"But what will a confessional synod need more in the days ahead? A nice leafy grove surrounded by wealth and respectability trying to keep up appearances with worn clothes, or a slightly downscale place with a chip on its shoulder but a clear mission to take on the world in every way possible? The second fits who we are and the times better. The first is weeping over Babylon the fallen."
The above suggests that the St. Louis seminary under the leadership of Dale Meyer does not have a clear mission to take on the world. IOW, does St. Louis not think globally in terms of the mission Christ entrusts to His Bride, the Church?
marie meyer
I guess I would say that St. Louis' "thinking globally" is the problem. When I say take on the world, I mean it in the sense of "the devil, the world and our sinful nature". Or the sense of Athanasius contra mundum. Or Benedict. Which all go back to Jesus turning down all those kingdoms. None of those who "took on the world" were doing so from some "thinking globally" statement. They were doing, in their place, what they could, against the temptations to bow down to temporal power and glory. Each was an intensely personal and time bound choice. Like Lot and his wife fleeing Sodom. That is something that preaches in every individual's life.
St. Louis is very H. Richard Niebuhr-esqe. It "thinks globally" in the Christ and culture sense. Individuals become statistics and people groups and eventually *-studies departments. It all makes sense from a c-suite. But it doesn't preach. It doesn't have that kairos moment. So it tends to be the longer path to acceptance of whatever culture you engage.
I make it a habit to read the Concordia Theological Journal and Dale Meyer's daily devotional thoughts. To suggest that he or Journal articles think of individuals as "statistics" or people groups as "studies departments" is judgment that deserves re-thinking.
Marie Meyer
Let me make an LCMS observation and an elaboration on my statement. The observation is that everything in LCMS politics eventually becomes personalized. Saying that you think St. Louis' approach is out of step with the needs of the current environment is taken as an attack on Dale Meyer. And who could attack Dale Meyer. I happen to read Concordia Journal cover to cover when it comes. I used to occasionally listen to those devotional thoughts. Yes, Dale Meyer is a very personally warm guy. He personally would never devolve people to statistics or process. But my point is not about Dale Meyer as a person.
The elaboration on the statement is this. There are times to cast away stones, and times to gather stones together. St. Louis' approach, the H. Richard Niebuhr approach of Christ and Culture, is to cast away stones. You take people who are fully formed in the faith, send them to a different culture, and let them figure out through interaction how to believe, teach and confess what they do, in that other culture's idiom. In the process what you hope to eventually do is form a true native, as the sent one is never going to be a true native. The presuppositions to that approach are: a) a sending culture that is able to produce and form someone and b) a receiving culture that in some sense "has ears to hear". The Ft. Wayne approach, as far as I can intuit from reading their journal and observing its graduates, is the gathering of stones together. You gather a group who believe, teach and confess the same things together, but who might not fully know what that means, or are at different points of maturity. Through their life together, which should be salt and light, the pagans will see their good deeds and praise the Father. There is still cultural interaction, but it is done by the community gathered in the midst attempting to live its life in the midst of a more hostile world, not by a casting away of a stone. The presuppositions of that approach are: a) a sending culture that is weak enough it isn't sure of forming disciples itself, so it needs some separation and b) the culture that you are in the midst might have individuals who will over time hear, but is largely hostile or has rejected your witness. St. Louis is apostolic (formed by Christ himself) and Christendom based - solid formation/expectation of hearing. Ft. Wayne is Augustinian/Benedictine/pseudo-monastic and built for a time of dissolution.
When you send a half formed person into a cultural dissolution what happens is not St. Paul's Fowler's Stage 5 confident faith, not Dale Meyer's personal warmth, what happens is a struggle to comprehend both what I believe, teach and confess and what the culture is telling me. And the way that is done today is by numbers. The first thing that greets a seminarian in a new call is the LCEF statistical summary for the area they have been called to. The pastoral min suggestions both in sem and by the immediate books everybody grabs (usually Rainer but not limited to his) are here is how you categorize. The secular culture is all about ID-politics. And when you are not sure who you are, it is very easy to confuse absorbing with translating, acceptance with discernment of gold from dross in the culture.
I think it is a time to gather stones together. I think people who are pushing a casting strategy are either nostalgic, in denial or hopelessly optimistic. In biblical terms I'd say they are letting their "innocent as doves" overpower their "shrewd as snakes". But then being the one counseling being snake-like I would not expect a warm welcome.