by Pr. Jeff Morlock

Pastor Jeff Morlock is Director of Vocational Discernment at the North American Lutheran Seminary. He may be reached at [email protected].

 “What do you want to be when you grow up?” It's a question that youth have been asked since they graduated kindergarten. But in high school, the question becomes a much more pressing issue. In a culture obsessed with both success and control, students are encouraged at earlier and earlier ages to have their futures and career paths completely mapped out. And much of the decision making in this regard revolves around interests, skills, money, and the expectations of others. At the intersection of "What am I interested in, what am I good at, what will my loved ones approve of, and how much money can I make doing it?" is the decision to follow one career path over all the others.

What is too often excluded from this equation is the biblical reality of God's call. We are called into being, called into relationship with the Lord and His Church, called to serve, and called into a yet unknown future by One who knows us better than we know ourselves, and who loves us beyond measure. For Christians, then, the primary question that needs to be answered is not, "What do I want to be when I grow up?" but rather, "What is God's call on my life?" [...]

Pr. David Charlton, Lutheran CORE Vice President

Does doctrine matter? That is a question that has been asked again and again in the Church. Sometimes, the question is asked because doctrine seems so dry and boring. It seems so much like academic hair splitting.  A second reason is because doctrine divides.  During the 17^th Century, central Europe endured the 30 Years War, leading to the death of up to one-third of the population of Germany. That war was driven by doctrinal differences between Catholics, Lutherans, and the Reformed. 

Being at war with one another, either literally or verbally, does little to spread the Gospel. Non-believers are turned away from the Church when they see how divided we are. In particular, when they perceive that Christians are lacking in love for one another, they wonder about the truth of the Gospel. After all, didn’t Jesus teach that the greatest commandment was to love God and one another?

by Pr. Don Brandt, Congregations in Transition

As CiT Director I have been in a coaching relationship—since 2019—with a large number of call committees. I have now provided at least some level of assistance to twenty-five different call committees; all of them in the LCMC. In addition, I have also been monitoring, online, how an additional twelve to fifteen call committees have been conducting their search for a new pastor. Given what I have learned, I want to offer examples of the more common mistakes sometimes made when a call committee is looking for their next pastor.

However, before mentioning these “mistakes,” it is important to acknowledge how incredibly difficult it is—in 2022—to identify and call the “right” pastor. (Let alone making the mistake of looking for the “perfect” pastor.) As just about all of you know by now, given the shortage of available clergy it is a far better time to be a pastor looking for a call than be on a call committee looking for a pastor. Accordingly, it is not my intention to criticize call committees but rather to offer some practical advice [...]

by Pr. Dennis Nelson, Executive Director of Lutheran CORE

by Pastor Dennis D. Nelson, Lutheran CORE Executive Director

Here is a link to our You Tube channel. In the top row you will find recordings from both sets of videos – in the order in which they were posted, beginning with the most recent. In the second row you will find links to the Playlists for both sets of videos. We now have six videos in our CORE Convictions series. Many thanks to retired NALC pastor Tim Hubert for his video on “Interim Ministry.” His video will be featured in January 2023.

This month we want to feature a video book review by Ken Coughlan and a CORE Convictions video by Pastor Jeffray Greene. [...]

Our purpose can be summed up in two words– Network  and  Voice. As  Network  for confessing Lutherans, we support and connect Lutheran individuals and congregations who seek to live in accord with Biblical and confessional teachings and practices. As a  Prophetic Voice, we advocate for Biblical authority and confessional fidelity among churches of the Lutheran community.