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Slow Walking Series

Redeemer Post-Baptism Neophytes and Newly Confirmed 2019

Celebrating the Newly Baptized: The Rites of the Mystagogy Period

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How can one not love a word like Mystagogy! Prior to Lent we discussed key aspects of the Period of Enlightenment—Rituals, Prayer, Reflection, Catechesis. During Lent we will consider primary aspects of the least well known period of the catechumenate: The Period of Mystagogy. We will consider Rituals, Preaching, Catechesis, Service, and Formation and Vocation over the next five weeks.

Both the RCIA’s description of the Period of Mystagogy as well as that of Go Make Disciples provide a helpful vision of mystagogy. The RCIA describe the period as “a time for the community and the neophytes together to grow in deepening their grasp of the paschal mystery,  and in making it part of their lives through meditation on the Gospel, sharing in the Eucharist, and doing the works of charity” (Rite of Christian Initiation, Study Edition, 151). Go Make Disciples describes it in this way: “Mystagogical reflection is guided and sustained contemplation of the church’s worship, especially its sacraments, using biblical themes, images, and stories. . . . it draws Christians to reflect on their experience in worship as an encounter with God, and then to consider the implications for behavior in daily life that reflects faith and belonging to Christ” (Go Make Disciples, 131).

Mystagogy is for the entire assembly. The experience of the neophytes (newly planted baptized) serves as the impetus and source for the sustained (and lifelong) reflection of the assembly of its participation in the paschal mystery. Thus, since the neophytes are the primary symbol there are few formal rituals during this period. The weekly divine service and the Lord’s Supper itself serve as the primary ritual context for reflecting on faith and life in light of experiencing the paschal journey with Christ through baptism, Lord’s Supper, and anointing. At the end of the period, at Pentecost, there should be some celebration of this entire journey with the neophytes and the assembly. This also could include, especially on the Day of Pentecost, a rite of affirmation of vocation. Such a rite is provided in Welcome to Christ, 58-61). In addition, a celebration at the one year anniversary of their incorporation into the body of Christ would be appropriate. Other gatherings throughout the year after their initiations, and perhaps beyond the first year, are also encouraged as desired and feasible.

There are other ways to keep the newly baptized at the center of congregational mission, attention, and reflection. During the fifty days of Easter they could sit in their own area of the church and wear a special symbol denoting that they are newly baptized, such as a cross.  They should be included in the intercessions throughout the Easter season. Some may be asked voluntarily to offer witness/testimony to their experience of incorporation into Christ, whether during the divine service or in other forums in congregational life. Every divine service could begin with a rite of remembrance or thanksgiving for baptism, either in addition to or in place of the corporate rite of general confession and absolution. This remembrance of baptism could include the ritual act of sprinkling water upon the assembly as a tangible reminder of baptism (rite of aspersion). The sacramental symbols associated with Easter (font, paschal candle, white paraments and vestments, baptismal candles and robes, alleluia banners, etc…) should have prominence throughout the fifty days.

By means of these rites and ritual accents, as Timothy O’Malley says, “the period of mystagogy is a chance to celebrate the wondrous transformation that has taken place in Christ’s Body” (Divine Blessing, 127). It is a chance to celebrate the new birth in Christ, those newly born in Christ, and all of us who have been born anew in Him.

Immanuel Valpo Baptismal Pool #3

Un-catechesis: Catechesis during the Period of Enlightenment

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Lutherans tend to approach catechesis in a one size fits all mode. Grounded in Luther’s Catechisms (which is, of course, a good place to be grounded), the approach is often fairly uniform across times and locations. It is very intellectually-focused, seeking to expose the catechumens to what Scripture and the church teach so that they might own it and confess it themselves. The pastor as pedagogue (hear: lecturer) has predominated. The catechumens become passive recipients of rich doctrinal content.

I am not suggesting that there is no place for this approach. Nor am I suggesting that the handing on (tradition) of doctrine is undesirable. But there are other ways in which catechesis can take place. And a prime opportunity for such a different approach to catechesis, or Un-catechesis, is during the period of purification and enlightenment. This period aims to facilitate the final steps in the process of the elect’s conversion, a process that most often culminates at the Triduum with the elect’s participation in their baptism, anointing, and the Lord’s Supper. Catechesis during this period focuses around reflection on the experiences the catechumens have had throughout the catechumenate and that they will have during the season of Lent. This intentional reflection intends to lead both the elect and the church into discernment. The elect should discern their readiness for baptism, for participation in the life of the body of Christ, and for the journey into a life lived by faith in the Triune God. The church should discern how ready they believe the elect are for those same things. Catechesis in this period aims to facilitate that reflection for the sake of discernment.

Central to are reflective questions and both corporate discussion and individual conversation about those questions. The questions should encourage the catechumens to reflect on the experiences of the catechumenate: hearing the Word in the Sunday divine service; anointings and blessings they experienced; the practice of prayer; discussion of the Word of God and the church’s teaching; and their conversations in the catechumenate group and personally with catechists and sponsors.

During the period of Enlightenment the elect will continue to break open the Word, but—as Dr. Schuler indicated last week—will consider the primary biblical narratives used throughout Lent that focus on the encounter with Jesus as Savior and Lord. They will reflect on the implications for them personally of meeting Jesus through these readings and their preaching. They will reflect on the significance of the scrutinies in which they renounce the devil, sin, end evil; their reception of the Lord’s Prayer as their own model of prayer and of the Creed as their personal confession within the church’s confession of the Triune God. The catechesis should prepare them for their 3-day journey into God’s life in Christ culminating at their experience of baptism, anointing and the Lord’s Supper at the Easter Vigil. The Un-Catechesis of this period should not primarily download doctrinal information to them—although there will certainly still be some of that—but it should unfold their experiences in and through the Word of God. Doctrinal unpacking will continue in the period of mystagogy after they are baptized. As Roman Catholic Timothy O’Malley says, “Lent is not the time for such explicit instruction of the catechumens. It is time to enter with the elect into the desert, to walk with them as they prepare to become sons and daughters of the living God through baptism, confirmation, and the Eucharist (Divine Blessing: Liturgical Formation in the RCIA, 112). The catechesis in this period prepares them for the ongoing transformation of their identity. It is catechesis that directs them, in the words of Welcome to Christ, “to live in the covenant of their baptism . . . and lead godly lives until the day of Jesus Christ” (44).

Lent 1- Rite of Election (78)

Front and Center: Congregations that SEE their Catechumens

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In this series of posts, we have been highlighting practices that allow us to slow walk toward a robust faith formation process. One of those practices would be to make the inquirers and catechumens more transparent to the congregation. In other words, placing the inquirers, catechumens, and newly baptized more in the forefront and at the center of the congregation’s vision and life together. If a congregation’s task is the formation of its own identity as a Christian church, then making disciples is central to the church’s identity. Placing the inquirers and catechumens before the congregation keeps before their view the primary task of the congregation: to bring people—the stranger and the outsider—into relationship with Christ through engagement with his body, the church.

A congregation that wants to be intentional about its faith formation process and the journeys of those outside the Christian community through that process to life in the community has to take ownership of its own faith formation processes. For congregations who have accepted such ownership, faith formation is at the center of congregational life. It is a joint enterprise the congregation shares and mutually engages face-to-face, person-to-person. The congregation witnesses to this investment in its faith formation practices by placing the inquirers, catechumens, and newly baptized at the center of congregational life. The inquirers, catechumens, and newly baptized through their questions and the rhythm of their formation shape the nature of congregational life. They are publicly recognized in congregational life (especially through threshold-crossing rituals such as the welcome and acceptance into the catechumenate and the rite of election for baptism) and congregational resources are directed toward their participation in community life. Everyone understands that the congregation is invested in forming them toward the life of faith lived out in Christian community.

Placing the catechumens at the center of congregational life is done in a variety of ways. First, all of the rituals of the catechumenate are conducted publicly at primary worship services. For these rites the catechumens are in front of the assembly and identified personally, along with their sponsors. The congregation takes time and care with these rituals because it takes seriously the responsibility of forming inquirers, catechumens, and the newly baptized for Christian life. In addition, the catechumens are included in the Sunday prayers of the church on a weekly basis. Finally, the congregation is encouraged to interact with the catechumens and incorporate them into congregational life. There are regular opportunities to eat with them and to come to know them personally. Catechists and sponsors link them up with members in the congregation so that the inquirers, catechumens, and the newly baptized can see how the members live out their faith in their vocations and in service to their neighbors in the world. For example, if a member is involved in a foodbank ministry in the community, catechists and sponsors facilitate the inquirers, catechumens, and newly baptized walking alongside the member’s engagement with that ministry. The congregation then provides opportunities in worship to witness to such service to their neighbors and God’s work through it.

In all of these ways, a congregation can open the eyes of the assembly to the inquirers, catechumens, and newly baptized in their midst. By opening their eyes, they help the congregation to perceive its own identity as a congregation focused on making disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ and forming people for life within the Christian community. Placing inquirers, catechumens, and the newly baptized front and center is a way to begin slow walking toward robust faith formation.

Scrutines of Lent 2019 (2)

Congregational Transformation: Growing Deeply, Broadly, and Widely

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In Paul Hoffman’s words, the catechumenate creates a climate of expectation in the life of a congregation. That climate of expectation blossoms into the longing for personal and congregational transformation that is both deep and wide. It transforms individuals and congregations in deep ways touching on the center of their identities. It transforms in broad and wide-reaching ways, both by incorporating more into the assembly and by the myriad number of encounters that the baptized and the assembly have with strangers in the world.

Growing Deeply

Congregations engaged in faith formation patiently seek to transform the believing of newcomers and oldcomers alike. Believing entails the reorientation of one’s reality and life story toward inclusion into the story of God the Creator in His Son Christ Jesus by the power of the Spirit. Believing is a lifelong endeavor of trusting in God’s promise for the whole creation, and the individual as part of it, to bring about the restoration of the creation through his living Word. It encompass the whole person—body, mind, and spirit—within the body of believers.

Those who belong to the believing community transform not only their believing and their belonging, but also their behavior. One of the reasons that the congregations we researched ask that all newcomers walk through their catechumenate—unbaptized, profession of faith, or transfers—is because they want to shape a deep transformation that leads to the newcomer and oldcomer alike living faithfully within this community’s patterns of life.

Measuring the depth of transformation should reflect the ongoing, lifelong apprenticeship of disciples that the catechumenate seeks to foster. Such measures could include:

  • worship attendance and participation in the sacraments
  • the vitality of congregational ministries, ordained, commissioned, and lay
  • the intentionality of personal and congregational evaluation and discernment of the disciple life
  • flexibility of congregational ministries and faith formation to adapt to the congregational context
  • the involvement of laity in the faith formation process
  • commitment to one’s vocations
  • the degree of following the call to live in love by proclaiming Christ to and serving him in others
  • how often a congregation eats together

That is only a partial list. All of those measures could give an indication as to how the faith formation process is deeply transforming a congregation’s life.

Growing Broadly and Widely

The catechumenate’s impact in transforming lives and assemblies also ought to be measured by the number of persons incorporated into the assembly’s life. A well-practiced catechumenate should lead to the incorporation of more outsiders and strangers into life together. Yet even such growth is broader and wider than we might imagine. Personal and corporate encounters with the stranger in inquiry and on the edges of the catechumenate widen the catechumenate’s transformative impact. Such encounters run deep into the world surrounding the congregation as the baptized bear witness to their life together in their workplaces and play spaces, their learning communities and living communities. A community transformed by the catechumenate reaches into the world around it—both individually and corporately—with peace and justice. As Paul Hoffman indicates, “The tasks that one might do to meet the needs of others grow out of who one perceives oneself to be in Christ, and—grace being the gift that keeps on giving—the things that one does further form one as a disciple” (Faith Shaping Ministry, 87). Transformation that spreads far and wide.

In the end, faith formation is not a program, not even a set of processes or practices, but a way of life. Through its life of community and liturgy, teaching and preaching, witness and service God transforms the baptized and the community, deeply and broadly.

Lent 1- Rite of Election (98)

Forming Relationships in Christ: The Central Role of Sponsors

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Central to a compelling catechumenate is the role of adult sponsors for the catechumens. For a congregation slow-walking toward faith formation practices, developing adult sponsors for the catechumens is one of the lowest hanging fruit, a relatively easy starting place for a congregation. Catechumenates that are successful at transforming catechumens into committed participants in the Body of Christ need congregations that are actively involved in the catechumenate. The catechumenate needs to be seen as the mission of the entire congregation with every baptized member involved in one way or another. One of the easiest ways to participate in the catechumenate is to serve as a sponsor.

But what exactly do adult sponsors do? We all know about sponsors for infant candidates for baptism, but obviously adult sponsors serve in a somewhat different way. Sponsors are the primary relationship point with the congregation. Sponsors are a central facet of shaping the assembly’s hospitality toward the catechumenal newcomer. They are the primary agent for facilitating the stranger’s entrance into the Christian community, the primary point of hospitable reception. Sponsors are among the primary mentors who provide the inquirers and catechumens with an apprenticeship in the faith. They are open to facilitating the exploration that the new Christian has assumed. The sponsors are the primary ones to be sensitive to all that the church asks the catechumens to leave behind and they can be both wise and kind in their sensitivity. They can most hospitably lead the inquirers and catechumens to negotiate the change to which their encounter with God’s Word calls them. Here is authentic relationship in the flesh through faith in the God who calls us into life together.

Sponsors primary role in the catechumenate includes the following. They serve as a listening board for the catechumens. They bear witness to how a life of faith sets the agenda for Christian living in the world by bearing witness to the confrontation with sin in their own lives and with the desire to live by God’s grace. They pray with the catechumens, modeling a life of prayer and teaching them how to pray. They bear witness to the import of the Word of God in their lives and how they wrestle with the Word. They journey with the catechumens, attending worship with them and joining them in their catechumenal formation classes as possible. Lastly, they model a life of servant love to the catechumens. In essence, they live their Christian life in the open for the catechumens to see.

What then is the best way to select and train sponsors? Given the fact that they are bearing witness to and reflecting upon what the life of the Christian looks like, sponsors should be those who are committed to their life of faith—attending worship regularly and willing to reflect on their life of faith. Training might entail encouraging and informing their prayer life, reinforcing their basic catechetical knowledge, and teaching them how to give witness to formative narratives from the Scriptures that shape their own baptismal identity. Sponsors do not need lengthy, formal training. They just need to be equipped to give voice to and model their own baptismal journey, imperfect and incomplete but looking toward the wholeness of baptismal identity in Christ the Lord.

The catechumenate is an apprenticeship in the Christian faith. Sponsors serve as the primary models and relationship-building center for the catechumenal apprentices.

Capstone event

Delight Rather Than Duty: Transformation of Congregational Culture

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Slow Walking Series

This is the second (of three) video interviews with the Reverend Daniel Eggold, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Lafayette, Indiana. A few weeks ago, Pastor Eggold talked about the three ways in which the adult faith formation process at Grace has transformed his preaching: his sermons are more intimately connected to the biblical text; the sermons connect the text to the vocations of the people of Grace; and his preaching has a greater emphasis on the corporate nature of the church and life of the church, rather than about the life of the individual Christian.

In this week’s video, Pastor Eggold discusses how Washed and Welcomed, as the adult catechumenate is called at Grace Lutheran, has transformed the culture of the congregation. As he says, “we do not need more members; we need more disciples.” Instead of merely handing over a box of offering envelopes to “new members,” new disciples are asked in what way God has gifted them to serve others in the world and at Grace congregation.

This video is five minutes long; you’ll want to watch through end so that you hear one of the best examples of a transformed congregational culture.  Reminder: You must be logged in Google to view it.

Danny
Mystagogy Cross

Formational Reading of Scripture: Introducing it to a Congregation

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Slow Walking Series

Last week we reflected on the reorientation of Scripture study as part of a faith formation process. Such a reorientation entails less focus on information and learning what Christians believe and a much greater focus on hearing and reflecting on the Word of God and exploring the questions about Jesus, faith, and the church that seekers and catechumens pose. This type of reading and exploration of Scripture is formational reading of Scripture. As the book Understanding Faith Formation indicates, formational reading transforms the reader by the influence of the Word of God mediated through the lived encounter with the text by the power of the Holy Spirit (94). One method of formational reading that we explored last week was the African Bible Study method, which seeks reflection that intersects the text with the life of the hearer.

As part of the general approach of the catechumenate for forming disciples who live by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, formational reading aims to transform the lives of those encountering Christ in the church’s life. Formational reading is described by Understanding Faith Formation in the following ways:

  • The objective is not to cover as much material as possible
  • Formational reading is deep
  • Allows the text to master the reader
  • The reader is shaped by the text
  • Forms a humble, receptive approach to the Scriptures
  • Expects an openness to mystery (especially of God) as encountered in the text (95-96)

How might you establish such a formational reading of the Scriptures in a congregation unfamiliar with such an approach? Why is it important to establish this approach for the sake of a vibrant catechumenate? Since—as we have explored in previous blog posts—n the catechumenate the parish is the curriculum, this formational reading format needs to be at home in the congregation if it is to be experienced by seekers and catechumens as a living expression of the congregation’s faith life. One of the results of the catechumenate is that it builds community and incorporates newcomers into that community. For formational reading of the Scriptures to be part of the incorporation of newcomers it needs to have a formative place in building the community’s life. As an expression of the community’s life it is normally lay led with both trained catechists and sponsors participating in the leadership of formational Bible study. Lay catechists and sponsors first need to be formed themselves by this formational approach to reading the Scriptures.

So what might be the process for establishing such a formational approach to reading the Scriptures? It would be best to have this approach firmly embedded in congregational life prior to the start of a catechumenal process. To embed this approach start with small groups in the congregation. Familiarizing the leadership of the congregation with formational reading would be critical. Consider using formational reading with the board of elders or the church council and the leadership team of the congregation. Following upon an introduction to congregational leadership, formational Bible study could be used in one of the Sunday morning Bible studies. If there is a small group Bible study ministry in the congregation, this approach could be introduced to one or more of those weekly/monthly small group studies. Once formational reading has permeated the congregation’s experience with Scripture, then the pastor can begin training laity with exposure to this approach to serve as catechists for the weekly study of Scripture in the catechumenate. Establishing such a formational reading approach to encountering the Word of God will lead the explorers and catechumens  to fall “in love with the Scriptures” and making it a daily part of their contemplation of and encounter with Christ (Macalintal, Your Parish is the Curriculum, 75).

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Scripture Study for Adult Seekers

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Slow Walking Series

The model of adult faith formation which we advocate calls for a reorientation of our classic Lutheran practices for “confirmation instruction,” especially during the early stage of the adult catechumenate, the period of inquiry. Rather than inviting the seeker to “attend classes” and “learn about” what Christians believe, we are called to invite the seeker to join with a group that gathers to hear the Word of God, reflect on the Word, and to share questions they have about the Christian faith, about God, and about the church.

A common practice for these adult catechumenal gatherings is to read and study the appointed Gospel lesson from the lectionary. Such a practice not only ties the study of Scripture to the liturgical life of the congregation, but the narrative genre of the Gospels also lends itself to crafting open-ended questions that can engage newcomers with what may be unfamiliar stories.

How is this done?

The African Bible Study is one way, a method that “turns Bible study away from the intellectual pursuit of knowledge about the text and toward an attitude of listening to what God is saying through the text.” After the leader opens the gathering with the reminder that Christ is present and with a prayer, those gathered are invited to listen for “a word, phrase, or an image from the text that catches their attention and speaks to their life at this time.” The appointed Scripture is read slowly, followed by a time of reflection. The participants then share briefly about the word, phrase, or image that caught their attention. The Scripture is read a second time; silent reflection follows. Participants are then invited to share how the text speaks to them in a “deeper or wider” way. To go “deep” is to reflect on “some aspect of self that challenged, questioned, or affirmed by the text.” To go “wider” is to see “how the text speaks about the person’s relationships with others.” The Scripture is read a third time, silent reflection follows, and participants are encouraged “to speak a prayer that grows out of the text” (Go Make Disciples: An Invitation to Baptismal Living, 140—41).

One of the values of the African method is the generic pattern of the reflection prompts, which can be used with any text. Using the same prompts week after week takes pressure off the facilitator, and the stable structure can increase the comfort level of participants, who soon learn the pattern.

Another practice (more creative and time-consuming for preparation) is to craft specific open-ended questions for each Gospel text. Here are examples of open-ended questions for three Gospel readings in Year A:

  • Matthew 11:2-11 (Advent 3)
    • John the Baptist, imprisoned, sends his disciples to Jesus.
    • Question for reflection: When have you felt spiritually blind, lame, or deaf?
  • Matthew 4:1-11 (Lent 1)
    • Satan tempts Jesus.
    • Question for reflection: When or under what circumstances do you feel most vulnerable to temptation?
  • Luke 24:13-35 (Easter 3)
    • Two disciples encounter the risen Lord Jesus on the road.
    • Question for reflection: When have you been surprised by an encounter with Jesus?

These questions invite participants to think about their own lives in relation to Scripture. Like the African method, these open-ended questions “turns Bible study away from the intellectual pursuit of knowledge about the text and toward an attitude of listening to what God is saying through the text.” The discussion and sharing will build community among participants—a vital goal in the period of inquiry—and will uncover ways for the leader to provide further instruction about who Jesus is and how faith in Jesus brings life and salvation.

Palm Sunday 2019 (2)

Forging a Culture of Expectation for Transformation:   The Impact of the Catechumenate

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A lively catechumenate should lead to congregational growth, at least incrementally if not substantially. That should be an expectation that any congregation has at the beginning of a new catechumenal ministry. As Paul Hoffman says in his book, Faith Forming Faith,

There is a culture of expectation that living together under the cross of Chris creates….The willingness to accept that paradigm shift to a culture of expectation is primary. Before considering beginning the catechumenate in one’s congregation, the best question that a parish should consider is, ‘Are we prepared to welcome and expect that awesome, amazing grace of God that the newly baptized will surely bring us? In other words, will we recognize and welcome the unexpected presence of God’s grace when it appears?’ (Hoffman, Faith Forming Faith, 46-7).

The expectations nurtured by the catechumenate include the following (at minimum): An expectation for new people (mission and growth); an expectation for congregational transformation (lively faith); and an expectation for parish life renewed around the catechumenate.

Expectation for New People

               The catechumenate nurtures the expectation that hospitality toward and committed attention to those exploring faith in God through Christ is at the center of congregational life. The catechumenate forms the mission of the church and the mission of the church fills the catechumenate with purpose and energy. Expecting new people constantly to be exploring the faith is an outcome of practicing the catechumenate as a fundamental expression of the church’s mission. As Diana Macalintal indicates,

Once the focus of baptism shifts from membership in the church to mission in Christ, other things change too. We start to see baptism more like a verb than a noun….Living the Christian way of faith requires, then, a daily discernment of how God is calling us to respond by faith to our baptism. How am I responding to God’s gift and living out the mission this gift gives me? And how do we teach others to respond by faith and take on the mission of Christ in the world? (Macalintal, Your Parish is the Curriculum, 17-18)

When such a missional response is forged, then we will expect a constant stream of new people.

Expectation for Congregational Transformation

At the center of the mission of the faith formation process is the baptismal paradigm of dying and rising, found throughout Scripture but voiced compellingly by Paul in Romans 6. Planting newcomers at the center of congregational life embeds the dying and rising pattern as the central way of understanding the shape of a congregation’s life. This process is about congregational transformation, not some program for welcoming new members. And this simply flows from our watershed baptismal event because from that day on the people of God in Christ are never not in formation until our baptism is completed in our death. We are constantly dying and rising, both as individuals and as congregations. Through the dying and rising pattern of the catechumenate, a congregation is called to be, and becomes, in Diana Macalintal’s words, a “place of lively faith” (Macalintal, 23).

Expectation for Renewed Parish Life

A place of lively faith will be a place that expects all aspects of its life to be renewed. A baptismal catechumenate at the center of parish life will encourage searching questions about the rest of the parish’s life. As Paul Hoffman contends,

In this bold new vision of living in the ancient Christians’ pattern of faith formation, we must see our life in church as fully immersed in the wonder of baptism. I propose that we rethink parish life in such a way that all we do is shaped by a reappropriation of our most basic and formative paradigm—the death and resurrection of Jesus, to which each of us is joined in our baptism (Hoffman, Faith Shaping Ministry, 3).

A lively catechumenate embeds the expectation that everything the parish is and does will orbit around the making of new Christians through the waters of baptism.

Hope-filled Expectations: The Fruits of a well-practiced, Spirit-anointed Catechumenate.

the king resized

Life in Christ: The Goal of Narrative Catechesis

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Slow Walking Series

This is part 2 of my video conversation on adult faith formation with the Rev. Dr. Adam Filipek, pastor of Holy Cross and Immanuel Lutheran congregations in Lidgerwood, North Dakota.  In this excerpt, Pastor Filipek references the key scriptural texts emphasizing the presence of God that serve as turning points in the biblical narrative. I quote here from Pastor Filipek’s notes sent to me before our conversation:

 … catechesis is no longer simply “teaching people about Jesus,” … but rather employs a coherent, unified, grand-sweeping biblical narrative of God’s salvific work in Christ, while simultaneously situating and incorporating an individual’s life into the larger context of this ongoing salvific narrative in a way that cultivates a love of the One True God and a desire to dwell here in time: weekly in the Divine Service, and daily in our respective vocations; and there again in eternity: where we “appear with him in glory” and dwell with him forever. In other words, catechesis should “form Christians” to live their lives in Christ.

This video is about five minutes long. You must be logged into a Google account to view it.

Pastor Filipek’s book on adult faith formation, Life in Christ, will be published by CPH in June 2023. We hope to interview him again to discuss his book when it is available.

Narrative Catechesis

You must be logged into a Google account to view this video.

 

Photo: “The King,” one of the windows at Immanuel Lutheran Church, Lidgerwood, North Dakota, juxtaposing an Old Testament with New Testament narrative to highlight the presence of God revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. Artist: Darla Ruger, http://www.sgofargo.com/index.html

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