Regretfully, we have had to close registration for our fall virtual conference. Registration for the January virtual conference will open after Thanksgiving. Please, check back and join us then.
In November 2019 Dr. Rhoda Schuler, faculty member in the Department of Theology and Ministry, received word from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship (CICW) that she was awarded a Teacher-Scholar grant for 2020-2021. Schuler’s grant from CICW builds on a Vital Worship grant that Dr. Kent Burreson of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, received in 2019-20 (Dr. Schuler served as co-director of that grant), and the two scholars did ethnographic research at four Lutheran congregations in the U.S. with a strong adult faith formation process.
For the current Teacher-Scholar grant, the research partners envisioned sharing the results of that initial research with the wider church through small, face-to-face conferences in different parts of the country built around interactive presentations and hands-on workshops on Christian worship practices, but then the Pandemic hit. “When the CSP campus closed in mid-March and classes moved to online delivery, I was conflicted. I had been so thrilled to be a grant recipient and relished the opportunity to share our research with other LCMS pastors and church leaders, but I wasn’t ready to think creatively about other means to share what we had learned,” Schuler said.
By May Dr. Schuler and Dr. Burreson began to re-imagine ways of achieving a central goal of the grant, “to equip Lutheran pastors and laity to strengthen adult catechumenal processes in their congregations,” in the current reality. In a Zoom consultation with the pastors of the congregations where they did their initial research, Schuler and Burreson were inspired to rethink the original plan to share the fruits of their research. Each of the pastors, as they collaborated about reshaping the conference, spoke eloquently of life in their parishes since the onset of the Pandemic.
As one pastor noted, the church “has been through pandemics before”—referencing the extraordinary response of early Christians, who cared for plague victims as others fled, and of Luther’s writing on the subject during an outbreak of the bubonic plague in the sixteenth century. Christians have had centuries to practice loving our neighbors in difficult times. Another commented that through the adult faith formation process at his congregation “people were trained and prepared for this”—the unprecedented changes that permeated all of life—by the way in which the catechumenate integrated the Christian faith into the daily lives of people.
As a result of this inspiring interchange with these grant collaborators, Schuler and Burreson have embraced an online delivery method with much greater involvement by the parish pastors, the true “experts” on adult faith formation. As Dr. Burreson observed, “The process of faith formation, like so many other things, is caught as much as it is taught,” Dr. Burreson said. “Part of our intention with these workshops was to allow people to catch these pastors’ passion and investment in faith formation. An online conference has in no way diminished our hope that participants will be able to catch the vision.”
Each year in June the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship hosts a gathering for its grant recipients at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Mich. Like so many other major gatherings planned for spring and summer 2020, this conference also became a virtual event. As each of the teacher-scholars spoke briefly about their project, a common theme emerged, all were in the process of changing plans and rethinking how to accomplish the goals of their research during the Pandemic. Because of the re-imagining Schuler and Burreson started in May, Dr. Schuler was able to report to CICW and her fellow teacher-scholars with enthusiasm about their revised plan.
The dates for the first virtual event, “Treasures Old and New: A Conference on Adult Faith Formation,” are October 20-22, 2020. For more information, visit the webpage https://forminglutherans.org/.
Each of the 15 teacher-scholar grants funded by the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship was awarded to scholars integrating research that connects worship with other disciplines of study and practice and is intended to advance the flourishing of Christian public worship practices. Kathy Smith, leader of the Vital Worship Grants Team, said, “We are delighted to join with these distinguished scholars to explore the ways that scholarship in different fields can contribute to the deepening of worship practices in congregations. We were grateful for a number of excellent proposals and are eager to facilitate their learning and ours, regarding worship across North America.”
This year’s recipients include scholars at five research universities, seven seminaries, and two regional Christian colleges, representing ten states. All programs are made possible through a Vital Worship Grant from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, Grand Rapids, Mich., with funds provided by Lilly Endowment Inc.
Links:
https://worship.calvin.edu/
https://forminglutherans.org/
https://www.csl.edu/2018/06/concordia-seminary-receives-worship-grant/
https://www.csl.edu/2019/08/capstone-worship-grant/
Dr. Rhoda Schuler has received a 2020 Teacher-Scholar grant in the Vital Worship Grants Program from the Calvin Institute in Christian Worship. She will again be partnering with Dr. Kent Burreson of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis for the research and workshops, which are part of the project. Drs. Schuler and Burreson reported earlier this year on the first stage of their work at the 2019 Hoffmann Lecture. The project proposes “to analyze the field research data on the adult catechumenate in the Lutheran church and to offer workshops that help pastors and congregations envision an adult catechumenal model that could transform their congregations.”
Press release:
Dean of Chapel Dr. Kent Burreson and Dr. Rhoda Schuler, term professor of Theology and Interdisciplinary Studies at Concordia University, St. Paul, Minn., held a capstone event June 6–7 on campus for their worship grant from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship (CICW).
Representatives from all eight of the Lutheran congregations with which Burreson and Schuler have worked over the last year as part of their research were on hand for the event.
In spring 2018, the Seminary was one of 44 recipients and the only seminary chosen as part of the “Vital Worship Grants Program” from the CICW in Grand Rapids, Mich., for 2018–19. The $18,000 grant was used by Burreson and Schuler to conduct a yearlong study of congregations with successful catechumenate programs that can be replicated and adapted for use in other congregations. The study’s goal is to strengthen the patterns for discipleship and participation in church life among millennials and Generation Z.
Read more about the grant.
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis is one of 44 recipients and the only seminary chosen as part of the “Vital Worship Grants Program” from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship (CICW) in Grand Rapids, Mich., for 2018-19.
The Seminary will use the $18,000 grant to conduct a year-long study of congregations with successful catechumenate programs, which can be replicated and adapted for use in other congregations. The goal is to strengthen the patterns for discipleship and participation in church life among millennials and Generation Z.
The study will be overseen by the Seminary’s Louis A. Fincke and Anna B. Shine Professor of Systematic Theology and Dean of Chapel Dr. Kent Burreson and Term Professor of Theology and Interdisciplinary Studies Dr. Rhoda Schuler from Concordia University, St. Paul, Minn.
“Dr. Schuler and I are grateful to the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship (CICW) for the opportunity to receive this grant enabling us to conduct this study into the formative value of catechumenal practices among the millennial and Gen Z generations,” Burreson said. “It is research that has the potential to strengthen patterns of discipleship in many congregations beyond the eight involved in the study.”
Burreson and Schuler said the results of their research will be shared widely so congregations can adapt and use the successful practices.
“I was thrilled when Dr. Burreson invited me to collaborate with him on the grant proposal and participate in this research project,” Schuler said. “As one who teaches undergraduates, I have seen firsthand the drift of younger generations away from active participation in the life of the church. It’s an honor to be involved in research that could enhance the mission of the church and strengthen congregational life.”
This year’s grant recipients include 27 congregations, one high school, six colleges and universities, one seminary and nine other groups, including two community organizations, three denominational organizations, a retreat center and a retirement community, according to the CICW. They also represent 17 different Christian denominations, 25 states and two Canadian provinces.
The grants, ranging from $6,000 to $18,000, have a common purpose of desiring to both deepen people’s understanding of worship and strengthen practices of public worship and faith formation. Each grant will fund a year-long project beginning in June that promotes vital worship and faith formation.
John Witvliet, director of the CICW, believes that the 2018 projects will help the institute in its goals to enhance the scholarly study of Christian worship and the renewal of worshiping communities across North America and beyond.
“We learn a tremendous amount from these programs,” he said in a release. “We look forward to sharing insights from these projects with a larger audience in our future programming over the next several years.”
The grant program is made possible through the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, with funds provided by Lilly Endowment Inc.
For more information on the grants program, including a complete list of this year’s grants recipients, please seeworship.calvin.edu/grants.
About Concordia Seminary
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis provides Gospel-centered graduate-level theological education for pastors, missionaries, deaconesses, scholars and other leaders in the name of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS). To learn more, visit www.csl.edu.
