a Lutheran’s Confessions

     I believe in the latter ministry more than the former.
     The former assumes that faith formation occurs primarily in the church, and that parents should support the church programs for children and youth to help the church turn their youth into Christians.
     The latter assumes that a child’s faith formation occurs primarily in the home, and the church should support parents in helping that faith formation to occur in the home.
     I believe in the latter, because the Bible clearly teaches that parents are called to pass on the faith to their children. We in the church can help or hinder that process. We help it when we encourage and create opportunities for parents and children to discuss the faith together—at home and at church.

     The most efficient form of church government on earth is the Roman papacy. The pope speaks, and that settles the issue. Everyone follows, at least outwardly.
     Rev. Gerald Kieschnick, president of our Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS), has convened a task force which proposes sweeping changes to our synodical structure in the pursuit of efficiency.
     The task force apparently assumes that the fewer the people involved in decision making, the more efficient the decision-making process will be. This is why it is proposing, among other things:

• reducing the number of delegates to synodical conventions by 50%,
• decreasing the number of synodical conventions (from every three years to every four years), and
• no longer having certain synodical officials elected by the convention but appointed by the president of synod.

     One of the great strengths of our Lutheran Church Missouri Synod is the active involvement of the laity. I invite you to learn more about how our synod works by attending Dr. Martin Noland’s talk on September 26, and by going to Grace’s website (www.gracecolumbus.org) and clicking on the words “LCMS Task Force Blue Ribbon Survey,” in the upper right hand corner of the webpage.