Herbert Hoefer Editorial Note: Dr. Herbert Hoefer asks the pertinent question of why the dalits (or untouchables, as we used to call them) continue to come to the Christian faith even though they may have to suffer greatly for it. Dr. Hoefer indicates that our common faith provides dignity and worth to the most vulnerable…
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Herbert Hoefer Editorial Note: Dr. Herbert Hoefer was a missionary in India, is currently the LCMS area secretary for India, and holds the chair of missions at Concordia University in Portland, Oregon. He is also the chair of the Ethnic Ministry Task Force of the Northwest District. He recently served as the chaplain for the…
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Herbert Hoefer Editorial Note: As an interesting follow up to Luther Engelbrecht’s article on the “Priesthood of ALL the Baptized,” fellow Indian missionary Dr. Herb Hoefer reflects on the importance of the community in the evangelization of people from other faiths. Herb is at present the regional secretary for India for The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod….
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John Helmke Forty-two years since ordination, eighteen spent discussing financial services in the homes of our Lutheran people, has convinced me that more evangelism is done by the laity than most pastors ever dreamed of. Our laity, however, is not blessed with the privilege of the pulpit. As a result, most of their faithful witness…
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The Synodical Conference: Ecumenical Endeavor by Armin W. Schuetze. Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing House, 2000. 470 pages. Cloth. Reviewed by William Hassold The Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America was a significant endeavor by Lutherans in the United States as they sought to achieve theological and confessional unity in what was for many of them…
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John Hannah In the early 1960s the ecumenical vanguard was the Consultation on Church Union (COCU). It involved Episcopalians, Presbyterians and Congregationalists in an effort to bring together their quite diverse and mutually exclusive understandings of ministry and church polity. American Lutherans were not involved, but we are evolving slowly but surely toward restoration of…
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John Hannah Whenever we engage Christians who are not Lutheran, our own identity is challenged. We find ourselves asking questions like these: “Who are we as Lutherans?” “Where did we come from?” “Who were we?” “How did we get to be what we are now?” The late, great Jaroslav Pelikan is said to have invented…
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James Gruetzner Abstract It’s all a matter of interpretation! We often hear words akin to these, often with the implication that “interpretation” is entirely subjective, almost to the point of whimsy. Reality shows a more serious and less dismissive situation. What is often forgotten is that the interpretation of a given writing is itself context…
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The author of this article, a professor at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana, sent it with this request: I am attaching a paper that I wrote concerning the Specific Ministry Pastor Proposal. It is intended to be a “non-political” paper and to approach the topic in a way that engenders discussion. It was posted…
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Teri Lynn Forbes The author is a parish pastor, having served a small rural congregation in Wisconsin and a large city congregation in Washington State. She is now serving as an intentional interim pastor with small redevelopment congregations in the Southern Ohio Synod. She recently completed her S.T.M. at Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio. The…
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