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Category: Essays and Articles
Essays and Articles by the writing staff of Congregations Matter
Be the Change
When God calls His people to change, it starts with “me.” Every one of us needs change. God’s kind of change is a change that requires us to take a good look at ourselves and capture a God kind of hope for the future.
Christ Uses Humility, Gentleness, Truth and Love
When Christ brings to our hearts His humility, gentleness, truth and love, we can be used to build up the Community of Believers, His Church.
An Epiphany Devotion and Prayer
The Epiphany story (Matthew 2:6-10) teaches Christians at least three things: we can’t get to Jesus without God’s light leading us – we can’t make sense of where He’s leading us to without Scripture – and we can’t follow the star without moving our feet.
Mueller Writes Open Letter to Fellow Delegates
In his July 11th letter, Delegate Chuck Mueller, Jr., identifies a “drift” away from Synod’s constitutional Article III and Article VII work as the as the culprit bringing anger, apathy and a loss of support for our “covenant of love” in the LCMS. He calls for change and engagement of all voices of Synod as an answer. Read the entire letter and download Congregation’s Matter recommended list of Tampa candidates.
Debt Retirement and Deficits: The Pieces Don’t Fit
On the eve of a presidential election, President Harrison reported good financial news regarding the retirement of some LCMS debt. While some see this as a boon. Others have grave concerns about these reports. President Harrison has reported “zero debt” to the LCMS before. And these new reports fail to mention the ongoing red ink that necessitated the “secret sale” of Hong Kong mission properties.
Harrison: No Plan For Pastoral Shortage Crisis
Where have all the pastors gone? There is a real crisis among us, a pastoral shortage crisis we must face as a Synod. Only 79 pastors were sent to the field this year. Leading in crisis is the Synod President’s job. Congregations wonder why there is no plan from Synod leadership to face this urgent need.
Guest Essay: Are We a Top-Down Or Bottom-Up Synod?
From the beginning of our Synod, we struggled with big questions of relationships and governance polity. Should the laity have authority over the clergy? Should the clergy have authority over the laity? Should a “bishop” have authority over the congregations? Questions like those formed the chaotic beginning of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod! This essay will follow the decisions our Synod has made from its beginnings with quotes from C.F.W. Walther and our own LCMS Constitution. Top-down or bottom-up? What is right-side up?
Congregations Need Truth and Light from Synod Leadership
Read Pastor Timothy Klinkenberg’s letter to his congregation about the need for “Truth and Light” in our Synod. Maier and Klinkenberg’s nominations totaling 57.4% of all nominations show of support for a change in leadership far greater than Harrison’s support for re-election. Synod is saying: “It’s time for openness and truthfulness in our Synod leadership.”
Synod President Publicly Admits Wrong-Doing
On late Friday afternoon, February 8, 2019, Matthew C. Harrison publicly admitted interfering in Synod’s Presidential nomination process. What did Harrison do wrong? He tainted Synod’s nomination process by giving wrong advice to pastors about who could nominate him, and he did so at Synod expense.