Currents in Theology and Mission

Christian Identity in Crisis

Thomas H. Schattauer — 2024-03-22

This is the second of two issues of Currents in Theology and Mission devoted to the papers presented at the 5th Conference of the International Loehe Society, July 2022, under the theme “Christian Identity in Crisis: The Legacy of Wilhelm Loehe as Inspiration for the Church Today.” The responses of this nineteenth-century German Lutheran pastor to the crises of his own time were both theologically informed and regularly embodied in the communal practices of spiritual care and formation, liturgy, diakonia, and mission. This kind of responsive posture—one that holds together the claims and practices at the heart of Christian identity and genuine engagement with present need for personal and social healing—remains relevant for the church today.

Future Church

Michael J. Schulte — 2024-03-22

This article addresses how the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America might leverage its sacramental identity to achieve its goal of engaging one million new, young, and diverse people. The church is the penultimate sacrament, an extension of Jesus Christ in the world. As an extension of Christ, the church functions as a symbolic mediator. We are compelled to manifest Christ in compelling ways by practicing eucharistic solidarity with the despised while maintaining our historic Lutheran identity. This article explores how the church might re-envision itself according to the catholic sacramental principle, so that our denomination is equipped to meet the needs of individuals in a changing world and to work toward revitalization.

James Kenneth Echols Prize for Excellence in Preaching Sermons

Gail Kenny — 2024-03-22

Kenny Sermon: This sermon on John 11:1-45 explores ways that, despite Christ’s making all alive, we often remain bound ourselves, or we bind our neighbors in less than abundant life. Jesus’ raising Lazarus from the dead and the bid for us to unbind him offers a model for societal renewal in way-making and peace-bringing.

Mueller Sermon: This sermon explores deep Lenten themes of preparing for change and transformation by the power of the Resurrection. In the preaching text of John 11:1-45, in contemporary music texts about change, and through the example of the mycelium community, we experience Jesus’ invitation to “Come Out” from the isolation and “stickiness” of grief to experience emergence into freedom and a liberation that breaks down barriers.

Wilhelm Loehe's Doctrine of the Office of Ministry in Historical and Contemporary Perspective

Stephen Pietsch — 2024-03-22

Wilhelm Loehe’s teaching on the nature of the office of ministry has been influential in Lutheran church bodies all over the world, even though it has been surrounded by controversy because of what many thought were his “Romanizing tendencies.” This paper examines Loehe’s views from a historical and contemporary perspective and proposes that they have, to a significant degree, been misunderstood, that they are not essentially out of step with other Lutherans of his own time, and that they, in fact, contribute to a deeper rather than a “higher” view of the pastoral office.

A Missionary Ecclesiology

Klaus Detlev Schulz — 2024-03-22

Wilhelm Loehe’s ecclesiology as described in his Three Books about the Church precedes the missional church movement by more than 150 years. That, however, should not disqualify Loehe from the conversation about a missionary ecclesiology. His definition of mission as the one catholic church in its movement includes important aspects worth considering: the congregation as the visible expression of that church in its mission in response to the universal call (vocatio catholica) of the Gospel, served by the one office of Word and sacrament, bound in witness to the apostolic Word, and engaged in outer mission through the priesthood of all believers motivated by the apostolic mandate of loving the neighbor. Structuring an ecclesiology around these principles makes Loehe a timeless witness to any discussion of the missional nature of the church.

Loehe's Legacy and Borderless Solidarity

Man-Hei Yip — 2024-03-22

Reading history is more than taking a linear approach to past events, and so the same is true in reading Loehe’s legacy. This essay juxtaposes the lived experience of twenty-first-century immigrants in the United States with Loehe’s ministry and mission to German immigrants in the nineteenth century to create the intercontextuality that highlights the differences and similarities between past and present and allows us to read current contexts through the eyes of the people. Such an approach interrupts our assumptions about others and the world, thus forming new possibilities for ecclesial resistance against dehumanizing discourses and xenophobic violence.

Loehe, Liturgies, and Lives Mattering

Jan Rippentrop Schnell — 2024-03-22

Those who stand in the legacy of Loehe get to consider the whole of his legacy. This includes scores of praiseworthy pieces—renewed liturgical practices extending beyond Sunday morning, prolific writings, thorough liturgical research, engaged preaching, dedication to serving marginalized communities, and so on. The Loehe legacy—as well as the notion of legacy itself—also contain problematic pieces—participation in colonizing practices such as purchasing ancestral homeland; building on Ojibwe, Apsáalooke, and Cheyenne land; and failing to examine lenses of religious and racial superiority. As the church comes to terms with our history of participation in increasing the precarity of life for indigenous people, the individual and communal practices around confession that Loehe reinvigorated can inform current practices.

Diaconal Work in Neuendettelsau through the Ages

Mathias Hartmann — 2024-03-22

In the seventeen decades since diaconal work was begun by Wilhelm Loehe, there have been numerous changes and further developments in the organization, structure, content, and nature of diaconal service. The following article provides a comprehensive presentation of these changes over the various stages of Diakoneo’s development. What remains constant is this: diaconal work is both necessary and important and at all times needs to be carried out according to the demands of society and oriented to the individual needs of people “because”—according to Diakoneo’s motto—”we love life.”

Serving on Bended Knee, Serving on Tiptoe

Jenny Wiley Legath — 2024-03-22

Taking cues from their sisters in Europe, Lutheran deaconesses in the United States created a ministry that emphasized care of the soul through care of the body. They wrapped this ministry in a distinctive lifestyle wherein deaconess sisters remained single, wore a prescribed garb, and lived together in community, depending on that community for their earthly needs. By the middle of the twentieth century, it became clear that women remained committed to the biblical mandate of care but questioned the unique lifestyle. The twenty-first century has witnessed several Lutheran groups re-create the diaconal office in new and expansive ways.

The Harvest is Plentiful

Christian Weber — 2024-03-22

The sermon preached at the worship service closing the conference, July 27, 2022. The Gospel of Matthew tells us that Jesus surprised his disciples in an oppressive situation by saying: “The harvest is plentiful.” He taught them to re-imagine a situation of crisis. Two examples follow this path: a painting by the contemporary Indonesian artist Ketut Lasia, who indirectly depicts his own situation; and Wilhelm Loehe’s reaction to the many farewells during his life. How can we live this “imagination” today? Jesus has given three little hints in his word to the disciples.

Sundays after Easter through Sundays after Pentecost

Barbara K. Lundblad — 2024-03-22

"Preaching Helps" is a regular part of this journal, composed of commentaries on the lectionary texts for each weekend of the quarter of the church year covered. Submissions are solicited from clergy in a variety of settings.

Christian Identity in Crisis, January 2024 Articles

Craig L. Nessan — 2024-03-22

TBD

Book Reviews - April 2024

Craig L. Nessan — 2024-03-22

Reviews of recently published works of interest to the journal's readers are supplied by parish clergy and seminary professors.