, not because I have earned or deserved that place before my Savior, but because he came for me. “With pounding heart I stare: A child, a son, the Prince of Peace for me…Can I, will I forget how Love was born, and burned its way into my heart unasked, unforced, unearned, to die, to live, and not alone for me?”

With such simple eloquence to describe these eternal truths, Vajda’s hymns will continue to put into words the thoughts and prayers of Christians for generations to come. To God alone be the glory!

Go, my children, with my blessing, never alone.
Waking, sleeping, I am with you; You are my own.
In my love’s baptismal river I have made you mine forever.
Go, my children, with my blessing - You are my own.

I the Lord will bless and keep you and give you peace;
I the Lord will smile upon you and give you peace;
I the Lord will be your Father, Savior, Comforter, and Brother.
Go, my children; I will keep you and give you peace.
- Go, My Children, with My Blessing (Verses 1,4)