Change or Not to Change.... That Is the Question...

Out west of my home town is a shadow of a town called Venus.  It was a town.  When I first started going with my Pastor to St. Paul's Lutheran Church there, there was a general store of sorts that doubled as the Post Office and probably a gas pump (can't recall for sure).  The store is gone so I guess that town is, too.  But the congregation is still there.  I would go along to assist, later to preach, often alone.  I still recall the Christmas Eve standing in my cassock and surplice waiting for the liturgy and children's program to begin when I felt the call of nature.  Where is the rest room?  The elder with me pointed to an out house several snow drifts away.  Or, he offered, you could just use the back porch, if you know what I mean...

That congregation was pretty much the same for years upon years.  But change did come.  There are now restrooms and running water.  So for all those who thought this little back water congregation was going to die, bad on you.  It seems not to have changed much at all.  Similar numbers of folks (okay, maybe a few less and especially a few less youth).  But it is still there.  One of their members was national President of the LWML and has served on any number of boards and commissions of Synod.  I think the address is now Orchard but the congregation is still St. Paul's - Venus.

I still fondly recall a church picnic there so many years ago.  My Dad and I went and I preached outdoors.  They had gathered just off a stream in a field under a canopy of trees to keep away the summer heat.  Big garbage cans were sitting on the propane heaters that usually were used for branding beef on the hoof.  In those garbage cans were cans of beer, on top of which we piled layers of potatos, carrots, sweet corn, cabbage, and ham hocks.  It was ever so tasty and the fellowship was warm and friendly.

My point is this.  We are told over and over again that change is good.  That we cannot afford not to change in a world filled with change.  That change is the key to growth and mission.  That change will bring people into the empty churches of our Synod.  That this is not your grandfather's church anymore...  There is some truth to all of those statements and there is some deception to all of those statements.

The Church called the LCMS is filled with congregations that do not change much -- like St. Paul's -Venus.  Too much change and they would not be there anymore.  And the Synod has many congregations for whom change is an every day occurance, always reinventing themselves, techno junkies after the latest fad or trend.  If they don't change, they won't be there tomorrow.  Change is part of their attraction.  The fact that your grandpa would never feel at home there is a badge of honor for some of these folks.

I think that among the only things that really need to change is that Lutherans need to be Lutheran -- sadly this would represent a change for too many of us...  It would help if the Lutherans who want to be Lutheran and who believe and worship like Lutherans would be friendly and welcoming toward those who may venture in their doors.  It would help if the Lutherans who want to be Lutheran would talk about their Lutheranism with their friends and neighbors.  It would help if those Lutherans changed  what conflicted with their Lutheran confession and identity but kept everything else.  But most of the changes that folks are pressing on  some of us are changes that mask our identity and do not clarify it... that detract from who we are and how that impacts our lfie together in worship... that are ashamed or embarrassed of our Lutheran distinctiveness instead of thankful and proud...

I am not Luddite.  I am not Amish.  I do not disdain technology.  I am thoroughly conversant with the computer. I have a cell phone.  I text.  But technology and change are not the saviors of  Lutheranism... renewed identity, flowing from our fellowship around the means of grace, bounded by the Confessions, expressed in faithful practices... with a welcome face and a willingness to tell what we believe.... these are the changes I vote for....