tbarjonas – Lutheran Society For Missiology

Mr. Dalton J. Noack

tbarjonas — Thu, 23 Sep 2021 16:19:58 +0000

Mr. Dalton J. Noack

Dalton J. Noack

5/20/1935, Lamesa, Texas USA

Spouse/Family

Wife: Deanne Kappler Noack, b. 3/21/1938 McAllen, Texas USA, m. 6/12/1960

Children: Dorinda Rachelle (Werner) (1961); Michael Raymond (1966);

Joseph Edward (1968); Carol Ann (Fenoglio) (1969)

Dates of Service Field Call Assignment

1959-60 USA – St. Paul, Thorndale, TX Teacher Grades 3,4 and 5

1960-62 USA - lstLutheran, Ponca City, OK Principal/Teacher/Music Director

1962-66 USA - St. Paul, McAllen,TX Principal/Teacher/Music Director

1966-72 India Teacher of Missionary Children

1972-74 USA – Mt. Olive, San Antonio, TX Principal, Teacher/Evanglism/Music

1974-77 USA - OSU/SIL Preparation Ed.Adm.Degree/SIL/Jungle Camp

1977-81 Brazil with LBT and WBT Teacher of Missionary Children

1981-91 Worldwide with LBT/WBT Administrator for 6000 children

1992-94 Sri Lanka Theological Education by Extension

1994-2001 Ghana, West Africa Theological Education by Extension

Biographical Summary

Dalton Noack was baptized in June 1935 at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Sparenberg, Texas, and confirmed in June 1949 at Grace Lutheran in Lamesa, Texas. After completing high school at

Concordia Lutheran Academy, he started his college training at Concordia Teachers College in Seward, Nebraska, graduating in 1959. He met his wife Deanne while doing research in the library of one of the college buildings at Seward, and “we were blessed to be in ministry together all of these years.” They were married in 1960 and were joined by daughter Dorinda in 1961.

Once Dalton had graduated from Concordia Seward, he was assigned to return to Texas to teach in the town of Thorndale for one year. From there the family moved to Ponca City, Oklahoma where Dalton served as principal, teacher, and music director at First Lutheran Church. In 1962 they returned to Texas, and Dalton had the same responsibilities at St. Paul Lutheran Church in

McAllen.

In 1966 Dalton received a call from LCMS World Missions to serve as a teacher for missionary children in India. Initially both he and Deanne taught the children of Lutheran missionaries living on the Loch End Compound in Kodiakanal, South India. Their students were in first through eighth grade, and they divided the subject matter into areas of interest. The students were attended to and instructed at Koehne Memorial School. Because Kodaikanal School, across the street from Koehne, educated the high-school age missionary children and because Dalton was placed by the mission on the governing body of Kodaikanal, he was keenly aware of their staff needs and shortages. Giving consideration to the needs of Kodaikanal School as well as Koehne Memorial School, a decision was made for the schools to merge, provided that Dalton taught religion in the elementary grades of Kodaikanal School. He became the Elementary School Coordinator of Kodaikanal School, and Deanne taught first grade. In addition to teaching religion, Dalton taught elementary music and remedial math until the Noacks’ final year, when he was asked to replace a missionary who was going on furlough as the Vice-Principal of Kodaikanal School. Besides his duties in the elementary program, much of his time was spent working with house-parents of the dormitories, discipline issues and participating in chaperoning hikes, dealing with policy matters and other administrative duties.

As the Noacks returned home after a 5 ½ year term, the governing body of the school asked Dalton to evaluate the International Baccalaureate Program out of Geneva, Switzerland as a possible program for use by the school. His report and recommendations were positively received; the program was adopted and is still very successfully being used today by Kodaikanal International School.

After returning from India, Dalton and Deanne were blessed with three children (brothers and a sister) by adoption: Michael, born in 1966; Joseph, born in 1968; and Carol, born in 1969. Their departure from India happened in 1972 during the India – Pakistan conflict. After arriving home and beginning a study program in counseling with the goal of returning to India and serving as School Counselor after a year furlough, they received notice that the school enrollment was rapidly declining as the war intensified and that a school counselor would not be needed. The Board for Mission Services happily allowed Dalton to continue his studies as desired, but told the Noacks to prepare for stateside ministry. They did that and once again received a call from Mount Olive Lutheran Church and School in San Antonio, where Dalton served for two years as Principal/Teacher in the school and worked in Evangelism for the church.

It was during this period that Lutheran Bible Translators (LBT) got in touch with the family as they were looking for a teacher to serve missionary kids in Sierra Leone, West Africa. This invitation gave Dalton the inspiration to complete his Masters Degree in Educational Administration and to learn about the Bible Translation Ministry by studying at the Summer Institute of Linguistics in Dallas, TX. By the time he had completed this training, the Sierra Leone position had been filled, and he was asked to consider serving LBT in the literacy field. Since LBT did not have a position open for teaching children of missionaries at that time, Wycliffe Bible Translators (WBT) told Dalton of several options where his skills were needed. Two of these locations were in Australia and Brazil. God led the family to Brazil for a 4-year term, where Dalton served as School Coordinator for the Brazilian Branch of Wycliffe Bible Translators and the Summer Institute of Linguists. He was Principal and teacher of the Linguistics Center in Cuiaba, Mato Grosso State. In addition, he was responsible for the educational needs of families serving in the Linguistic Centers of Belem, Manaus, Porto Velho and Brasilia. He coordinated the hiring of staff from the USA and orienting them to the centers where they would serve.

After four years serving in this capacity, the Brazil Branch asked Dalton to serve as Manager of the Linguistics Center in Belem. However, at the same time the Summer Institute of Linguistics (International and sister organization to Wycliffe Bible Translators) asked him to work as an Assistant Superintendent with responsibility for 6000 Missionary Kids around the world. He accepted the position with WBT, which was based in Dallas, and served for 10 years recruiting and orienting staff for positions all over the world. Dalton and the WBT staff did all that they could to find appropriate curricula for children representing the different nationalities in the organizations. During these ten years, they prepared for and helped implement three International Conferences for Missionary Kids, known as ICMKs, in the Philippines, Ecuador and Nairobi, Kenya.

After these ten years of service as representatives of WBT and LBT, LCMS got in touch with the Noacks and requested that Dalton serve again on the mission field, training national leaders through a Theological Education by Extension Program (TEE). He agreed to serve in Sri Lanka for two years. When the family was unable to re-enter Sri Lanka after a furlough because of political reasons, the Board for Mission Services called Dalton to serve as Director of the TEE Leadership Program to fill a need for developing a TEE program in Ghana, West Africa, from scratch. He received training at Concordia Seminary in Fort Wayne from key people in the Synod, Dr. Eugene Bunkowske and Dr. Robert Newton. He spent six years working with eager and gifted local church leaders throughout the country and missionaries who wrote and taught a

36-course curriculum requested by the ELCG (Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ghana) to teach over 100 students in six learning centers that were established during that six-year period.

In 2001, the Noacks retired and became involved in volunteer work. They have been serving with the organization “The 72 – Partners on the Road.” Through this organization they have served congregations including: Zion, East Moline (IL); St. Phillips, Compton (California); Messiah, St. Louis, (Missouri); Grace and St. John, Long Beach (California); and Peace, South Gate (California). Their last three-week assignment was in February, 2009 with God’s people at St. John Lutheran Church in Lariat, TX. Their other volunteer work of significance is with the Jesus Is Lord Mission Society (JILM). JILM is strictly a volunteer organization focused on raising funds for LCMS World Mission. Dalton was elected to the Steering Committee after returning to the USA and in 2008 began training to be the coordinator of JILM by Dr. Glenn O'Shoney. The Noacks remain involved with the church and continue to share God’s Good News through their volunteer work and in their lives.

Nota Bene

The website of Kodaikanal International School has this to say about Dalton’s contribution to the establishment of the International Baccalaureate program at the school: “Council representative, Dalton Noack, visited the International School Geneva (ISG), an earlier IB school, to investigate. He found that only 76 of the 601 candidates across the world were taking the full Diploma Program and examinations; that it was possible to choose between certificate exams in selected subjects or the full Diploma Program. This flexibility in the IB program appealed to the Curriculum Committee members because it allowed for a ‘common basic curriculum that allows different students to prepare for different exams at the end without either multiple, separate streams throughout the high school or only one common narrow stream and one exam for everyone.’”

Phase 2 Information

Biggest missiological issue faced?

Dalton writes that the biggest issues were as follows: “Harmony among God’s people when it comes to goal setting, interpretation of those goals and practical ways for using the gifts in God’s church to accomplish His divine purposes in reaching those goals through His chosen people. “Money issue to accomplish goals in which the national and international mission communities find balance in their contributions so that eventually the mission church becomes independent of the mother church. The challenge of the missionary to stay out of ‘money matters,’ or if forced to be in, to be a good example for those involved to follow.

“Gift recognition from God’s people to be led by the Holy Spirit using their gifts for the advancement of God’s kingdom in their part of His world.

“Leadership selection and resistance to political pressures harmful to God’s plan. (Selection in leadership positions of untrained personnel in a specific ethnic group, versus selection of leadership of trained/experienced and respected personnel among pastors and evangelists who may be of a different ethnic background.)”

Most significant contribution during missionary service?

Dalton writes, “The demonstration of care for missionary kids and their families via my administration and teaching roles.

“Curriculum development for the TEE program using with confidence the national church leaders and their giftedness to write and teach their people in their heart languages.”

Connection to today’s mission?

Dalton’s work with missionary children allowed missionaries on the field to perform their work and prepare national church structures and leaders. He has helped advance the TEE program through his work in Ghana and Sri Lanka.

The Noacks remain regularly in prayer for deaf, blind, sighted and hearing ministries. They belong to “The 72 – Partners on the Road” and also volunteer for the Jesus Is Lord Mission Society (jilmission.org). They continue to share who Jesus is with their neighbors and family.

Lessons Learned

One must be intentional in sharing Christ’s love throughout the world. Live by receiving Christ’s love and forgiveness and sharing that same love and forgiveness wherever God places us in His world.

Best Practices

Giving your life away so that others might be blessed and learn who the awesome God is who created, redeemed and inspires one to serve the nations.

Phase 3 Information

Inspiration for entering foreign missions?

From Dalton: “In an interview before Call Day, the interviewer asked if I would consider serving abroad, perhaps in Africa. We had a call to India, an invitation to serve in Sierra Leone, an invitation to go to Australia and Brazil. A 10-year window of opportunity to recruit staff, work on various curricula, send supplies in support of missionary families of 6000 kids throughout the world with International Conference Planning and Execution of plans in the Philippines, Ecuador and Kenya. Calls to serve as Theological Education by Extension Director for two years in Sri Lanka and six years in Ghana, West Africa. Being in the USA and the privilege of continuing to be a part of the Jesus Is Lord Mission Society (JILM) to raise funds for LCMS World Missions and to help people have accurate information via the JILM web site at jilmission.org and via an informative JILM DVD. Being team members of ‘The 72 – Partners on the Road’ to help congregations wanting help with reaching out in their neighborhoods has been very stimulating and encouraging.”

Quotation by/about or brief story:

Dalton writes,

“People from other cultures have definitely been blessings in our lives. To witness God’s blessings through the deaf, blind, sighted and hearing eagerly open to learning and sharing God’s love was our privilege to witness often. How encouraging for us who came to help these precious people of different cultures, realize in effect that they are helping us in our lives and walk of faith through who they are.”

“We had some very great mentors and caregivers that God gave us, to stand by our sides and guide us in the challenging situations that appear when in a strange land.”

“Resources in the Synodical Office in St. Louis include videos about ministry in Sri Lanka and a DVD from Ghana reflecting on God’s blessings called ‘Joyful Celebration.’ There is also a video interview that was done by an Iowa Banker who found his niche in the hearts of many a farmer so that they would have the opportunity to be involved in God’s mission through the sharing of their financial resources.”

Rev. Carl W. Bretscher

tbarjonas — Thu, 23 Sep 2021 16:17:44 +0000

Rev. Carl W. Bretscher

Carl Walter Bretscher

8/8/1926 River Forest, Illinois USA

Spouse/Family

Wife: Marion Elaine (nee Beach) b. 3/26/1927 St. Louis, Missouri USA

7/3/1951

Children: James Carl (1953), Donald Paul (1956), David John (1960)

Dates of Service Field Call Assignment

1951-57 Guatemala Missionary Pastor

Biographical Summary

Carl Bretscher began seminary in 1945. During his seminary years he did two vicarages. The first was as a parochial schoolteacher, because there was a shortage of Lutheran teachers in the Missouri Synod at the time. He was assigned to a Mexican-American congregation in McAllen, Texas, near the border, where he taught first and second grades during the 1947-48 school year. It was his first exposure to Hispanic ministry. This experience influenced Carl, and for his second vicarage year, 1949-50, he volunteered to go to Guatemala and was sent to serve as missionary-pastor of a small bilingual congregation in Puerto Barrios, on the Atlantic coast. Having from the start to conduct Bible services, Bible classes and other pastoral activities both in English and in Spanish, he rapidly improved his ability to communicate in the latter. It was here that his developing interest in foreign missions was solidified.

Returning for his fourth year of seminary, Carl met Elaine Beach at church. At the time she was working as a bookkeeper for a real estate company. When Carl proposed, she knew she would have to think and pray about the possibility of going overseas with him, but it didn’t take long before she decided that this was God’s call to her too. They were married in July 1951, shortly after Carl’s seminary graduation, and two months later were heading to Central America on a Standard Fruit Company “banana boat.”

Carl’s first assignment as a missionary was as associate pastor of a trilingual congregation in Guatemala City which held services in both English and Spanish – with the other missionary-pastor conducting the German aspects of the ministry. This year provided Elaine the chance to begin learning Spanish, and contributed to Carl’s personal and professional growth. Carl was pleased, however, when in November of 1952 he was reassigned to Zacapa, a small inland city in a semi-desert area surrounded by tiny villages. Here, in a totally Spanish-speaking environment, he served as missionary-pastor of the small Lutheran congregation in the city, as well as traveling to preaching stations in the surrounding villages – some of which were accessible by Jeep, some by motorcycle, and some only by horseback! Elaine participated in church and mission activities as much as possible, but much of her time was taken up simply with housekeeping – all activities, including shopping in the open-air market, cooking, and cleaning (all water had to be boiled) took much longer than in the U.S. The Bretschers’ oldest son was born in February 1953, only a few months after their move, which added to their family responsibilities.

Shortly after their arrival in Zacapa, the Bretschers began work on starting a Lutheran school for the residents of the city and surrounding villages. The idea had been suggested by previous missionaries and the Zacapa congregation had enthusiastically supported it. But it was principally through Carl’s efforts that the dream became a reality. Called El Colegio El Divino Salvador, the school opened in February 1953, with some thirty-five students in first and second grades, using extra rooms in the Bretschers’ rented house for classrooms. From its inception, the school hired local Guatemalan teachers, with Carl acting as principal and teaching daily religion classes. As it grew, a new building was soon needed. Fortunately, the mission had earlier acquired property in Zacapa which would serve as a site for the school, as well as for missionary residences. The construction cost $5000, paid for by a grant from the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League in the United States. Carl designed the floor plan, then hired local workers to “engineer” and build the building. There were three classrooms that held two grades each, rest rooms and office space. By 1957 there were six grades and seventy-five students.

In the years after the Bretschers returned to the U.S., the school added another large building with kitchen and dormitory space, which provided limited boarding facilities for students from surrounding villages who otherwise had no access to elementary education at all. Years later, at its peak, the school’s total enrollment, including its “normal school” component (roughly the equivalent of our high schools) grew to over 1000! This initially small project, supervised by the Bretschers at its inception, has given many students from the Zacapa area a Christian education and a better education than they likely could have received otherwise. Elaine notes that after the school’s humble beginnings in their home, with not enough pencils and paper to go around, she was shocked to see a large, thriving school with many classrooms and good equipment, including computers, when she and Carl returned for a visit in 1994.

In 1957 the Bretschers took their first furlough. By this time their son Donald had been born and they were raising two boys. Near the end of their furlough time in the United States, the family went in for their required medical screening with the doctors who were the Mission Board’s official medical advisers, and they learned that their older son, now four years old, had contracted tuberculosis, a disease not uncommon in the Zacapa area. The doctors advised both the Board and the Bretschers that in their opinion James should not be taken back to Guatemala. He would probably do well, they said, if he stayed in the U.S. in a healthier environment and continued to receive good medical care. On the other hand, if he were to return to Guatemala and inevitably be re-exposed to the disease, the consequences could be exceedingly serious. Though they deeply regretted not returning to the people and place in which they had invested so much time and care, Carl and Elaine felt they had no choice but to heed the doctors’ counsel and remain in the U.S. to take care of their family.

Shortly thereafter Carl was called to begin a mission church in Pensacola, Florida, starting in May 1958. In the next three months he made over three thousand canvas calls to people in the neighborhood and brought together a congregation that, by the time they left in 1963, was well-established with some two hundred members and had its own church building. The Bretschers completed their family in 1960 with the birth of their third son David. In 1963, Carl accepted a call to St. Paul Lutheran Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. At the time Carl felt that he and Elaine would probably be there for the rest of their active lives. But in 1965 Carl was caught off guard when he received another, totally unexpected call that he simply felt he could not decline. It was to become pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in the Panama Canal Zone. Though this was an English-speaking congregation, consisting mostly of Americans working there either with the Canal Zone Government, the Panama Canal Company, or the U.S. military, it was strongly desired that the next pastor be bilingual. Already in the works was the promise of the U.S. government to renegotiate the old 1903 canal treaty with Panama that would eventually return to Panama control of the Zone and thus, hopefully, pave the way for Redeemer’s possible transition into a bilingual congregation. Carl served in Panama until 1971.

At that time the Bretschers returned to the U.S. and settled in St. Louis, where Elaine worked in the office of an ophthalmologist while Carl took a break from the ministry and went in a whole new direction to work for the next three years in the electrical contracting business of Elaine’s father. In 1974, however, he accepted a call from Immanuel Lutheran Church, Las Vegas, New Mexico. It was an area heavily dominated by people of Hispanic heritage where, it was believed, his Spanish capability would come in handy. By this time both of their older sons had left home, and their youngest son would reach college age while they were sill there. Shortly after they arrived, Elaine began volunteering at the small local hospital, which soon turned into a full-time job in its main office. She ended up serving as office manager for a time, then worked in the Chamber of Commerce until 1979. At that time, Carl decided that in order to best fulfill his role as pastor, he should learn more about counseling. He enrolled in the graduate social work program at Washington University, and the family moved back to St. Louis. Elaine took a job in medical records at DePaul Hospital. One of Carl’s practicum assignments for his program took him to St. Louis University Medical Center working in geriatric psychiatry, and he was successfully persuaded to continue his work at the medical center when he had received his degree in 1981. He worked there until retirement in 1991; Elaine retired in 1989.

The Bretschers continue to live in St. Louis and have remained active both in their church and with the Lutheran Senior Services community, where they also now live. Carl served as a part-time pastoral counselor in the hospice care program of the Visiting Nurse Association until 1997; Elaine volunteered at a nursing home for several years; and they both continue making nursing home visits and volunteering. Their journey which began on the foreign mission field has taken them through many locations and experiences, and they continue to serve others and to share the good news of the Gospel wherever they go.

Nota Bene

Carl has written several articles for the Lutheran Witness.

Phase 2 Information

Biggest missiological issue faced?

The Bretschers felt fortunate not to face too many very difficult issues during their time working with the church and school in Zacapa. They do recall one theological controversy that arose for a short time during their service, regarding style of worship and liturgy. Some churchgoers had been converted from nominal Catholicism to Protestantism and had been taught that anything remotely “Catholic” was wrong in church. A few of these folks ended up at the church in Zacapa, and some were quite vocal about wanting to strip down worship and liturgy. They frowned upon decorations, pictures, and even candles, such that in private, the missionaries jokingly termed the issue the “candle controversy.” The controversy gradually resolved itself, as people grew to realize that what mattered was God’s love creating faith that human beings express in worship, rather than the details of exactly how the worship proceeded.

Most significant contribution during missionary service?

The school the Bretschers began was their biggest contribution to mission work in Guatemala, and to the people of the Zacapa area. Thanks to this school, many students who would not have been able to get a good education – or any education at all – were taught well, by caring teachers, in a Christian environment. A number of these students have also gone on to become Lutheran pastors and teachers.

Connection to today’s mission?

The school and church at which the Bretschers served remain in Zacapa, and even though the buildings were leveled in an earthquake in 1976, they were rebuilt and continue their mission. LCMS missionaries still work in Guatemala, and the Lutheran Church of Guatemala has a baptized membership of about 4,000.

Lessons Learned

The role of the missionaries was not to convert people into LCMS members – that is, not simply to create replicas of LCMS congregations in the U.S. – but rather to help people grow in their knowledge of and faith in the Good News of God in Christ. On the mission field, they found that denominational divisions were not so important as they had been in the U.S. For people who were barely literate and were just learning about Christianity, the basics of the Gospel were more important than very detailed specifics of Lutheran doctrine.

One of the most important parts of mission work is involving local leaders in the church.

Best Practices

The founding of the school, and inclusion of its mission as part of the ministry of the church in Zacapa, was a great benefit both to the people of the area and to the spread of the Gospel in the region.

Phase 3 Information

Inspiration for entering foreign missions?

The Bretschers always believed that it was God who brought them to where He wanted them to be. Carl’s experience teaching in south Texas influenced him to do his vicarage in Guatemala, and after that year he felt a strong call to foreign mission work. Elaine became enthusiastic about serving overseas as she got to know Carl and consider her call to go to Guatemala with him. Both would have liked to stay in Guatemala long-term, but they were able in their subsequent ministry to make good use of all they had learned in the mission field.

Quotation by/about or brief story:

Carl recalls that during his vicarage year, he preached in a church that was little more than a thatch hut, open to the outside. One day, just as he was finishing the Apostles’ Creed with the congregation, a man staggered into the center of the church and fell down. Many people were shocked, thinking he was dead, but when Carl checked, he found the man was simply drunk. Carl and a couple of the congregants helped the man up and carried him across the street to his home. When Carl returned to the church, he found that all the congregants were still standing in their pews with their heads bowed – waiting for their pastor to return and release them from the prayer position they had assumed to say the creed! No one had sat down or even moved while he was away.

The Bretschers’ time in Guatemala was not without excitement, perhaps too much at times. They were living in Zacapa in 1954 when a revolution began, with CIA-backed rebels seeking to overthrow the socialist government of President Jacobo Arbenz. When the fighting began, most people in Zacapa thought their area would not be too affected, but because the city was on a route between Guatemala City and the Atlantic coast, it suffered bombing of its army barracks and train station. Most people in town fled to the surrounding villages, and there were very few people left when the Bretschers and others decided they would try to take the last train out of town to Guatemala City. After they had been riding the train for about an hour, several planes overflew them and then turned around, coming right toward them and bombing the engine of the train. Everyone on the train began running away from the tracks, but the planes returned and strafed the train, then the people on the ground. Carl and Elaine were, of course, terrified, like everyone else around them, especially since Elaine was carrying their infant son with them. Although the Bretschers and the people they knew were mostly unhurt, some others were tragically killed. Elaine suffered a wound on her arm from a stone that ricocheted away from one of the bullets, which was the more frightening because, in the chaos, they were unsure whether it was she or their son who was bleeding. Once the Bretschers and others had made it to relative safety, they had to seek out an army outpost in the area to ask for help and to get in touch with the U.S. Embassy. With its help, they eventually made it to Guatemala City – going part of the way on a motorized track maintenance vehicle. They had to stay in Guatemala City for a time until the fighting stopped. Amazingly, when they returned to Zacapa their house was still standing and the inside was still intact; it had not been looted during the war. Though they would not wish to repeat the experience, it seemed that God was taking care of them even at such a tumultuous and frightening time.

Another instance of God’s protection came when Carl was flying to another town to visit a Lutheran Hour listener. As his plane was taking off from the Guatemala City airport, one of the engines lurched forward out of its socket and the pilot had to abruptly abort the takeoff. He was able to stop just as they reached the edge of a ravine ahead of the runway. Had the engine come loose just a few seconds later than it did, the plane would have been barely airborne and doubtlessly would have crashed in the ravine.

Robert E. Christian

tbarjonas — Thu, 23 Sep 2021 16:16:04 +0000

Robert E. Christian

Robert Eugene Christian

12/13/1927, Summit, Illinois USA

Spouse/Family

Wife: Arleen Dora (Vogel) b. 2/9/29, m. 8/26/1950

Children: David Carl, Ann Elizabeth (Lindekugel, professional name Christian), Rebecca

Jane (Sandell), Lois Marie (Erickson), Julie Lynn (McKern, professional name Christian)

Dates of Service Field Call Assignment

1966-1977 Hong Kong Headmaster, Hong Kong

International School

Biographical Summary

Having been born just outside Chicago, and raised mostly in Chicago proper, Bob Christian attended Concordia High School and then Concordia Teachers College in River Forest, Illinois, for his B.S. in Education and History. His (future) wife Arleen attended Concordia Teachers College for two years and then taught for two years in her home school, Immanuel Lutheran, near Readlyn, Iowa, prior to her marriage to Bob in 1950. (Arleen and Bob had first met when Arleen enrolled at Concordia in 1946, and Bob was in his second year there.) Upon graduation from Concordia in 1949, Bob received the call, by placement, to serve at Our Saviour Lutheran School and Church in the Bronx, New York City. After their marriage in 1950, the newlyweds resided in Parkchester, a large apartment house project in the Bronx. Bob also enrolled at Teachers College, Columbia University and received an M.A. degree in Educational Administration in 1952. Looking back, the Christians recognize that their move to New York was part of God’s plan for their missionary service, as life in such a large and diverse city prepared them and their children well for their life and experiences in Hong Kong. In addition, while in New York they were greatly influenced by their pastor Berthold von Schenk, who was a committed Lutheran and a committed ecumenist, one who believed that everyone who is baptized into a church should have the opportunity to attend a church-related school to continue to grow in faith.

Bob served as teacher, and later (1957) as teacher/principal for the elementary department of Our Saviour Lutheran School, and Arleen did some part-time teaching at Our Saviour and nearby Trinity Lutheran School “in between” becoming the mother of a son and three daughters. Son David was born in 1951 and daughters Ann, Rebecca, and Lois in 1953, 1955, and 1959 respectively. Altogether Bob served at Our Saviour from 1949-1966. In 1960 he was named High School Principal and Headmaster of the full grades 1-12 program, which by this time was multi-cultural with over 400 students, Caucasian, African-American, and Hispanic. Then in the spring of 1966, Bob received the call from the LCMS Board for Missions to serve as the founding Headmaster of Hong Kong International School – essentially to lead in opening and administering this school.

Hong Kong International School was conceived as an international school in the form and approach of American Education. Missionaries in Hong Kong worked in conjunction with businessmen and community leaders to lay the groundwork for the school. While there were British Schools in Hong Kong, with an influx of American and other international families in this British colony which was becoming the headquarters for Far East business operations, it seemed time to start an American type school for American children and others desiring an American type education. Meanwhile, LCMS had a strong background in Hong Kong education with the operation of Chinese Lutheran Schools, including “rooftop schools”, to serve the growing population, which included many refugees from the unrest and Cultural Revolution in mainland China. Accordingly, the Hong Kong Education Department and British government supported the opening of an American School by the LCMS Board for Missions. There were no reservations about granting permission for church bodies to open and operate schools in Hong Kong, so the LCMS saw an opportunity to spread the Christian message as well as to provide quality education for students of many nationalities. To make possible the opening of the school, LCMS missionary in Hong Kong, Mel Kieschnick, had developed important relationships with the Hong Kong Education Department, and had secured a grant of land in Repulse Bay on the south side of Hong Kong Island, as well as a loan to develop a K-12 school for 1000 students. At the same time, back in the states, the LCMS Board for Missions was able to secure a financial grant and loan for the construction of facilities. It was here that the Christian family came in, with Bob as the school’s first headmaster. In considering the school’s philosophy and approach, Bob writes that from the very beginning, “the major challenge was to find ways to be a Christian School and yet to respect the various backgrounds and preferences of its diverse constituency. As long as the school would carefully, but relevantly and aggressively deal with this tension, it could continue as a positive and productive Christ-centered ministry.”

The Christian family arrived in Hong Kong on August 10, 1966. Bob notes that the four children had initial reservations about leaving their home and friends, but they gradually came to know Hong Kong as their home, and were very happy there. Though the school was slated to open in 1967, the sheer number of expatriate Americans regularly coming to Hong Kong necessitated a start in 1966, so Bob’s first assignment was to set up a “provisional school” in a leased apartment building on the south side of Hong Kong Island for about 180-200 students. He recalls going to the Wing On Department Store to purchase the most basic of items – toilet paper, light bulbs, cleaning supplies, drinking water – and the Wing On staff agreed to give him a school discount, and even free delivery, for a school that didn’t yet exist! Bob had ordered textbooks while still in the United States, hoping they would be adequate, and the books fortunately made it across the Pacific on time. In a month, desks were quickly constructed and water coolers were bought and placed in classrooms. Two Lutheran young women had been obtained by the Board for Mission to teach in the school that first year, and others were recruited locally, from among a wide variety of expatriate families – British, Canadian, American, Australian. Grades 1-6 were included, and a small program for grades 7-11 was also administered in the same building by Dow Chemical Corporation. Almost all of the students in the “Provisional School,” which opened on September 19, 1966 on Chung Hom Kok Road, were Americans.

The provisional year of Hong Kong International School was not without its difficulties, but staff members did their work admirably, supporting each other and implementing the educational and religious mission of the school. The students periodically enjoyed taking a break from studies by walking down to the nearby beautiful beach, and by cheering for American Navy ships that sometimes could be seen in the distance. One of the most influential activities that took place that year happened the day before the Christmas holidays, when the whole school gathered outside in the hot sun to sing Christmas carols and then distribute gifts to Chinese children in a convalescent hospital in a nearby village. This may have been the beginning of “Giving Day,” which later became a tradition each year the day before the Christmas break.

Shortly after the Christians arrived in Hong Kong, Pastor Leonard Galster of the Church of All Nations (which met in the Repulse Bay Hotel) was called to serve in Bangkok. The Christians were then asked to carry on the administrative responsibilities of the congregation, including the scheduling of Lutheran missionaries to conduct church services. Bob accompanied the singing on a little pump organ, and Arleen and Bob worked with the Sunday School which served many children from the area. During the years in Hong Kong, Arleen also participated in church outreach activities in the Chinese community, doing service projects and sharing the Gospel; in the church itself, she taught Sunday School and Vacation Bible School.

September, 1967, would see the opening of Hong Kong International School in its Repulse Bay facilities built for the permanent K-12 program. Meanwhile, with this also being the height of the war in Vietnam, there were turbulent political and social conditions, growing ever more serious in East Asia, especially in relation to mainland China. The U.S. dollar suffered a major devaluation; there was a huge water shortage in Hong Kong when China cut off its water supply to the colony, and the Cultural Revolution in China led to riots and planting of bombs in the British Colony. These events caused uncertainty for the calling of U.S. teachers with a Lutheran/Christian background, and also slowed construction of the HKIS school building and the chapel of Church of All Nations. However, by September 1967, thanks also to the special efforts of the construction workers and the gradually assembling school staff, the school – and its new eight-story, air-conditioned building – were ready to go. Six hundred students arrived on September 14, the first day of classes: 65% U.S. citizens and the remaining 35% a mix of thirty different nationalities, including more than 100 local Chinese students. Twelve of the 40 teachers and administrators of the staff were called from the U.S. as missionaries of LCMS, through its Board for Missions. Additionally, Pastor Karl Boehmke, who had been called in the summer of 1967 to serve at the Church of All Nations, taught religion in the school and was a member of the HKIS Board of Managers, along with Bob Christian; Dr. Eugene Seltz, an LCMS missionary in Hong; American Businessman Joseph Mache, who had worked hard and long for the opening of the school; and member of the Church of All Nations, Professor C.S. Hung of Hong Kong University. Arleen and some of her Hong Kong friends designed both a summer and a winter uniform, each carrying the school logo, for the HKIS students. In the first year, fully half of the teaching positions turned over as teachers moved from the colony, but God always provided replacements from among members of the talented local population. Then, just as the second full year of school was beginning in September, 1968, the Christians were blessed with the gift of their fifth child, Julie.

From this beginning, Hong Kong International School grew rapidly, reaching enrollment of nearly 1300 by 1975, along with additional facilities to provide for a total of 1700 or more students. Bob continued to serve as administrator, and once their own children were older, Arleen taught kindergarten and helped in the lower grades of the school during the last three years they remained in Hong Kong. The Christians were called to return to the United States and open a Lutheran high school in Seattle, Washington, and they left Hong Kong in 1977. By 2005, enrollment had risen to over 2500 students, as HKIS successfully stood through the Hong Kong transition to being governed by China in 1997, and remained a Christian/American school serving a wide variety of students.

Nota Bene

Co-author of Association of Lutheran Secondary Schools (ALSS) guide for self-study of the Christian dimensions of Lutheran high schools, “Validating our Christian Mission” (1993).

Assisted in production of ALSS resource manual “Planning for a Lutheran High School (1997).

Served on editorial board for Aid Association for Lutherans (AAL) “Resource Notebook for Lutheran High School Administrators” (1982).

Bob’s awards and recognitions include Valparaiso University Award of Excellence (1990), ALSS Paul Lange Award (1994), Bob Christian Sportsmanship Award begun by SeaTac Athletic League (1994), Concordia University Portland Lux Christi Award (2003) and Christi Crux Award (2006), Mount Rainier Lutheran High School Vita Scholae Award (2006), Bob Christian Alumni Award begun by Hong Kong International School (2007).

Bob and Arleen together were recognized as Veteran Missionary Honorees by the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod in 2007.

Phase 2 Information

Biggest missiological issue faced?

The biggest challenge faced by Hong Kong International School and its founders was the very basic fact of being a Christian school in such a diverse place and with a population that varied widely by religious background and belief. Since Hong Kong was a transportation, communication, and marketing center of the Far East, the school had children from 40 different nationalities and every major religion in the world. The Christians, and other staff in the school, hoped that every student who walked into the school would be exposed to the knowledge of a loving and forgiving God. The school did have religion classes, where staff carefully and without pressure tried to share with each student the basics of the Christian faith. It was certainly a help that HKIS had a solid core of teachers who had come from Lutheran schools in the U.S.; these teachers did a remarkable job of challenging themselves to find ways of doing Christian mission while being sensitive to the diverse needs of the school and its students. The issue of exactly how the school’s Christian mission can be carried out remains a salient one still today; it is not an easy task to find a quorum of teachers and administrators who can undertake mission in these circumstances.

Another significant issue faced by HKIS, and by the Christians, was the problem of students who were unhappy with being uprooted and asked to live in a foreign country for several years. Some students did not take well to leaving the United States, and some turned to drugs, which were, unfortunately, fairly easily available. The worst incident was when one young man died of a heroin overdose; students’ parents were naturally upset, and Arleen recalls receiving a phone call from one mother who criticized the school’s handling of students and told her “Whether you like it or not, you are the school.” Because of their hand in starting and administering HKIS, the Christians did feel acutely these problems. Some progress was made when a principal was hired who took time to get to know all the students and to develop programs to help curb drug use; this approach went a long way toward encouraging students to make healthy choices and toward minimizing the problems with drugs that had been present.

Most significant contribution during missionary service?

Bob’s contribution encompasses the whole Hong Kong International School, since he took the lead in its founding and worked with other missionaries and businessmen to make the idea of an American Christian school in Hong Kong a reality. Arleen considered that her job, especially at first, was to keep her family happy and comfortable in their new situation and to help the children to get used to the new culture, while also standing with Bob for school issues and events. She also undertook hosting responsibilities. When missionaries came to preach at the Church of All Nations, Arleen cooked for and hosted them in the Christians’ home (after getting the family safely to and from church!). She also provided support for new teachers and families arriving in Hong Kong by meeting them at the airport, setting up apartments, and acting as guide and counselor.

Connection to today’s mission?

As noted, Hong Kong International School continues to operate as an American school and maintains its Christian identity. Its student population has reached 2500, and teachers continue to come from all over the world to teach. The school continues to seek ways that it can fulfill its mission of providing excellent education and also exposing all who are affiliated to the saving word of God.

Lessons Learned

Each situation calls for a unique way of communicating the Gospel message. Older approaches may not always work in a new situation. In the experience of the Christians at HKIS, the most effective means of spreading the Gospel is through one-to-one relationships people have with each other, and through the modeling of Christian life.
As exemplified by some stellar teachers at HKIS, it’s best when the sharing of the Gospel is primarily a ministry of listening: a Christian should try to find situations in which he or she can listen to someone’s story of spirituality or lack thereof, and help reflect on these personal stories.
The United States is both increasingly diverse and an opportunity for mission. The Christians have found that their time in Hong Kong helped prepare them for a new period of mission in the Northwest United States.
Particularly in the first years abroad, it was very important to be in good communication with sending congregations in the U.S. The support received by missionaries, and the teaching and support they can give to congregations when they return from the field, is invaluable for both parties.
Especially in mission work, ecumenism is crucial to do God’s work. The Christians’ experiences in New York and in Hong Kong have truly taught them to value the “church catholic” and to promote the working of churches together.

Best Practices

Once the school was open, the Christians found that a best practice for support and cohesion of staff was that of welcoming the staff personally: preparing housing, meeting them at the airport, providing hospitality and guidance. The warm welcome staff received became a great asset to staff and to the school as a whole.
Missionaries should find and receive opportunities to share with congregations, especially those that have provided support, when they return from their work. The mission advocacy the Christians were able to do helped congregants in the U.S. to recognize the fruits of the mission on which they were sent, and it kept congregants excited about the mission of their church.

Phase 3 Information

Inspiration for entering foreign missions?

Arleen recalls a mission festival she attended at her home church in Iowa at which she was struck by stories of mission, as well as inspired by the words of the hymn “Hark, the Voice of Jesus Calling” with its refrain of “here am I, send me.” Continued exposure to Christian education during her early years also inspired her to relay the Christian message to others.

Bob says that he was also first “called” while at a mission festival (he was living with his grandparents at the height of the Depression), at which Filipino missionary Alvaro Carino spoke. Bob was also able to meet Carino personally after the festival because Bob’s grandparents hosted Carino at their house. Bob remembers thinking, “Wouldn’t it be something to be a missionary?” and the memory and its pull toward mission work has remained with him.

Quotation by/about or brief story:

The difficulties inherent in operating HKIS as a Christian school came into the open early on: when the provisional school had been open only three or four weeks, Bob was notified by one of the parents that he was requested to come to a meeting at the school. At this meeting was a group of parents objecting to the fact that religion was taught in the school. One of the men went so far as to say that “every minute I feel my child is being taught Christian religion, I’m going to spend twice that amount of time at home counteracting it.” Bob wasn’t sure how to handle this vocal opposition to the founding principles of the school, but after the meeting had gone on a while, one Eurasian woman who was a parent and an influential force among the families at the school stood up and admonished the others that they ought to be ashamed of themselves. They had wanted this American school for so long, she noted and now the school had opened and would be good for their children. The intervention of this one strong voice essentially silenced the complaints; the parents ended the meeting, and there were no more such open displays of antagonism toward the Christian aspect of the school.

A humorous incident occurred when the internationally acclaimed Spanish dancer Jose Greco came through Hong Kong. The Spanish teacher at HKIS convinced Greco to perform a dance demonstration for the students. When Greco visited the school beforehand, he instructed the staff to scrub the stage to make sure there was nothing slippery on it. The administrative staff asked the Chinese cleaning staff to wash the stage, and when the job was finished, they discovered that the stage was indeed clean – and it had received a very lovely coat of wax! The Christians and all the other staff had to quickly find some steel wool to scour the wax off the stage, and though it took several hours, they managed it so that Jose Greco could make it through the dance without falling.

The bus system in Hong Kong was very good, and the Christians’ two oldest children (David and Ann) hopped on the bus to go anywhere and everywhere, both for school and for fun outings. However, the day that riots began in 1967 (spilling over from the Cultural Revolution in mainland China), David and Ann were at a British High School in Kowloon, on the other side of the harbor, and because of the turmoil, had no way to get home. The Christians could not reach them by phone and spent the whole night with no idea where the children were. The next day, it turned out that David and Ann had been taken into the home of another missionary who lived close to the British school. Though the episode ended well, Bob and Arleen note that the night spent praying and worrying was a real test of the faith that brought them to Hong Kong – their faith in God’s care for their family was all they could rely on.

Dr. Bernhard W. Lutz

tbarjonas — Thu, 23 Sep 2021 16:06:14 +0000

Dr. Bernhard W. Lutz

Bernhard William Lutz

5/28/1934 Denison, Iowa USA

Spouse/Family

Wife: Roberta Frances (nee Lutz), b. 7/3/1934 Davenport, Iowa USA; m. 6/23/1956

Children: Lori Louise (Johnson); Robert Karl; David William; Rebecca Anne (Jarvis)

Dates of Service Field Call Assignment

1956-59 St. Martini Lutheran Church Teacher

Milwaukee, WI

1959-61 St. Timothy Lutheran Church Teacher

Chicago, IL

1961-64 Concordia Lutheran College Professor

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

1964-67 Concordia Seminary, Springfield, IL Student

1967-75 Papua New Guinea Evangelistic Missionary

1975-91 USA Parish Pastor

1991-96 Nigeria Professor

2000-04 Beirut, Lebanon; Middle East Evangelist

2004-present West Mission Lutheran Fellowship Pastor

2008-present Concordia Seminary, Sudan Professor

Biographical Summary

Pastor Bernhard (Bernie) Lutz grew up in northern Minnesota. He attended Concordia Academy and College, St. Paul, MN, and completed his college work at Concordia College, River Forest, Illinois with a Bachelor of Science degree in education. He earned the B.D. and M.Div. degrees from Concordia Seminary, Springfield, and the D.Min. from Concordia Seminary, Fort Wayne, IN. God has used Pastor Bernie as a teacher, coach, athletic director, professor, pastor and most of all, as a missionary to tell the Good News about Jesus!

Bernie and Roberta (formerly Lutz) were joined in marriage in June of 1956, and the Lord has blessed their marriage with four children, eleven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. All of their children live in Minnesota. Together they have served the Lord on three continents and in more than five countries. They have served in Papua New Guinea (PNG), Nigeria, Lebanon, Ghana, Sudan, Canada and the USA.

After serving as a teacher at two Lutheran churches in the Midwest, Bernie was called to serve as Instructor at Concordia College in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He resigned that position to enter Concordia Seminary, Springfield, IL in 1964. Bernie was called by the Board for Missions to serve as an evangelistic missionary in Papua New Guinea. He served for eight years, resigning from the BFMS in 1975. Besides evangelistic work, Bernie was involved in the training and equipping of those who were called into ministry in PNG. He became involved in helping to feed thousands of hungry Enga during the 1972 famine. During this crisis he developed a successful agricultural program to feed those who were hungry with Irish potatoes.

The Lutzes left Papua New Guinea and the BFMS in 1975 for family reasons. One child was in the USA, one in Australia and two were away from the family in PNG. Pastor Bernie accepted a call into the parish ministry in the Minnesota South District of the LCMS in 1976.

He served in the parish ministry until 1996, when the BFMS called Bernie to serve as Professor at Jonathan Ekong Memorial Lutheran Seminary at Obot Idim, Nigeria. While serving in Nigeria, he also directed the Theological Education by Extension (TEE) program for the Lutheran Church of Nigeria (LCN), founded and began a popular radio project for the LCN, conducted 48 evangelism crusades, served as Senior Pastor at Itiam Ekot Ebia and served as manager of the ILLL Radio Studio of Obit Idim. He completed the five-year service and was called back into the parish ministry in 1997.

In 2000, Dr. Lutz accepted a four-year commitment offered by the International Lutheran Hour Ministries to serve in Beirut, Lebanon. Bernie served as an evangelistic missionary reaching out to find qualified men to be trained and equipped for the Holy Ministry. While in Lebanon, Bernie conducted evangelical outreach to Muslims, visited Palestinian Camps and conducted Bible studies in Hamra, a downtown Beirut banking area. Many people were touched by the Gospel, one man in particular, Hicham Chehab, once a destroyer of the faith, came to know and believe in Christ, and will graduate from Concordia Seminary, Fort Wayne in June 2009.

The Lutzes returned to the United States in 2004, to accept the pastoral duties for the West Mission Lutheran Fellowship, a Winter Texan ministry. The WMLF is a unique Winter Texan ministry where 500 to 600 seniors gather for worship in three RV parks.

In 2008, the Lutheran Heritage Foundation asked Pastor Bernie to go abroad again, this time to Yambio, South Sudan. He served for ten weeks as professor and also helped develop a curriculum for the seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sudan.

He serves as a regional director for POBLO, International of Dearborn, MI and raises funds for the LUTHERAN HERITAGE FOUNDATION. Bernie and Roberta, when home, live in the Boundary Water Canoe Area of Northern Minnesota.

Nota Bene

Bernie Lutz was elected to the Synod’s Board for Mission Services three times. He was presented the Papua New Guinea Independence Medal by the PNG government for helping the country to become an independent nation. He has worked with the International Lutheran Laymen’s League and Lutheran Women’s Missionary League on several levels. In May of 1988, Concordia Seminary, Fort Wayne, IN presented the Servis Ecclesiae Christi award to Rev. Lutz for effective ministry among God’s people in the world. The faculty of Concordia Seminary, Fort Wayne, IN conferred the Doctor of Divinity degree upon Pastor Lutz in May of 2007, for faithful service on the mission field and in parish ministry at home.

Dr. Lutz is author of two books: Guidelines for Sharing Your Faith with Your Muslim Friend and The Role and Function of Women in the Church.

Phase 2 Information

Biggest missiological issue faced?

Bernie writes: “Several interesting missiological issues to be shared:

“The Seminex issue in PNG when some of the Papua New Guinea missionaries introduced a different theology than one the WLC had received through Hintze and Burce (1948). How to deal with these personnel and at the same time keep the mission growing through the indigenous church. This thorn is still sticking sharply in the GLC in 2009.

“Developing an adult education system for Papua New Guinea in 1967. Wrote a book: Self Government.

“Working out a Theological Education by Extension (TEE) program for the Lutheran Church of Nigeria on a national basis.

“In Lebanon, sharing the Gospel with Muslims and recruiting men for ministry.

“Sudan, setting forth a four-year seminary curriculum in 2008.”

Most significant contribution during missionary service?

The PNG government presented the Independence Medal to Dr. Lutz for helping the nation to become an independent nation in 1976. The recipients were chosen by the local people of the Enga District.

Connection to today’s mission?

Dr. Lutz remains active in working with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sudan. He preaches and teaches on “Reaching the Lost with the Word of Hope.”

Mission work continues in PNG, Nigeria, and Sudan , and all three countries have national Lutheran churches that relate to the LCMS.

Lessons Learned

Learn to listen carefully.
Fight for the Gospel message to be proclaimed.
Use men and women for world mission.

Best Practices

Team work, at home and overseas, with mission and the partner church..
Be flexible.
Avoid legalistic systems and implement the Gospel.
Use the proper balance of the Law and the Gospel.

Phase 3 Information

Inspiration for entering foreign missions?

For the Lutzes, inspiration was “The Gospel …God’s grace motivates for mission.”

Quotation by/about or brief story:

Pastor Bernie and Roberta, as so many people of the Way do, connect personally with the Mission thrust from Acts: “We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard!!”

Seminary Curriculum in the Mission of Christ’s Church

tbarjonas — Fri, 12 Mar 2021 02:55:59 +0000

Seminary Curriculum in the Mission of Christ’s Church

Shortly after John Johnson became president of Concordia Seminary in 1990, his various discussions with both the internal and the external constituencies of the seminary led him to initiate a needed curriculum review. The result was a four-year process led by a Curriculum Review and Design Committee (CRDC—which almost became, at times, a four-letter pejorative in its own right, as these projects tend to do). This began in 1991, concluded in 1995, and extended into a “phase 2” to evaluate the changes and implement further work in 1998–2000. This latter follow-up then somewhat lost its way in the face of various stresses, including the spikes in enrollment in 2001–2002 and the economic downturn at that time.

Here we will focus on the CRDC process itself, in light of mission interests of the church-at-large and as the mission of Christ’s kingdom relates to pastoral ministry and its formation through a seminary curriculum. I was a member of that committee from the outset, representing the Exegetical Department, and eventually chaired the committee after L. Dean Hempelmann, then Academic Dean, left to become president of Concordia Seminary, Edmonton.

The mission of Christ’s kingdom underlies the mission of a seminary and the Rev. Dr. Andrew H. Bartelt is professor emeritus of exegetical theology at Concordia Seminary, where he served as Vice President for Academic Affairs from 1998–2013. He also served on the Board for Mission Services (2003–2008) as well as the National Advisory Group for Mission (2003–2010). seminary curriculum, but the impetus for this process was more focused on an evaluation of how the pastoral needs of the church were being met than a specific endeavor to meet the mission needs at that time. The fifteen years following the Seminex crisis in 1973–741 were focused on rebuilding, and the time had come to take a detailed look at the overall curriculum and its effectiveness. A second driver was the overdue recognition of the loss of Concordia Senior College,2 which closed in 1977. It had served as a remarkable funnel that provided a pre-seminary student body grounded in a strong, humanities-based liberal arts curriculum and built into a fraternal community committed to the pastoral leadership of the church and its mission. Its curriculum provided an emphasis on biblical theology within an understanding of history, science, literature, and culture, including the social sciences and communications. In sum, it grounded entering seminarians with what one might call an understanding of the human condition, both coram deo and coram hominibus. Most students came to the seminary with a minimum of two years of Greek and one or two years of Hebrew, not to mention a general grounding in Ancient Near Eastern and Greco-Roman history.

To be sure, the function of the Senior College was originally transferred to Concordia University Ann Arbor and then became dispersed among the other Concordias, as they converted from two-year junior colleges into four-year colleges and then into full-service universities.3 And while approximately half of the incoming seminary students would continue to come from the Concordia University System, approximately half of those did not come through the pre-sem tracks. What this meant is that about 75–80% of new seminary students needed some level of biblical languages, and the seminary found itself providing intensive courses in elementary Hebrew and Greek, largely to “make up” those prerequisites. One major effort in the CRDC process was trying to address the flow of the curriculum based on the fact that the large majority of students were engaged in making up what had been pre-seminary curriculum for much of their first seminary year.

While this might seem a more mechanical issue dealing with sequencing of coursework and generally unrelated to the larger mission concerns of the church, it is worth noting how this problem was actually driven by changes in the pastoral formation programs of the larger church, of which the seminary was a part. It was the major part, to be sure, but the seminary program connected to and even relied on other parts. Any comprehensive, systemic, and synodical approach was further hindered by the rising independence and even growing competition between the components of the “old system.”4

All this is fodder for a different essay at another time. The point related to the mission concerns here addressed is the ongoing need, still largely unaddressed, of a more comprehensive approach to good stewardship of God’s resources, unlimited as to God’s design, but often limited by our own human designs. That suggests much more collaborative,
even cooperative, ways and means of considering critical issues such as seminary curriculum light of the mission needs of the whole church, more collaborative, even cooperative, ways and means of considering critical issues such as seminary curriculum in light of the mission needs of the whole church.

This brings us back to the first driver of curriculum review and design in 1991: the need to evaluate and recalibrate the effectiveness of the curriculum in meeting those needs of a church in a changing culture. Of course, determining those “needs” is a tricky thing and by no means obvious or unanimous. However they may be defined or expressed, it is another question if they are aligned with the larger mission of Christ, and that is a fundamental question that must be taken seriously. While the seminary is often a leader in such matters, it is also a servant of the church (and properly dependent on it as well!).

So we listened. The first phase of CRDC was an extensive process of surveys and interviews with our constituencies throughout the church, from individuals, congregations, district and synodical leaders, boards, commissions, and mission leaders. After a time of great trauma and division within the church, this was a healthy exercise. On the one hand, it helped to rebuild bridges and mend fences. On the other, we gleaned very helpful feedback and garnished some productive relationships.

One of those that played out into the next decade was a stronger connection with the mission leadership of synod itself, including a more active role of the seminary president’s advisory seat on the Board for Mission Services. When Robert Scudieri, as Associate Executive Director for National Missions, developed an advisory group to serve as a coordinating council and think tank for the burgeoning opportunities and challenges that followed the Mission Blueprint for the Nineties, both seminaries were represented. While seemingly small examples of collaborative work, I remember the stark recognition of an amazing gap of understanding—and with it a certain suspicion—between seminaries and those entrusted with mission leadership around the church. Some participants lacked awareness of what was all going on across the church, especially as the 1992 synodical convention had declared the US as a world mission field and passed the Mission Blueprint for the Nineties.

Again, this leads to a longer story too far afield (though it is a mission field) for this short reflection. That story would include the incorporation of the Hispanic Institute of Theology, originally at Concordia River Forest with a loose connection for certification, to Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne. Then heavily subsidized directly by the Missouri Synod, the Center for Hispanic Studies was incorporated into the mainstream, campus, and budget of Concordia Seminary. It would also include the engagement of Concordia Seminary with the North American Mission Executives (NAME) and the annual Mission Partners meeting. These connections played a role in starting what became the Cross-Cultural Ministry Center at Irvine, a seminary presence on the board of the Center for U.S. Missions, the increased role and curriculum development of the Deaf Institute of Theology, and the collaborative development of the Ethnic Immigrant Institute of Theology and the Multiethnic Symposium. All of these roles sought to bring seminary resources and servant leadership to these critical areas of mission today.

This was also the time when a “mission-planting” track was introduced into the seminary curriculum for specialized evaluation and training for this specific context of a first call. That, in itself, was a bit of a novum, as it actually linked a portion of seminary curriculum to go beyond the generalized curriculum preparing a “general pastor” who could go anywhere and presumably do everything at least reasonably well. Specialized training and even screening for mission-planting and cross-cultural awareness engaged cooperative and collaborative work with synodical and district mission leadership and field pastors. This later morphed into the Mission and Ministry Seminar. Missionaries and mission leaders connected well with the Concordia Seminary campus, visiting classes, engaging in table talks and fireside chats, and calling the campus community to greater awareness of mission issues.

President Johnson himself called for placing a mission professor in each of the four traditional departments (Kolb in Systematics, followed by Raj in Exegetical, Rowold in Practical, and Schumacher in Historical), and he established the Institute for Mission Studies (IMS) under Robert Kolb. IMS also ran the College of Fellows that involved faculty and LCMS leaders. Though not directly related to seminary administrative decisions, it is worth observing that the Lutheran Society for Missiology (LSFM) began in 1991, the genius of conversations between Robert Scudieri and Eugene Bunkowske (then at the Ft. Wayne seminary). The LSFM journal (predecessor to Lutheran Mission Matters) Missio Apostolica began in 1993 with Won Yong Ji from the seminary faculty as editor, and strong participation from Robert Kolb and Victor Raj, who have carried forward the editorial responsibilities.

The point here is the rich collaboration and cross-fertilization of seminary and mission leadership at both synodical and local levels. This is but one example of the need to listen and learn from one another across the spectrum of pastoral and mission needs of the church, and yes, to critique and even correct, in collegial respect for the checks and balances that are our respective roles and responsibilities in the corporate church in the service of our Lord’s kingdom.
The point here is the rich collaboration and cross-fertilization of seminary and mission leadership at both synodical and local levels.

Finally, we turn to some specific curriculum changes that were actually implemented as a result of CRDC in 1996 and the years following. The press releases announced “35 recommendations,” some clearly more significant than others. But I have often quipped that the most important statement we made, to ourselves as much as to the church, is that it is all right to change—in fact, it is necessary to adapt and adjust to changing contexts. Basic as that may sound, especially in light of the cultural changes since the 1960s and the surge of immigration and multicultural awareness since the 1990s, it was a major reminder that seminary curriculum and pastoral formation are anchored in the unchanging truth of God’s Word of life and connected to the changing contexts of ministry and mission.

What did change? We complemented the standard “Religious Bodies” course that compared various Christian approaches with a new “World Religions” course, taking seriously the rise of Islam and Asian influences in our North American culture. We added a new “Theology of Mission” course, led in large part by Dr. Won Yong Ji with Dr. Victor Raj adding a significant biblical foundation component. These two Asian faculty members brought together philosophical/systematics and exegetical expertise along with non-Western worldviews. We added a course in “Pastoral Leadership,”both in terms of organizational dynamics and of mission leadership, to address the concerns of potential disconnects between pastor and people and to foster alignment between the office of pastoral ministry and the priesthood of the baptized. A new foundational course, “Lutheran Mind,” began the systematics sequence, shaping the increasingly varied backgrounds of seminarians into the Lutheran “ethos” and way of thinking theologically. In doctrine courses we consciously engaged contemporary issues, noting the need to be able to explain profound truths to interested seekers without our traditional, insider jargon. We developed a foundational course in historical theology that presented both a broad overview of church history (providing a larger framework often lacking) and an introduction to methodology and critical thinking that would foster analysis and insights into any mission context. We reinforced the connections between exegesis and the preaching and teaching roles of the pastoral ministry and in bridging the cultural gap from the biblical world to contemporary challenges—also a “cross-cultural” enterprise.

Perhaps most significant was the creative work in Residential Field Education, a practicum that had long been criticized as only loosely connected to curricular goals and generally driven by the needs of the local parish. Three specific modules were introduced for at least one academic quarter of emphasis: evangelism, an institutional experience (e.g., hospital, nursing care, prison ministry), and a cross-cultural experience, where the goal was simply summarized as “gaining the experience of being the only outsider in a room of insiders.”

In time, the local evangelism module proved unworkable, as it depended heavily on the interests and resources of the local congregations, and it became attached to the vicarage requirement. The other two remain, though the cross-cultural module has come to include more short-term mission trips, both internationally and to key national mission contexts such as urban centers. We soon began to offer credited coursework in such contexts, led by local pastors as short, intensive courses. At the time, these were deliberate changes directly related to developing mission awareness and engagement. Eventually more and more students came to the seminary with such experiences, as a generation began to arrive who had already experienced life in a multicultural and increasingly unchurched world. For some, these are a relatively new experience; for many this kind of cross-cultural mission is simply expected and anticipated.

Overall, what we had accomplished was a first step, a large one, to be sure, but a first step. The follow-up evaluation encompassed a list of unfinished items that included addressing the pressures of time,
money, credit hours, and even semesters, all of which would have to wait. As is too often the case, a thorough review with evaluation and assessment of the outcomes we had intended to achieve never fully happened. We did begin to
think in terms of outcomes, including several attempts at learning outcomes with competency checklists, but that time had not yet come. What we did do was establish a pattern of participation and cooperation with those on the front lines of church and mission and with those entrusted with their support through synod and her institutions. We renewed a sense of what can be done when God’s people work together, not just as a coalition of the willing, but as iron can sharpen iron toward common goals in the common cause of our Lord’s mission. We understood the need for continued evaluation and program assessment going forward. And we tried to model a pattern for a more holistic approach to ministerial formation via the
ecclesial means of working together, even walking together, as the whole church.

A final observation. This was also the time when our major accrediting agency, the Association of Theological Schools (ATS), was in the midst of a thorough review and redesign of its own standards, approved in 1996. While not yet fully cresting the hill toward outcome-based standards, the shift was now complete from more quantitative qualifications (e.g., how many PhDs on the faculty, how many books in the library, appropriate financial resources for the number of students and programs) to those that focus on quality and achievement (Is anyone reading the books in the library, and how has that changed them in light of curricular goals? Can the PhDs on the faculty actually stimulate learning toward the goals of student formation?). In short, the ATS was asking schools to define their mission, develop the ways and means to accomplish their mission, and to demonstrate that they were, in fact, achieving that mission.

Following the CRDC of 1991–95, Concordia Seminary (as did Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne, and many other organizations) developed a Mission Statement, along with the now traditional “values and vision” statements that were popularized then. Though these can also become static, they do serve as reference points and as reminders that there is a defined purpose to what we do. Any process of planning and decision making must start with a reminder of why and toward what end we do what we do, with evaluation of how effectively and faithfully we are doing it. That is no less critical in the mission of Christ’s kingdom, entrusted into our frail and often failing hands, yet always under God’s graceful forgiveness in Christ and empowered by His Spirit.

Endnotes

1 Theological controversies eventually led to the suspension of seminary president John Tietjen, which was followed by a walkout of the majority of faculty and students to form a “Seminary-in-Exile,” aka “Seminex.”
2 The LCMS had developed a “system” of secondary schools across the country for the preparation of pastors and other church workers. These followed the German “Gymnasium” model of a six-year program, which corresponded to high school and junior college. As part of regularization into the American system that concluded with a college degree, the Senior College was established in 1957 to bring together all pre-seminary pastoral candidates for the final two years of college before matriculating at Concordia Seminary with a BA degree.

3 As the “system” adapted to the American educational culture, the first four years (high school) fell away, leaving junior colleges that could not be sustained either as two-year programs or as schools dedicated only to the preparation of professional church workers.
4 As the system of schools now became more independent of each other, they became more dependent on tuition revenue than synodical subsidy and needed programs and faculty to attract students from the regional territory that often overlapped (e.g., five schools in the upper Midwest: Ann Arbor, MI; Milwaukee, WI; River Forest (Chicago), IL; St Paul, MN; and Seward, NE). In the 1960s, both seminaries became accredited to offer the MDiv degree and began to overlap programmatically. Moreover, the theological controversies at the St. Louis seminary in the late 60s and 70s caused some pre-seminary (“first career”) students to matriculate at the Springfield (IL) seminary, which otherwise was programmatically distinguished as somewhat of a “second-career” seminary, more “practical” and less academically rigorous. This blurring of the distinctive but complementary niches led to recruitment from the same prospective student pool. As synodical subsidy gradually declined, every institution needed to seek direct development support across the synod.

Rev. Dr. Andrew H. Bartelt

Theological Education in the Missionary Age

tbarjonas — Thu, 11 Mar 2021 20:57:22 +0000

Theological Education in the Missionary Age

The heart of Lutheran Mission Matters beats in rhythm with the eternal and all- encompassing love that our God has for the world. No greater love can be found than in God sending His only Son into the world, not to condemn it, but to save it. His love is only matched by His Son freely laying down His life for all people of all times so that their relationship with their Father—broken by sin—might be healed. All of God’s revelation in Word and deed proceeds from His deep compassion for us who by nature are separated from Him. He describes us as sheep, harassed and helpless, without the presence, protection, and provision of the Good Shepherd (Mt 9:37–38). In the context of the Lord’s missionary compassion, He raised the issue of theological education, the need for the Lord of the harvest to raise up laborers for the harvest—which naturally assumes that they be well equipped for the missionary work set before them.

I was asked some months ago to serve as guest editor for this issue of Lutheran Mission Matters. The honor was extended, no doubt due to my suggestion to the editorial committee that we dedicate at least one issue to the theme, “Theological Education in the Missionary Age.” I was delighted to find unanimous approval of the topic by the other members of the editorial committee. These members not only share a passion for Christ’s mission to and for the world, but most of them have dedicated their lives as theological educators, preparing workers for the harvest around the world. It is a double honor to share this issue with them.

An obvious question emerges to the discerning reader, “When has Christ’s Church and, therefore, the equipping of her leaders not been in the Missionary Age?” That age, after all, began with the Lord’s ascension into heaven and continues until His glorious return. Our Lord intrinsically attached His mission to the business of theological education. So the real question is not whether we are in the missionary age, but rather, “How are we responding to it? How well are theological education systems informed by, dedicated to, and organized around our Lord’s global mission?”

The focus, design, and effectiveness of theological education programs, particularly on historic “mission fields” have been widely discussed, even debated, for decades especially since the 1970s with the advent of the Theological Education by Extension (TEE) movement. Seminal essays such as Bergquist’s and Manickam’s in The Crisis of Dependency in Third World Ministries,1 and Harvie Conn’s “Theological Education and the Search for Excellence”2 raised several critical questions that still invite thoughtful responses that reflect sound educational, contextual, and biblical understanding.

These once “mission field” conversations have returned across the seas to be taken up by churches and seminaries in the West as they face profound challenges posed by “post-Christendom” realities. Residential seminaries are experiencing reductions in students preparing for pastoral ministry; many have closed or consolidated. Seminary graduates, seemingly well-equipped for parish ministry (as it once was), express woeful inadequacy in serving the ever-increasing mission fields surrounding their congregations. Can theological education models that have proven highly effective on once and current foreign mission fields shed helpful and hopeful light on these challenges?

The answer to that question is mixed. As the first article, “The Institutionalization of Theological Education Overseas and at Home,” points out long-standing ideas and practices of theological education in the West strongly resist the changes needed to address adequately and faithfully the mission and ministry contexts into which their graduates are sent. This resistance further increases as the once stable colleges and seminaries face challenges of institutional survival. Matthew Borrasso in his essay, “Repentance and Hope,” thoughtfully recounts how certain cultural and ethnic presuppositions of the Western institutional church impacted missionary outreach among Black Americans in the United States, resulting, eventually, in the closure of three Lutheran colleges and seminaries dedicated to raising up Black American missionaries and pastors.

Christ’s church must always serve from repentance and hope, especially, as she engages with her Lord in His mission. Douglas Rutt calls us to both as he reminds us that the goal of theology, and, therefore, training in theology, is the salvation of souls. He opens both Scripture and the Lutheran Confession to show that ministers of the church carry out their calling for one divine purpose: to bring all people to salvation through faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Theological education must be wholly committed to that endeavor. He shows the intrinsic union God intended between theological education and mission, with examples of the educational ministry of our Lord, His apostles, the Early Church, and centuries later, the Lutheran Reformers.

Robert Kolb expands the conversation regarding Luther and colleagues demonstrating how the evangelical character of their theology produced great flexibility and creativity as they utilized the contemporary media of their time to make Gospel-centered theological education available to all who were unable to attend the residential program at the university in Wittenberg. Kolb explores the various theological education models Luther employed including distance education to assist those already serving to grow in their ability to proclaim the Gospel.

Andrew Bartelt and Joel Okamoto offer companion accounts of two curriculum revisions Concordia Seminary St. Louis undertook over the past thirty years, demonstrating that, like Luther, theological leaders in the LCMS are able to maintain an unswerving commitment to the missionary Gospel and at the same time adapt their long-standing curricula to meet the dramatic shifts taking place in the cultural and social contexts into which the Lord is sending us. Both men write from the vantage point of North America being a vast mission field which necessitates revising the programs to prepare mission-minded workers. Both brothers affirm the need for theological educators to listen to the broader church, especially those engaged in frontline mission work. The most significant takeaway from Andy’s article is, “The most important statement we made, to ourselves as much as to the church, is that it is all right to change—in fact, it is necessary to adapt and adjust to changing contexts. . . . [It] was a major reminder that seminary curriculum and pastoral formation are anchored in the unchanging truth of God’s Word of life and connected to the changing contexts of ministry and mission.” Among the several curriculum adjustments that Joel notes in the seminary’s most recent review is the move from focusing primarily on the accurate transmission of course content to something deeper—the intentional formation of the student as a man of God and apt minister of the Gospel. The goal is not informing students by their instruction but forming them in the heart and mind of Christ who seeks to save all people.

Ongoing conversation regarding theological education and missions requires global participation. We no longer serve in the missional or educational paradigm of the “West reaches the rest.” Lessons from the “mission field” (including the perspectives of expatriate missionaries and church leaders indigenous to the Majority World) have much to offer as we in the West wrestle with Lutheran missional and theological education challenges. Rudy Blank, a veteran missionary in Latin America for over forty years, offers a compelling endorsement for Theological Education by Extension (TEE) in preparing pastors, teachers, and missionaries for the twenty-first century here and abroad. He chronicles the development of the TEE movement from its beginning in Guatemala, providing both the rationale for its inception and the theological and educational understandings undergirding the model. Rudy goes on to explain how LCMS missionaries utilized the TEE model to develop robust theological education programs throughout Latin America.

In a companion article, Marcos Kempff, the son of one of the early pioneers of non-residential theological education in Latin America traces the origins of “Lutheran TEE” back seventy-one years, suggesting that distance education models were in widespread use by Lutheran missionaries in Latin America years prior to the formal inauguration of TEE by Presbyterian missionaries in Guatemala. Marcos goes on to explain the impact Lutheran TEE programs in Latin America have made on LCMS theological education programs in the United States, especially among Latinos and other non-Anglo people groups.

Bartelt, in his article on the Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP) program, moves the TEE conversation forward by providing an account of the collaborative development and eventual endorsement by the LCMS in convention of the Specific Ministry Pastor Program—a non-residential model for pastoral and missionary preparation for North American congregations and mission contexts. By listening and learning from each other, theological educators harness the strengths of both residential and extension education models to develop a faithful response to the need for laborers.

Our issue rounds out with contributions from missionaries and theological educators from around the world. Anselmo Graff of Brazil and Herbert Hoefer, a veteran missionary to India, each offer insights critical to the development of theological education curricula that meet the missional challenges of the age. Carlos Walter Winterle, President Emeritus of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil, reflects on two very different theological education programs in which he participates in Southern Africa—one in Pretoria, RSA, the other in the bush in Mozambique—and how each prepares harvesters who faithfully proclaim the saving Gospel. He concludes with an exhortation to all teachers of the Gospel—not only seminary professors, but parents, Sunday School teachers, and Christians who pass the faith on to others—to teach with the authority and conviction that the Lord bestowed on His baptized as He called them into His mission. Which brings us to the question posed by Miriam Carter writing from Hong Kong, “For Whom Is Theological Education?” Perhaps the answer is summed up best in the hopeful sigh of Moses millennia ago, “Would that all the LORD’s people were prophets, that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!” (Nm 11:29).

Endnotes

1 James A. Bergquist and P. Kambar Manickam, The Crisis of Dependency in Third World Ministries: A Critique of Inherited Missionary Forms in India (Madras: Christian Literature Society, 1974).

2 Harvie M. Conn, “Theological Education and the Search for Excellence,” Westminster Theological Journal 311–363.

Rev. Dr. Robert Newton, guest editor

Lutheran Mission Matters 41, no. 2 (Spring 1979)

Institutional Subscription Fee

tbarjonas — Sun, 03 May 2020 20:16:44 +0000

Institutional Subscription Service Fee

$50/year (only single year subscriptions are available)
This service fee enables libraries and similar institutions to make Lutheran Mission Matters available to their patrons and does not qualify as a tax-exempt contribution to the Lutheran Society for Missiology.

Lutheran Mission Matters is available through these subscription agencies): Cox, EBSCO, and Harrassowitz.

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Submission Guidelines

tbarjonas — Sun, 03 May 2020 20:08:30 +0000

A Note to Contributors

We welcome your participation in contributing to Lutheran Mission Matters. Please observe the following guidelines for submission of manuscripts.

Lutheran Mission Matters publishes studies of missiological issues under discussion in Christian circles across the world. Exegetical, biblical, theological, historical, and practical dimensions of the apostolic mission of the church are explored in these pages.(See the mission statement below.) While issues often focus on a theme, the editorial committee encourages and appreciates submissions of articles on any missiological topic.

Contributors can familiarize themselves with previous issues of Missio Apostolica and Lutheran Mission Matters at the Lutheran Society for Missiology’s website (http://lsfm.global). Click on the Publications link to view PDFs of previous issues for free.

Book reviews: LSFM also welcomes book reviews. Submit reviews of no more than 500 words. E-mail Dr. Joel Okamoto (okamotoj@csl.edu) if interested in writing a review.

Mission Statement

Lutheran Mission Matters serves as an international Lutheran forum for the exchange of ideas and discussion of issues related to proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ globally.

Formatting and Style

Please consult and use The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition for end notes. Consult the “Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide” (http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html).

Direct quotations exceeding four manuscript lines should be set off from the text in an indented paragraph, without quotation marks. Omissions in a quotation should be noted by ellipsis, with an additional period to end a sentence, as appropriate. Spelling should follow the latest edition of Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary. Words in languages other than English should be italicized.

Preparation and Submission

Length: Concise, clear articles are preferred. Manuscripts should not be more than 3,000–4,000 words although longer pieces may be assigned by the editor.

Content: Lutheran Mission Matters is committed to addressing both pastors and people and involving them in the theology and practice of mission. Use of terms or phrases in languages other than the language of the article itself is discouraged. The use of complex and long sentences is discouraged. Attention should be paid to paragraphing so that the article is easy to follow and appears inviting on the page.

Use of call-outs: Lutheran Mission Matters frequently uses call-outs to break up blocks of text on a page and to emphasize important points being made in the article. The author is invited to use Word’s Text Highlight Color to suggest words or phrase that may be included in a call-out. The final decision will be made by the layout editor.

Format: Please submit articles in single spaced Times New Roman 10-point font with 0.25” paragraph indents.

Submission: Manuscripts should be submitted electronically to Professor Victor Raj, rajv@csl.edu. A submission requires that all material has been carefully read and properly noted and attributed. Articles that are inadequately documented will be returned for complete documentation. The author thereby assumes responsibility for any necessary legal permission for materials cited in the article. If the article has been previously published or presented in a public forum, please inform the editor of the details at the time the article is submitted.

Review: The editors submit every manuscript to the editorial committee for examination and critique. Decisions are reached by consensus within the committee. Authors may expect a decision normally within three months of submission. Before publication, articles are copy edited for style and clarity, as necessary. Major alterations will be made available to the author for review.

Additional Submission Information

Bio: Authors should provide, along with their submissions,an autobiographical description. Please write 2-3 sentences introducing yourself. Please include your title(s) you would like LMM to use, the form of your name you want to be known as. Tell your present position and/or your education or experience that qualifies you to write the article. If you have a head-shot photo that you would like to provide, we will try to use it. Please include the email address at which a respondent could reach you.

Abstract: Please provide up to a one-hundred-word synopsis of your article. The abstract will serve as the first paragraph to provide the reader with the basic intent and content of the article.

Complimentary Copies

Remuneration: No remuneration is given for articles published in the Lutheran Mission Matters, but authors will receive two complimentary copies of the issue in which their full-length article appears. Please provide a mailing address with your submission.

Copyright

Copyright of the article will be held by the Lutheran Society for Missiology.Articles may be shared with a credit to Lutheran Mission Matters, but they must remain unchanged according to “Attribution-No Derivs CC by–ND.” See http://creative commons.org/licenses/ for a simple explanation. The following is an example of how we would like to be credited: Article provided courtesy of Lutheran Mission Matters 20, no. 2 (2012), 181–189.

Address correspondence to:

Victor Raj, Editor
Lutheran Mission Matters
801 Concordia Seminary Place
St. Louis, MO 63105
E-mail: rajv@csl.edu

Submission Checklist:

____ Article

____ Abstract

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Call for Papers

tbarjonas — Sun, 03 May 2020 19:14:03 +0000

Lutheran Mission Matters Call for Papers

Lutheran Mission Matters: Three Decades of Ministry, November 2026

The editorial committee of Lutheran Mission Matters (LMM), formerly Missio Apostolica, invites you to contribute to the 2026 November issue on the theme “Forward in Remembrance.” With this theme we propose that the people of God in the 21^st century consider openness, curiosity, and understanding in sharing and living according to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This issue addresses situations like those in much of Europe and the Americas, where a kind of “climate change” has taken place. The social and spiritual climate no longer favors the Church. Like melting glaciers, fewer attend worship, support congregations and missions, and identify as Christian. Like rising temperatures, more give up on religion entirely, or mix and match divergent spiritual beliefs and practices. Like those threatened by storms and droughts, those still devoted to traditional ways and communities often are bewildered and disheartened.

For Lutheran Mission Matters, now is a time to listen and learn as much as to speak and instruct. Now is a time for openness, curiosity, and understanding about these situations, so that we might share, teach, and live according to the gospel clearly and faithfully.

We are thinking about articles and shorter essays along these lines:

Contributions about those whom Christians should listen to. Perhaps you have first-hand experience with the so-called “Nones” or with those who seek their own paths toward meaning and transcendence. Have you been impressed with a particular approach or studies about them? How does interest and curiosity about non-Christians matter to evangelism and mission thinking?
Contributions about the “climate” and the “climate change.” All of us know something is going on. But what? What are helpful ways to think about our situation, and how do they advance witness and church life?
Contributions about larger factors that may not get much attention. For example, how does digital media matter?
Contributions from a global perspective. For example, what does the growth of Christianity in the Global South show us? How might we listen and learn along with church leaders and scholars?
Contributions about insights and ideas from outside the Christian community. For more than a century, scholars in several fields, including anthropology, sociology, political theory, psychology, and cultural studies, have studied religious and spiritual life. What insights and ideas might they have for mission thinking? What are the most interesting, provocative, or imaginative ideas, theories, and findings from non-Christian thinking and practice for Christian life, witness, and thinking?

We especially hope to receive substantive contributions from parish pastors, mission practitioners, church leaders, and theologians who share our common confession. Articles are generally about 3, 000 words in length; however, longer and shorter essays of substance will be considered. Mission observers and book reviewers are encouraged. The deadline for the submission of essays, mission observers and book reviews is August 31, 2026. This date is negotiable.

Submission Guidelines are included in each journal issue and are available on the website. Your submissions may be sent to editor Dr. Victor Raj at rajv@csl.edu for consideration.

Lutheran Mission Matters is a peer-reviewed journal published twice a year by the Lutheran Society For Missiology (LSFM). LSFM was founded in 1992 to provide a Lutheran perspective on the theological and practical working out of Christ’s mission to and in the world. Our publication is indexed in the ATLA Religion Database on the EBSCO platform, along with the full text of the articles. LMM articles are also available under “Publications” tab on the Society’s web page at www.lsfm.global.

Submission Guidelines:

Manuscript Length: Articles, including endnotes, should be between 3,000 and 5,000 words. Book reviews should be 650 words.
Submission Process: Send your articles, mission observers, and book reviews concerning the theme “Liturgy, Mission, and Music: Exploring how Context, Music, and Text affect the worship life of a community" to the editor of the journal, Dr. Victor Raj (rajv@csl.edu), with copies to the issue editor, Dr. James Marriott (jim.marriott@concordia.edu), and the Editorial Assistant at LSFMdesk@gmail.com. Please send book reviews to Dr. Joel P. Okamoto (okamotoj@csl.edu).
Peer Review: All submissions will undergo a double-blind peer review process.
Important Dates: Please submit final articles and book reviews by August 31, 2026.

In Christ’s mission to the world, and on behalf of the editorial committee,

Rev. Dr. Victor Raj

Editor of Lutheran Mission Matters

Christian Witness and Islam - May 2027

The editorial committee of Lutheran Mission Matters (LMM), formerly Missio Apostolica, invites you to submit essays, mission observers, and book reviews for the May 2027 issue on the chosen theme: Christian Witness and Islam. Christianity and Islam are the two largest religions in the world and expected to reach parity in population by mid-century. In addition, Christianity and Islam are each exclusive and mission focused religions that share a history of competition and conflict. Islam is often seen by Christians as an impossible missionary endeavor. From Islam’s rise in the seventh century, Christian apologists, theologians, and missionaries have engaged Muslims with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Today Christians are still called by Jesus to proclaim the gospel to all nations, including Muslims, and to love their Muslims neighbors. This issue of Lutheran Mission Matters explores Christian witness and Islam by focusing on the good news of Jesus for Muslims and the following suggested areas of scholarship and missional reflection:

Christian and Muslim relations: past, present, and future;
Christian witness and Islam in church history;
Quran and Scripture, and comparative teachings of confessional and missional engagement;
Hadith and the role of tradition in Islam and Christian mission;
Muslim and Christian understandings of Jesus and the prophets;
Muslim and Christian ethics and praxis;
Christian and Muslim interactions in secular and political contexts;
Christian witness among Muslims and Muslim witness among Christians;
Challenges and opportunities for Christian witness among Muslims;
The Global South and Christian witness to Islam;
Christianity in the Middle East and Islam.

Submission Guidelines
1. Manuscript Length: Articles, including endnotes, should be between 3,000 and 5,000 words. Mission observer entries should be around 2,000 to 3,000 words. Book reviews should be 650 words.
2. Submission Process: Send your articles, mission observers, and book reviews concerning
the theme “Christian Witness and Islam” to the editor of the journal, Dr. Victor Raj (rajv@csl.edu), with copies to the issue editor, Dr. Joshua Hollmann
(hollmann@csp.edu), and the Editorial Assistant at LSFMdesk@gmail.com. Please send book reviews to Dr. Joel P. Okamoto (okamotoj@csl.edu).
3. Peer Review: All submissions will undergo a double-blind peer review process.
4. Important Dates: Please submit final articles and book reviews by February 1, 2027.

Truly Confessional: Responding to the Collapse of Christendom

tbarjonas — Sat, 02 May 2020 19:37:08 +0000

LCMS CHN President Robert Newton District Convention presentation, which formed the basis of his article, "Truly Confessional: Responding to the Collapse of Christendom" in the May 2015 issue of Missio Apostolica