Dear Friends in Christ,
I used the phrase back to basics during the deans’ retreat in March and a few people encouraged me to write about it. That task is harder than it sounds, mostly because I do not want to be misunderstood. I do not want readers to think I do not care about current events, including such things as this federal election year, the housing crisis facing so many of our communities, violence across the globe, and the growing wealth gap. I also do not want you to read basics as a synonym for fundamentals, with a path towards fundamentalism.
So why the phrase? We are called to be the church, the Christian community gathered and sent week after week. We gather around Word and Sacraments and that is unique. When I say that we would do well to get back to basics I mean we need to…
Read scripture well
Create worship experiences that are faithful to the tradition and our local contexts
Love and care for our neighbors
In the Revised Common Lectionary, Easter 4 is commonly known as Good Shepherd Sunday. I think if we spend time on these basics, we will be able to hear Jesus, the Good Shepherd’s voice and follow him.The
ELCA’s Book of Faith Initiative grew out of memorial from the North Carolina Synod Assembly in 2005, becoming a resolution at Churchwide Assembly in 2007. I still remember being a pastor in rural Iowa when the resources started coming out—so simple and accessible but also so connected to all the reasons I stayed a Lutheran and became an ELCA pastor. The initiative encouraged us to read scripture with four particular lenses: devotionally, historically, literarily, and with the Lutheran theological lens. Dwelling in the Word, a practice central to the Faithful Innovation rhythm adapted by congregations in our synod, either grew out of or was amplified by the Book of Faith Initiative. I name these tools because how we read scripture matters and these tools can help. Of course, how we live our lives matters even more than how we interpret scripture and I trust older colleagues who lament that doctrine was emphasized in their formation more than praxis (action or practice). Today I often say that there are people who claim to be Christian but clearly have a different gospel than me; this dissonance is intricately connected to both scriptural interpretation and praxis.
Besides Bible Studies and devotional reading of scripture, the other place we learn the faith is in worship. In fact, even though our hymnals do not have margin or footnotes to noting it, a great deal of our liturgy and hymns are scripture (turn to page 1154 in Evangelical Lutheran Worship for scriptural material that informs our liturgy). Singing is how I absorbed and grew in faith, which would not surprise any early childhood learning expert. I am grateful that some of our congregations use the actual liturgy in new member classes. I appreciate when I see fresh rubrics in bulletins or slides explaining why we do what we do in worship. I love learning new hymns from All Creation Sings when I am visiting congregations. When I say get back to basics regarding worship, I mean teach and explore the wealth of resources we have and, at the same time, do worship well for your community. That might mean speaking everything but the hymns, which you occasionally sing a cappella. It might mean discovering and using Service of the Word or Morning Prayer. It might mean using beautiful bulletin covers instead of hearing choir anthems.
How do we love our neighbors? Honestly, after visiting congregations and reading your updates, I know you are already doing this in so many ways, more than I can name here. I only hope you can draw the connections between the Triune God you encounter in scripture and worship with your love of neighbors. We might partner with secular humanists for justice, but our source of identity is in Jesus Christ. We are, as Bishop Eaton says, “church for the sake of the world.”
I will end with this; as you love your neighbor, please never doubt just showing up and getting to know someone and making sure they feel truly seen. That is not flashy. It is not always as satisfying as fixing something. It is hard to put it on a checklist. And sometimes it is harder to love the neighbor sharing the Lord’s Supper with you than the neighbor experiencing homelessness across town. But the act of seeing someone, really hearing their story, and loving them is more important than ever. It is a skill set that can be improved with practice. It is absolutely what Jesus did again and again through his ministry and it is what we are called to do if we will truly respond to his love and follow him.
Bishop Meggan Manlove