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LIFE Thus Says the Lord—The Study of Holy Scripture - p.4 Church History and Pastoral Formation - p.7 A Matter of Doctrine - p.10 Where God Calls He Equips - p.19 Kramer Chapel and Spiritual Life - p.22 In the Field - p.24 WORLD of the For the April 2001. Volume Five, Number Two MARCH 1998 F E A T U R E S 3 page 4 page 10 page 24page 22 For theLIFE WORLDofthe PRESIDENT Rev. Dr. Dean O. Wenthe PUBLISHER Rev. Scott Klemsz EDITOR Rev. John T. Pless ASSISTANT EDITOR Monica Robins ART DIRECTOR Steve Blakey For the Life of the World is published quarterly by Concordia Theological Seminary Press, 6600 North Clinton Street, Fort Wayne, Indiana 46825. No portion of this publication may be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher of For the Life of the World. Copyright 2001. Printed in the United States. Postage paid at Fort Wayne, Indiana. To be added to our mailing list please call 219/452-2150 or e-mail Rev. Scott Klemsz at CTSNews. For the Life of the World is mailed to all pastors and congregations of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod in the United States and Canada and to anyone interested in the work of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind. 2 From the President 4 Thus Says the Lord—The Study of Holy Scripture By the Rev. Dr. Charles A. Gieschen, Associate Professor and Chairman of Exegetical Theology, Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind. The primary focus of pastoral formation at Concordia Theological Seminary is the words and deeds of God. 7 Church History and Pastoral Formation By the Rev. Dr. Cameron A. MacKenzie, Professor and Chairman of Historical Theology, Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind. Christianity bears a special relationship to the study of history, because right from the outset Christianity has presented itself as a historical religion. 10 A Matter of Doctrine By the Rev. Dr. David P. Scaer, Associate Professor and Chairman of Systematic Theology, Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind. The courses in the Systematic Theology Department are concerned first in receiving the church’s faith as it is contained in the Lutheran Confessions, but then has the task of passing it along to students who, as pastors, will proclaim it to congregations of the Missouri Synod. 19 Where God Calls He Equips By the Rev. Dr. K. Detlev Schulz, Associate Professor and Chairman of Pastoral Ministry and Missions, Concordia Theo- logical Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind. Ever since its foundation in 1836, part and parcel of our seminary’s understanding has been to offer assistance towards the furtherance of faith through the office of preaching and teaching. 22 Kramer Chapel and Spiritual Life By the Rev. Dr. Arthur A. Just Jr., Dean of the Chapel and Professor of Exegetical Theology, and the Rev. Professor Richard C. Resch, Kantor and Associate Professor of Pastoral Ministry and Missions, Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind. 24 In the Field By Monica Robins Featuring the Rev. Michael A. Johnson Sr., Pastor of Pilgrim and Prince of Peace Lutheran Churches, Birmingham, Ala. Most of the artwork pictured in this issue hang in class- rooms, in hallways, and in Kramer Chapel on the CTS campus. page 7 CONTENTS page 19 APRIL 2001 19 A t a seminary book sale, I was fortunate enough to acquire Walther’s Pastoraltheologie, a seminal work for generations of pastors in the Synod and for Lutherans beyond. My new acquisition delighted me, but even more so the glossaries added there- in by some committed pastor. “Pastoral theology is sancti- fied common sense”; “Work yourself to death in the vine- yard of the Lord”; “To rest is to rust”; “Don’t let it be said: ‘The best passage in the entire service was the pastor’s pas- sage from the pulpit to the vestry’”; “You get the water of life for nothing; you only pay for the piping”; “Dic: cur hic? (Say when asked why you are here), To save souls”; “Hell is the truth discovered too late”; and “Where sin rules, the pastor’s office begins.” Certainly, helpful apho- risms for a pastor in the pastoral ministry which, though simply put, are indicative of our department’s task. We, too, convey principles and offer advice to the student about the nature of his future ministry so that all its functions are per- formed according to God’s design. John Fritz in his Pas- toral Theology of 1932 puts it more scholarly: “Pastoral Theology is especially designed to be a guide to the pastor, or minister, of the church, in the faithful performance of his official duties.” Some of those who are familiar with our seminary and who read this article might sug- gest the use of the acronym PTM for “Practical Theology and Mis- sions” instead of our use of PMM for “Pastoral Ministry and Mis- sions.” After all, Fort Wayne has been known as the “practical” seminary. Why then should we not pay homage to this tradition with a specific choice in nomen- clature: Practical Theology instead of Pastoral Ministry? Here our seminary’s mission statement may assist us: “Concordia Theo- logical Seminary is an institution of theological higher education of In the Old and New Testaments throughout the history of the church to this very day, God’s intent is to save mankind. God’s purpose is to guide and nurture all believers through His means of grace, and to bring those means of grace to the unbelieving world. To this end, He calls incumbents into His service who are willing to be servants to His salvific will in the capacity of pastors and missionaries. Where God Calls HeEquips By the Rev. Dr. Klaus Detlev Schulz For the Life of the World20 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod dedicated primarily to the preparation of stu- dents for the pastoral ministry and missions of the LCMS. Its programs and services offer an understanding of the Christian faith that is biblically centered, confessional- ly Lutheran, and evangelically active.” Yes, ever since its foundation in 1836, part and parcel of our seminary’s understanding has been to offer assistance towards the furtherance of faith through the office of preaching and teaching. Our understanding is that the church of Christ is, and will always be, in demand of pastors. They are not an arbitrary component in the structure of the church, but representatives of a min- istry that the church cannot do without. A suggestion of anything other than “pas- toral” would be tantamount to Brutus’ denial of Caesar. And yet, our seminary is practical in focus, and our department supports it whole- heartedly. From the outset, though, I should dismiss one false notion that might con- sider us as practical in the sense of “testing” or “experimenting” our theology, or per- haps being a boot camp, which for the sake of expediting the education process com- promises the need for a good education. All this would imply that we are pragmatic rather than practical. Instead, we should establish the practical character of our sem- inary from the very nature of our theology. Theology is the study of God not just on who He is but also what He does. This means that we are fully aware that God Him- self has a practical aptitude or a soteriological purpose. This theological insight serves not only as the backbone to our department, but to all departments and their disciplines as well: in the Old and New Testaments throughout the history of the church to this very day, God’s intent is to save mankind. God’s purpose is to guide and nurture all believers through His means of grace, and to bring those means of grace to the unbelieving world. To this end, He calls incumbents into His service who are willing to be servants to His salvific will in the capacity of pastors and mission- aries. In agreement with the very nature of God and theology, we are compelled to find and train bearers of the tools of God, those who administer them by divine right to the people, to the church, and the world beyond. God is practical, and we on campus are, therefore, endemically clerical and missional. By virtue of the above said, we must maintain further that God Himself sets the standard and the qualification for the candidacy in His office. In Scripture, it is He who invokes the student with the solemn words: “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Perse- vere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Timothy 4:16). Training future pastors is serious business. If done wrong, it adversely impacts the message of sal- vation itself and the life of the believer in the pew. In line with the important words in 1 Timothy 3:2-7; 2 Timothy 2:24-26; Titus 1:5-9, we hope to entrust the student with spiritual and ethical pre- rogatives: 1. Sincerity in confession (confessionis sinceritas); 2. Dexterity in teaching (docendi dexteritas); 3. Integrity of charac- ter and of life (morum integritas). Luther puts it similarly: A the- ologian must engage in prayer (oratio), endure the temptation of faith and flesh (tentatio), and meditate over Scripture (meditatio). And yet, in all teaching and training resides a sober realism. Per- Training future pastors is seri- ous business. If done wrong, it adversely impacts the message of salvation itself and the life of the believer in the pew. In line with the important words in 1 Timothy 3:2-7; 2 Timothy 2:24-26; Titus 1:5-9, we hope to entrust the student with spiritual and ethical prerogatives: 1. Sincerity in confession (confessionis sinceritas); 2. Dexterity in teaching (docendi dexteritas); 3. Integrity of character and of life (morum integritas). Luther puts it similarly: A theologian must engage in prayer (oratio), endure the temptation of faith and flesh (tentatio), and meditate over Scripture (meditatio). APRIL 2001 21 fection eludes us all: Where God calls He equips. He works through seeming contradictions, as Paul himself was told by God when bemoaning his own apparent weakness: “My grace is suffi- cient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). It is good that we refrain from any modern forms of Donatism (the Donatists were a fourth Century, North African Christian sect that had extremely rigorous views con- cerning purity and sanctity) which, in the quest for finding perfect incumbents of the office, have deflected the power of God from His Word to the person himself. As much as the focus is on God and His Word, there is also the context that beckons and influences the department’s agenda. We might call it its bipolar character. State of art media and tech- nology are now used for the training in pastoral skills. In this con- nection a famous theologian is often quoted as saying: “A pastor is in need of two books: the Bible under one arm and the news- paper under the other.” We respond to the questions asked in the field. In fact, the life of the church, configured around its funda- mental expressions of worship, organization, outreach, care, shepherding, and instruction, demands our reply. For this reason, our department offers sub-disciplines with which we hope to cover the following life expressions: worship, liturgy, preaching, mission, catechesis, pastoral care, and counseling. With hardly any two congregations agreeing on the nature of the pastoral ministry, it is in these areas that the pastor’s skills must prevail most. What is particularly in demand is active duty. As a called and ordained shepherd of the church, he is not a mere facilitator or motivator for action; he is given a specific charge: to shepherd the flock through the means of grace. Bipolarity means that our department must correspond the demands of the Word of God with the claims of the context, a difficult task indeed. Being conscious of con- text, we are denied a speculative or purely academic character. Unarguably, though, what was often thought of as the “truth” from the Word of God has, in fact, in con- text, lost its normativity. Individual cups have replaced the common cup, discussions on roles of women have led to their suffrage, simple uniformity in worship has changed to diversity, the nurture of denominational distinctiveness has ceded to open communion (and plurality of belief), and pastoral issues have been democratized. Indeed, pastoral theology is done in view of the context, and caution must prevail. All the more, therefore, we are demanded to seriously consult the Word of God and the Lutheran Confessions. False intransigence of both pastor and members on issues will hurt the church, but equally, also, unhindered libertarianism. Only faithful resilience, nourished by Scripture and our Confessions, and coupled with prayer and a good dose of realism, will provide the answers on campus and in challenging environments. The Rev. Dr. Klaus Detlev Schulz is Chairman and Associate Professor of the Department of Pastoral Ministry and Missions at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind. Our department offers sub- disciplines with which we hope to cover the following life expressions: worship, liturgy, preaching, mission, catechesis, pastoral care, and counseling. With hardly any two congrega- tions agreeing on the nature of the pastoral ministry, it is in these areas that the pastor’s skills must prevail most. What is particularly in demand is active duty. As a called and ordained shepherd of the church, he is not a mere facilitator or motivator for action; he is given a specific charge: to shepherd the flock through the means of grace.