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Who am I?: The Catechumenate as Forum for Life’s Questions

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One of the aims of FormingLutherans.org is to “promote and make available to the LCMS and the larger church the enlivening resources of proven and tested formation practices.” One way to accomplish that goal is to post regularly on resources that can increase knowledge and familiarity with catechumenal practices. So, on a regular basis we will post about what we are reading currently on the catechumenate. (Those who have attended one of our conferences will find most of these resources on the bibliography prepared by Rev. Danny Eggold; hopefully we can make that available on FormingLutherans.org). I (Kent) am currently reading Presbyterian minister and professor Paul Galbreath’s book Leading through the Waters. Published in 2011, the book aims to inform and reshape the distinctive way of life (as Galbreath conceives it) within the Christian community by grounding that way of life in baptismal practice and theology. Central to baptismal practice for Galbreath is the modern form of the catechumenate. He links baptism and the Christian way of life through the formative pattern of the four traditional catechumenate stages: Inquiry, Preparation, Baptism, and Reflection. Given Galbreath’s aim, he is focused less upon the sacramental impact upon the one being baptized, and more on the ritually formative power of baptismal practice for the congregation that participates in and administers baptisms. Not surprisingly, he begins his first section by reflecting upon a font in Pampulha, Brazil that is in the shape of a huge question mark. Galbreath notes the appropriateness, since in our relationship to God and to the world our entire lives are in a sense a big question mark. He says, “I will be exploring baptism as a life-long journey, as a question mark that hovers over us, constantly prodding us to examine our lives and our relationships with God, with one another, and with the earth that God created” (p. 9). The catechumenate is the best environment for exploring life as one giant question mark. And it helps us to recognize that this is the ongoing nature of human life in relationship with the God who created us. Throughout life we will be asking questions within the Christian community, both of one another and of ourselves, about who we are, who God is, why we are here, and where we are going? Asking and seeking answers to these questions—a repetitive pattern—is the occasion for growth in life before God and in communion with sisters and brothers in Christ. The catechumenate is the safe place to let the questions fly. Next time we post on a catechumenate resource we’ll explore Galbreath’s understanding of the period of Inquiry in the catechumenate.

xFinal final Plenary

“Could listen to those three brothers speak all day”

So wrote one participant on the evaluation form for the January Webinar, “Treasures Old and New: A Conference on Adult Faith Formation.” “Those three brothers” are the parish pastors whose expertise is the foundation for the conference attended by 46 people from 21 different LCMS districts, ranging from coast to coast and from the deep South to the upper Midwest.  Another participant captured well a central theme of the conference as expressed by the three pastors, saying they “showed me the great variety in the catechumenate process and [that] adaptation to context is key.”

Wednesday morning of the conference was devoted to the ritual aspect of adult faith formation, drawing on the experience Rev. Dr. Dien Ashley Taylor (Redeemer Lutheran, The Bronx) and on videos provided by his congregation. The fruits of that presentation were expressed by this comment from a participant: “It taught me that I need to embrace ritual more …”

Others spoke glowingly of Rev. Daniel Eggold’s presentation on catechumenal resources, saying “Loved, loved, loved this session.” Another reported that he had already ordered two of the resources Pastor Eggold had suggested and is “looking forward to … begin to implement [an adult faith formation] process here.”

Our heartfelt thanks to Pastor Eggold and “those three brothers”: Pastor Taylor of Redeemer Lutheran, Rev. Timothy Droegemueller of Living Faith Lutheran, Cumming, Georgia, and Rev. Dr. Scott Bruzek of St. John’s, Wheaton, Illinois, for sharing their wisdom and experience with the pastors, commissioned ministers, and laity who attended the conference.

This Quadrivium is working with us to plan the next event for June 2021. Stay tuned for details about this coming attraction!

Theology in Motion3

Drs. Burreson and Schuler on a Podcast! So Hip!

Our thanks to Rev. Steve Zank, Director of Theology for the Center for Worship Leadership, Christ College, Concordia University, Irvine, California for inviting us to converse about our research on the CWL’s “Theology in Motion” podcast.

In the podcast Steve Zank explores with us our research project on worship and the adult catechumenate, funded by the Calvin Institute of Worship. This wide ranging, hour-long conversation covers these main topics:

  • The implications of baptism for the local community of faith;
  • The integration of worship and discipleship;
  • The ways in which rituals form us; and
  • The four stages of discipleship.

You can listen to the podcast via various platforms.

These links requires no subscription to access:

https://directory.libsyn.com/episode/index/show/theologyinmotion/id/17798117

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnELKkR-Oj0

For podcast subscribers of Apple, Amazon, or Spotify:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/worship-formation-and-the-catechumanate-burreson-schuler/id1452426842?i=1000507519059

https://www.amazon.com/arya/webplayer?asin=B08VRXJXB5&useRelativeUrl=true&contentDeliveryType=PodcastEpisode&fetchNewPlayQueue=true

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3U9DFfKPypkwgK3ptDueke

Mt of Olives

Welcome to Forming Lutherans Updates!

Friends in Christ,

Forming Lutherans has set up an email distribution list through Mail Chimp to send email notices of new content on our website, forminglutherans.org. We plan to use this feature

  • To keep you informed about plans for the online conference in June 2021;
  • To share resources on the adult catechumenate with you;
  • To offer an occasional word of inspiration and hope for congregational renewal; and
  • To preview additional research findings from our ethnographic research on the four congregations that participated in the original Calvin grant.

If you prefer to “opt out” of these email notices, you may scroll down to the bottom of this message and click on “unscribe from this list.”

Of course, we hope you will at least stay with us for a trial period. The link to unsubscribe to the distribution list will be at the bottom of each email you receive, so if you find little of value for your ministry in the posts, you can unsubscribe at any time.

Blessings to you all as we begin our Lenten journey to the cross,

Rev. Dr. Kent J. Burreson
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri
Louis A. Fincke and Anna B. Shine Professor of Systematic Theology
Dean of the Chapel
Kent@forminglutherans.org

Dr. Rhoda Schuler
Concordia University, St. Paul, Minnesota
Director of LCMS Placement & Colloquy
Scholar-in-Residence; professor emerita
Rhoda@forminglutherans.org

overflowing

Our cup runneth over…

Registration for the October conference is closed.

Regretfully, we have had to close registration for our fall virtual conference. Registration for the January virtual conference will open after Thanksgiving. Please, check back and join us then.

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Update on Dr. Rhoda Schuler’s Teacher-Scholar Grant from the CICW

In November 2019 Dr. Rhoda Schuler, faculty member in the Department of Theology and Ministry, received word from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship (CICW) that she was awarded a Teacher-Scholar grant for 2020-2021. Schuler’s grant from CICW builds on a Vital Worship grant that Dr. Kent Burreson of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, received in 2019-20 (Dr. Schuler served as co-director of that grant), and the two scholars did ethnographic research at four Lutheran congregations in the U.S. with a strong adult faith formation process.

For the current Teacher-Scholar grant, the research partners envisioned sharing the results of that initial research with the wider church through small, face-to-face conferences in different parts of the country built around interactive presentations and hands-on workshops on Christian worship practices, but then the Pandemic hit. “When the CSP campus closed in mid-March and classes moved to online delivery, I was conflicted. I had been so thrilled to be a grant recipient and relished the opportunity to share our research with other LCMS pastors and church leaders, but I wasn’t ready to think creatively about other means to share what we had learned,” Schuler said.

By May Dr. Schuler and Dr. Burreson began to re-imagine ways of achieving a central goal of the grant, “to equip Lutheran pastors and laity to strengthen adult catechumenal processes in their congregations,” in the current reality. In a Zoom consultation with the pastors of the congregations where they did their initial research, Schuler and Burreson were inspired to rethink the original plan to share the fruits of their research. Each of the pastors, as they collaborated about reshaping the conference, spoke eloquently of life in their parishes since the onset of the Pandemic.

As one pastor noted, the church “has been through pandemics before”—referencing the extraordinary response of early Christians, who cared for plague victims as others fled, and of Luther’s writing on the subject during an outbreak of the bubonic plague in the sixteenth century. Christians have had centuries to practice loving our neighbors in difficult times. Another commented that through the adult faith formation process at his congregation “people were trained and prepared for this”—the unprecedented changes that permeated all of life—by the way in which the catechumenate integrated the Christian faith into the daily lives of people.

As a result of this inspiring interchange with these grant collaborators, Schuler and Burreson have embraced an online delivery method with much greater involvement by the parish pastors, the true “experts” on adult faith formation. As Dr. Burreson observed, “The process of faith formation, like so many other things, is caught as much as it is taught,” Dr. Burreson said. “Part of our intention with these workshops was to allow people to catch these pastors’ passion and investment in faith formation. An online conference has in no way diminished our hope that participants will be able to catch the vision.”

Each year in June the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship hosts a gathering for its grant recipients at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Mich. Like so many other major gatherings planned for spring and summer 2020, this conference also became a virtual event. As each of the teacher-scholars spoke briefly about their project, a common theme emerged, all were in the process of changing plans and rethinking how to accomplish the goals of their research during the Pandemic. Because of the re-imagining Schuler and Burreson started in May, Dr. Schuler was able to report to CICW and her fellow teacher-scholars with enthusiasm about their revised plan.

The dates for the first virtual event, “Treasures Old and New: A Conference on Adult Faith Formation,” are October 20-22, 2020. For more information, visit the webpage https://forminglutherans.org/.

Each of the 15 teacher-scholar grants funded by the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship was awarded to scholars integrating research that connects worship with other disciplines of study and practice and is intended to advance the flourishing of Christian public worship practices. Kathy Smith, leader of the Vital Worship Grants Team, said, “We are delighted to join with these distinguished scholars to explore the ways that scholarship in different fields can contribute to the deepening of worship practices in congregations. We were grateful for a number of excellent proposals and are eager to facilitate their learning and ours, regarding worship across North America.”

This year’s recipients include scholars at five research universities, seven seminaries, and two regional Christian colleges, representing ten states. All programs are made possible through a Vital Worship Grant from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, Grand Rapids, Mich., with funds provided by Lilly Endowment Inc.

Links: 
https://worship.calvin.edu/
https://forminglutherans.org/
https://www.csl.edu/2018/06/concordia-seminary-receives-worship-grant/
https://www.csl.edu/2019/08/capstone-worship-grant/

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Dr. Rhoda Schuler receives 2020 Teacher-Scholar Grant

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Dr. Rhoda Schuler has received a 2020 Teacher-Scholar grant in the Vital Worship Grants Program from the Calvin Institute in Christian Worship. She will again be partnering with Dr. Kent Burreson of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis for the research and workshops, which are part of the project. Drs. Schuler and Burreson reported earlier this year on the first stage of their work at the 2019 Hoffmann Lecture. The project proposes “to analyze the field research data on the adult catechumenate in the Lutheran church and to offer workshops that help pastors and congregations envision an adult catechumenal model that could transform their congregations.”

Press release:

11/26/19

Teacher-Scholars awarded Vital Worship Grants for 2020 by the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship

The Calvin Institute of Christian Worship (CICW) announced today that it will fund 15 grants to Teacher-Scholars for 2020-2021 as part of its Vital Worship Grants Program. 

This stream of the Vital Worship Grants program recognizes that teacher-scholars in many disciplines have a unique role to play in strengthening and nurturing the life of Christian worshiping communities. CICW is excited to build upon the success of last year’s inaugural teacher-scholar grants with this strong pool of Teacher-Scholars who will engage disciplines traditionally associated with worship such as theology and music, but also from psychology, performance studies, education, and anthropology.

These projects have a variety of emphases—youth preaching, worship across the spectrum of ability and disability, music and human flourishing, communication systems used in preaching, baptismal practices impacted by toxic water, and more—but have as a common purpose a desire to both deepen people’s understanding of worship and strengthen practices of public worship and faith formation.

Kathy Smith, leader of the Vital Worship Grants Team, said, “We are delighted to join with these distinguished scholars to explore the ways that scholarship in different fields can contribute to the deepening of worship practices in congregations. We were grateful for a number of excellent proposals and are eager to facilitate their learning and ours, regarding worship across North America.”

This year’s recipients include scholars at five research universities, seven seminaries, and two regional Christian colleges, representing ten states.

Each grant (ranging from $10,500 to $18,000) will fund a research project beginning in 2020 that shows promise to serve worshiping communities by strengthening Christian public worship practices.

This is the second round of the Teacher-Scholar stream of the Vital Worship Grants Program, which has been awarding grants to Worshiping Communities since 2000. This new stream of grant-making seeks to foster vital worship by supporting teacher-scholars in any field as they do integrated research that connects worship with other disciplines of study and practice. The goal is to advance the flourishing of Christian public worship practices in worshiping communities.

“Teacher-scholars from a wide variety of disciplines have so much to contribute to congregations and parishes—helping us all see things we otherwise might miss, offering access to essential wisdom for ministry. We are grateful for each of these teacher-scholars and the promise of their work for strengthening congregational life,” said John Witvliet, director of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship.

Since it began in the year 2000, the Vital Worship Grants Program has now awarded 892 grants to churches, schools and organizations across North America for projects that generate thoughtfulness and energy for public worship and faith formation at the local, grass-roots level. An advisory board of pastors and teachers from a variety of backgrounds assists in the grant selections, and the program is generously supported by Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment Inc. Founded in 1937, the Endowment’s major areas of programming are religion, education, and community development.

For more information on the grants program, including a complete list of this year’s grants recipients, please see worship.calvin.edu/grants.

Capstone event

Capstone for Worship Grant

Dean of Chapel Dr. Kent Burreson and Dr. Rhoda Schuler, term professor of Theology and Interdisciplinary Studies at Concordia University, St. Paul, Minn., held a capstone event June 6–7 on campus for their worship grant from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship (CICW).

Representatives from all eight of the Lutheran congregations with which Burreson and Schuler have worked over the last year as part of their research were on hand for the event.

In spring 2018, the Seminary was one of 44 recipients and the only seminary chosen as part of the “Vital Worship Grants Program” from the CICW in Grand Rapids, Mich., for 2018–19. The $18,000 grant was used by Burreson and Schuler to conduct a yearlong study of congregations with successful catechumenate programs that can be replicated and adapted for use in other congregations. The study’s goal is to strengthen the patterns for discipleship and participation in church life among millennials and Generation Z.

Read more about the grant.

Concordia Saint Louis

Concordia Seminary receives worship grant

Concordia Seminary, St. Louis is one of 44 recipients and the only seminary chosen as part of the “Vital Worship Grants Program” from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship (CICW) in Grand Rapids, Mich., for 2018-19.

The Seminary will use the $18,000 grant to conduct a year-long study of congregations with successful catechumenate programs, which can be replicated and adapted for use in other congregations. The goal is to strengthen the patterns for discipleship and participation in church life among millennials and Generation Z.

The study will be overseen by the Seminary’s Louis A. Fincke and Anna B. Shine Professor of Systematic Theology and Dean of Chapel Dr. Kent Burreson and Term Professor of Theology and Interdisciplinary Studies Dr. Rhoda Schuler from Concordia University, St. Paul, Minn.

“Dr. Schuler and I are grateful to the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship (CICW) for the opportunity to receive this grant enabling us to conduct this study into the formative value of catechumenal practices among the millennial and Gen Z generations,” Burreson said. “It is research that has the potential to strengthen patterns of discipleship in many congregations beyond the eight involved in the study.”

Burreson and Schuler said the results of their research will be shared widely so congregations can adapt and use the successful practices.

“I was thrilled when Dr. Burreson invited me to collaborate with him on the grant proposal and participate in this research project,” Schuler said. “As one who teaches undergraduates, I have seen firsthand the drift of younger generations away from active participation in the life of the church. It’s an honor to be involved in research that could enhance the mission of the church and strengthen congregational life.”

This year’s grant recipients include 27 congregations, one high school, six colleges and universities, one seminary and nine other groups, including two community organizations, three denominational organizations, a retreat center and a retirement community, according to the CICW. They also represent 17 different Christian denominations, 25 states and two Canadian provinces.

The grants, ranging from $6,000 to $18,000, have a common purpose of desiring to both deepen people’s understanding of worship and strengthen practices of public worship and faith formation. Each grant will fund a year-long project beginning in June that promotes vital worship and faith formation.

John Witvliet, director of the CICW, believes that the 2018 projects will help the institute in its goals to enhance the scholarly study of Christian worship and the renewal of worshiping communities across North America and beyond.

“We learn a tremendous amount from these programs,” he said in a release. “We look forward to sharing insights from these projects with a larger audience in our future programming over the next several years.”

The grant program is made possible through the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, with funds provided by Lilly Endowment Inc.

For more information on the grants program, including a complete list of this year’s grants recipients, please seeworship.calvin.edu/grants.

About Concordia Seminary
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis provides Gospel-centered graduate-level theological education for pastors, missionaries, deaconesses, scholars and other leaders in the name of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS). To learn more, visit www.csl.edu.