Arts and Humanities Commons^™

A Timely Word From Luther On Recruiting Young Men For Pastoral Ministry, David Peter

Concordia Journal

Luther’s admonition is one that is appropriate for parents and parishes today: “…your children are not so wholly yours that you need give nothing of them to God. He too will have what is rightfully his—and they are more his than yours!”

Brief Studies, Frederick W. Danker, Duane Mehl

Concordia Theological Monthly

Das Lukasevangelium: Erster Teil Kommentar Zu Kap

Marquee Ministry: The Movie Theater as Church and Community Forum

What In Scripture Speaks To The Ordination Of Women?, John Reumann

Concordia Theological Monthly

"Ordination," it is well to remember, does not appear, full-blown and in our sense of the term, in the Scriptures.

Another Anniversary, Edward May

Concordia Theological Monthly

It will be another 73 years before it will be possible to write about 125 years of medical mission work in The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Mother Synod, like Elizabeth, conceived this child in her old age, years after her sisters (if I may be so bold) in the faith had given birth to their medical mission work. The older hospitals in foreign lands were started by Roman Catholics, Presbyterians, Anglicans, Baptists, Methodists, and "other Lutherans." Missouri is a late comer, and after 52 years, her child still does not have much to show and tell.

Toward Preparing Equippers, Herbert M. Zorn

Concordia Theological Monthly

Twenty-four years in India, sixteen of in seminary teaching, might sound like good credentials. Put differently, the credentials wilt: 24 years working within 100 miles of land's end of this vast country, reasonably fluent in only one of India's 18 official languages, barely conversant with another, in contact with nationwide theological education only recently, a member of the steadily diminishing group of expatriate seminary instructors.

Theological Education: The Ecumenical Dimension, Thomas Coates

Concordia Theological Monthly

This article was originally presented as a lecture al the Consultation on Ecumenical Affairs of The Lutheran World Federation, Tokyo, Japan, May 5, 1971.

Of Congregational And Synodical Authority, John Constable

Concordia Theological Monthly

It is the blessing and the bane of the church in the 20th century that it is both the inheritor and the victim of its own organization. Among people who cry for the ''good old days" of simple truths, simple faith, and simple organization there is always the specter of complex reality. Gone are the days, we are told, when a member of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod could quote a father of the first, 16th or 19th century to support a proper thesis. Yet all seem to do it to underpin a modern position. Paul, Luther, and Walther are cited …

Apostolicity And Ministry, Reginald H. Fuller

Concordia Theological Monthly

This article was delivered in substantially this form at the Episcopal-Lutheran dialog on April 15, 1971, together with the one by Dr. Carl S. Meyer. Dr. Fuller surveys the evidence of the New Testament and concludes that the historic episcopate belongs to the essential marks of the church in the same way that the authoritative, historical canon of the Word does.

Apostolicity And Ministry: A Lutheran View, Carl S. Meyer

Concordia Theological Monthly

The author presents an historical survey of the Lutheran view of the ministry, with special emphasis on The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, and concludes that the historic episcopate does not exist jure divino, and that fidelity to the apostolic Word is essential, not fidelity to apostolic succession.

The Christian Mission, A Look Into The Future, R. Pierce Beaver

Concordia Theological Monthly

The author argues on the basis of a lifetime of experience that the mission of the church demands a return to the proclamation of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and to a reaffirmation of the principle of voluntarism, as distinct from bureaucratic mission strategy.

Ministry Without Fear, Krister Stendahl

Concordia Theological Monthly

I worry a lot about speaking to you senior seminarians. I feel honored and moved by the occasion. I sense much of the feelings and the fears and the joys and hopes, sometimes together and sometimes in clash, that are present in this room and in your branch of the church. It is the kind of situation in which it is difficult for anyone to speak who doesn't have to pay the price of staying and sweating it out. I will not give a very delightful and happy dinner speech, although, I guess, real humor is not to tell stories …

Spiritual Formation For Ministry, Eugene I. Van Antwerp

Concordia Theological Monthly

Dimiui Shostakovich has described his Fifth Symphony (D Major, Opus 47), composed just 30 years ago, as "the assertion of personality. It is man with all his emotions and experiences that I saw as the focus of design in this work."

Called To Service And To Seminary, David S. Schuller

Concordia Theological Monthly

How does it happen? On assignment day the whole world spread out before him… entering the ministry … his own group of people to shepherd … the heady challenge of a world needing both the courage of a prophet and the resounding proclamation of a gospel … the continuity of the holy Christian church. He was about to step into the procession of the Te Deum. His wife's hand squeezed his as his name was called. Not too many years later late at night he sits wondering. It hasn't turned out as he had dreamed. The opposition was more insidious, …

The Brotherly Task, Paul J. Bauermeister

Concordia Theological Monthly

Between the years 1951 and 1956 I sat out there where you are with enough regularity that no one ever got overly concerned about my spiritual condition. Back in those days, it seems to me, there was less concern about the "spiritual condition" and more concern about chapel attendance. I think that's progress. During those years I sat out there I remembered thinking, frequently, that I did not want to be up here in the chancel-ever! - that the good place to be was out there-not up here. I was right; but as we say: That's my problem.

The Church's Ministry To People Who Differ On Issues Of National Policy, Richard Jungkuntz

Concordia Theological Monthly

We ourselves are the church. When we speak of the church's ministry, therefore, we are speaking first of all of our own ministry. We ourselves are also people who differ on a host of issues, including those of national policy. Consequently, the church's ministry to people who differ is in the first instance our own ministry to one another.

The Ministry Of Absolution, Friedrich-Wilhelm Kuenneth

Concordia Theological Monthly

The Commission on Worship and Spiritual Life of the Lutheran World Federation at its meeting in Hanover (March-April 1967) decided to summarize its general discussion on absolution and to use it as a basis for further research. At the same time the commission wanted to develop a questionnaire on the basis of its discussion and send it to several experts. Those experts were expected to be particularly well-trained theologians as well as people experienced in hearing private confessions and in pastoral counseling. The commission sought reactions to four specific questions.

In God For The World, John H. Tietjen

Concordia Theological Monthly

Thank you, those of you who shared just now in the official inauguration act. I am deeply grateful to you for your kind words and your warm encouragement. Thanks to all of you who have come here today, some representing educational institutions and ecclesiastical organizations, others simply representing yourselves. I am grateful to all of you for honoring Concordia Seminary and its presidential office with your presence. I am personally overwhelmed by the occasion and by the honor I have of serving as president of a seminary with so distinguished a history.

Special Problems Affecting The Educational Task Of The Churches With A Chinese Language Ministry, Andrew Ch'iu

Concordia Theological Monthly

There are many problems under each of these headings, and many different solutions have been proposed for them. The main purpose of this paper is not to attempt to solve the problems but to point them out as starters for our discussion. Any suggested solutions in this paper are not meant to be final.

Reading Programs In Theology: Forms Of Church And Ministry, Erwin L. Lueker

Concordia Theological Monthly

The study of the church can begin with almost any point of philosophy or theology. The church is Christology-Christ taking form in the world. The church is anthropology - people growing into the full stature of manhood. The church is sociology-the really beloved community forming as the body of its Lord. The church is wisdom-the pillar and ground of truth. The church is semantics-the Word taking form not in sign or sound but in flesh and blood. The church is eschatology-the little flock which has received, is received, and will receive the Kingdom. The church is family-a mother nourishes her …

The Gospel And Its Freedom Today: A Foreword, Carl S. Meyer

Concordia Theological Monthly

The proclamation of the gospel with its message of freedom in Christ Jesus is the compelling drive of the churchman's life. To say that the unifying principle of his life's work is the furtherance of the gospel is to say that he is conscious of the basic specification of his task. But it is saying more than that. It postulates a commitment, a conscious program, and the ability to carry out the task. It permeates the churchman's being and total personality, his dealings with his fellow servants, and his conscious evaluation of them and of self.

A Tribute To An Evangelical Ministry, Arthur C. Repp

Concordia Theological Monthly

One can hardly speak of a Fuerbringer without bringing in some church history. This is especially true of Alfred O. Fuerbringer, who traces a line of ministers as forebears back to the 17th century through his father's side, and two centuries farther back on his grandmother's side, including one of the signers of the Formula of Concord in 1577-1580 (Martinus Bungerus). He has an even more intimate relationship with the Missouri Synod, for his grandfather was one of the Saxon founders. Two of his predecessors to the presidency of Concordia Seminary were related to him, C. F. W. Walther, who …

The Future Of Theological Education, Samuel I. Goltermann

Concordia Theological Monthly

Theological education has become one of the more controversial issues in today's ecclesiastical world. Almost everyone associated with the establishment has some opinions on how to improve it.

Tribute To John W. Behnken: Ministry In The Acceptable Time, Alfred O. Fuerbringer

Concordia Theological Monthly

In our worship this morning two lines of thought converge. In the first place, it's the beginning of a new academic quarter, the last of this year. That raises questions: How are we doing? Are we reasonably close to schedule? Are we able for another three months to take the mounting pressures and to finish our courses? If we are concerned about the long-range and not just about today or tomorrow, next week or next May, what about our ministry?

The Pastor As Scholar, Herbert Lindemann

Concordia Theological Monthly

That some pastors are scholars is true enough. But it is also true that most of them don't continue as pastors very long; presently they become members of a college or seminary faculty. Those who do stay in parish work are not likely to achieve great success, at least statistically, for the parochial ministry today is an activist function; there is not much time for contemplation or for intensive study.

The Christian And Social Responsibility, Robert J. Werberig

Concordia Theological Monthly

What is the Christian's role in the many-faceted, restless, and paradoxical society of the 60s? Should his function as a Christian citizen include more than merely "holding a private opinion" on the issues of our times? Does his commitment to Christ imply something more than "contributing to welfare" in face of the fact that over two-thirds of his generation lives out life under starvation conditions? Is there a valid place for the voice and action of Christianity within the vortex of change, which today upsets whole cultures, often with crushing and dehumanizing effects to people?

Ministry And Future: Contradictions And Hope, Martin E. Marty

Concordia Theological Monthly

Now men celebrate an event in time: traversing the years from Log Cabins to Luther Tower. Apparent contradictions abound: the cabin, a modest and diffident Statement of an exile group. The tower, an ambitious and almost proud statement of a people with a sense of arrival. Men remember both and looking at them together see what they might otherwise have overlooked: the investment of hope in a ministry.

The Place Of The Family In The Church's Educational Ministry, Oscar E. Feucht

Concordia Theological Monthly

Parents are the child's most potent teachers. They provide the all-important environment. Good manners, good English, love of good books and music, life's ideals, in fact, the whole outlook on the world are developed largely in the home. And so are dislikes and prejudices, religious views as well as political views, habits of going to church, of receiving Holy Communion, of prayer and reading the Bible. The paths which adult feet travel find their origin in childhood, and one way is as likely to be traveled as another, if started upon in the preschool days.

Editorial, Walter F. Wolbrecht

Concordia Theological Monthly

Expatriate missionaries in Ogoja province in Nigeria record and record again spoken words and phrases and discourses in tribal languages and area dialects. Wycliffe translators in Middle America invest countless hours in inventing an alphabet or devising a syntax. Bible society linguistic experts in the Philippine uplands or in New Guinea mountain enclaves search ceaselessly for idioms and equivalents as they reduce a language to writing and begin one more distinguished translation task. All these and many others are tackling endemic illiteracy as a formidable barrier in the preliterate or simply illiterate society to the full communication of the Gospel …

An Excellent Ministry, Adalbert R. Kretzmann

Concordia Theological Monthly

As some of you know, the days of prep school and seminary have a way of fading into idealized dawns and dusks with nothing much in between. Those were the days before Synod's abdication to coeduation, and celibacy had not yet lost its battle in these sacred halls. Engagements were completely unheard of until the day after calls were assigned. Dean Fritz's cryptograms on the summons card had been completely decoded and transferred to the secrecy of the fuse box outside his office door. He referred to it constantly so that there would be no doubt in his mind that …

The Self-Understanding Of The Church, Martin L. Kretmann

Concordia Theological Monthly

The theme of the 1965 convention of The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod will be the words of our lord to His disciples when He appeared to them on the evening of the day of his resurrection: "As the Father has sent Me, even so I send you." Special attention will be given to the latter phrase in devotions and essays, and the whole convention proceedings will center in the concept that the church, the body of all who believe in Jesus Christ and accept Him as their lord and Savior, is sent into the world on His mission, to …