Topics

1

Your Turn / Calls For Pastoral Candidates at 2 LCMS Sems

« on: April 27, 2022, 01:27:59 PM »

April 26, 2022 was Call Day at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
and 48 Pastoral Candidates received their first call.

There were also 58 Seminarians given a Vicarage assignment.



April 27, 2022 is Call Day at Concordia Seminary, Ft. Wayne
and 49 Pastoral Candidates received their first call.

There were 46 Seminarians  given a Vicarage assignment

2

Your Turn / Pastor Peter Marty's Quote On Pastoral Ministry

« on: December 28, 2021, 03:13:41 PM »

 Rev. Peter Marty is pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church, Davenport, Iowa.
This 3,500 member parish has a dynamic impact on its community. In
a recent issue of Christian Century magazine, he made the following quote:


"A sermon is only as good as a preacher's last pastoral call"

He states that the joy of connecting with parish members brings tremendous
depth and perspective to the pastor's life.  His point is that when a pastor
visits in the home of parish members he gets a more realistic picture of
what their daily life is all about.

Obviously, Covid 19 has put an obstacle in the home visits of parish pastors.
However, Pastor Marty has a valid point that sermons will be more effective
if the pastor actually knows what is going on in his parish.

3

Your Turn / An Influential Preacher In The 21st Century

« on: December 15, 2021, 08:26:04 PM »

Joel Osteen inherited a 7,500 seat megachurch from his late father in 1999.
Today, he has an 18,000 seat arena in the former home of the NBA Houston
Rockets.  His weekly sermons on TV reach an estimated 200 million viewers
around the world.

Osteen preaches the Prosperity Gospel.  He says, "God wants to increase you
financially by giving you promotions, fresh ideas, and creativity." He maintains
that God will grant you financial success if you have enough faith.

Bottom Line: Joel Osteen has only a high school diploma, a million dollar smile,
and total ignorance about the true Gospel message and what it means to  follow
Christ.

4

Your Turn / Changing Lifestyles Of American Adults

« on: November 28, 2021, 12:54:19 PM »

The Pew Research Center reported the following percentages among the
adult population ages 25 to 54:

1990.....67% Married......29% Non-Married......4% Cohabiting

2019.....53% Married......38% Non-Married......9% Cohabiting

This trend in the past 30 years has implications for the local
congregation.  When marriage is postponed until people have
become established in their careers, it reduces the number of
years for wives able to have children.

Of course, less children means smaller parishes.   Some couples
are also making the choice to not have any children at all.  The
issue of cohabiting couples who are not married is also not a
positive trend for the future.

5

Your Turn / LCMS Church Worker Recruitment Decline

« on: August 06, 2021, 02:55:09 PM »

In the past 14 years church worker recruitment has declined:

1. Our 2 seminaries have experienced a combined decrease of 55% of those
enrolled in the Master of Divinity degree.

2. There has been a 59% decrease in our pre-seminary Concordia University
System enrollment.

3. There has been a 61% decrease  in our Lutheran teaching program enrollment.

To counteract these trends the LCMS National Convention in 2019 embarked on an
aggressive , comprehensive Church Worker Recruitment Initiative. (CWRI)   It will
focus on A) children through 6th grade  B) 7th and 8th grade  C) High School students

Plans are being made to create resources and start the initiative throughout the LCMS

6

Your Turn / Assemblies of God Church

« on: June 27, 2021, 03:30:38 PM »

Has anyone on  this Forum had any interaction with an Assemblies of  God member or pastor?

I know they OPPOSE consumption of alcohol, gambling, abortion, homosexual marriage

They ENDORSE Ordination of women, baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, 1000 year reign of Christ

I am curious how serious they really are about their beliefs on the local parish level

7

Your Turn / Call Day For Pastoral Candidates at St. Louis/Ft Wayne (2021)

« on: May 01, 2021, 10:21:36 AM »

This past week  Concordia Seminary, St. Louis issued Calls to 59 Pastoral Candidates.
Also Concordia Seminary, Ft. Wayne issued Calls to 33 Pastoral Candidates.  This makes
a total of 92 Pastoral Candidates available to parishes in the LCMS in the Spring of 2021.

Concordia Seminary, St. Louis assigned 38 seminarians for vicarage and Concordia Seminary,
Ft Wayne assigned 32 seminarians for vicarage.  This makes a total of 70 vicars available
this year to LCMS parishes.

8

Your Turn / Threats To The Christian Church: External & Internal

« on: April 27, 2021, 12:30:11 PM »

Since Pentecost and the birth of the Christian Church in Acts 2,  we have seen the persecution of
the church as an external threat.  The Pharisee Saul did a good job "ravaging the church & entering
house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison" (Acts 8:3) 
Of course, the Lord had other plans for Saul who became Paul the Apostle.  He went from a great
persecutor of Christians to a great preacher of the gospel.

The internal threat to the church has always been false teachers.  The pastoral letters of Paul focus
on this threat of heresy. False teachers within the church are still with us today.  The Health & Wealth
Gospel is a heresy that is popular with many TV Evangelists.  They tell their audience that if they
have enough faith they will have good health and enough wealth to enjoy life. Obviously, this is a
false teaching. It is a cruel hoax to tell someone with terminal cancer that it could have been avoided
with a stronger faith.  Or to tell someone who was laid off their job that a bigger faith would have
prevented the job loss.

Bottom Line: In the 21st century is persecution of Christians or false teaching by Christians a bigger
threat to the church?

9

Your Turn / Ex-Valpo Hoops Coach Led Baylor To NCAA Title

« on: April 06, 2021, 05:26:38 AM »

Scott Drew coached Valpo Men's Basketball for one year and was an assistant to his
father, Homer Drew, for several years.  In 2003, Scott left Valpo to become the head
coach at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Now 18 years later, the Baylor Bears beat
the Gonzaga Bulldogs 86-70 to win the NCAA Championship.

At the age of 50, Scott Drew is sitting on top of the basketball world and fulfilling a
dream that he would one day take Baylor to the Final Four.  Congrats to Scott Drew
for once again proving that nice guys can finish first.

10

Your Turn / Quotes From Well-Known Theologians

« on: March 14, 2021, 11:02:22 AM »

It was the late, great Dr. Fred Danker who commented about the tension in our world:

"The Church......The Cosmos......They Clash"

11

Your Turn / Sem. Prof. Who Impacted Your Ministry?

« on: March 04, 2021, 11:32:41 AM »

Most parish pastors usually have one or two Seminary Professors who impacted
their pastoral ministry.  You might want to share the name of that professor.

For me, it was Professor George Hoyer who taught Homiletics at Concordia, St. Louis
He made a Gospel distinction between merely reciting the facts of Christ's birth, public
ministry, death and resurrection and proclaiming the power of Christ in our dally lives.
We need to do both in our preaching from the pulpit.

Yes, the Crucified Christ forgives my sins.  The Resurrected Christ shares His victory
over death with me.  Christ strengthens my faith.  Christ speaks to me on the pages
of Holy Scripture, Christ gives me His body and blood in Holy Communion.  Christ hears
my prayers.  Christ guides my life.  Christ empowers me to do His Will

12

Your Turn / LCMS Board of Directors Reduces Budget By $10 Million

« on: October 10, 2020, 08:17:13 PM »

At its September meeting, the LCMS Board of Directors adopted a budget
of $59 million for the fiscal year of 2021.  The budget had been $69 million
for fiscal 2020.  Obviously the pandemic of Covid 19 has played a major
role in the reduction of the LCMS budget.   Parishes in some cases are reducing
their contributions to the Missouri Synod.

Anyone know if the ELCA is having reductions in their annual budget for 2021?

13

Your Turn / Speckhard: FL June The Church After Covid-19

« on: June 12, 2020, 07:12:20 PM »

Pastor Speckhard wrote an interesting and thought provoking article in the June 2020 FL

He examines possible ramifications of the shutdown for the local church & the church at large.
One of the things he mentions is "Waning Big Box Envy" as he speculates about the mega-
non-denominational churches.  He says: 'The big boxes will remain, but big box envy will wane
among traditional denominational congregations, especially those with a high view of the
Sacraments".

In my humble opinion, the mega non-denominational churches have never attracted Christians
who had a high view of the Sacraments.  The magnet for Big Box Churches is dynamic preaching.
People who are church shopping are attracted to good preaching which proclaims Jesus Christ
as the Way, the Truth and the Life.  Faithful Lutherans are convinced that we need both the Word
and the Sacrament each Sunday and they will not join a mega church.

14

Your Turn / The Lutheran Urge To Merge In The 1960's

« on: March 17, 2020, 03:48:14 PM »

American Lutheran Church organized on April 22, 1960

51% of membership came from American Lutheran Church of 1930 (German heritage)
46% of membership came from Evangelical Lutheran Church (Norwegian heritage)
 3%  of membership came from United Evangelical Lutheran Church (Danish heritage)

First President was Dr. Fredrick Schiotz.  There were 2,260,000 members
with 5,000 parishes and 4,500 pastors.


Lutheran Church in America organized on July 1, 1962

80% of membership came from United Lutheran Church in America (German heritage)
20% of membership came from Augustana Lutheran Church (Swedish heritage)

First President was Dr. Franklin Clark Fry.  There were 3,200,000 members
with 6,000 parishes and  7,000 pastors


Bottom Line:  In retrospect, it might have been better to halt the urge to merge
with these 2 new Lutheran Church bodies.   Hindsight tells us that the formation
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church In America in the 1980's was doomed to fail..

15

Your Turn / The Oath That Changed Dr. Martin Luther

« on: March 10, 2020, 07:39:05 PM »

On Oct. 18, 1512, at the age of 28, Martin Luther got a "Doctorate in the Bible"
Today, it might be called a Doctor of Theology. That day, Luther took a public oath
on the Bible to teach only true doctrine and identify those who taught falsehood.
He began teaching as a professor at Wittenberg University in Sept. of 1513.

Later, Luther said: "I had to accept the office of Doctor  and swear fealty to my
most beloved Holy Scripture to teach it faithfully and pure."   That oath would
sustain Luther when he faced tremendous opposition and was labeled a heretic.
That oath sustained Luther when he doubted he should be teaching the message
of law and gospel as it related to Christ.

Many of us on this forum have a Master of Divinity degree.  Yet how many of us
took our ordination vows seriously to the extent that we both teach only true
doctrine and IDENTIFY THOSE WHO TEACH FALSEHOOD?

Obviously, none of us have received a death sentence from the Pope, yet it amazes
me that Luther had such zeal & commitment to Jesus Christ.  He was ready  to defend
the truth of the gospel message even if it meant his death.