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From Your Senior Warden
LeeAnne Krause
Every time the Vestry meets, we designate a considerable portion of our time in devotions, small group interaction, and prayer before we start tackling business. Each Vestry member has a chance to offer a devotion once each year, so that we benefit from each others' views and instruction. At this, my last meeting for this term as a Vestry member, I offered the devotion which follows below.
My mother Eleanor was an avid fan of humorous non-fiction books. When she discovered a book published in 1997 which pokes gentle fun at her own church denomination, she immediately purchased it, and she enjoyed it so much that she proceeded to purchase copies for her whole family. Her denomination was Missouri Synod Lutheranism, and the book was entitled Growing Up Lutheran: What Does This Mean?, by Janet Letnes Martin and Suzann Johnson Nelson. Having also been raised Lutheran, I enjoyed the book as well, and I still read it occasionally. One of my favorite vignettes from the book is entitled "The Norwegian-by-Marriage Lutheran Sunday School Superintendent Who Had No Business Being One". This hilarious story recounts a memorable year in the life of Mt. Carmel Lutheran Church, when a certain Norwegian Lutheran young man married "outside the faith" to a Swedish Methodist young woman. When she started attending the Lutheran church with him, the ladies of the congregation sensed fresh blood and immediately asked the young woman if she'd be interested in becoming their new Superintendent of Sunday School (more or less the same thing as Christian Education Director). She accepted the post, and all went well for...ahem...two days. As soon as the congregation busybody Widow Snustad realized that a Methodist woman was put in charge of Christian Education for their Lutheran children, she stormed into the pastor's office demanding that he make some changes and appoint a more appropriate person to the position. The pastor, who was long since accustomed to Widow Snustad's crabby behavior, calmly asked her if she would prefer to do the job herself. Suddenly Widow Snustad rethought her position and decided it's no so bad to have more people to help.
The story is funny in itself, it's good writing, and I encourage everyone who enjoys that kind of humor to read the book. But I see more than just a good joke in this story. You see, in the Missouri Synod Lutheran tradition, Christian Education is even more central to congregational life than you might guess. In this synod, you can't begin to receive Communion until you've been confirmed, usually at the age of 12. And you can't be confirmed until you've gone through a rigorous 2 year course of study in Luther's Small Catechism. Take a look at this link. We met with the pastor every Saturday for 2 years in order to be fully and properly educated on the Catechism. So you see, you can't even partake in this sacrament until you can recite the Ten Commandments, Lord's Prayer, The Office of Keys and Confession, etc, including all of the "what does this mean's" and "how is this done's". The good news is that you could fudge your way through Saturday School because more often that not, the questions the pastor asked you could be answered with some form of "by grace through faith" or "sola scriptura" but there was no fudging your way through the public examination on your Confirmation day, which your entire family drove in to witness. On that day you had to be able to recite any part of the Small Catechism by heart.
We can shake our heads at a congregation honestly believing that this grueling course of education was necessary to become worthy of partaking at the Lord's Table. But the fact of the matter is that they *did* believe it. And it therefore follows that they should indeed be careful and circumspect when choosing the lay leaders who provide this education. I maintain that there was nothing wrong with Widow Snustad's response except her manner. I believe that her objections to a Methodist person becoming Sunday School Superintendent at a Lutheran church were perfectly rational. On the other hand, as the story indicates, the other women of the congregation were tired and overworked, and were glad to have the help of a new member who not only took on the task willingly, but ultimately performed it well for 36 years.
I leave you with what I believe to be the twofold moral of the story:
1- Take it easy on those who take on leadership positions in our church, especially if they are unpaid volunteer positions. If someone is working hard for our good, with the best of intentions and with the love of God in their hearts, go easy on them, even if you disagree with them. If you have concerns or questions, bring them up with the same love and kindness that you would like to receive if you were in their place.
2- If you are doing God's work in the church, and someone gives unwanted feedback, please remember to separate the message from the manner and give everyone a fair hearing. Even Widow Snustad is right sometimes!
This is Most Certainly True.
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