Dear Disciple of Christ,
So, what would you say is the “work of the church,” our responsibility as disciples gathered into a community of Christ? I’m thinking of a specific work in the midst of many things that churches do. I expect (and hope) that your first thought (or one of your top few) relates to Matthew 28 (you remember that Great Commission we received from Jesus to “make disciples of all nations,” right?). If a congregation is not doing that, we have left out of our busy activities the central reason we have come together. That is, of course, more than “getting members.” To make a disciples includes baptizing (as in “go and make disciples, baptizing them”) and teaching them about their discipleship (as in “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you”). All else we do should flow from that central mission and should be included in one of those goals I discussed last week. Whether it is fellowship, worship, discipleship, service, or Christian education, the evangelistic mission is crucial and essential.
At least some of the cause for Trinity’s challenges over the years was because that mission was forgotten. The 900 or so members at its peak were primarily immigrants, speaking German, who found that German-speaking congregation to their liking. But not all the people moving into their neighborhood were German. Therefore they did not “naturally” enter through the doors of the church and there was no practice of reaching out to invite new neighbors. Fellowship was great for the original community with great German meals and celebrations but were not ones to draw or appeal to other nationalities.
As more and more of the original members died or moved, the congregation had a natural and inevitable decline until, by the time I arrived, there were only about 45 active members left. Toward the end of my service in Brooklyn, I took on a course of study leading to a DMin degree (Doctor of Ministry). When a pastor takes that kind of course of study, they have some general courses to take and develop ministry skills but you also focus on a particular area of ministry. Can you imagine what mine would be? Right! Evangelism and the work of the church in doing that would be would be the focus of my dissertation. If I was going to be an effective pastor and leader of a community of believers, evangelistic skills and practice and focus would be essential. Over the years I had identified ways the congregation can represent the Kingdom Christ established and welcome all to faith.
And, sadly, this was not something I got at seminary. Can you imagine that? With four years of pre-theological study and four years of seminary classes, I did not have one class related to evangelism, the outreach and witness of the church into the community. How odd. How inappropriate. We had instruction in the Word (learning the original languages of Greek and Hebrew) and had training in exegesis (understanding and interpreting the Word) and in homiletics (learning to write a sermon and proclaim the Word) and in worship (to lead a congregation in worship and praise of God), but not one class about evangelism. Perhaps that was expected to flow from what we read in Scripture but, to be honest, it was a shortfall of my education. In fact, as I’ve mentioned before, the one “hands on” class I took was not run by the seminary but a group I found practicing the evangelistic witness of the church in that day in their neighborhood.
And if that was missing from my (and other pastors) training for ministry, it isn’t surprising it is missing from the life and witness of many churches in our Lutheran tradition. That is, in my mind and heart, the saddest impact of that shortfall. The church body (Lutheran) that doggedly centers its theology on the grace of God (we are justified by grace alone) did not encourage pastors or churches or church members to share that good news with all nations. So when new boats from different nations came into cities like Brooklyn (or the city like boroughs of Queens or Manhattan or the Bronx or Staten Island), there was little outreach or intentional welcoming of those nations except into communities of similar ethnic backgrounds.
With those historic ethnic roots to the churches, it was not unusual to see two or three Lutheran churches on the same corner. Although each would hold up the Lutheran focus and theology, their roots were often from German, Swedish or Norwegian histories. When I was serving in Brooklyn and Queens (from 1975 to 1989), most if not all of those churches were like Trinity and Atonement – past their peaks. Each were trying to survive the struggles of limited membership and financial resources. When the ELCA was formed in 1988, there was the hope that churches in that setting could work together and even merge their ministries. It would be an advantage in many ways and allow the congregations a new witness in their communities (not seeking one “nation” but “all nations” as Christ had directed us).
I expect you can guess what happened to those hopes (if you could picture what sacrifices would be required to do that, with two congregations giving up their buildings to use resources from that sale to develop outreach programs by the newly merged congregation). With original ethnic groups at their roots, few churches attempted that and few that did were successful. The opportunity for the congregation to reflect the global nature of the Kingdom of God was missed.
But, truth be told (as it should be), my second congregation escaped some of that challenge. It was a multi-ethnic Lutheran Congregation in a multi-ethnic community in Queens, barely 15 miles from our church in Brooklyn. Though it was not far from my church In Brooklyn, it lived as a global witness to the faith. Thanks be to God! I’ll look forward to our talking (my writing and your reading!) next week.
Peace in His service,
Pastor Johnson