ELCA Department for Communication, News & Information
8765 West Higgins Rd, Chicago, IL 60631 800/638-3522 ext. 2963
HEADLINES FOR ELCA NEWS RELEASE ISSUE #18, July 27, 1995
-- INQUIRY PROCESS YIELDS WHOLENESS
-- SUMMER MISSIONARY CONFERENCE
-- GRUNDTVIG'S GLOBAL INFLUENCE
July 27, 1995
INQUIRY PROCESS YIELDS WHOLENESS
95-18-054-AH
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The advisory committee overseeing the
"Inquiry" process in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America made
plans July 6-7 for an interactive progress report to the Churchwide
Assembly, Aug. 16-22. Voting members will engage in the same kind of
discussion about the ELCA's future that has challenged Inquiry
participants at five events so far.
ELCA Vice President Kathy Magnus, Denver, will present the
report to the assembly. The study is to be completed when the church's
new bishop takes office in November.
With five events to go, the Inquiry appears to be yielding mostly
intangibles: creativity, concern, wholeness, a sense of loss and some
wide-ranging metaphors. One pastor taking part at the Seguin, Texas,
event insisted that the ELCA see itself as the sandbox where life is
played out within clear boundaries. Another argued that the church is
the whole playground where some might choose swings and others the
jungle gym.
All this got started in 1993 when the ELCA Church Council asked
for some analysis of possible future directions and structures for the
church. The dialogue among lay people, pastors and church leaders is
defying definition.
In general, data on denominations in the United States show
institutional loyalty to be low, according to Kenneth Inskeep, ELCA
director of research and evaluation. The Inquiry process of dialogue on
church and future results in a different phenomenon. "The data say
fragmentation is inevitable, but the discussion itself seems to provide an
experience of wholeness," says Inskeep.
The Rev. David R. Tiede, a member of the Inquiry committee, said
... "In each setting participants are examining the experience of being a
Lutheran Christian here. Asking each other what is it like, what can we
do?"
Change is a constant concern among ELCA members, according
to Inskeep. The Inquiry has discovered "the power of change to
influence people and their feelings. People are reacting to change when
they think about the church's future." He reported, "Linkage (to the
church) is still important to people, together with a strong desire for
liberty and creativity."
Inskeep described a trend he calls "back to basics." We are
hearing people say, "We should tell the story of Jesus. This is the
mission. But how we do it is open."
"We thought we would encounter the deep disenchantment that
has been so widely reported," Inskeep told the advisory committee, "but it
is relatively easy for people to be engaged over a two-day period and go
away with a renewed wholeness." Seeking a way to do this throughout
the church is the Inquiry's ongoing task. A resource for congregations is
under development.
The Rev. Al Hoerig, who went to Seguin, said, "Our
congregation's female lay representative thanked me for asking her to
come. She gave up two days of work and family to be there. Her
questions were, 'How can we do something like this in our
congregation? Can we make talking and sharing and planning this much
fun?'"
Tiede said the ELCA has learned three things: "There is both
expectation and hope among congregations and leaders, there is desire
to work together, and there is a willingness to say 'Help us.'"
Hoerig said a college student talked about "the need for human
contact, hand to hand, shoulder to shoulder, side by side. People facing
each other. People worshipping together. People together sharing joys
and bearing one another's burdens. That sounded good!"
In March the Rev. Herbert W. Chilstrom, bishop of the ELCA,
broadened the Inquiry process, inviting the church's 5.2 million members
to "a season of prayer for our church's future." Inquiry "future
search" and "dialogue" events have been held in Seguin; Columbus,
Ohio; Rock Island, Ill.; Allentown, Pa.; and Minneapolis. Upcoming events
will be in Charlotte, N.C.; Los Angeles; Bismarck, N.D.; and Eugene, Ore.
##########
July 27, 1995
SUMMER MISSIONARY CONFERENCE
95-18-055-LC
KENOSHA, WIS. (ELCA) -- The central African country of
Cameroon is not a place the typical college graduate looks for a job. Yet,
Mary Wangerin, Valparaiso, Ind., is headed there August 1 for two years
of service with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. She will be
teaching missonary children in grades one through eight.
Wangerin was one of about 110 people here at Carthage College,
July 16-20, for the ELCA's Summer Missionary Conference. The
conference is a time for "continuing education, spiritual refreshment and
a chance to renew friendships" for all missionaries on home leave in the
United States, said Joyce M. Bowers, associate director for international
personnel in the ELCA's Division for Global Mission (DGM).
"This is a serious commitment," said Wangerin, who recently
graduated from Butler University, Indianapolis. "The hardest part is, I
won't see my family or friends for two years." The missionary
conference is just part of a four-week orientation for new missionaries.
Wangerin has people like the Rev. Earl and Nijiko Bergh to look to
for advice about overseas service. They were honored here as they
retired from 40 years as missionaries in Japan. Or, she could look to the
Rev. Raymond and Nellie Faye Hagberg, retiring after 35 years as
missionaries, 19 of them in Tanzania.
"It is encouraging to hear the history of all the people here," said
Jill Rheingans, missionary in Madagascar. "Everybody is at different
levels -- some just going, some who have been overseas 30 plus years.
Your own journey is a process, and the people here are supportive
through each step," she said.
The conference is a time to explore current issues in mission and
get up-to-date information on new DGM resources, said Bowers. Also,
"there are a number of resources for missionary children including
educational testing, counseling, and an opportunity to be with other kids
who know what it is like to be a missionary kid," she added. Children
and youth programming for about 50 children was provided.
Each morning the topic "Gospel and Culture" was addressed with
discussion groups on such topics as health ministries, development,
communication and translation, and ministries with women.
When you go overseas, the North American contextualized
Gospel needs to be challenged, said anthropologist Dr. Paul Hiebert,
Trinity Divinity School, Deerfield, Ill. "You need to take the Scripture and
put it into the local context without distorting the Gospel."
Hiebert talked about culture shock and misunderstandings that
can occur because of ethnocentrism and premature judgments. "The
more you grapple with cultural context, the further you can go in
adjustment to meet your counterparts, the less distance they have to go
to meet you," he added.
The Rev. Mark W. Thomsen, DGM executive director, outlined 13
major program trends in global mission since 1988. Thomsen pointed out
a 20.5 percent increase in funding for leadership development, especially
among women, and a corresponding decrease in traditional missionary
pastors and evangelists.
Scholarship funding has increased almost 30 percent, "making
possible studies for many future leaders within partner churches."
Other trends include an increase in personnel and resources for
dialogical witness among people of other faiths, particularly in regions
that are largely Muslim and among Hindus and Buddhists. With the
"disintegration of the USSR and the opening up of Eastern and Central
Europe, DGM has begun to increase resources and personnel there
while decreasing resources in Western Europe."
Covenant groups met every day for two hours to explore such
topics as conflict resolution skills, living among people of other faiths,
demons and exorcism, and transition issues for "missionary kids."
The group honored Thomsen who is retiring this fall.
##########
July 27, 1995
GRUNDTVIG'S GLOBAL INFLUENCE
95-18-056-FI
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The impact of Nikolai F.S. Grundtvig
(1783-1872) is felt around around the world although many don't even
know his name. Forty people from Europe and North America met here
July 19-23 to share what influence the Danish theologian, educator and
poet has had and could have in almost every corner of the earth. It was
the First International Ecumenical Consultation on Grundtvig in the United
States.
"This is not just introducing Grundtvig to the English-speaking
world," said the Rev. Daniel F. Martensen, associate director for
ecumenical and interfaith dialogue for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America. "We are talking about finding new resources for church
renewal at the turn of the century."
"Generally, people were surprised by the potentially current
nature of Grundtvig's importance," he said. "A lot of learning happened
among these people who had never seen each other before."
Martensen hosted the conference at the ELCA offices.
"Grace happens in the realm God created." The Rev. Philip
Hefner said Grundtvig applied that basic belief to almost every facet of
life. Hefner is a professor of systematic theology at the Lutheran School
of Theology at Chicago and director of the Chicago Center for Religion
and Science.
"If one takes seriously the theology of creation," Hefner said,
"then the world in which we live -- our nature and culture -- are defined
as God's good creation ... in the image of God."
While other 19th century Lutheran theologians focused on sin's
corruption of creation, Grundtvig stressed God's love as its defining
characteristic. Christians were human beings first -- no different from
Jews, Muslims or Buddhists -- when it came to God's creation.
"At first he was in opposition to the leading Enlightenment
theologians," said Dr. Kim Arne Pedersen, Centre for Grundtvig Studies
at Aarhus University in Denmark. "He had to struggle for his ideas, but
when he died he was well-known all over Denmark. Today he has
inspired the whole nation."
Grundtvig tracked "the divine gift of Christian poetry" from King
David of ancient Israel to 7th century Anglo-Saxon poets and to Norse
missionaries, said Dr. S.A.J. Bradley, professor of Anglo-Saxon
literature, University of York, Heslington, England. For Grundtvig, Jesus
Christ is the word of God and evident in many forms of literature,
including Danish mythology.
"He wrote books about Danish history and about his visions for
Danish society," Pedersen said. "He has influenced the Danish social
structure -- characterized by its balance between individual freedom and
social responsibility."
"Grundtvig deserves also to be remembered as a prophet who
could summon his people to such a love of country as would make them
leaders in international cooperation," said Dr. R. William Franklin, General
Theological Seminary, New York.
Grundtvig championed the study of one's culture as essential to
one's education. "He inspired the folk high school movement, both in
Denmark and abroad," said Pedersen.
"If we look at a map of the world we find that initiatives have
been taken to establish folk high schools, based on a Danish concept, in
for instance the United States, Japan, the Philippines, Israel, Chile,
Nigeria, Ghana, India, Bangladesh, Poland and Hungary," said Dr. Lilian
Zollner, Center for Research on Life Enlightenment and Cultural Identity,
Ollerup, Denmark. "Within the latest years the Baltic countries and
Russia have been very interested, and efforts are being made there to
put these ideas into practice."
Danish heritage played a key role in Grundtvig's theology. "He
stressed the interaction between Christianity and daily life, and daily life
always has to be shaped by the culture in which you live," Pedersen
said.
While others in the Church of Denmark were giving greater
importance to the sermon, Grundtvig stressed "the feeling we have
together of being a congregation," said Pedersen. That feeling was
conveyed through the liturgy, hymns, Baptism and Holy Communion.
Ten scholars and students of Grundtvig came from Denmark.
Others came from France, Great Britain and the United States. They
represented Lutheran churches as well as the Anglican Church, the
Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (Mormon) and the
Reformed Church in America.
Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik of Denmark provided funds
for the conference. Other sources included Dana College (Blair, Neb.),
the Grand View College Grundtvig Study Group (Des Moines, Iowa), the
Danish Interest Group, the Lutheran World Federation's Department for
Theology and Studies, and the Koinonia Group of St. Peder's Lutheran
Church (Minneapolis).
"Our plans for the future include finding vehicles for publishing all
the papers that were done," said Martensen. Rather than publishing the
content of the conference, he said the participants will pursue publishing
their papers in theological, educational and literary journals.
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