Mid-January update

I am back at work in St. Louis and finally over the December sickness, yay! Praying I avoid whatever is now going around my workplace. From the descriptions of what some of my coworkers are experiencing, I think it might be the same bug, which should mean I am immune, right?

Caitlin has been in St. Louis with me this week, which has been wonderful. I kinda like that girl. Yesterday we joined some of the LCMS Communications team in attending the Chicago March for Life. We left at 7:00 a.m. and returned about 18 hours later.

On the way in our nice, warm van.

Lunch at Nando's. 

On the right is the social media manager for The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod. He does superb work. You can catch a few of his live videos from the march here. Unfortunately, the cold was a major drain on all our devices, including the livestream camera, which shut down before the march was over.

We have eyes of life!

On the way home we stopped for gas in Bolingbrook, Illinois, where we lived from the time Caitlin was 4 until she was 18. She has many memories of this city, as well as of Chicago, and would like to go back for a longer visit. We hope to do that when it's a little warmer. 

Much of our drive home was in snow. This is my back yard in St. Louis this morning.

Today I drive Caitlin back to college for her final semester as an undergrad! In May she will graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with a French minor. Boy, did those four years go by quickly.

Meanwhile, here's Trevor back at school at University of Iowa, where he is beginning his second semester of his doctoral program in piano performance. Next to Trevor is his current teacher at Iowa, Ksenia Nosikova. Next to her is his former teacher at University of Nebraska, Paul Barnes, who recently visited the U of I campus. Next to Dr. Barnes is a high school student who formerly studied privately with him in Nebraska but who, after a family move to Iowa, now studies privately with Dr. Nosikova. It is a small musical world!

A Slice of Heaven

The Divine Service is often referred to as a slice of heaven, and rightly so. When we go to church to have our ears filled with God's Word and our stomachs filled with Christ's Body and Blood, we truly experience a foretaste of the feast to come.

Recently, working as a reporter at the 66th Regular Convention of the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod, I feel as though I had a week-long slice of heaven. My husband told me it was the happiest he's seen me in a long time. No offense to my kids, who weren't there. :-) But I agree--this past week was the most relaxed I have felt in ages.

Thinking about why that might be, I can't help reflecting on the past 3/5/7 years. It's been a rather long slog. For the first time in a very long time I find myself in a place in life where there isn't a huge life change, crisis, or ordeal either in the very recent past or near future. It seems like many things are finally falling into place. I give thanks for that blessing while telling myself that the current sense of settled-ness could change at any time.

But I think there are also some very concrete reasons that I found this past week so relaxing. I was working, yes. But there was so much that I didn't have to give thought to. I didn't have to figure out what to make for supper. I didn't have to clean. I didn't have to do laundry! I didn't have to make decisions about what needed to be done any given hour of the day because it was all laid out for me: go to this meeting, report on that committee, write that article. With all the walking I also got a good deal of exercise. And then there was the worship three times per day--one day it was even four! Not to mention being surrounded by people, over a thousand of them, who know whence their help and salvation come, and the joy of seeing and spending time with many good friends and several dear ones. 

Sometimes I have thought of heaven as a place where we have ultimate freedom, not only from sin, but to do the things that make us happy. Right now I'm thinking heaven might be kind of like the convention--freedom from having to think about what to do because God has it planned out for all eternity and it's all good! 

Here are a few pictures from the week.

Totally staged first day pic, pretending like I know what I'm doing. 

Thank you to my friend Katie for taking this. 

A few of the contract writers. These ladies rock! 

A few old friends. Lovely young lady and babysitter extraordinaire from a former congregation, and 

homeschooling Lutheran moms!

 Post-convention date with hubby.

Hubby with The Prez.

Truth

It is sometimes pointed out that a synod, or church body, is a human institution and that as such, it can err. This is most certainly true. But the reason it is true is that human beings can err. When it comes to the question, then, of where to place my trust on matters of doctrine, I have more confidence in the wisdom of a group of theologians than I do in one theologian. To grant one person the final word on anything is dangerous. To assume that you are the person who possesses that final word is equally dangerous.  

In the words of Huckleberry Finn: "I can't stand it. I been there before." And I have no intention of ever going back.

Random Thoughts for a Super Bowl Sunday

I think we'll turn on the game, but I don't know or care that much about it. I think I heard something about leaked balls and deflated commercials? Or maybe it was deflated balls and leaked commercials. Whatever. We'll sit by the fire, listen to the wind, and drink our hot buttered rum while looking at the screen every now and then. I hope all you sports fans enjoy, and I hope everyone's team wins. ;-)

I finished reading Unbroken. Wow. It truly did make the war in the Pacific come alive. What I can't stop thinking about is the fact that this was the story of only one man, one whose personal fame led to his having a book written and a movie made about him, but whose story is only one of tens of thousands of similar ones. I don't know how people who undergo trials such as the one portrayed in the book live to tell about them. The human will to survive is a remarkable thing.

I wondered, when we moved to Oklahoma, if I would miss the snow. I don't. I guess 20 years of it was enough. :-) (Meanwhile, both my college kids are getting a huge dose of it. Enjoy it while you can, my dears!)

My church body, the LCMS, is going through something. Five years ago we elected a new president and many of us were filled with hope that some of the troubling trends of the last few generations would have the brakes put on them. In fact they have. There are wonderful things going on and everywhere signs that doctrinal faithfulness has returned as our prime directive. In spite of that, a few are not satisfied, demanding that everything must be corrected now. I don't understand this mindset from people who would not demand that a troubled parish change overnight. I have not always been Lutheran, and I don't pretend to understand all the history. But I have read and understood enough to know that we are heading in the right direction. I also understand that no human institution is ever going to be perfect. There is no such thing as complete purity when it comes to the practice of sinful human beings. Those who insist on such all-or-nothing purity had better be prepared to sit alone at a very tiny table with a very long spoon. I am content to continue walking together with brothers and sisters in Christ who may be taking smaller or larger steps, perhaps walking with a limp or a crutch, or even being pushed in a wheelchair, as long as we are headed in the same direction and led by a faithful and trustworthy leader. Regarding those who are intentionally trying to cause the confused or weak to stray, I agree that they should not be ignored or downplayed. But I have no reason, at this time, to doubt that those whose vocation it is to address such deceivers are doing so. My calling is to pray for and do my best to encourage them while waiting upon the Lord, who, I know, will guard His church.    

Sometime in the near future I will have my ninth article published by The Federalist. I have also had one piece in American Thinker as well as one of my Federalist articles reprinted in the LCMS publication Notes for Life. Sometimes I think maybe I'm going to actually keep wearing this writer's hat. Other times I am terrified that a big gust of wind is going to blow it off any day now and I'll never find it again. But at the moment I am talking with a friend about writing a book and for once it is actually possible to imagine it happening.

Looks like it's about time for the game. The fire is lit and my husband just handed me a warm mug. Guess I better start not watching. Have a great night!

P.S. I just realized that I don't have a tag for "sports" in my category list. Almost 8 years of blogging and no sports. A jock I am not.

It burns, Precious! It burns!

*sigh*

The LCMS triennial worship conference is going on right now and I am not there. For many months I had planned to accompany my husband, who is teaching and playing, but when it came right down to it we could not justify the cost of my attendance. It has been a summer of unusual expenditures, with more to come as we launch our second-born into college. So I decided to be a grown-up and make the mature decision. Of course, having made the mature decision, it now makes utter sense for me to take to my blog to whine about it.  ;-)

I would have liked to have been there for many reasons. Here are a few: Harrison, Kleinig, Vieker, Wilken, Weedon, Stuckwisch, Peters, Hildebrand, Soulek, Curtis, Muth, Blersch, Esget, Kohrs, Starke, Magness . . . . The list could go on. And then there's the worship. Oh, the worship. I know, I know. I get wonderful worship every weekend. I have the best cantor in synod, after all! :-) But my husband does not have the major responsibility for worship this week in Seward. He wrote a new setting of Psalm 85 and will be playing it, but I think that is all he is doing musically, which means for most of the liturgies he will be in the pew. Oh, that I could have been sitting beside him, something I so rarely get to do. :-(

I would have also liked to have been there to attend Phillip's sessions. He is teaching a seminar (3-day course) on "Bridging the Gap" (in worship) as well as a workshop on leading hymns from the piano. I have instructed him that I will be expecting nightly updates on the day's proceedings. He has promised to comply.

The silver lining to this dark cloud is that by staying behind I am maximizing my time with two whose days under this roof are drawing extremely short. (The third has quite a few more years to go.) As for Phillip, I am anticipating another 40-50 years under the same roof with him. :-)

So here I blog, and watch from afar, and live vicariously through my husband (as I am wont to do). Not a bad deal, if you ask me. I guess it doesn't burn so much, after all. :-D

All of you who are there, the best thing you can do for those of us who aren't is to soak it all in. Bask. And then come home and rub off a little of the heaven on the ones you left behind.

Best Laid Plans

Nothing went as it was supposed to this weekend. As each carefully laid plan fell apart, I felt extremely frustrated. But in retrospect I see how, once again, God worked it out for the best.

I had intended to go to St. Louis on Friday. Phillip was there for synodical board business as well as for the installation of Rev. Matt Harrison to his second term as our synodical president. It was going to be great to see my husband and attend the festivities! But Thursday night I got a call from the skilled nursing facility where my mom is receiving rehabilitation for her hip. Because of low hemoglobin that had not improved with treatment, they had decided to send her to the hospital Friday for a blood transfusion. I reluctantly cancelled my trip so as to be close by for that procedure.

The nurse had told me Thursday night that I would be informed when my mom was scheduled for her transfusion. As of 11:00 a.m. Friday there was no call so I left to run a few errands. At about 12:00 my daughter called me on the cell phone: "Mom, we are having a showing at 1:00!" Of course, the house wasn't ready. I raced home and we spent a frantic half hour putting things in order, then left to grab lunch and go to the park.

While we were out I called the rehab center, only to discover that my mom had already returned from the hospital. (Um, what about that phone call I was supposed to receive?) Not only that, when she arrived at the hospital, the lab work showed that her hemoglobin had risen sufficiently that she no longer needed the transfusion. Really? I could have gone on my trip after all? I suppose at this point I could have high-tailed it for St. Louis. But I wasn't packed. Not only that, when we returned home after our picnic lunch it was obvious no one had come to see the house. I called our agent, who called the other party's agent, only to discover they were running about an hour late. We got back in the car and left again, heading to a different park this time. We didn't get home again until after 3:00. It would have been after 4:00 by the time I could have left. I was tired and didn't see the point of driving all that way for such a short visit.

But someone else did see the point. Shortly after arriving home the second time, we got a call from Phillip. "Guess where I am?" he teased. The right answer turned out to be heading north on I-55! He got home about 7:30, having skipped out on the Friday night and Saturday morning installation festivities so that he could drive an additional eight hours to spend one night at home. What a guy. We waved him away at noon Saturday so that he could get back to Oklahoma in time to play for church Sunday morning.

So what was supposed to happen this weekend? Mom was supposed to get a blood transfusion but didn't. That is good! I was supposed to go to St. Louis but didn't. That is good, too! It not only enabled me to be here for the showing, but it led to Phillip's deciding to come home, which meant that not only did I get to see him, but so did the children.

And hey, even the showing that ran late by an hour was a good thing. If not for that, we wouldn't have made a second trip to the park, which means we wouldn't have met some really cool ducks.

Ducks from Cheryl on Vimeo.

Yes, I'm Still Here

I guess it hasn't been that long. Just a little over a week. I've been sort of busy! Here's the rundown.

On Monday I went to St. Louis to spend some time with Phillip at the LCMS convention. Here's a little about what he was doing.  It was fun. He let me play the tambourine.

Tuesday was my birthday. For the record, it was not my fiftieth. I was happy to run into some Loopers (Lutheran homeschoolers) that I have known online for a long time but had never met in person. I also met up with Rebekah and spent about three hours talking her ear off. (Have I mentioned that she is one of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet?) Phillip and I then went to regular reader Untamed Shrew's home for a supper of salmon, rice and green beans and a sopapilla cheesecake that was to die for. Thanks, Rev. and Mrs. Shrew!

Then, at about 1:30 that morning, my daughter called. What had seemed to be a mild allergic reaction to working outside had worsened, and her face was swelling painfully. I told her to get my Epi-pen (which I have as a precaution because I take allergy shots), alert Trevor, and call 911 if she had any sign of oral swelling or trouble breathing. I packed quickly and headed home, arriving a little before 7:00. My poor girl looked as though she had been in a bar fight. We went to the ER, where she was given IV medications to reduce the swelling and offset the reaction. She is doing much better, but you can see in this photo where her arms are red four days later. We still don't know what caused the reaction but suspect some sort of poisonous plant in ours or the neighbor's back yard.

We have been doing a lot of packing this week. Sort of (see above).

Phillip's installation at our new church has been set for Sunday, August 18, at 4:00. It is in the afternoon to allow others in the area to come. He had a great time this past week meeting the Oklahoma delegation at the convention! We are overjoyed to be joining them in carrying the message of the Gospel to Christ's people there. Phillip plays his first services at Immanuel today. We will have to be with him in spirit.

And in the "I can't explain it" department, something strange happened to me this week. I can pinpoint the moment. I was driving somewhere in the car, thinking things over, and suddenly some long-felt hurt and anger drained out of me. I don't know why it happened where and when it did, but it happened. Thanks for not giving up on me, God. I knew you wouldn't, but sometimes I wondered how long you would wait.

"The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" - Psalm 27:1

God Bless You, Rev. Harrison

Pleased, but not surprised, to wake up to this news today:

Harrison Elected to Second Term as LCMS President

Three years ago I wasn't nearly so relaxed about the outcome.

As I have followed Pastor Harrison over his first term two things have stood out: one, this is a man who understands vocation; two, this is a man who loves God's word. Time and time again, what I have seen in Pastor Harrison's public words and actions is the obvious joy he takes from living out the vocations of father, husband, pastor, musician and yes, synodical president, combined with a commitment to pointing those in his care to the source of all truth. While others politick, argue, debate, mudsling, plead, lobby, cajole, crusade, and agitate, he gently teaches and preaches and blesses. Would that we could all learn from his example. I have, myself, participated in an internet dispute or two. I can't really point to any such instance where I successfully convinced anyone of anything. I can point to relationships harmed and lost. Which makes me wonder, how much more would be accomplished for the Body of Christ if more of us followed President Harrison's lead, eschewing the endless back and forth of logic and snark and one-upsmanship and instead returning, repeatedly, to Scripture and the Confessions.

Dear Rev. President Harrison, please keep modeling for us how it's done. Who knows, maybe some day a few of us will learn that the best contribution we can make to the world and to our church is to serve those God has placed before us while studying, hearing and sharing His word whenever and wherever we can.

Allergic Lutherans

I see it all the time. Someone, somewhere on the internet says something and all hell breaks loose. Certainly you have seen it, too:

You want to talk about what the sanctified life looks like? You must be a pietist.

You reverence the cross and chant the liturgy? You must be one of those repristinators.

You sang THAT song? Your church must be on the road to Contemporary Worship.

You are being critical of a pastor? You must have no respect for the pastoral office.

The list could go on, but you get the idea. It seems that in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod today it is almost impossible to have a meaningful conversation about any number of things because of the speed with which the line is drawn any time a "hot button" issue comes up. We are frankly more polarized than the United States Congress. "You're on that side; I'm on this side; you are not, therefore, to be trusted. You are, in fact, to be marked, avoided, and demonized." From that point, it's all downhill, as the competing viewpoints choose up teams and congregate on blogs and Facebook walls. Snarky comments are written and funny pictures and songs posted that refer vaguely to the opposition and that are understood only by insiders, and much fun is had by all; if someone comes along and questions the behavior, he is told he can't take a joke. Well, maybe he can't. But maybe that's the point. I think we may be so very divided, with so much invested emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually, that it might in some (most?) cases be best to forgo humor, snark, satire and the rest. Maybe if we spent more time trying to earnestly understand and then to respond in kindness and love, we would actually make a little progress towards finding our common ground.

(N.B. I'm not holding my breath.)

He Gives to All of Them Their Names

LCMS Life Conference and March for Life 2013 from Cheryl on Vimeo.

International Center Recital

French Suite No. 2 in C-minor by J.S. Bach from Cheryl on Vimeo.

Rhapsody in G-Minor, Op. 79, No. 2 - J. Brahms from Cheryl on Vimeo.

Gargoyles, Op. 29, by Lowell Liebermann from Cheryl on Vimeo.

I ran out of memory before the final movement of Gargoyles. Here is another performance that includes that final movement at about the 4:20 mark.

 
"Gargoyles" - Op. 29 by Lowell Liebermann from Cheryl on Vimeo.

January Update

My mother, who broke her hip on Christmas Day, continues in rehab. She had her first post-surgery appointment and x-ray last week, and healing is progressing on schedule. In two more weeks she will have another x-ray, and if things still look good, she will get the go-ahead to start bearing her full weight on the repaired hip. I am hoping that at that point her progress will accelerate and she will soon be back home.

We are going to Washington, D.C.! My husband is serving as musician for the LCMS Life Conference, which is taking place in conjunction with the 40th Annual March for Life later this week. We decided we couldn't miss this opportunity to see our nation's capital--my husband has been there, but the rest of us have not. We will leave on Wednesday so as to enjoy a full day of sight-seeing together on Thursday. On Friday Caitlin will be accompanying her dad on the March while Evan and I do some more sight-seeing. We realize two days in Washington, D.C. are hardly sufficient, but we will see what we can. At the top of the list is the Smithsonian, which Evan learned about from a Peanuts history video. We also hope to visit some of the monuments, at least see the outside of the White House, and if time allows, drop by Arlington National Cemetery. We come home on Saturday. Prayers for safe travel--and for calm for your aerophobic blogger--would be most appreciated.

As mentioned a few posts ago, Caitlin and I have started reading Paradise Lost. She has read some of it before, but this time we are going to work our way through the whole thing. I am looking forward to it. Milton holds a special place in my literary heart. 

Speaking of Caitlin, she is reading Evan his first Little House book (Little House in the Big Woods). Earlier this week, after reading about how the Ingalls made butter in a churn, Caitlin asked me to buy some cream so that she and Evan could make some, too. It is so nice having not only another teacher in the house, but one who enjoys the hands-on approach to learning that I tend to neglect. 

Phillip has recently started a program of study to receive his colloquy as a Director of Parish Music. Until very recently there was no such path for a musician in the LCMS. We are so pleased that now there is and that in a matter of months Phillip will be able to complete the requirements leading to his becoming a rostered worker in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. He began studying for his colloquy some years ago but put it on hold due to the unsuitability of the program. It was geared towards teachers and there were classes that were not a good investment of his time and money and that in fact duplicated courses he had already taken or ignored his extensive on-the-job experience. Now our church body is offering a program of study customized to the parish musician, and Phillip is very much enjoying his studies.

If you've been wondering about the ABP (Anything But Politics) Challenge, it is still mostly on, but it really isn't a challenge anymore. I am still not watching cable news or listening to talk radio. I gave some thought to downgrading our cable package but discovered that even going down one package would save us very little. We would have to go all the way down to basic and if we did that other people in the house would probably object. So I guess we will keep the news stations and I will keep on ignoring them. Every now and then I click on a link on Facebook or an article in my Google reader, but I'm wondering if I will ever again feel that it is worth my emotional investment to pay much attention to the outside world.

We got a light dusting of snow in Chicagoland this morning. There is the possibility of more later this week while we're out of town. Poor Evan. He has been waiting for a good snow all winter long.

It seems that so many people are sick! Way more this winter than I remember hearing about the last few years. We have somehow avoided all of it so far--both the flu and the intestinal virus that has been going around. We do not get the flu shot, and when I hear about people who did get it succumbing nonetheless, I feel vindicated.

Willard the puppy is about six months old now and is fully trained and settled in to the family routine. My kitchen floor is staying much cleaner between sweepings these days!

Ev'ry voice in concert ring

This is from August of 2010. Yes, August. That wild and crazy Doxology team had Christmas in the summer! This is my all-time favorite Christmas hymn sung in my all-time favorite way. Enjoy.

Remembering . . .

. . . this day in 2010.

Back to Congo

Last year around this time my husband spent ten days in Congo teaching hymns and liturgy to French-speaking African Lutherans. He was invited to go there by Pastor James May of Lutherans in Africa. Pastor May was my husband's co-teacher and traveling companion and is also now a good friend.

It was a trip my husband will never forget. You can read much more about it under the listing for Congo here on my blog. Next week he will be returning for another round of teaching. As he did last time, he will also be delivering several boxes of Liturgies et cantiques luthériens for distribution to our fellow Lutherans there.

Last year when he did this I was quite nervous about the distance he was going to be traveling (21 hours of air travel to get there) as well as about his safety. That is still in the back of my mind, but I find myself right now thinking less of those things and much more of what it is going to be like when he arrives once again among his friends in Brazzaville. For they are most assuredly friends, and I can only try to imagine the joyful reunion that will be experienced by both my husband and the people he came so quickly to love and who came to love him. When he said goodbye last year he was presented with several articles of African clothing. One of the things he is looking forward to doing is taking back a picture of our family wearing the clothing we were given. Here is a photo of me, Caitlin and Phillip doing just that at a recent presentation on his trip that Phillip gave at our church.

Phillip will be leaving next week on Thursday. I would appreciate your prayers for his safety and well-being as well as for his work, that it might be a blessing to the Congolese Lutherans. I thought I would leave you with this video from his last trip. It is a drive through the streets of Brazzaville a day or two after his arrival. The other two people in the video are Pastor May and Pastor Mavoungu of the EELC (Evangelical Lutheran Church of Congo). You can get an idea from the video of the living conditions in Brazzaville. But what I am most struck by is the joy of these three men as they do the Lord's work. Shortly into the video they start singing. After a stanza or two of the song, Phillip interjects a comment. The comment is acknowledged, but notice what happens next. Instead of returning to conversing, Pastor Mavoungu picks back up on the next stanza of the song. He will not be distracted from singing! Phillip told me that this is typical: once his Congolese friends started a song or a hymn, whether in a formal (church) or informal setting, they did not stop until they sang the whole thing. We in our hurry-up, cram-it-in, cross-it-off-the-task-list lives could learn from those priorities.

If you would like to support Lutherans in Africa and specifically their efforts in Congo-Brazzaville, let me know and I will put you in touch with the right people.

International Center Chapel

My husband and I were in St. Louis Sunday and Monday. We visited the headquarters of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, also known as the International Center (IC for short). The occasion was the dedication of a new Boston grand piano recently donated to the IC chapel. Phillip was invited to serve as the musician and choir/instrumental director for the special chapel service, after which there was a reception followed by a short recital of classical piano music intended to showcase the new instrument. Then Phillip and I were honored to attend lunch with our synodical president Rev. Matt Harrison and several members of his office as well as the guest recitalist, the Boston-Steinway representative who facilitated the sale (herself a good LCMS Lutheran), and the family who donated the piano (who are friends of ours and members of our congregation).

A few observations about the day . . . .

The International Center chapel is quite a lovely room, made lovelier now with the addition of this fine new instrument. The chapel service was beautiful. Synodical President Rev. Matt Harrison was the liturgist and preacher. The instrumentalists and choir were excellent. Musical selections included Phillip's piano arrangement of Lamb of God as a prelude, which in its use of a broad harmonic, tonal and dynamic palette provided a great showcase for the new piano. Marty Haugen's "Shepherd Me, O God" was the psalm, Phillip's recently composed concertato on "Father Welcomes" (which in its use of instruments and choir turns that simple song into something quite special) was the hymn, and his CPH published arrangement of "Our Paschal Lamb That Sets Us Free" for flute and piano served as postlude. The service was videotaped and I hope will be made available at some point. I'll let you know if it is.

Our Synodical President is a warm, humble, fun-loving, pastoral man. I knew that before, but each time I see him I am reminded of it again. We are so blessed to have him in that office. I pray his tenure there is long.

My husband looks really good behind a piano (see below). :-)

The International Center is the quietest place I have been in a long time, quieter even than a library or a dentist's waiting room. I had to spend a couple of hours after lunch waiting for my husband as he attended a meeting in the President's office, and merely coughing or typing on my laptop seemed to intrude upon the silence. But the quiet is not a reflection of the activity that is going on there. Those people work HARD. I rode back from lunch with several of the administrative assistants in the President's office, and that short car ride impressed me with two things: those ladies are amazing, and I am so glad I am not a career woman. I would not be able to handle the pace or the pressure.

Here are a few photos from the day. I fell down on the job and got no pictures at the reception, the tour of the President's office, or lunch (I must have been suffering from celebrity awe), but here are some shots of the warm-up before chapel.

Be still, my heart.

Perchance to Dream

Pastor Peters' post today strongly resonated with me. He writes of being told that his is a "special" congregation. Not understanding what was meant by that, he sought clarification and was provided with a list of features that he was told caused the other person to come to that conclusion. The list included things like the upholding of the liturgy, the placing of a high value on worship and music, the preaching of Law and Gospel, a functional and attractive facility, and a strong sense of mission. Pastor Peters concludes:

In the end, I find myself more and more mystified with his comment. He gets around to a lot of Lutheran (nearly all LCMS) parishes across the states and for him to suggest that our parish is "special" is less a compliment to us than, perhaps, a cause for concern about the others. For we are not extraordinary but rather ordinary. We use the hymnal, we preach the lectionary, we invest in worship as the primary activity of God's people in this place, we care about those outside our parish and our community, and we use the Confessions and Catechism as the documents that both inform and norm our parish teaching and practice. I would expect that every Lutheran parish would do so. In fact, I would hope that we are ordinary, normal, and fairly typical for Lutheran parishes out there.

I can relate to this post, not (obviously) as a pastor, but as someone who has also been told that I belong to a "special" or "exceptional" parish. It is a viewpoint I don't understand because I think if you were to ask my pastors they would say that our church is only doing what Lutherans have always done. Maybe some of the externals are different from those in some other parishes, but at the core, we are just being Lutheran. That is not to say that other solidly Lutheran churches will look exactly like ours. They won't. Each congregation has an identity that is the result of its unique gathering of souls at a particular spot on the space/time continuum. But to be Lutheran means to share certain essentials. Or it should. And being faithful to those essentials shouldn't make you "special."

More from Pastor Peters:

The more I think about it, the more this whole thing bothers me. I know that there are strange Lutheran incarnations out there but I have always believed that they were a distinct minority. My hope, prayer, and, maybe, my private illusion, is that the vast majority of Lutheran parishes were not so different from mine. I do not believe that I am more than your average Lutheran Pastor and I do not believe that we are special or unusual in all that many ways. If it is true, then it is not a compliment to me or to my parish but a cause for serious concern about the health of Lutheran congregations and their Pastors. So let me say it again. I am an ordinary Lutheran Pastor and Grace Lutheran Church is a typical Lutheran parish. Or it should be. I cannot wish for more Pastors to be like me (believe me, I know my faults and weaknesses more than most of you readers). But I do wish and pray that more Lutheran parishes would be like us in that their worship and teaching flowed seamlessly from their Confessional identity, that it was powerfully evangelical and faithfully catholic, that it was unashamedly and unabashedly Lutheran, and that it was deliberate and determined to be not only a Lutheran island where the parish is located but a Lutheran mission to shape, encourage, and live united with other Lutherans -- not as some minority splinter group but as the essential core and typical expression of our Lutheran identity within the congregation. If I am wrong, please do not tell me. Allow me this small waking dream of hope . . . .

Pastor, I don't think you're wrong. But if you are, I hope you hang on to the dream, because it's the right one, and you are not alone in praying for it to become a reality.

"And His face shone like the sun"

Yesterday at my church we joined many liturgical Christians around the world in celebrating the Feast of Transfiguration. Here's the Biblical account from yesterday's Gospel reading, Matthew 17:1-8:

And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah." He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him." When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Rise, and have no fear." And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

Following is a video of yesterday's processional hymn. Some of my confessional Lutheran friends don't like this song. We sing it once a year at my church, on Transfiguration, because it fits the theme of a radiant Jesus so very well. I post the video because I think the reason some people don't like the song has more to do with its associations and the way it is sometimes done than with the song itself. It is possible to sing the song in a churchly way, a way that keeps the focus on the object of worship and not on the worshiper. Notice that there is no drumset here, no backbeat, no amplifed songleaders standing up front, no screen, no hand clapping or arm waving. Instead there is piano and brass and congregational singing. (By the way, if you listen to the end you will hear the processional hymn followed by our junior high choir singing a 16th-century setting of the Kyrie by Leonhard Lechner.)

Procession for Transfiguration Sunday from Cheryl on Vimeo.

I thought about posting a video of how NOT to do this song, but I decided that would be counter-productive and cruel to your ears. :-)

By the way, I'm not suggesting that every church should sing this. It may not be suited to your parish. But it works well for us as a Transfiguration hymn. And while I think a church body should share the bulk of its hymnody and liturgy and have a generally uniform practice that reflects its doctrine, I also think there is room for some variance from one congregation to another. Congregations are different; the people in them are different; it is not surprising that there will be some minor differences in practice from one to the next. So just because my congregation embraces this song doesn't mean yours will, and that's okay. It also doesn't mean that my congregation is embracing Contemporary Worship or its theology, any more than our singing of a hymn with Methodist roots means we are embracing Methodism.

The new president of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, Rev. Matt Harrison, is proposing (and I think moving forward) with something called the "Koinonia Project" that has at its goal helping "brothers and sisters talk with each other about our theology and how our theology works out in practice" (source). I guess you can consider today's post one of my tiny little drops in the "koinonia" bucket.

BJS Conference Extras

Excellent blog post on the conference by Rev. Thomas Messer

Blog post on the Cantor's presentation by Rev. Al Collver

Audio links for presentations and the conference Divine Service

And a few pictures:

Pastor Fisk with three of his fans

Cantor Magness presenting on Witness

President Harrison speaking at the banquet

Trevor Magness providing pre-dinner music

BJS Conference

The Brothers of John the Steadfast conference exceeded my expectations in more ways than one. I think much good came out of it, both in front of and behind the scenes, and I am proud to claim the head of the group as my pastor and the worship planner/musician for the conference as my husband! I met several people in person that I had previously only known online, two of whose efforts to teach the pure Gospel are an ongoing gift to the world: Rev. Jonathan Fisk of Worldview Everlasting, and Rev. James May of Lutherans in Africa. Wow. What excellent work they are both doing. I was also pleased to meet award-winning composer Terry Herald, who is a Lutheran church musician as well as the president of his BJS chapter and who is also the newest composer to be added to the Liturgy Solutions catalog!

My husband was called in as a last-minute substitute speaker for the conference. He presented on "Witness," the second of LCMS President Matt Harrison's threefold emphasis. As a member of the LCMS Board for International Mission and one who last fall went to Brazzaville, Congo to teach hymns and liturgy, he was well-suited to the topic. I bet it won't surprise you to hear that he made some connections between "Witness"--our confession to one another and to the world--and worship and liturgy. You can see a photo of him in action here. Continue checking the BJS site over the next week for more wrap-up and posting of podcasts. I also have a few photos that I hope to soon post here.

If you haven't attended a BJS conference, consider it for next year. They get better all the time!