Liturgy And The Youth

Pastor Matthew Harrison who is now president of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod talking about youth and the liturgy.

HT Paul McCain

So, What Are The Rubrics For Liturgical Thundersticks During Worship?

So, what are the rubrics for when Christian’s gather to worship and wish to incorporate the use of “thundersticks” into worship? Does anybody know? I can’t find the required rubrics anywhere in the Lutheran Service book! Why is that?

First we need to define some terms…

Rubrics are according to the Lutheran Cyclopedia are “Directions for conducting services; the name is derived from the red ink often used for them, in distinction from the text of the service, in black ink.” Another way of putting that is that the rubrics tell us how to conduct the Divine Service so that everything moves and is conducted in an orderly fashion. There have been rubrics governing the conduct of the Divine Service since God instituted congregational worship in Leviticus. If you think that Leviticus is nothing more than a bunch of rules for an Old Testament Israel to follow then the rest of this post will not make any sense whatsoever. Just sayin’…

Thundersticks according to Wikipedia are “sometimes known as cheerstix, bangers or bambams, are long, narrow plastic balloons that are used as promotional noise makers. The noise is created when two thundersticks are struck together. They are most often used at sporting events, political rallies and concerts.”

Worship was defined by the reformation era Lutherans as the gathering of the faithful where the marks of the Church were present, that is to say, where the people could go to hear the Word preached purely and the Sacraments administered rightly. The center of the Christian’s spiritual life has always been the gathering together for worship and this is why our confessions point to the “marks” for the very definition of what the Church is.

So, back to my question… what are the rubrics for when Christian’s gather to worship and wish to incorporate the use of “thundersticks” into worship? Maybe I need to explain why I’m asking the question to begin with.

At July’s National Youth Gathering one of the mass events featured thundersticks used en masse (pun intended) by both those leading the service as well as by the kids. As I have been set straight by one of the workers for the mass events that “were not considered a "worship service," but were considered worship” I think it’s only fair that we make certain that our kids don’t fall into the trap of thinking that the use thundersticks during worship is in any way similar to their use in baseball or football games.

It is crucial that we teach our children that order in worship should be of the utmost importance and that rubrics help facilitate such order. How can expect our children to return to their grandfather’s church and those dusty old hymnals if we don’t take the liturgical use of thundersticks seriously and write rubrics for the time-honored use of these joyful noisemakers?

To not properly incorporate thundersticks into the worship life of our congregations through ordered rubrics would simply turn our worship services into something resembling pagan sporting events and profane the holy things of the Church. We don’t want that do we? No, we don’t.

It’s all about setting an example for our children it is.

What Are We Teaching Our Youth? Part 3

Pastor Jonathon Fisk from Worldview Everlasting looks at some of the weird goings on at the national youth gathering like liturgical dancing and a prayer walking class that was taught as part of a breakout session in his video titled “I'm Just Very Confused - Part 2: Authorized Take-Over Deum”

Part 1 can be viewed here

What Are We Teaching Our Youth? Part 2

Pastor Jonathon Fisk from Worldview Everlasting continues his look at the national youth gathering in his video titled "I'm Just Very Confused - Part 1: Simulized Adrenali-Fide"

What Are We Teaching Our Youth?

Here’s another great video from Pastor Jonathon Fisk. Pastor Fisk is a favorite blogger of mine no matter what medium he’s using over at Worldview Everlasting.

This video looks at what went on at the last nation youth gathering, an event which congregations from all over the country sent their youth to. So what are these national gatherings teaching? Pastor Fisk gives us a hint in the embedded video.

A Great Article On The Perils of “Wannabe Cool” Christianity

Brett McCracken writing in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal warns of the perils of “wannabe cool” Christianity. He reports that as many as 70% of Protestants between the ages of 18-22 are “pouring out of their churches, never to return” because of trends that have Americanized Christianity’s congregations scrambling to stay ahead of the relevance curve and sustain the cool, hip, and relevant image that place gimmick above Gospel. He writes:

Statistics like these have created something of a mania in recent years, as baby-boomer evangelical leaders frantically assess what they have done wrong (why didn't megachurches work to attract youth in the long term?) and scramble to figure out a plan to keep young members engaged in the life of the church.

Increasingly, the "plan" has taken the form of a total image overhaul, where efforts are made to rebrand Christianity as hip, countercultural, relevant. As a result, in the early 2000s, we got something called "the emerging church"—a sort of postmodern stab at an evangelical reform movement. Perhaps because it was too "let's rethink everything" radical, it fizzled quickly. But the impulse behind it—to rehabilitate Christianity's image and make it "cool"—remains.

Mr. McCracken goes on to list several of the techniques that pop evangelicalism seems to use in attempt to be cool such as using Stephen Colbert or Lady Gaga references in sermons, screening R rated movies (this is especially prevalent during the summer months! And with the lack of quality movies coming out of Hollywood, or Vancouver for that matter, some congregations even have resorted to sermon series on movies that are up to five and six years old… which could be relevant I guess if you just woke up from a coma!), holding worship services at hip nightclubs, or having worship experiences at an iCampus where the participation is of a virtual nature.

Mr. McCracken also hits the emergent church’s postmodern, lets “rebrand” the church as an attempt to remake Christianity cool pretty hard and states the emergent movement has fizzled out. McCracken’s notes that the emergent movement’s ideas and impulses to “rehabilitate” Christianity are still alive and well even if the movement has fizzled out. I would argue with Mr. McCracken that the emergent church has fizzled out and say that it’s leaders, McLaren, Sweet, Bell, Pagitt Jones, Kimball (who the LCMS has invited to teach church workers who focus on youth ministry) and others are actually bigger than ever. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the same practices (think Roman Catholic monastic practices from before the Protestant Reformation and desert father mysticism) encouraged and promoted by so many the emergent leaders are now being taught in evangelical and Anglican churches as well Lutheran churches in the LCMS! Just because the movement’s leaders keep moving the target doesn’t mean the movement’s dead or has fizzled out.

Mr. McCracken also points out that the most popular “and arguably the most unseemly” method of trying to stay “wannabe cool” is to just try to be as shocking as possible, with the most popular tactic being a focus on sex. Mr. McCracken is not exaggerating or using hyperbole to make his point! There is not a week that goes by where there isn’t a sermon series on sex supplanting the preaching of repentance and the forgiveness of sins. Don’t believe me or Mr. McCracken? Well then, just Google the words sex and sermon series and watch how many hits pop up! If you are so inclined to indulge in an adult beverage, you might just want to pour yourself a stiff one… you’ll see what I mean, trust me.

Mr. McCracken supports his argument by quoting author David Wells from his book “The Courage To Be Protestant”:

"The born-again, marketing church has calculated that unless it makes deep, serious cultural adaptations, it will go out of business, especially with the younger generations. What it has not considered carefully enough is that it may well be putting itself out of business with God.

"And the further irony, is that the younger generations who are less impressed by whiz-bang technology, who often see through what is slick and glitzy, and who have been on the receiving end of enough marketing to nauseate them, are as likely to walk away from these oh-so-relevant churches as to walk into them."

Mr. McCracken concludes his article:

If the evangelical Christian leadership thinks that "cool Christianity" is a sustainable path forward, they are severely mistaken. As a twentysomething, I can say with confidence that when it comes to church, we don't want cool as much as we want real.

If we are interested in Christianity in any sort of serious way, it is not because it's easy or trendy or popular. It's because Jesus himself is appealing, and what he says rings true. It's because the world we inhabit is utterly phony, ephemeral, narcissistic, image-obsessed and sex-drenched—and we want an alternative. It's not because we want more of the same.

So does Brett McCracken’s article word of warning of those of us who call ourselves confessing Lutherans? Oh heck yeah! As long as we keep looking to consultants and marketing gurus who tell us play secular music in our worship service so as to not scare away the unchurched seeker, put up billboards claiming to be from Satan that state he hates our goofy church, or fall victim to the “we need to talk about sex because nobody in the church ever talks about sex” bug that plague so many seeker sensitive churches in Americanized Christianity, then if we have any sense at all about us we had better hear Brett McCracken’s warning loud and clear.

Liturgical Dancers To The Left Of Me, Drum Circles To The Right

This morning I found in the inbox my monthly Youth Ministry E-bulletin from the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. The E-bulletin focused on the recent national youth gathering that wrapped up down in New Orleans a few weeks ago. One thing really caught my eye…

Rev. Dr. Terry Dittmer, the director of the Youth Ministry Office of the District and Congregational Services , in his final thought this month, looks back at the national youth gathering and distinguishes what he believes was really the highlight of the conference.

Now, just what do ya’ll think that most memorable moment was? Was it the liturgical dancers? No. Was it the dynamic drum circle that hypnotized the crowd? No. Was it classes where the youth were taught prayer walking so that they can go out and reclaim lost spiritual territories? No. Or was the most memorable moment “the elegance of divine service and the liturgy” or “the celebration of the Lord's Supper with the 24,000 youth and adults”. No, that was not the most memorable moment for the head of youth ministry in our beloved synod.

Instead, the most memorable moment, according to Rev. Dittmer’s was:

But, to me, the single most moving, dignified part of that service was the procession of Christ's body from the cross down the center aisle of the Superdome. The story of Christ's crucifixion was recounted. At the end of the story, Christ's body was taken from the cross to be put in the borrowed tomb. His body was placed on a gurney and carried out of the dome on the shoulders of young people. Now, everybody knew it was an actor portraying Jesus laying on the stretcher. But, spontaneously, as the body was transported from the stage, the assembly rose with profound respect for what the scene was depicting. There wasn't a sound in the house. In that dramatic moment, the truth of what we know about Christ's suffering, death and resurrection were shown as real. Here was the truth - fully on display. Christ died for our sins. WE BELIEVE.

I’m, not having been to a seminary and not being a pastor and all, well, I’m just a little unclear on something here… exactly how are we brought to faith? And how exactly is that faith in Christ and His salvific work given to us by God sustained? I thought that we believed by the hearing of the Word as St. Paul says in his epistle to the Romans and the Galatians and not by things that we see as the writer to the Hebrews states. Isn’t that what Lutherans teach and confess in the Augsburg Confession?

I wonder what happens to the youth (and the adults as well) when they go home to their congregations and don’t have so dramatic a worship experience. I wonder…

The Quote of The Week From A Friend On Facebook

Today’s quote of the week is from one of my friends on Facebook commenting on the recent revelation that an air traffic controller let his children direct airplanes from the JFK tower:

_______ is marveling at how everyone gets worked up over a kid repeating ground control instructions when even the pilots got a kick out of it, while no one gets upset over the notion of a youth-lead worship service.

What a brilliant observation! Think my friend and I are being too harsh? I don’t, not at all.

Well, you see, I have some personal experience with “youth-lead worship.” One of the last “worship” experiences I participated in, before leaving the faith for fifteen excruciatingly long years of atheism, had the youth of my congregation running the entire service dressed up as clowns while late sixties rock and roll (selected by me) blared in the sanctuary. With the hope of being seen as relevant and cool; the youth group I was a part of was allowed to take the holy things of God and profane them for all to see.

Boy did we pat ourselves on the back that day. Looking back, it is one of the most shameful things I’ve ever done and as sinful as I am… that's saying a lot.

That singular event is one of the primary reasons I cringe every time someone explains that we need to stop looking so much like church to reach the so called unchurched. The less we look like church the easier it is to look like a bunch of kids in clown suits.

The Bible As History, No Modernity Or Post Modern Goofiness In This Class

I started teaching a class this past Sunday on whether the Old Testament can be viewed as an account of a historical nature or if, as many modern and postmodern would have it, we should look at the Biblical narrative and accounts as myths, fables, or morality tales similar to parables in that they are only meant to teach us how to play nice and love one another but have no grounding within genuine history. Guess which side I’m taking?

It’s remarkable how much Jesus talked about events recorded in the Old Testament as if the events really, really occurred. Imagine that… He talks of the flood recorded the Genesis account in Matt. 24:36-39 as if it is a real event. He also speaks of Sodom and Gomorra as if they were real cities destroyed for their wickedness in Matt. 11:23,24 and Jonah as a real person swallowed by a real fish in Matt. 12:39-41.

In the texts we are looking at in our study it is clear that at no time is Jesus using the kind of language He uses when He teaches by parables, such as “the kingdom of heaven is like…” or ”the kingdom of heaven can be compared to…”, when referring to events recorded in the Books of Moses and the prophets! Jesus speaks to his hearers and to us of real events occurring within a recorded history.

Now it could be that I’m just cherry picking verses out of context except that the Gospel writers are very careful to tell us when Jesus is using parables to ‘splain things. In addition, Jesus always explains his parables to the disciples even if not right away (another case for is meaning is at the last supper, meaning, yes, He really did mean that the bread and the wine are His Body and Blood and not some allegorical representation supposed by my evangelical friends!)

What surprised me most about how the class started off (This if the first week of the study. I suspect I’ll spend three or four weeks on going over Jesus’ understanding of Scripture before moving on to a look at the evidence of the historicity of the New Testament.) was how these high school students were able state in an unsolicited manner and with a high degree of certainty that the Bible can and should be looked at as a historical document. I really assumed that their secular education would have beaten any notion of the historicity of Scripture completely out of their systems by now. I see so much influence of modernity and postmodern thinking that sometimes I take for granted that the youth might actually be on the right track and capable of critical thinking.

I was even pleasantly surprised when one of my students even recommended a book to me that his grandfather had given to him: Josh McDowell’s book “Evidence Demands A Verdict” for making a case that Scripture is historical in it's very nature. As the kids say: w00t!

There’s no doubt that it’s gonna be fun five or six weeks for everyone in the class.

The Favorite Niece Teaches Her Uncle

My favorite niece, Valerie, finished up the high school’s kid's Sunday school class on the Book of Jonah yesterday.

Boy howdy she did a great job in wrapping up the book with the contrast of Jonah’s temper tantrum outside of Nineveh and Yahweh’s patience, mercy, and grace with his rebellious and sinful children. The students, while a little slow to wake up, did a great job of participating with thoughtful answers that would make any Board of Education superintendent or parent proud!

At the beginning of the class, playing the part of the troublemaker, I asked what exactly were Valerie’s credentials and what gave her the right to teach. Taking her uncles tomfoolery in stride she told everyone that she is a deaconess, a highly trained professional church worker, in the LCMS.

All my favorite niece needs now is a call to a congregation (if anyone knows of a parish looking for a confessional deaconess? Give me a shout if you do) Until she does get a call, I’m gonna recommend that she replace that clown that normally teaches the high school class on Sunday morning because this girl rocks!

And just so ya’ll know; I’m not just saying that because she is my favorite niece but rather because it was real treat to hear a class taught by someone who is so solidly confessional. It’s a rare treat these days to see a class taught to youth that does not pander to the lowest commen denominator but instead seeks to elevate catachetical instruction by engaging the students on a level that parents, at the very least, demand from them in their secular high school even if such is not expected on Sunday morning.

Great job Valerie!

My Thesis’s Concerning The Catechesis Of Youth

1) Youth are able to be and therefore must be taught in-depth studies of Scripture.

2) Youth are able to be and therefore must be taught the historical confessions.

3) Youth do have the capability to understand the complex doctrines articulated in Scripture by the prophets of the Old Testament as well as Christ and the apostles of the New Testament.

4) Youth must be taught apologetics so that they will be prepared, upon leaving their first church home, to deal with world views contrary to those articulated in Scripture.

5) Youth must be taught apologetics so that they will be prepared, upon leaving their first church home, to deal with the cults and sects whose theology is contrary to that which is articulated in Scripture but that makes the claim that they represent Christianity.

6) It is the responsibility of the community of believers gathered together as a congregation to instruct youth in all matters of the catholic faith as articulated in Scripture.

7) It is also the responsibility of the parents of the youth to instruct them in all matters of the catholic faith as articulated in Scripture.

8) To not properly instruct youth in all things concerning Christ is to reject and go against the very words of Christ and that of the apostles in Holy Scripture.

9) To not properly instruct youth in all things concerning Christ so as to attract individuals whom have no interest in Christian education also goes against the very words of Christ and the apostles in Holy Scripture.

10) To not properly instruct youth in all things concerning Christ is a failing of the vocations of parent, Sunday school teacher, members of the local congregation, and pastor and such a failing risks losing youth to a culture that rejects Christ and thereby Hell itself.

One Of The Best Series For Teaching Youth (And Oldsters Too!)

A commenter recently asked me if I was writing my own Bible studies or if I was using purchased material for my Sunday school class for high school students. I have written a goodly number of my own studies over the last ten years but the other person who shares teaching duties with me and I do occasionally use materials purchased from a variety of publishers.

The study on water that we are currently using is from the Fusion series published by the good folks at Concordia Publishing House. The neatest thing about all of the studies in the Fusion books is the manner in which they connect the dots between the Old and New Testament and in doing so spotlight Christ on every page of Scripture. The Fusion study of water is full of sacramental types that point to the antitype, Jesus and His work in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism and is an absolute hoot. From God at work saving eight people in the account of Noah and the flood, saving His people Israel when they’re backs were up against the Red Sea with Pharaoh and his chariots pursuing them, and to the saving and healing of a gentile leper named Naaman in the not so pristine waters of the Jordan River; Fusion makes it clear that all of Scripture points to our baptism into Jesus’ baptism where we are made new creatures and righteous on the account of Christ!

So often folks (youngsters as well as oldsters) know all the stories of the Old Testament but fail to see how all those stories connect with the Gospels and the work of Jesus. Fusion connects the dots in a clear and enlightening manner that is truly a joy to teach. All of the books in the Fusion series have an easy and accessible way about them that encourages dialogue while not dumbing the material down as so many studies geared to youth and young adults seem to do.

Also, with only a few tweaks, the books in the Fusion series could challenge any Sunday morning adult class and I would recommended them for the catechesis of oldsters without hesitation.

Youth And Uneasiness With God’s Wrath And Judgement

As we move through our study on how God uses water to create and destroy and to kill and bring to life in Scripture; one thing has become crystal clear: kids in high school absolutely love the “athletic” parts of the Bible.

Nothing gets my students “animated” like death and destruction by plagues, famine, and of course by means of our current study: water. Given the chance to draw a picture, a couple of the kids stepped up to the plate and sketched out a not so happy rendition of Noah’s ark floating on the water of a condemned earth. Departing from the cute motifs often seen taped up on nurseries and Sunday school classrooms, my students drew an ark floating on a world flooded by God’s righteous and holy wrath which included people drowning and drowned outside and beneath the ark. When the picture was done all were happy and justifiably proud of their work. Yep, they loves them some destruction and mayhem.

But guess what happened when someone added babies, pregnant women, and the elderly to those who had come under God’s righteous judgment on sinful mankind? Can you guess the class’s mood when they saw those who they are told always help and protect are also condemned to drown outside the safety of the ark along with the most vile murders and thieves?

I’ll admit that I was a bit taken aback with just how uncomfortable some in the class became with all of the human race falling under God’s judgment. More than one student explained that it just made them uneasy to see the “innocent” or weak drowned with the dregs of society. Some of the kids even had difficulty making eye contact during this part of the class. I guess cheering for babies drowning just ain’t as cool cheering for murderers getting their comeuppance.

It would’ve been all too easy for me to slam the kids, as so many often do (especially many in youth leadership positions within our own beloved synod who talk of community built on service in soup kitchens and such and coffee shop emoting apart from the community we are when we go to Church to hear His Word preached and receive His gifts in the Sacraments administered rightly), with a lecture on the keeping of the Law so that they can live transformed lives. It would be easy to tell them they just need to do better to live more sanctified lives so that they may have the assurance that they never will suffer the wrath that they deserve as they have inherited Adam’s curse. There was a time when I would’ve piled on with more and more law as so many did with me in my own youth. But, that was in the before times, in the long, long ago.

Living sanctified and good lives may be called for in Scripture but such is a result or an effect of the Gospel but not the Gospel proper. The Gospel is that Jesus took all the wrath that we, if we are honest here, so justly deserve upon himself and made satisfaction on the cursed tree at Golgotha. (John 1:29, and also Romans 3:21–26 and 4:5)

In our baptism, our old sinful selves are drowned and we are recreated as new creatures and brought into the ark of God’s one holy and Church catholic by the water and His Word. (Romans 6:4 and Titus 3:4–7)! Those kids shamed with the understanding that they along with all of humanity are under the curse of the law knew that they deserved to be drowned but they didn’t completely understand when they came out of the water of their baptism they were just as safe as Noah in the ark.

The rest of the class was all Gospel in that we were assured, not by Mr. Gillespie’s word but by God’s Holy Word that God saves His people not on account of their own righteousness but the account of His only begotten Son’s work at the cross. I assured them that through Baptism the Lord made them heirs of heaven itself and as heirs they could be assured that were baptized into the ark eternal; Christ’s Church now and forever.

It was good to see that they understood that they were poor sinful creature deserving of God’s wrath. It was even better seeing the little light bulbs go off over their heads when they understood that they did rise out of the water of their baptism a new creation and placed aboard the ark of the Church. It was good to see that they understood sacramental nature of Noah’s story. It was good to see that they were able to join with Saint Peter and say in confidence that “Baptism saves.” Amen!

Back From Vacation And Into The Sunday School Classroom

Ah, back from vacation and finishing up the teaching on a class about the sacramental nature of water in the creation story to our high school to the high school class… Life is good.

The only time we deviated from the lesson was a brief excursus into Biblical inerrancy and textual criticism issues. One of the students is sure that the Bible we have today is does not contain Paul’s, Peter’s or John’s original letters much less the Gospel accounts because “there has to be mistakes because it’s all a copy of a copy of a copy.”

Yeah, I’ll be happy to take up the inerrancy issues as soon as we are done with our study of God using water for salvation in both the New and Old Testaments. The student that made the statement above didn’t know quite what to say when I said that we would be happy to address the issue but that we would have “play CSI and follow the evidence.” I think that there are a great many people that are simply afraid to conduct such a study because they believe that the extra-Biblical authors and sources as well as sciences such as archeology will contradict Scripture when that is not the case at all and no reason to not hold such apologetics classes for youth as well as adults.

One thing our class has never shied away from is dealing history and science. Both these fields of study are the Christian’s friend and can certainly be brought in to teach especially when it comes to both textual criticisms. Yeah, we’ll get to that…

What Kind Of Culture Are You Trying To Build?

I’m a little cranky after reading the latest article from the Reporter, official newspaper of the LC-MS, concerning young adult ministry. Hate to be a negative Nancy but ya’ll know how so persnickety I can get. Here’s the article:

Web site features Synod young adult ministry
A new Web site for young adult ministry in the Synod is up and running at http://www.lcmsyoungadultministry.org.

Sponsored by the Synod's seven-member Young Adult Ministry Advisory Committee, the site offers:
• monthly blog articles by young adults about their ministry, culture, and faith.
• information about servant opportunities, including the committee's first "LEAD" servant event, held May 31-June 5 in New Orleans.
• book reviews about young adult ministry and culture.
• twitter feeds on the activities of the advisory committee.
Jessica Bordeleau, a member of the committee, told Reporter that the group's two-pronged goal is "to enable congregations to build a culture where young adults are able to fully participate in the life of the church, and to enable young adults to become an integral part of the church community, living out their faith in a global context."
Bordeleau is coordinator for Lutheran Youth Fellowship and Young Adult Ministry with LCMS District and Congregational Services -- Youth Ministry.

A virtual note paper-clipped to the site's home page describes the advisory committee and its work, as follows:

"We are a movement of LCMS young adults reaching out to our peers with the love and light of Christ. We know that no top-down institutional program is going to impact the heart of a young adult like a community of believers living out the love of Christ in their daily interactions, ... ready, willing, and able to be servant leaders who point our friends, communities, and world to the love of Christ in relatable, relevant, real ways."

Posted July 29, 2009


First things first… reread Ms.Bordeleau’s comments; “to enable congregations to build a culture where young adults are able to fully participate in the life of the church, and to enable young adults to become an integral part of the church community, living out their faith in a global context."

How the heck do these folks suppose that young people are to become active participants in the life are the church? Is this something that even requires “building cultures” within congregations? How do any of us become active participants in a congregation whether young or aged? The Means of Grace!

Through the Means of Grace, through God’s properly preached Word and through His rightly administered Sacraments we become part of the community of believers past, present, and future. It is the community that always gathers around the voice of her Shepherd, Jesus Christ that should be held up as something to be imitated. Sadly as of late people that gather for Word and Sacrament are mocked as museum keepers only performing a maintenance ministry!

Think I’m just an angry blogger who just doesn't like change? Then read the book of Acts and see how the first Christians grew the Christ’s Church. Read how Peter and Paul created a culture of community by preaching the Gospel and the repentance of sins as commanded by Jesus himself. Read how Stephan did the same and was martyred for living out his faith, albeit deadly, context! Can anybody point me to a single passage of Scripture that states we need to build cultures so that youngsters (or oldsters for that matter!) can feel like they are a part of a community apart from the Means of Grace? Is the phrase “build cultures” even in the Bible? I know my knowledge of Greek is extremely limited and my knowledge of Hebrew is nonexistent so maybe I’m just missing some hidden meaning lost on slack jawed yoke like myself but I can’t find a single English translation that speaks of “building cultures” either! Apart from the Voice, an emergent translation that makes the NIV look like a modern day pedagogic masterpiece, there isn’t a single translation I can find that points to works outside the church; i.e. “faith in a global context."” as something to measured from inside the Church. Yes, the outside world will know Christians by their works but the faithful don’t count these works as their own but rather as fruits of faith. Big difference between the two views!

Which brings me to the second point; this has the emergent church’s theological fingerprints all over it. The emergents nearly always focus on acting within a global community to help the world become the paradise our Lord intended it to be. Of course this misses the problem of the fall into sin entirely as the root cause of the real problem plaguing humanity and if you fail to understand the problem, how the heck can anyone understand Christ’s gifts won at the cross. This is why emergents always point to works and community outside the church catholic!

Now, read the article again; what does the monthly blog feature; articles for young adults about their ministry, their culture, and their faith, information about servant opportunities that they can participate in, and book reviews about their ministry and their culture. Not a lot about Jesus in there is there? Sorta begs the question; exactly what kind culture do you suppose they are trying to build?

Te Deum Sung In Grand Rapids Sola Conference

The embedded video is from the Higher Things' Sola conference up in Grand Rapids Michigan. I dare anyone to say that kids only like (or are capable for that matter) to sing along with praise bands that are indistinguisable from rock or pop groups that can be heard on top 40 radio stations while worship team leaders dance around a stage like the latest pop tart du jour after watchin' the video.

While what sacred music is and what it means to sing sacred music can certainly be debated (as I've done here on more than one occasion) there is no debating that these kids are singing hymns that reflect their theology in content as well as stylistically. This is what happens when we dare our youth to be Lutheran!

Today’s Quote Of The Day

So, I was in my Sunday school class for the high school youth this past weekend and here’s how the conversation went down:

Youth #1: Mr. Gillespie, are we going to have Bible study tonight?

Me: Well, as I’m not the chair or even on the Board of Youth (our terms only go for two years although as anybody who reads this blog knows I’ve been very active with teaching the ragamuffins for going on eight years now and plan on continuing to do so) this year so it’s not up to me when or whether our, eh, your Sunday night Bible studies are run or even continued.

Youth #1: They had better keep doing them, we love ‘em!

And next came today’s quote of the day from our declared atheist who always attends our Sunday night study;

DA: Yeah, they better continue it or I’ll teach it myself!

For just a moment the room was dead quite as the teacher was grinning ear to ear barely able to contain himself.

Youth Led Worship Coming In June

Yesterday I opened up my email and found the monthly YOUTH MINISTRY E-BULLETIN in the ole inbox. The editor, Rev. Terry Dittmer reminds all of us:

YOUTH MINISTRY SUNDAY/MONTH . . . June has traditionally been youth ministry month. Many churches have special youth lead worship on one of the Sundays in June. A worship resource for youth Sunday will be published in thESource in May (http://www.youthesource.com/).

I had almost forgotten that June is youth ministry month! I have to guess that a majority of folks are as in the dark as I was until I opened my email. What a shame it would be to let such a great opportunity pass without letting our youth lead us in our worship.

As the chair of Board of Youth I feel it is my duty to bring this crucial issue to our council in our meeting next week. I hope all of you who read this would follow my lead, forgo the old stuffy liturgies that have been used for centuries, and let your youth groups show the entire congregation how a true heart filled worship is done.

Relevant Youth Ministry, Not!

I just saw a link to this hilarious video over at Steadfast Lutherans pointing out a great video posted over at Rev. Paul McCain’s Cyberbrethren and had to pass it on for everyone's enjoyment.

For the record, this is not how youth ministry is done at my congregation. If I ever tried to be this “relevant,” our kids would rightly run me off the property.

Today’s Desert Father Quote Of The Day

Today’s quote of the day comes from one of the desert fathers; Joseph of Panephysis:

Abba Lot went to see Abba Joseph and said to him, “Abba, as far as I can, I say my little office, I fast a little, I pray and meditate, I live in peace and, as far as I can, I purify my thoughts. What else can I do?”

Then the old man stood up and stretched his hands toward heaven. His fingers became like ten lamps of fire and he said to him, “If you want to, you can become all flame.”

–The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Joseph of Panephysis 7

It’s important to remember that the LCMS has invited many an emergent leader to speak at conferences, symposium, and youth worker retreats to get their input on how to reach out to young people. While the emergent “narrative” is difficult to nail down, one of the distinguishing marks of many emergents is a desire to return to the ways of the desert fathers in an ancient future method of contemplative worship.

While the emergent rejection of the vapid mega church anthropocentrism which more closely resembles self help daytime talk shows, like Dr. Phil or Oprah, should certainly be applauded, sitting around votives talking about how the desert fathers help us understand our part in God’s narrative isn’t exactly edifying either.

It may be tempting to jump on the emergent bandwagon as we watch the pendulum swing away from the destruction wrought by the church growth movement of the last twenty years but if our eyes aren’t fixed on Christ and Him crucified we’re just falling for yet another destructive fad. Sometimes, the enemy of our enemy is still our enemy.

HT: SA