ROUGHLY EDITED COPY LUTHERAN PASTORAL THEOLOGY & PRACTICE LPTP-21 Captioning Provided By: Caption First, Inc. P.O. Box 1924 Lombard, IL 60148 800-825-5234 www.captionfirst.com *** This text is being provided in a rough draft format. Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication accessibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings. *** >> DAVID: A lot of the people around my church here in Cleveland work blue collar jobs at all hours and on weekends. How much instruction is necessary for new members? I worry about asking too much of them. How would you suggest we handle this within our congregations? >> PROF. SENKBEIL: Well, David, I can understand that presents a unique problem for you and, undoubtedly, for a lot of pastors around the synod in various corners of our country, because people do have different schedules. And increasingly now we find that all kinds of people have all kinds of demands on their time. So finding an opportunity, finding an ideal time for such instruction might be a problem. Part of the answer, I think, it seems to me, would be that you recognize that who a pastor is by nature of his call is that he is a teacher. Historically speaking, in the Lutheran church we consider the office of the public ministry the preadict umpt (ph) that is, the preaching office. But that ministry is defined in terms of teaching the Gospel, the administration of the sacraments. So, if you recognize that you're always teaching as a pastor, that's really the first step, I think, in answering your question. In other words, it's not just what you do in terms of your instructional course, but also the other opportunities that you have in terms of adult Bible class, for example, your private visits in people's homes, other opportunities always looking for a chance to teach the essential articles of the faith or to reflect upon them as the case may be, as the circumstances call for it. So how do you find an opportune time for instruction? Well, perhaps you could look at the time of your service, a Sunday morning divine service. Is there an opportunity to have a course of instruction for adults on Sunday mornings? If you're engaged in an ongoing Bible study for all the adults after the service, maybe, without expecting too much from people, you could ask the inquirers, the prospective members, to come before the service for such instruction or perhaps to stay after the Bible class. Or maybe some members of the congregation would prepare a lunch so that those people could sit down together over lunch on Sunday noon and during that time carry on instruction. The other thing is you might look for opportunities individually. Sometimes the reality is, especially when people are working third shifts or something of the sort, that it's not possible really to expect them to come at the optimum time for instruction, probably in an evening. And so you have to find other opportunities to teach those people. And so I think a pastor, because he recognizes he's always teaching, and because we're engaged in outreach with the Gospel in the community, he would have this kind of this core instruction going on regularly and routinely. I would say, personally, at least two thorough courses of instruction per year. And then, if people cannot come at that time, then the pastor's going to have to arrange time to meet with them individually, carry on a personalized instruction for them as a supplemental way to the main course of instruction. Above all, I think you want to be clear on what it is you're teaching them. And there again, as Dr.�Warneck mentioned, the practices currently in our church are kind of all over the map. But recognizing what's really important, as he says, going back to the basics is really what we want to be about. And, historically speaking, there have been three texts, if you will, that help people to prepare for the Christian life. Chiefly, of course, the Bible. And our instruction's always going to be based upon the word of God and a thorough indoctrination of what the word of God teaches on all the points of Christian doctrine. Then the text of the catechism. And, here again, I would agree with Dr.�Warneck that no improvement really could be made on this wonderful summary of the Christian faith and all of its magnificence as it's given to us there through the pen of Dr.�Luther. The Small Catechism also being, as he called it, a layman's Bible, namely, the sum total of what every Christian needs to know in order to be saved, in order to live as a Christian in this world. And then a third text would be the hymnal. The songs, the hymns, the prayers of the church that kind of inform us who we are as a Christian people, as a corporate entity, the church of Christ in this place, a way by which we as Lutheran Christians also confess the faith to one another and to all the world, a way through which these prayers and hymns that we ourselves can grow in our faith, express our faith, pray our prayers to our Lord and God and find our comfort and consolation in times of distress, that sustains us for a whole lifetime. I can remember some years ago, in fact, a long time ago when I was a student in the seminary, I was visiting and elderly lady in the nursing home. And she was unable anymore to really get out of bed or to do much of anything other than to speak and to pray, to receive the ministry of those who came to speak with her regarding the word of God, the faith and to pray. This is what she did. The prayer that she spoke to me, the one that gave her the most consolation is something that she learned when she was a tiny little girl. (German language) Now, I realize of course, David, very few of your people know the German language. But the point is in her language that she was raised in, she had learned the basics of the faith by learning hymns. Someone took the time to instruct her in these. These words, poetic words of prayer and consolation sustained her all through life. And although, when she was a little girl, the words of that prayer, that hymn, "Jesus Christ, Thy blood and righteousness, my beauty are my glorious stress" really didn't pertain precisely to that moment in her life, on her death bed, which she was fast approaching, it gave her great consolation to know that on that great day when she stands before the thrown of God, as that hymn confesses, we stand clothed in the blood and righteousness of Jesus who is our righteousness. So this kind of ongoing, lifelong approach to teaching and instruction of faith, which we historically call catechesis is a way by which Christians are nurtured in the faith that is first given them in their baptism and then sustained by God's word and sacrament all their life. So the suggestion that Dr.�Warneck and I would have is that all of you would focus your instruction upon the Bible, the catechism�-- this synodical edition of the Luther's Small Catechism is a wonderful tool for instruction. Remember that the first part of the book really is what we call the end core idian (ph) or the handbook of the faith. These first 30-some pages really belong to the essence of the catechism. The rest of it is an exposition or an explanation of the catechism with those marvelous questions Dr.�Warneck already reminded you of, some of which are vital to really understanding and confessing the faith which was given to us when we were baptized�-- the faith in which we stand, a faith which we want to confess and witness to in our daily lives. That's a great tool. You know, these days we really don't have much of an opportunity to memorize anything because we're constantly deluged with all kinds of information. And you've heard the term "information overload," I think. It is in this careful instruction in the foundational texts, the Bible and the catechism, that we are grounded and rooted in something that is sure and is substantial and that really lasts. So helping your people to have that kind of foundation, that kind of grounding in the faith in God's word and its meaning, as we find in the catechism, is very, very helpful. Not all of your people, especially your adults, are going to find it easy to memorize. Certainly, we can't expect the same thing of all of our people when it comes to memorization. A little child, for example, can learn far more far faster with a greater retention rate than people as they get to be older. That's a fact. It's a biological fact. But the reality is that there are certain cardinal texts�-- the texts of the Ten Commandments, the text of the Apostle's Creed, the text of the Lord's Prayer�-- that really lies at the root of what we're about as a Christian people and as a confessing Lutheran church. You know, the Bible says "Thy word have I hid in my heart." Sometimes I think it's helpful to remind people that, when we memorize texts, we're not just drilling words into our brain. But we're hiding them our heart where they take root and they give shape to our life as they also give shape to our public confession of faith. Now, Dr.�Luther, in his preface to the catechism suggests that there are three stages to the process of instruction or catechesis; first, that we learn the primary text, that is, God's word itself. And you'll notice about the small catechism. Each and every chief part of the Christian faith is rooted and grounded in the word of God. There's always a Bible text in the midst of it. Then, after we've learned that word, that primary text, we move on to learn its meaning. The famous Lutheran question "What does this mean?" is not what does this mean to you, but rather "what is that" literally in the German language, namely, what is implied in these words of God? How are they unpacked and applied? We learn that, too, as well, by heart. Not all of your adults will master that part of the catechism. But certainly its content can be well-explained in their instruction. So that's the second stage, learning the meaning. Finally, Dr.�Luther suggests that we take up a larger catechism, that we learn its application. And there a useful tool for you as an instructor in the Christian faith would be have a copy of Luther's large catechism. It could be really a practical teacher's guide, if you will, to the instruction of the faith. So these three stages -- the primary text, the Bible; the secondary text, the meaning; and the third level, namely, the application -- really correspond with a classical understanding of education, that ancient method by which people first learned the grammar of any subject, then it's logic, its inner meaning, and then, finally, it's application in terms of rhetoric, that is, the public speaking or doing of any field of study. So properly understood, that classical model of education is not just a mastery of a body of information as we do in our current situation, a learning of field of technology or applied science or perhaps a particular skill in terms of manufacturing or some particular job skill. But rather, historically, this approach to education was to learn how to learn. I think that's what you want to do for your people when it comes to the faith, not just teaching them your own understanding of what the faith is but teaching them to learn and to grow and to develop all their life on the basis of God's word, the teachings of the catechism, our confession of the faith determines really how we live and we profess that faith and witness to it in our daily lives. So there's no one answer to your question. We have to find various ways to approach people where they live, given the confines of their schedules. But have something to give them, namely, God's own word, the teachings of the faith, the doctrines which sustain us and which give shape to our lives so that we might profess the faith as well. You can use creative means of application using the technology of the time. Perhaps it would be possible, for example, for you to record on an mp3 file or some other device of recording the words of the Small Catechism. You could make a copy and give it to these people so that the particular media that they have, they could listen to it perhaps on their commute to work or with their earphones, their headphones that they use perhaps on the job. These are ways of reinforcing the faith which God gives us in his word. So use the abilities that you have, the technology available to you, and apply it to the particular needs of the people that you serve. Being faithful to what you've been given. It's a great opportunity to shape people, to instruct them in the faith that's given to us. *** This text is being provided in a rough draft format. Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication accessibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings. ***