Where Are You Going, Missouri?

 

By Charles S. Mueller, Sr.

 That question is not an inquiry into the theological direction of the LCMS.  One has but to review the past tumultuous seventy-five years to see how little we have moved – if move at all – from the LCMS doctrinal positions of the mid-1800s.

 Nor is my, “Quo vadis, Missouri” centered on LCMS practice during that same time period; practice which been continuously changing from1838 on.  Some of the change was short lived and has since evaporated.  Others are now woven into our very synodical fabric. And all this happening as the 40% of our anti-change members identified in 1965’s “A Study of Generations” and in every study since were maintaining that any shift in practice is inherently a change in doctrine.  That position is fascinating in the face of all the change the LCMS (our very name included) has weathered since its founding nearing a century and three-quarters ago.

 No, for this brief article the opening question needs one more word: “Quo vadis, Missouri parishes?”  Remove the parishes from the LCMS mix and there would be no synod.  But the parishes!  Largely over looked since the 1950s they cry out for attention.  Standing where we are today on a kind of modern Mt. Nebo looking toward the future of parishes in our church body, many needs cry out for attention.  Here are two with many more waiting in the wings.

Shortage of Parish Pastors

The first is our easily verifiable shortage of parish pastors.  Not ministers or clergy but the resolute band who have made our church the remarkable organization that it is: parish pastors.

 The shortage of authentic parish pastors is nothing new.  Pastors who delight in the give and take of the parish and are turned on by people no matter what they are like have always been in short supply. They are those who complain little and laugh a lot while actually finding pleasure in the awesome demands of congregational life while working in the world of worship, witness, fellowship, service, teaching/learning and stewarding.  That’s not to mention filling the classic roles of pastor/preacher/priest/counselor to the best of their ability. 

Too much for one person?  But of course.  That’s why the church has always identified the effective pastorate as a Calling.  Without seeing it as a Calling, the life of a parish pastor would be a miserable way to live, especially in the midst of a declining population.  And so it is for any who do not understand it.

 So what’s to blame for a pastor shortage?  Not the seminaries.  They do the important work of producing a well trained ministerium, some of whom are Spirit-led to be pastors (Ephesians 4:11).  While that shaking out is taking place we bundle undifferentiated pastors-to-be and ministers together and send them out into the world.  One reason we do this is because we need clergy to staff the multitude of churches we have and feel we must maintain regardless of any current necessity, effectiveness or cost of maintenance.  In any case we end up with too many spiritual leaders some of whom, fine Christians though they may be, are clearly not cut out of pastoral cloth.  If this doesn’t make sense to you, ask any active lay person about it.  They’ve known it for years.

Too Many Parishes on Subsistence Level

Hand-in-hand with a pastor shortage is the fact that we have too many parishes that are on a subsistence level, barely able to maintain facilities, to minimally support a pastor and to share a little with others.  In many areas our churches are spaced as if we were still in the 19^th century serving a flock that buggies to worship or is culturally concentrated enough to walk to church.

 The LCMS has too many churches that of necessity spend the majority of their time dealing with roof replacement, furnace repair and patching parking lots.  Untrue?  Review the minutes of a dozen or so randomly selected church councils and voter’s assemblies.  What are their pressing issues?  More ministry?  Increasing their out reach effectiveness?   Missions and other human needs?  Hardly.  The agenda issues are largely survival concerns using how effective the parish used to be as an excuse for maintaining the status quo.  I think that will be a hard sell in heaven.  But rejoice: there is forgiveness.

 So what’s the solution?  There is none until we acknowledge the pressing character of the moment.  It’s like the 13th century recipe for rabbit stew that begins, “First, catch the rabbit.”  Or, to put it another way, acknowledge the current reality.

One reason such a small percentage of LCMS parishes are growing while most are dormant or in decline is that they are part of the fraction that have an answer to, “Quo vadis, Missouri parishes?”—at least as far as their congregation is concerned.   They have and care for a pastor; know how to nurture their parish; delight in an intergenerational ministry – and all the while are committed to a Word and Sacrament, Confessional ministry.