A Message from the Hill

Back in 1997 then Bishop of the ELCA H. George Anderson wrote a short book entitled: A Good Time to Be the Church. While many people, then as now, were lamenting the impending death of the church, Bishop Anderson tried to rally us with his prophetic words.
He cited the history of Lutherans in the USA. The great movements in American Christianity, The
Great Awakenings, the Evangelical Revival, the Social Gospel, and others didn’t seem to involve
Lutherans. We were an ethnic bunch. There were German Lutherans, Swedish Lutherans, Norwegian Lutherans, Slovak Lutherans, Finnish Lutherans, and they didn’t always get along.
 
He cited the facts of American culture. People opting out of organized religion, preferring
lifestyle as the “organizing principle” of their lives. Many people preferred to be believers not
belongers. The Christian Churches that were growing were labeled as Evangelical.
 
Another change he postured was the arrival of world religions. The number of Muslims in the US were equal to the number of Episcopalians. There are as many mosques in or country as ELCA
congregations. Hindu and Sikh Temples have emerged around us. Former Episcopal Bishop of Bethlehem PA Mark Dyer said that once every 500 years the church must undergo a ”rummage sale.” History seems to hold that it takes about that long for the church to undergo a major “house-cleaning” of the institutional trappings it has amassed and treasured. The first such event was the move from the time before Christ to the Common Era, followed about 500 years later by the fall of Rome, Gregory the Great, Benedict, and the rise of monasticism. The third great house cleaning came with the schism between Eastern and Western Christianity, with the next giant rummage sale coming with the advent of the Reformation and Martin Luther.
 
We have passed the next 500 year mark since the last great rummage sale, meaning we’re living
through another time of great change. The difference this time is that we’re in an age where
information technology and social media are making it possible to share and, one hopes, understand that experience in a new way. We have a choice to make: Shall we be fearful and retrench behind crumbling edifices, or shall we be hopeful and look with excitement for what God is doing in this time and place?
 
The church has always lived in challenging times. Ours is no different. How we approach the future
depends upon how we perceive our possibilities. Are we like the shoe salesman who was dispatched to Africa to sell his product. He emailed his boss, “Coming home. There is no hope here . None of the people wear shoes!” or are we like another salesman who posted to his boss, “Send more shoes. None of the people here wear shoes. What a market!
 
It is a good time to be the church. Challenging yes, but when hasn’t it been so. We have a message
of hope and new possibilities that many people are desperately needing to hear. We best send that
message, not only with our words, but also with our lives. There is no end to the possibilities before us. It is indeed a good time to be the church.
 
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Frank Terhune