In a place where your congregation gathers for fellowship place a whiteboard or butchers paper in a prominent place with some markers, and the following question:
How can we as a church, share God with our wider community through:
our relationships
technology
buildings
people?
And encourage people to put down their thoughts
Jonathan Mumme's article in the St Andrew's Encyclopedia of Theology is Lutheran Ecclesiology.
The article covers
Introduction
Late medieval ecclesiological thought
The ecclesiology of the reformers and the confessions
General characteristics
Symbolical expression (the Lutheran Confessions)
Productive theological pairings
Invisible and visible
Faith and the means of grace
Church and marks of the church
Ministry (Amt) and congregation (Gemeinde)
Internality and externality as ecclesiological diagnostic
Historical unfolding
Orthodoxy and Enlightenment
The long nineteenth century
Recent and contemporary
Polities and particular ecclesial trajectories
Germany
Nordic countries
America
Amalgamations
Lutheran approaches to general ecclesiological concerns
Israel and eschatology
The church and the state
Current state of play
Federations, communions, and associations
Ecumenism and post-ecumenism
Directions toward the future
Lutheran Ecclesiology by Jonathan Mumme is available at St Andrews Encyclopedia of Theology
One of the leading voices in the missional church conversation, Darrell Guder here lays out basic theological issues that must be addressed for the church to serve God faithfully as Christ's witnessing people.
Guder argues that there are major consequences for every classical theological locus if the fundamental claims of the missional church discussion are acknowledged.
In Called to Witness he delves into these consequences, saying that we need to keep doing missional theology until it is possible to leave off the "missional scaffolding" because, after all, mission defines the very essence and calling of the church.
Chapters
Will Sohns goes right to the heart—the heart of the missional problem—and offers a powerful solution.
God’s Sending is a call to join Him in something beyond self, beyond a congregation, and beyond a denomination. God is calling us to much more. His Great Sending is His heartbeat for the world that He wants beating in and through you.
Readers will learn to re-arrange their understanding of Scripture and life around God’s Mission…no longer arranging God’s Mission around their self-centered lives.
Each chapter in this collection of writings from renowned authors connects God’s heart to your own through a deep dive into Scripture. The Great Sending will begin new conversations in the church around the Great Sending (Missio Dei) and lead laity, congregations, and pastors to let God change the direction of local churches that are collapsing under protectionism and self-preservation.
The Great Sending is about opening up to God’s heart for the world. Let this book challenge you and call you to see God’s Mission and move your life to join God in the Mission.
chapters
The Lutheran House of Study has developed a free online Lutheran Confirmation Course to assist congregations and members in preparing for people to be confirmed as members of their Lutheran congregation
The curriculum covers:
The resources available include:
To discover more about the Lutheran Confirmation Course visit
https://lutherhouseofstudy.org/confirmation/
