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| Q: | My father is the synod contact person on our church council. He just received a letter from the synod stating that we need to become more contemporary to attract more youth. Now, the first lesson we learned in catechism is that our church WILL NOT ever change for society. That our church has held true to the same principles as the ones it was founded on and that they shall never change. I was appalled when I went to a "traditional" service at [an area WELS church], and found the pastor walking around the church with a microphone for the sermon and was shocked with them also having women as ushers. In the church I have grown up in (and its only been 18 years) this would never be accepted. Our church would be up in arms at these outrageous practices. The church I visited did not even say The Lord's Prayer! My father and I were talking about how our church has not changed any of its practices since my grandfather started attending in 1932. We felt that one of our greatest accomplishments as a church has been the ability to have sustained our beliefs despite the pressures of society to change them. I do not understand why we have to "contemporize" our services. In fact in the other churches I have attended, fewer people attend contemporary services. I know that our church is having financial difficulties, but I believe that that is not a good reason to conform to society. I know that the message will be the same, and that only the delivery will be different, but as a traditional synod I believe that we are making a mistake in changing the delivery as well. It has always been said of our synod that we are a church of wisdom in adoration of the Lord, which means (when explained by my church) that a worship service is meant to be a quiet time in which we go to honor the Lord by reading scripture, reflecting silently upon it, and only speak or sing when the liturgy provides for it. If you could please comment on this subject it would be greatly appreciated. | ||||||
| A: | Thank you for writing and expressing your feelings and concerns. I recognize the severe limitations of this kind of impersonal and long distance correspondence through the Q & A service, so I urge you to take the time and make the effort to sit down with respected Christians and church leaders you know and discuss the various things you mention. Regarding the letter your father received and which stimulated your correspondence, I confess that I am clueless about its source and unable to comment on its content. On the one hand, if its main message was simply "we need to become more contemporary to attract more youth", then it was a lousy letter--inaccurate as well as simplistic. It was not worthy of our church body's or your father's attention. On the other hand, it may have said a lot more than what stuck in your memory. So I am hoping (and assuming until I am shown otherwise) that the letter was much more balanced and addressed issues in a more measured manner. (It has been called to my attention that he may be referring to a report that went out about an independent survey that was taken of WELS youth that leave the church. One conclusion that the independent [not WELS] surveyors made, based on the remarks of those surveyed, was that the youth would like more contemporary worship as well as the traditional worship. The synod did not make any recommendations, but just reported the survey's results.) Regarding the rest of your message and the list of concerns expressed, one major bit of advice kept coming to my mind: Please learn to distinguish between what never should change among us and what might be changed for valid reasons. What God has revealed as truth in his Word and entrusted to us as doctrine, nothing dare be changed. That is what your catechism instruction rightly taught you. Keep that truth and cherish it--and do your very best to encourage those around you to do the same. But when it comes to the way in which we go about proclaiming and communicating God's Word, or organizing ourselves for Christian service in this world, we are free to make changes for the purpose of helping our shared ministry and showcasing the gospel. In fact, when culture and society shifts, such external adjustments in HOW we do things (not in WHAT things we do, however) may be wisely considered and implemented. The need to make this distinction between what dare not change and what can and perhaps should change is of utmost importance. So is the wisdom to know if changes should be made in the way we go about doing the Lord's work. I emphasize this distinction because of the examples you mention: the location of a preacher when addressing the congregation, the use of women ushers, the possibility of omitting the Lord's Prayer from a worship service, and the use of a set or rigid liturgy that allows few if any variations in the way the people participate. Frankly speaking, the Lord has not issued commands on these issues and it is not wise to label changes like this "outrageous" or "shocking". You may end up binding a conscience when and where the Lord has not. You and I may consider these changed ill-advised or simply not our preference, but our fellow Christians elsewhere have the freedom to do a lot of things differently than we do. And the heart and core of Christianity--God's Word, Jesus Christ, and the gospel--remain intact. Your brief description of the way things are done in your congregation lead me to conclude that you have a substantially traditional approach to such things. Fine. Enjoy this and praise God that the believers there have what they apparently desire above and beyond the pure gospel in Word and Sacrament. But be aware that other bodies of believers may have different desires and preferences that are far less traditional. That's OK too. Let them enjoy that and praise God with you because they also have the pure gospel in Word and Sacrament. There is so much more that can and perhaps should be said on this subject. You may wish to spend time reading through previous questions and answers under the heading of worship and music. And please take the time to speak with a variety of people who can share their viewpoints with you. | ||||||
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