Greetings
in Christ and happy Advent! as I ponder what pre Christmas reflections I should
share with you in this, my final reflection of the year. I find myself a bit excited and even eager to
share with you about some of my recent travels.
Specifically a visit to All Saints Lutheran Church in Charlotte North
Carolina and Kings point Resort in Storm Lake Iowa. The purpose for both of these trips was a
mixture of continuing education and resources and networking for our
congregation.
That being
said lets jump into the first trip report.
The trip to All Saints Lutheran in Charlotte was about three and a half
hours so I got up early on Saturday the 27th of October and headed over the
mountains while catching up on my issues etc. programs. The lecture series "How to Read the Old Testament: Jesus at the Center" started
at 11 with Rev. Dr. Andrew Steinmann, Professor of Theology and Hebrew From
Concordia University Chicago. He is one
of the worlds foremost scholars in Aramaic.
The title of His lecture was
"The Messianic Promise in the Book of Genesis". He walked us through many of the events in
Genesis unpacking the messianic
overtones contained in them. After a
nice German lunch of brats and potato salad we went on to the next lecture
titled "No More Peak-A-Boo
Jesus" presented by Rev. Jeffery Pulse from Concordia Theological
Seminary (CTS) Fort Wayne. The reason
for the title is that most modern scholars look into the old testament to see
if they can find hidden glimpses of Jesus in the text, when in reality all of
the old testament points directly and indirectly to Jesus. I also gained some
keen insights on motifs and thematic threads that run through out Gods
word. Next we heard from Rev. Dr. Paul
Raabe From Concordia Seminary Saint Louis, on "Reading the Old Testament: Jesus as the fulfillment." In this
lecture he walked us through the many typological similarities between the life
of Christ and many of the Old Testament narratives. Finally the Rev. Dr. Peter
Scaer of CTS Fort Wayne tied it all
together in His presentation "Jesus:
The End, Fulfillment, and Continuation of the Old Testament" He
focused on how Christ is a complete fulfillment of the Old testament and
connected the dots in essence from the previous lectures touching on the
Gospels but focusing primarily on Luke and Acts. This was 4 hours well spent
even though I spent over 7 hours in transit there and back and I look forward
to applying these insights to sermons and bible studied in the coming months.
Then the following
week on November first I got up early in the morning and flew to Omaha Nebraska
followed by a drive up to Storm Lake about two and a half hours away. The
purpose for this trip was participate in The "National Rural and Small Town Mission Conference" This
confrence was organized by our Synod Office of National Mission (ONM). After opening worship led by the president of
Iowa District West Rev. Paul Sieveking we then went into a Bible Study led by
Rev. Dr. Brian Saunders, President, LCMS Iowa District East this was the frist
of four sessions that covered the book of Ephesians, focusing on St Pauls use
of the phrase "In Christ". We then went into our first plenary
session. "In Christ for
Church" this session was to be led by Rev. J. Bart Day, Executive
Director, LCMS (ONM). but he was responding to Hurrican Sandy as part of our
synod disaster response team so the opening session was presented by Rev. Dr.
Lee Hagan, Interim Director, Rural and Small Town Mission (RSTM) and he did a
great job of helping us understand how the (ONM) is working to support the work
of (RSTM) congregations as we witness to the Gospel and share mercy in our
communities. I then attend my first sectional where I met with the
staff of the newly forme (ONM) and learnd how RSTM, Urban ministry, 72
Partners, and Registered Servic Organizations (RSO's) now all work together in
the (OMN). I then attend my second sectional Rural Ministry 101 presented
by Rev. Ray Smith, where we discussed the cultural barriers for those moving
from urban areas to small towns and rural settings? the uniqueness of rural culture.
After an evening buffet we went on to an evening
session which was a group discussion on focusing on the many blessings and
challenges facing small congregations in rural and small-town communities and
our hopes for the future.
Friday's
first plenary session was "It’s
Okay to Be Small" by Rev. Dr. Lee Hagan, Interim Director, (RSTM) He
discussed how Small congregations have exactly what they need and more
importantly what the world needs. this session provided inspiration and
encouragement for seeing our congregations in terms of what they have, as
provided from God, rather than in terms of what they lack. This Gospel-centered
perspective provides great encouragement for corporate witness and acts of
mercy in our communities. My third sectional was Rural Resources led
by Rev. Dr. Lee Hagan, and Amy Gerdts, RSTM Project Coordinator in this session
we Meet with the (RSTM) team and learned more about the array of resources
available to help support our
congregation.. The next Plenary session was "Asset Mapping: Energizing Congregations for
Ministries that
Matter by Luther
Snow, Author of “The Power of Asset Mapping” this session alone in my opinion
was worth the trip and I plan on using this methond at our next anual planng
meeting. He shared with us new ways to strengthen our congregation for
ministry. He taught us a procdess that
helps identify physical, institutional, individual and community assets that
are already in place. we came away with tools and skills to energize our
congregation in the planing process. Snow is the creator of Asset Mapping, the
in-person method for positive group collaboration that is very popular. Snow is
a nationally recognized speaker in the field of rural development and has
worked with numerous Lutheran agencies.
Our next plenary session was "Country Strong:Tapping Hidden
Strengths for Rural Congregational Development" In this session Luther
Snow,
shared how to discover what works for congregations in rural
areas and small towns. Models of
congregational development are often devised in urban areas and then applied,
with limited success, in rural settings. But there are unique advantages and
opportunities in rural life that are often overlooked or underappreciated.
Snow, a positive rural development pioneer, helped us learn how to recognize
our unique local strengths and tap them for appropriate and powerful impact in
our own communities. Sectional four was
a session on congregational partnerships led by Luther Snow, in this session we
built on what we learned in the asset-mapping process, we looked at how congregations can use their individual
strengths to collaborate with potential partners and engage the community in
new ways. There is great potential for congregations to work together for the purpose
of serving communities and reaching the lost. Sectional five The Community of Christ: It’s More Than Just Me!
led by Rev. Gene Ernst, LCMS Pastor Emeritus from Columbus
Indiana. This session examined community within and outside the chruch. That evening we had a Banquet with the featured
Speaker: Rev. Dr. Matthew
C. Harrison, LCMS President.
Saturday, our
final Plenary "Witness, Mercy, Life
Together in Rural America" by Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison, LCMS
President. President Harrison presented the emphasis for the church and
demonstrated its unique relevance for rural and smalltown congregations. I
howeve had to head bact to the Airport misson the last few minutes of this
presentation. Although I missed the
closing panel discussion and the closing worship I feel this trio was well
worth the time and resoruces used to get me there. I look forward to making use
of some of these great insigts and practical processes in our future together.
Have a blessed advent
Pastor Portier
I you would like to see St. Paul's News Letter visit this link: http://tinyurl.com/cxjjr5b
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