President Richard Bliese discusses the second of the three Cs that are shaping Luther Seminary’s mission and vision for the future.
The headlines of the Star Tribune on August 12, 2006 read:
“Lutherans are Losing Ground in Minnesota, Nationwide.”
The gist of the article was that Lutherans are still strong, but many of their congregations are struggling to define their identity and mission in rapidly changing times.
Today’s Luther Seminary graduate will be sent out into a church with great opportunities and potential. Nevertheless, they will be sent out into congregations that are struggling to do effective and faithful ministry in a world — and in neighborhoods — that are ever-changing. In the ELCA alone, 40 percent of the congregations are either stagnant or stable; an additional 40 percent are in decline.
In order to create communities of hope, many congregations will have to go through significant periods of change. As we have all noticed, “status quo” ministries can’t get congregations where they need to go to minister effectively. In a world that is constantly evolving and rapidly moving, Luther Seminary is striving to be a catalyst for change in the ELCA and in many other churches. Now, we don’t mean change for change’s sake, but strategic movement toward renewal and mission. We want the Church to embrace change–because we are a reforming church; that’s our heritage–and we reform for the sake of God’s mission.
Some of the most exciting changes to church mission are coming out of the work of Luther Seminary’s own Doctor of Ministry (D. Min.) students. These students–all ordained pastors–use their current ministries as their training ground for coursework and projects. One D. Min. student, Betsy Miller, is director of congregational leadership and resources for the Moravian Church in North America’s Western District of the Northern Province. In her first course at Luther, she was asked to create a PowerPoint presentation. At the same time, her district was looking for a way to motivate its 40 churches to transform from inwardly focused “maintenance” congregations to missional churches that train and send disciples to do God’s mission in the world. Betsy’s course project and her district’s need for a vehicle to inspire congregations became one. Betsy’s presentation was shown to all the leaders in her district and DVDs were made available to all the congregations. “It provided a wake-up call and a common goal toward which to strive. Everything that I’m doing at Luther is rolling into what I’m doing in the church.”