tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9048575444859487507.post6633276837428334724..comments2023-09-12T10:10:57.773-04:00Comments on thinking-out-loud: "Soul Winning" Worship?Rev. Rick Stuckwischhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10664716292792101540noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9048575444859487507.post-81250674197083035562008-02-21T08:59:00.000-05:002008-02-21T08:59:00.000-05:00Pr. Stuckwish,Thank you very much for your post on...Pr. Stuckwish,<BR/><BR/>Thank you very much for your post on the grotesque "soul winning" and "worship" language! You express quite well what many of us, your brothers, think and how we evaluate the current American Evangelical trends infecting the Lutheran Church, especially the Missouri Synod. Keep up the good work!Randy Asburryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01545983197990430420noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9048575444859487507.post-74143474188269090072008-02-16T15:43:00.000-05:002008-02-16T15:43:00.000-05:00Amen!Amen!Frank Gillespiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10606601821325532724noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9048575444859487507.post-22226161916457694722008-02-16T13:57:00.000-05:002008-02-16T13:57:00.000-05:00It certainly does; thank you much!It certainly does; thank you much!Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07785072699747468450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9048575444859487507.post-44548717161170710692008-02-15T22:54:00.000-05:002008-02-15T22:54:00.000-05:00Thanks for your comments, Jonathan. You've put yo...Thanks for your comments, Jonathan. You've put your finger on one of the most important and compelling questions in our day, and I've been mulling over how best to respond. I think that I will need to save most of what I might want to say for a regular blog post at some point, but for the time being I'll offer a brief response.<BR/><BR/>When I speak of unity, I don't have in mind a lockstep uniformity. You are correct that there has never really been any such uniformity across the Church, neither from one age to the next, nor in all places at any one time. I don't believe that such uniformity is possibe, nor even desirable. There are too many factors that differ, all sorts of circumstances that have to be taken into account. That's one of the reasons that there needs to be pastoral discernment and discretion, for the sake of genuine pastoral care of the Church.<BR/><BR/>Unity in practice does not imply uniformity; nor does uniformity necessarily mean that there is true unity. The unity of the Church is really rooted in Christ, in His Gospel, in His Means of Grace. We are all one Body in Christ, because we all partake of His one Body and drink from His Cup. Of this one Body, there is one Lord, one faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of all.<BR/><BR/>While this true unity does not depend upon, nor require, a rigid uniformity in practice, it surely can be (and ought to be) expressed and supported by a continunity and consistency of practice, from age to age, and from place to place. It fits the character of the Gospel as a free gift of God's grace to be administered and received in traditional orders and forms of service, with traditional rites and ceremonies, which have themselves been received from those who have gone before us in the faith. So also, it is in harmony with Christian love and our common confession of the one faith, that churches in fellowship with one another make use of common practices. Not as a matter of necessity, but as being appropriate and beneficial.<BR/><BR/>Historically, it has generally been the case that the churches of a given territory made use of the same orders and forms, rites and ceremonies, even if there may be local customs that emerge differently in the details. Now, what a "territory" looks like in our modern day and age, I'm not sure; that's up for debate, I suppose; but I would suggest that transportation and communication technologies have reconfigured the contours by which a "territory" is defined. And I would like to believe that part of what it means to be in fellowship with other pastors and congregations, is to share in common a way of prayer and confession, with which we hear and receive the Means of Grace in faith and with thanksgiving. This is particularly helpful as a people move or visit from place to place. It removes the temptation of the pastor (or anyone else) to reinvent "the wheel" in his (or their) own image. It provides a sense of confidence to the people of God, that what their pastor and church are using to administer the things of God is in faithful accord with the church catholic, even if not identical in all its particulars. Using a common and consistent order of service, not only confesses and supports the Church's unity in the Gospel, but also enables every member of the Church (young and old, literate and illiterate, etc.) to participate together in the Church's praying and confessing.<BR/><BR/>There is always going to be a measure of disimilarity from one place to another; and again, that is as it should be (as a matter of both pastoral care and practicality). But the local variations can yet be implemented within a context that is recognizably similar to what the entire Church is doing, each pastor and congregation in their own loci. The preaching is perhaps a case in point: sermons will differ from pulpit to pulpit, obviously enough, but they may yet be preached from the same Holy Gospel of the Day. So also, the same order of service can be celebrated with a considerable variation in ceremony.<BR/><BR/>I suppose there is a continuum involved, along which one may move between extremes: lockstep uniformity on the one hand (which is probably not even possible), and idiosyncratic diversity on the other hand (which is, I think, far more commonly approximated). In the midst of those extremes, there is the inviting possibility of a common set of liturgical orders and a common body of hymnody, such as we have in the LSB, which all of those pastors and congregations belonging to the same fellowship may use (in faith and love) within their own respective contexts. It is to that sort of unity in practice that I was referring.<BR/><BR/>I hope this is somewhat helpful as a preliminary answer to your questions.Rev. Rick Stuckwischhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10664716292792101540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9048575444859487507.post-82852144236995369782008-02-15T00:33:00.000-05:002008-02-15T00:33:00.000-05:00Hello Pastor... your post is excellent and I enjoy...Hello Pastor... your post is excellent and I enjoyed reading it. The direction the Commission on Worship has been heading has bothered me recently, and I was gladdened by what you had to say. I have a question, however, regarding what you say is the potential for a "restoration of unity in practice." I was under the impression that there has never really been a unity in practice. From the earliest days of the Church there have been varying rites that express the Faith. Even in the history of the Lutheran church, there has been great variance in liturgical practice (the various Kirchenordnungen, for example). What exactly do you mean by "unity in practice," and is it something we should work for? I certainly have no use for contemporary liturgies that obscure the Gospel and have something other than Christ at their center. However, I am concerned that requiring uniformity in liturgical practice is to lean toward the Law rather than the Gospel.Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07785072699747468450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9048575444859487507.post-40526136954843354582008-02-14T20:05:00.000-05:002008-02-14T20:05:00.000-05:00You mean... Children (who might have even been Bap...You mean... Children (who might have even been Baptised as infants *before* joining Emmaus) count as new members?!?!?!?! Outrage!Ananhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05674873640738958248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9048575444859487507.post-73797209496422782012008-02-14T20:03:00.000-05:002008-02-14T20:03:00.000-05:00This recent issue of The Reporter was just loaded ...This recent issue of The Reporter was just loaded with questionable material.Genuine Lustrehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11397566905693730324noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9048575444859487507.post-7282983482715928932008-02-14T15:32:00.000-05:002008-02-14T15:32:00.000-05:00I've said it before, and I'll say it again: you sh...I've said it before, and I'll say it again: you should promote Emmaus among the LCMS higher-ups as one of the top soul-winning congregations; at least as a percentage of total membership. Emmaus must have grown by 50% in the past twelve years that you've served there.Moriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11304644291440502044noreply@blogger.com