Past Imperfect
'It's Not About the Past'
One path to maintaining a positive identity is to proclaim the gospel to those who do not know it. For Lutheran CORE, that means recapturing an emphasis on global missions. One source told me that from a peak of 1,000 fully supported missionaries in the mid-1960s, mainline Lutheranism's global outreach has declined to about 150 fully supported missionaries, with only about 9 of those having "evangelist" in their job description. Expect the new Lutheran network to work hard to reignite commitment to global missions.
The Lutherans also hope to succeed at church planting where the ELCA has stumbled. The new Anglicans are decidedly more aggressive on the domestic front. The ACNA's Duncan has called church leaders to plant 1,000 new congregations over the next five years. With 700 congregations in the new body, Duncan believes they can surely plant 1,000 more. AMIA is similarly committed to growing new congregations. The September 2009 issue of CT featured an interview with Todd Hunter, who has been charged by AMIA leadership with supervising the planting of 200 new congregations on the West Coast alone.
This outward focus on global missions and domestic church planting signifies a healthy identity. It's just the thing to keep these groups from "a harried withdrawal into an ecclesiastical cupboard."
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Related Elsewhere:
David Neff also wrote "How the Early Church Read the Bible."
CT's coverage of recent changes in the Lutheran and Anglican bodies includes:
ELCA Assembly: Was God in Either Whirlwind? | Tornado touches convention center as Lutherans approve sexuality statement by the exact margin it needed to pass. (August 20, 2009)
The Heresy of 'Individualism'? | The 'individualism' we profess is not only not a heresy—it is at the heart of the gospel. By Richard J. Mouw (July 15, 2009)
Q & A: Robert Duncan The archbishop of the new Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) explains an alternative to the Episcopal Church. (July 30, 2009)
Past Imperfect
David Neff
David Neff is editor in chief of Christianity Today, where he has worked since 1985. He is also the former editor in chief of Christian History magazine, and continues to explore the intersection of history and current events in his bimonthly column, "Past Imperfect." His earlier column, "Editor's Bookshelf," ran from 2002 to 2004 and paired Neff's reviews of thought-provoking books and interviews with the authors.
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Dan H.
"...we need to go beyond the laws and rules...stop the name-calling and judging." Don't think you can ever get away from laws and rules. John 15:10 -"If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love." And who's name calling, PC? But if you're going to call yourself a Christian and practice homosexuality, then I would think you would have scripture justifying your practice of your sin. But the bible counsels differently: I Cor. 6:18,19 - 18 Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?"
Pat Caley
No, Tom. I was speaking to Dan. I think it's time to put our differences aside as we observe Maundy Thursday and Good Friday and finally the glorious resurrection of our Lord. No matter what congregation we belong to and no matter what we may believe about sin and sexuality and all that other stuff, we are all Easter people who live in the light of the risen Christ. Alleluia.
Tom Morgan
Hi Pat - I agree with your comments and hope you aren't referring to me when you speak of name calling and vitriol. I can tell you that it was very difficult and heart wrenching for my family to leave a church we had been VERY active in and had grown up with, but we felt like we had no choice. The church we loved had slipped too far, and we needed to move to something built on rock, not sand, so I guess Cephas makes sense :) I undertand that your Pastor (and I'm sure many pastors) counsel against abortion. My only point was that those Pastors don't have any authoritive backing from the synod when it comes to that counsel, and that they are essentially standing alone.