Inaugural CALL Symposium Summary

After each presentation, participants discussed in their table groups what they heard from the keynote speakers that most impacted them and how to apply those key themes to their congregations’ ministries. Then the table groups were asked to summarize their discussions for the whole group. The notes below summarize those whole group discussions:

Rev. Dr. Will Schumacher, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis: What does it mean to be Lutheran in our 21st century Northwest post-church culture? How do we live out this identity with relevance and meaning in a world that often considers Christians and Christianity irrelevant?”

Summary of Whole Group Discussion

  • We need to be an incarnational church - we need to speak God’s word clearly in word and action - and thereby be God incarnate to our communities.
  • The “uncatechized sinner” is an accurate description for those in the Northwest who don’t know shame and guilt. But people do experience the sharp end of the law. We need to discover the ways these people experience the sharp end of the law so that we are able to speak the Gospel clearly and meaningfully in light of those experiences.
  • It is helpful not just to appeal to guilt, but to look at shame, inadequacy, fear, angst, etc. as also a part of the experience of the law. How do we educate our congregations to this broader view of the law?
  • How do we deal with people who come to our churches not as “sanctified” as we are accustomed to? We are used to having “sanctified” people in the church. How do we welcome them in a loving and appropriate way without offending existing church members?
  • Students and young people are interested in what makes a difference - a pragmatic approach to their discipleship journey. How do we meet their needs, too?
  • We need to show God’s love to people and let God change them instead of wanting to change them first so that God can love them.
  • We need to be aware of God’s supernatural working in people’s hearts and minds.
  • We are in a spiritual battle and need to be sensitive to the work the Holy Spirit is already doing as we live out our missional work.
  • This is God’s mission, not our mission.
  • God is at work in the world apart. We need to figure out where he is working. His chosen means is to work through the Church; but sometimes he chooses to work outside the Church. King Cyrus is an Old Testament example. God is working already in the culture around us, preparing people’s hearts for his proper work of Law and Gospel.
  • Evangelism is very relational. Our role in witnessing to Christ is to be alongside the people, share the story of our relationship with Jesus. We are to be involved in active righteousness - living out a life of good works -- as people who have received the passive righteousness that comes to us as a gift in Jesus.
  • Sometimes people don’t join because of what they’ve seen in the lives of church members. That’s something we can use to explain the gift of forgiveness.
  • Listening is very important - it connects us with people in the community, helps us learn where they are at, what they see as their needs, and then helps us to respond in ways to meet those needs. We can then take advantage of opportunities to share the Gospel as we become the gospel for those people.
  • The internal perception in many of our congregations is that we need to be experts with expert answers and until we have all the right answers, we can’t share the Gospel. But people are more likely to go to people they know and trust to ask their questions. We need to encourage members to feel confident in talking about their faith. Don’t be afraid to say, “I don’t know, but I’ll find out.”
  • One option is to take your friends with questions to visit your pastor.
  • Pastors need to be comfortable in saying, “I don’t know....”
  • The pastor is not the quarterback but the coach. The coach conditions and equips the players for the game. The pastor conditions and equips the members to play the game.
  • Stories can be useful in sharing the Gospel message. The creed briefly shares the salvation story.
  • We need to be connecting with people - relationships.
  • People can connect to stories about Jesus changing lives. One danger is getting lost in the narratives, but missing out on the main story - salvation in Jesus.
  • We need to make more use of the image of the world being broken - not just the environment.
  • We need to be clear about our story.
  • What defines us as Lutherans?
    • Our sacraments - we expect to meet God in baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
    • This is both a strength and a weakness. Strength is that God does come there. Weakness in that laypeople don’t consider themselves adequate to share the Gospel.
  • What do our members see as our identity as Lutherans?
    • Over the years that identity has been lost. It had been institutional. Younger people are looking a community identity.
    • Lifelong Lutherans give a different answer from those who have joined more recently. Those who joined most recently give a more Lutheran answer: being a Lutheran is about God’s grace and being into God’s word. Older members would say faithfulness to the Word of God and a connection with a historical church.
    • Inquiring students at UW notice that Lutherans do communion and infant bapstimi in a baptismal font, along with other traditions we Lutherans have.
  • What we as clergy regard as normal Lutheran doctrine, our members don’t necessarily hold to without question. The identity as Lutheran is based on being in a Lutheran church.
  • How do we share the passive righteousness we receive in Christ with people who see themselves as good enough because of their active righteousness?
  • How do we earn the right to share the Gospel with people?
  • The 19th century LC-MS church was active in mission work.
  • Historical church is even broader - Council of Nicea, etc.
  • What is the story of the Lutheran church in the NW?
  • How do we connect God’s story with people - acknowledging how God is already working in their lives.
  • Are our people complacent with the Gospel? Take it for granted? Are we speaking the Gospel to people’s point of need?
  • We shouldn’t create - intentionally or unintentionally - an “us” and “them” kind of mentality.

Gary Simpson, Luther Seminary, St. Paul: How does our Lutheran voice contribute to the overall Christian witness in the region?”

Summary of Whole Group Discussion

  • We recognize that attending to people is huge - significant, but need to unpack what that means in practical terms. Includes such things as openness and being wide open, being vulnerable and trust that we won’t smack each other. This includes empathy and genuine intimacy.
  • We need to encourage permeable boundaries between our congregations and our communities - there are boundaries, but people still are allowed to interact in meaningful ways so that learning can go both ways. Being winsome towards others.
  • We need to define ourselves by being centered on Jesus instead of by defining ourselves by who or what we aren’t. That allows for the permeable boundaries.
  • Need to look at the concentric circles in terms of relationships- home, family, neighbors, community, etc.
  • The rise of empathy led to the invention of human rights. Our God is a promising God, a God of trust.
  • We need some good studies of ecclesiology - what is the church - how do we do church in a way that connects, is credible and gets over the baggage that gets in the way of doing ministry.
  • The song is not “A Mighty Fortress is the Church.” The church is not a fortress that pours out the truth on the community. God is our mighty fortress!
  • I don’t cram the truth down your throat, but empathy is an act of service to introduce the gospel.
  • We need to be willing to share our fears - of things we might lose including power and control.
  • We need to address the fears of the congregation (example of a soup kitchen ministry) and the members of the congregation. Until their fears are addressed, they can’t move on in ministry.
  • We need empathetically to bring the people in the church to a point of empathy.
  • Herb Hoefer shared an example of a church that wanted to help a public school, but there was some suspicion on the part of the community concerning the reasons why. So the suggestion was made for the members to act individually in helping the school. Gary Simpson: Individuals can be leaven, but they can also get lost. For example, a Lutheran pastor was appointed by a Jewish governor here in Oregon to head a hunger commission because Lutheran congregations had created a hunger organization that did more than anyone else to feed the hungry in Oregon. It’s better for us as Lutherans, with our theology of the two kingdoms to do this kind of work than for some other Christians who have a much stronger desire to control.
  • The permeable church - we do it not in church, but out there being the church in our communities - caring for people out there. Need to meet people in their tremendum experiences. “I can come along side you in your suffering. I can tell you about a God who came and suffered along with us on a cross.”
  • Need to be inclusive where everyone feels welcome. What does that look like? It looks like caring - for each other and for those outside of us.
  • Need to come along side people where you are - at work, play, etc. Having an opportunity to witness when people ask, “How can you not be angry with God when God has done....?”
  • We need to be the church - the Gospel - when we live our lives. We are empowered by the Spirit to be the church wherever we are.
  • The Northwest community is very diverse -- including a diversity of needs. There are several subcultures, but neo-paganism underpins them all.
  • We need to go to where people are, hearing them, and identifying where they are already finding their spiritual validity in order to have some credibility. (Example: The need as a missionary to the Philippines to interpret dreams while living and working with a tribal culture that saw interpretation of dreams as the mark of spiritual credibility.)
  • To be the church, we need to put our service into action. What are we doing? Need to do this in order to earn right to be heard.
  • People connect not with God, but with nature because they don’t know how to connect to God. The church can show up and tell people how to connect to God in a meaningful way.
  • Sometimes people find more comfort in non-church communities. These non-church communities are good places for our members to get involved and to share their faith. (Example: joining camera club and becoming with an agnostic humanist.)

Where do we go from here for CALL?

  • Keep us on track in terms of cutting edge theological education and dialogue concerning where the church needs to be going.
  • Provide lay leadership development especially for councils, etc. in congregations so they can apply those skills in their congregations.
  • Provide a voice for and partnership in ministries with those with disabilities.
  • Make CALL more accessible for people. Use of internet streaming, webinar, and other ways since many people don’t have good internet access. Use DVDs, etc. Be aware of scheduling especially for lay people. Consider costs.
  • We also need to reach out to the Southwest Washington, Puget Sound, Idaho, and Alaska Synods of the ELCA, etc.
  • Partner with the Women’s Leadership Institute on the Concordia Mequon campus.
  • We need to improve the way we do ministry in the Northwest at the congregational level - transforming the way we look at ourselves and the way we go about doing the Lord’s ministry. How do we build the Church? How do we encourage this within our congregations? Value changes - what do we bring to the world that is important and helpful? There is a need for people to live this out?
  • We need to spend more time building concepts and practices focused on empathy, trust and the caring / redeeming work of God.