Those who insist that we need to listen to what is going on in congregations on Sunday morning are typically more the kind who value contemporary worship styles and music -- one that you will not find in an LCMS hymnal. They eschew vestments and organs as much as they have moved on from the ordo and a recognizable shape of the liturgy (much less a common text). They are the loudest voices among those who are telling us to pay more attention to the congregations. Typically they feel oppressed, overlooked, and ignored by their Synod. This is odd because they are generally larger in size and have more dollars. They have actual staff members instead of volunteers dedicated to technology and its use in worship and church administration. They go to best conferences practices to network with others who share their mind about Sunday morning. They lament the small congregations which should either merge, close, or die and get it over with already. You can hear it and see it all around you. Talking heads in the prescribed uniforms of jeans and tees or polos and khakis have taken to the airwaves to insist that uniformity is bad and diversity is good and the diversity is where the future lies.
Those on the other side tend to go to conferences and do their thing without much media hype. Sure they have loud mouths on their side as well and some of us already know who I mean. But the other side is typically less vocal and quietly goes about doing what they do even if it is under the radar. There are more of these congregations but these congregations worship (gotta use the jargon) few numbers of people on Sunday morning. They are old-fashioned and proudly so -- without screens or online check-ins or questions texted to the preacher mid sermon and wear black under their vestments. You know exactly what to expect when you go there -- the ordo (though often with a tad more ceremonial than the hymnal) and the hymns from the hymnal. They want the Synod to listen to them just like the other groups thinks they should speak or the LCMS. Hmmmmm.
The same is true for the issue of pastoral formation. The large congregations think of themselves as potential seminaries with a little help from an online friend. They think they know what kind of pastor they need and what kind of pastor they want and they don't want someone to go away to seminary and return years later with a different agenda. They complain that the traddies already have both brick and mortar seminaries in the LCMS and they want the same -- they want an option for them. But they also want more. They believe that the reason for the LCMS decline is due not simply to the outdated worship practices of the other side but also to the outdated way we teach, train, form, and send out pastors. They think that the Synod needs to listen to their kind of congregations and loosen up the rules and provide for a path so that they can get what they want.
Those on the other side are not even sure that all the guys coming out of seminary are formed enough and every recent seminary grad who defects to the other side is held up as an example of why things need to be tightened down even more -- not loosened up! They think that the true blue Lutheran congregations are the only ones who ought to be heard. They think that Synod has paid far too much attention to those who live in the liturgical and theological fringes of our church body.
So there you have it. We all want to be heard about our opinions on worship and pastoral preparation, to name but two of the big issues before us. We say we want congregations to weigh in. The only problem is that we are divided as to which congregational voices ought to be heard and what kind of pastors will best serve us in the years to come. Does that surprise you?
No comments:
Post a Comment