BACK AGAIN

Well, I’m back from our Synod’s Assembly. The worship was quite good and there were inspirational moments especially in connection with the work the church is doing in Haiti. It was a fairly quiet assembly with little of great controversy. I suspect a lot of people were happy about that, but it makes me wonder. 

There was one resolution that would have required that social statements be adopted by congregational votes. The motion lost but, but there was still a substantial number of people (about one-third, I think) who voted for it.  I think there are a good many people who feel frustrated and disenfranchised. I am really worried about what will happed to people who disagree with major decisions by the national church.

The only thing that really riled me was that clergy were scolded for not making sure the people in their congregations know what’s going on at national and synod level. The real problem is that the Powers-That-Be have shifted to electronic communication as a cost saving measure. Having information on web sites is all right if the driving force is people wanting to find information. It is useless if the driving force is people wanting to give information. Since people don’t care in the first place, they are not going to go looking for information. They don’t perceive a need. The Higher-Ups want to communicate things, but they expect their audience to come to them to receive it. It is exactly the same thing that churches do wrong in evangelism. They sit in their buildings expecting non-believers to wander in and convert themselves. What nonsense!

Our Synod is launching a big fund-raising campaign for 2.5 million. A half-million is for work in Haiti (something very much needed.)  The other 2 million is for a variety of projects that are still a little murky, but we’re getting somewhat of a clearer picture. I am not sure the average person in the pew is going to understand what it's about. I have warned the Powers-That-Be to avoid jargon, but they can’t seem to part with it. For example, there is a reference to “missional congregation grants.” I have never been clear what a missional congregation is, or, for that matter, what a non-missional congregation would be. Missional seems to be the latest buzz word in many denominations. (By the way, my spell-check doesn’t like the word ‘missional’) It has something to do with “mission,” but I’d like to know exactly what mission.

As a Christian, I assume THE mission is the one Christ gave: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Mat 28:19-20). I’m not sure, however, that the Lutheran church really understands that as the mission. My brand-new handy-dandy Lutheran Study Bible claims that these verse do “not mean make everyone disciples.” Huh? That’s what I was always taught the words meant. I thought we were supposed to make disciples of everyone.  Evidently according to some Learned Person, I am wrong. That’s why I’m not sure what our mission really is and even less do I understand what it is to be missional.

The other Big Word is transformational as in “transformational leaders.” (Spell-check doesn’t like ‘transformational’ either.) Isn’t there a professor at Hogwarts who teaches transformation? Would she be a transformational leader. No, wait. Harry Potter learns Transfiguration, not Transformation. Sounds like a distinction without a difference. I want to know what the transformational leader is going transform and what it’s going to be transformed into. I guess a transformational leader transformationalizes the unmissional into the missional, or something. Bippity-boppity-boo!

That marvelous guide to writing, The Elements of Style declares in rule V,14: “Avoid the elaborate, the pretentious, the coy, and the cute. Don’t be tempted by a twenty-dollar word when there is a ten-center handy, ready and able.”

Maybe I’ll send a copy to the Powers-That-Be at headquarters.

May the Lord bless you on your journey and greet you on your arrival.

Wayne






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