An Evangelizing Church

Greetings class,

I chose the book The Evangelizing Church by Dr. Rick Bliese for our textbook for two reasons. First, because it is the first evangelism-oriented book published by our church publishing house in over a decade, and second, because it frames many of the issues that we need to struggle with as Lutheran Christians if we are going to ever see an increase in passion and energy for the basic mission our Lord gave to us: to go and make disciples of all nations.

Historically, Lutherans in this country have not had much energy for reaching out to non-Lutherans, much less to non-Christians, to help them become followers of Jesus Christ. Many Lutherans still owe their Lutheran identity to their family's ethnic heritage, and often do not even see the need to reach out to non-Lutherans with the gospel. If others lack Lutheran heredity, perhaps they should go elsewhere.

Now I realize that many Lutherans, especially in the Metro New York Synod and the LCMS Atlantic District, might point to their own personal history in response. Many of our folks are "first-generation" Lutherans, and some have never even been Christians before they became Lutherans.

But I suggest that this is by far more than the exception than the rule. It is more of a regional pheneomenon than we sometimes realize. In spite of the fact that the East Coast has the longest history of Lutheran population, and even to this day there are more Lutherans living in Pennsylvania than in any other state in the U.S., there are simply a lot more new Americans and there has been a lot more inter-religious marriage in this part of the country than elsewhere, especially since Vatican II in 1964.

As an assignment, please read the first chapter of the book and be ready to discuss the questions found on pages 138-139.

Also, write a one page description of your own life in the Lutheran Church. Reflect on questions like how did you become a Lutheran? Who had an impact on your spiritual development? What is it about being a Lutheran Christian that you especially value?

We will talk about posting comments on this blog when we meet on Thursday. I'm looking forward to meeting you all.

If you need to contact me for any reason you can email me at rohill@optonline.net I can also be called on the phone (516) 848-5386.

See you Thursday! Pastor Hill