Perhaps as prologue to considering how we ought to reconstitute the ELCA, we ought to pause
and consider what is the Church? Now, I’ve done an educational series on
this question at both congregations I’ve served as pastor. Here are a few
things from that series worth considering:
The Church is what happens on a congregational
level, and that varies greatly by congregation. Congregations define
themselves by:
-who they are not (for example, the congregation was founded by people
dissatisfied by the other Lutheran congregation in town)
-what they do (for example, “we’re the congregation who feeds people” “we’re the
congregation that holds the craft fair in November”)
-by their history (“we’re a Muhlenberg congregation founded before the country”
or “we found our identity as a congregation when tons of WWII refugees moved
into the neighborhood in 1951”)
-ethnic heritage (we’re a German congregation, we’re a congregation of
“Squareheads”, etc).
As such any definition of
Church, and any restructuring of church, has to take into account a certain
amount of diversity.
The Church is defined in particular ways by Lutherans.
The third person of the trinity, the Holy Spirit,
creates and keeps the Church. (Luther’s
Small Catechism)
This creation of the Holy Spirit is people gathered
around scripture and sacrament. That’s it, other things are fine, but are of human
origin. (The Augsburg Confession, 7th
article)
This gathering will include saints and sinners, true
believers and false Christians, righteous people and hypocrites. Bad and wrong
folk don’t render the Church null and void. (The Augsburg Confession, 8th article)
So, in reconstituting the ELCA we need to remember:
that we’re always stewards of what God has first done, not to elevate or fixate
on non-essential things, and make organizational decisions knowing they’ll be
administered by humans not angels.
The Church has been defined in the ELCA’s
constitution. There is some really thoughtful stuff already present in how
we do church, and I hope we don’t jettison it. For example:
Jesus Centered:
To quote directly from the constitution, “All power belongs to Jesus, our
actions carry out the will of Jesus Christ.”
Humble Ecumenism: We recognize we’re not the entire expression of the Church, as such
we describe the ELCA as “This Church” not “The Church” which we understand to
be much wider than the ELCA.
Mutuality: At
our best we’re three expressions of This Church, the local Congregation, the
regional Synod, and the national Churchwide. We are accountable to one another.
Worshipful: Every
major decision in our denomination is made by a group of people in worship. Congregational
Meetings are made by people assembled for Sunday worship, Synod Assemblies are
a worship gathering of people from every congregation where the business of the
Synod is discussed, and Churchwide Assembly is a multi-day worship event that
also involves major decisions for the life of this Church.
I
pray the reconstitution of the ELCA is worshipful, gathers consent from all the
expressions of This Church, takes into account our commitments to other Christian
bodies, especially those who we are in full communion with, and most
importantly, the changes are done in order to more fully carry out the will of
Jesus Christ.
Another
way to come at the nature of the Church is to name “What
Christianity is Not” as Douglas John Hall does in his book of the same
name. According to this book, Christianity is not:
Culture: It
is not tied to a country, or subculture or people or ethnicity. St. Paul
struggled with defining the bounds of the faith in ethnic/cultural/religious divisions.
St. Augustine did the same vis a vis Rome and Kierkegaard vis a vis
Denmark.
Religion: As
stated above the Church isn’t a method for humans to reach heaven, but a gift
of the Holy Spirit.
A book: The
Reformation slogan “Word Alone” isn’t the same as Bibliolatry, but the
experience of encountering the God pointed to in the Scriptures.
Doctrine or even Truth: Ultimately faith isn’t a matter of cognitive affirmation
to particular points of view, but trust in the God found in Jesus. Being found
by God.
Morality: As
said above, the Church will by its very nature be filled with both saints and
sinners, often found within the same person.
The Church: The
whole of the book of Acts is the church catching up to what the Spirit has
already done.
So,
after going through all these things that Christianity is not Hall defines
Christianity as “When Jesus is proclaimed and experienced as Crucified, yet
Lord and Prophet.”
How
might this help the reconstitution of the ELCA? It names six important aspects
of Christianity that are so important that we have a tendency to think they are
the ultimate concern of the faith, when they are in fact penultimate. For
example, a cultural or moral concern could scuttle a reconstitution discussion,
but with the above in mind can be relativized in the light of the most important thing, our Crucified Lord. Also, I pray that the folk
involved in these conversations always keep open for experiences of Jesus as
Crucified Lord.
So,
at the end of my congregational educational series, how did the group I was
leading mash up these ideas into a working definition of Church? “A
community who trusts in Jesus Christ, gathers around word and sacrament, and proclaims
the Gospel to our neighbors.”
I
pray that the Reformed ELCA, whatever its ultimate shape, will proclaim Gospel
to the world, worship together well, and trust Jesus Christ.
