Since both Kent and I are alumni of Valparaiso University, we wish to remind our readers that the early-bird registration for the Institute of Liturgical Studies at VU ends on January 31. To save $100 on the registration cost, click here by Saturday, January 31. The Institute meets April 13 – 15, 2026. It’s a great post-Holy Week retreat for pastors and musicians.
In April and May 2025, an ecumenical seminar was convened for the second time in Assisi, Italy. They met under the banner of The Feast of Creation and the Mystery of Creation: Ecumenism, Theology, Liturgy, and Signs of the Times in Dialogue to continue a conversation begun a year earlier.Organized by the Laudato Sì Research Institute of the Roman Catholic Church in partnership with the Anglican Communion, Lutheran World Federation, the World Communion of Reformed Churches, the World Council of Churches, and the World Methodist Council, the seminar met to examine the history of Christian engagement with the creation story, described in the book of Genesis, in the context of the growing climate justice movement. They developed a proposal that a creation season be incorporated into the liturgical calendar to run from A Feast of Creation on September 1 through to October 4, the Commemoration of Francis of Assisi. The 77th meeting of the Institute of Liturgical Studies will consider the possibilities of such a festival and season. We will reflect on creation, incarnation, and Jesus’s death and resurrection, all received by us through the created materiality of our sacramental life together. Furthermore, we will examine how petroleum culture has influenced our sacramental life and begin to envision ways to counter its impact. A model lectionary will be used, and sample liturgies will be celebrated. Join us April 13 – 15, 2026, for The Feast of Creation—liturgy as creation groans.
Click here for details about the program, schedule, plenaries, and workshops.
Although it is (apparently) an urban legend that the origin of the carol “The Twelve Days of Christmas” stems from a time when Roman Catholics in England (16th to early 19th centuries) were not allowed to practice their faith openly, we’re featuring the modern legend on today’s post. The carol was purportedly written as a catechumenal song to teach youth Catholics about their faith, with each gift holding the hidden meaning of a Christian truth. As critics have pointed out, the 12 “hidden meanings” are shared by Christians across denominational boundaries; there is nothing distinctive to Roman Catholicism in them, and the hypothesis is rather recent. Nevertheless, I find the “hidden meanings” a lovely way to christianize an otherwise secular “carol,” especially since the celebration of Christmas by those for whom it is a secular and cultural holiday ends on “the second day of Christmas.”
Here are the 12 hidden meanings:
The Partridge in the pear tree is Jesus Christ.
Two turtle doves are the Old and New Testaments.
Three French hens stand for faith, hope, and love.
The four calling birds are the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
The five golden rings recall the Torah or law, the first five books of the Old Testament.
The six geese a-laying stand for the six days of creation.
Seven swans a-swimming represent the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit: prophesy, serving, teaching, exhortation, contribution, leadership, and mercy.
The eight maids a-milking are the eight beatitudes.
The nine ladies dancing are the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
The ten lords a-leaping are the ten commandments.
Eleven pipers piping stand for the eleven faithful disciples.
Twelve drummers drumming symbolize the twelve points of belief in the Apostles’ Creed.
This list could be a great way to teach some basics of the faith to both children and adults in a fun and festive atmosphere, perhaps as a Bible class or Sunday School lesson in early January (during the 12 days).
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Banner image: Photo by Rhoda Schuler, 2026
Sources consulted about the “hidden meaning” of the carol:
Shrouded in legend, Bishop Nicholas of Myra (270-343) evolved over the centuries into the patron saint of children (in the West) and sailors (in the East). According to one Roman Catholic source, this devolution—my word, not that of my source—of a fourth-century saint revered for acts of mercy and charity into the King of consumerism at Christmas started in Protestant circles.
“…the giving of presents at Christmas … is not an old Catholic custom. It seems to have originated among the Protestants of the Low Countries and to have been taken to America by the Dutch immigrants of New Amsterdam” (Butler, Lives of the Saints, December vol., 60). The name “‘Santa Claus’” derives from “the Dutch ‘Sint Niklaas’” (ibid., 59).
Having long been horrified by the bad theology promoted in the secular song “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” along with the threats I’ve heard parents say to their children (“If you don’t stop … if you’ve not nice to your sibling, Santa won’t …”), I long for a rehabilitation of St. Nicholas in Protestant circles. For readers who do not yet have an ear worm of the song in their heads, click here for the heretical lyrics.
Let us turn away from self-centered works righteousness, from seeking “rewards” of material gifts based on our distorted desires, from falling into do-ut-des transactional living promoted in this song. If, as Lutherans confess, “the saints are to be remembered so that we may strengthen our faith when we see how they experienced grace …. Moreover, it is taught that each person, according to his or her calling, should take the saints’ good works as an example” (Augsburg Confession XXI, Kolb/Wengert edition, p. 58), there are portions to embrace from St. Nicholas’ hagiography.
One legend tells of a poor father unable to provide doweries for his three daughters. With no way to provide for their future, the father considered a life of prostitution for them. Nicholas, hearing of the family, threw three bags of gold into an open window of the home. The legend is consistent with the Christian virtues attributed to him, a man of deep piety and generosity with a strong sense of justice for people on the margins. This saying, attributed to St. Nicholas, encapsulates not only sound biblical theology but also lifts up a spirit of generosity, an action for Christians to imitate in this season that reflects the legend of this saintly bishop:
The giver of every good and perfect gift has called upon us to mimic God’s giving, by grace, through faith, and this is not of ourselves.
+++ Next week’s blog will be another segment of Armand Boehme’s series on catechetical preaching.
We are pleased to announce the start of a new series, Preaching on the Catechism. In September, when I attended the Go First! Ministry Conference sponsored by the Minnesota South District, I was curious about the workshop titled “Catechetical Preaching.” After attending the session led by Pastor Armand Boehme, I shared a bit of the content from his presentation with Kent. We both agreed that his work dovetails well with our goals for adult faith formation within congregations. We are delighted that Pastor Boehme has agreed to share with our readers the resources he has developed over his decades of parish ministry. Here’s more about him:
Rev. Dr. Armand J. Boehme serves as Associate Pastor, of Trinity Lutheran, Northfield, MN. He previously served other parishes in Wisconsin and Minnesota. He is a campus contact Pastor, and was a vicarage supervisor, mentor for colloquy and Ethnic Immigrant Institute of Theology students and a District LWML Counselor. He taught at seminaries and Bible schools in Kazakhstan, India, the United States, and Slovakia. He served on the Synod’s Commission on Theology and Church Relations (1992-1998, 2002-2010) and as the President of the St. Timothy Society, an organization which supported missionaries in Kenya.
He is a published author, having contributed essays to Martin Luther: Companion to the Contemporary Christian (CPH, 1982), and The Lutheran Difference: An Explanation & Comparison of Christian Beliefs (CPH, 2010). He and his wife Judy co-authored the 1983 LWML Bible Study, God’s Rescue Mission: The Story of Jonah (CPH, 1983). He also authored The Lutheran Difference: Angels and Demons (CPH, 2006). He currently serves on the board of the Lutheran Heritage Foundation, is involved with Sudanese ministry, and recently celebrated the 50thanniversary of his ordination.
Next week he’ll introduce the topic, followed by four more blog posts in this series. The first three of these four blog posts are one unit—his division of Luther’s Six Chief Parts spread out over a three-year lectionary cycle. He proposes one chief part beginning with the Baptism of our Lord (ending at the beginning of Lent), and the second set of sermons on the next chief part (generally covering more weeks) beginning in the fall. The final blog will outline a different model: A six-week series, with one sermon on each of the Six Chief Parts. Stay tuned in the coming weeks for a complete set of lectionary ideas, hymn selections, and other wisdom.
I’m nostalgic for 2017, a year filled with special commemorations of the 500th anniversary of Luther’s 95 Thesis and the reforms of the church launched by that event. While most people today (October 31) are fixated on costumes for their kids, Halloween candy to give out, or creepy lawn decorations, I’m musing about Luther’s 1520 treatise The Freedom of a Christian (Quotations are from The Annotated Luther Study Edition, edited by Timothy J. Wengert, Fortress, 2016). Luther wrote: “In order to point out an easier way for common folk (for I serve only them), I am proposing two themes concerning the freedom and servitude of the spirit.”
The Christian individual is a completely free lord of all, subject to none.
The Christian individual is a completely dutiful servant of all, subject to all (488).
The remainder of Luther’s treatise shows how these paradoxical statements are both true. As a child and youth growing up in the Lutheran church, I heard a much greater emphasis on the first theme: the Christian is “completely free” and “subject to none” on account of one’s faith in Christ (not on one’s good works), and most of the preaching (that I recall, at least), centered on my future life with God in heaven, guaranteed by that faith in Christ. But having lived my entire adult life as a deaconess, with its emphasis on service, I revel in the interconnection of Luther’s two themes. Joyful service on behalf of others flows from the firm foundation of a person’s complete freedom through faith in Christ. Luther says it with greater eloquence in the second half of the treatise.
Up to now we have spoken about works in general and, at the same time, about those specific things that a Christian must do to train his or her own body. Finally, we will discuss those things done for one’s neighbor…. Thus, it can never happen that in this life a person is idle and without works toward one’s neighbors…. Nevertheless, no one needs even one of these works to attain righteousness and salvation. For this reason, in all of one’s works a person should in this context be shaped by and contemplate this thought alone: to serve and benefit others in everything that may be done, having nothing else in view except the need and advantage of the neighbor…. That is, with joy and love [faith] reveals itself in works of freest servitude, as one person, abundantly filled with the completeness and richness of his or her own faith, serves another freely and willingly (519-21).
Thanks be to God for the richness of Luther’s theology, that draws us into relationship with God through the person and work of Jesus and Christ, and then frees us for a life a service on behalf of others. Our world needs this message now, just as it did 500 years ago.
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Photo by Rhoda Schuler, 2024: Narthex floor of a Lutheran church in Colorado
Earlier this week Concordia University, St. Paul hosted a book event to celebrate the publication of Journey to Jesus as a resource for the church. I had the “opportunity to thank publicly a host of people who helped bring this book to birth,” from my co-author, Kent Burreson—who had a vision for conducting research on the adult catechumenate and who invited me to join him in this project—to the student worker, Madi Patrow (now a DCE graduate serving in a congregation in the Twin Cities area) who “transformed my scribbled, chaotic [handwritten] interview notes into pages of order and beauty” (the quotations are from my comments at the event).
In addition to my public thanks to many, I also shared a bit about the book itself and our goals. Here’s what Kent and I submitted as our goal for the grant from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, which funded our initial research: “… to identify, implement and disseminate our findings about successful catechumenate practices in order to reshape and renew congregational life for American Lutherans” (emphasis added). We were a bit more modest in Journey to Jesus, closing chapter 1 with these words:
We make no claims of a magic bullet to save declining congregations,
nor do we offer a step-by-step “program” to implement
an adult catechumenate in congregations.
Instead, our research has led us to be descriptive, not prescriptive;
we narrate stories of individual lives changed
and of congregations with an ethos of outreach
in order to inspire pastors
and other church professionals committed to making disciples
to think in new ways (10).
It is our hope that people who read the book envision how they might structure an adult faith formation process that both “makes disciples” and imbues the entire congregation with a missional ethos, eager to be a winsome witness in the world.
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It was wonderful to have many friends and colleagues attend this event at CSP. And yes, I sold and signed more books!
I spoke briefly, thanking lots of folks.Book signing for my colleague Dr. Suzanne Hequet!The Q & A time included many thoughtful questions.It was a good crowd for a Tuesday afternoon.
It started in May 2024 with an email from Pastor Adam Gless, a former student of Kent’s, inviting us “to come and visit Salem,” in order to provide “material for your research and presentation.” Pastors Gless and Martin, who serve at a bilingual congregation, had heard that Kent and I were giving a plenary address at the Multi-Ethnic Symposium at Concordia Seminary. And so, we came; we traveled to Springdale, Arkansas in February 2025, and as I wrote in a previous post, “During our four-day visit we worshipped with the congregation; broke bread with congregational members; attended Bible studies and faith formation gatherings for adults and for youth and their parents; and interviewed a variety of members” and heard from everyone about their wonderful “Festival of Nations” event. We incorporated this rich material into our presentation at the Symposium.
Two weeks ago, we returned to Salem Lutheran congregation, and wearing the hats of “church consultants,” we reported to various groups in the congregation about their strengths and areas for growth: to the congregational leaders and Anglo people we had interviewed; to the Sunday morning Bible class; and to Hispanic congregational members (with Pastor Brandon serving as translator). Because only the summary of our full report was translated into Spanish, we asked Pastor Brandon to translate the conclusion from the report. Here’s what he read:
Each interview closed with the question, “Is there anything else you’d like us to know?” One woman responded, “Thank you for coming and helping us to be a better church.” We are confident that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Salem congregation can become “a better church,” by building on the solid foundation you currently have. A long-time member who has served in a leadership role in the last decade said of past challenges, “We prayed our way through it all; God has blessed us.” And like Abraham, who was blessed by God to be a blessing to “all the families of the earth” (Gen 12:3), Salem congregation is a blessing to the strangers and sojourners in your community. This excerpt from Pastor Martin’s sermon from November 17, 2024, testifies to the blessing you are to your Hispanic members.
Since the election, I have met with many of our Hispanic members. And you should know, many of these brothers and sisters in Christ are struggling! Some are overwhelmed with fear. Others live with a heavy anxiety about the increased hatred in our nation. Our president-elect has vowed to deport them, or their hard-working family members, on his first day in office. His rhetoric implies most immigrants are criminals and incites suspicion and hatred toward them. This has only increased the fear, anxiety, and suffering of our own church members.
But one couple told me this: “When we are tempted to believe that all North Americans hate us, and when fear begins to overwhelm us . . . we remember our church. Here is our family of faith! Here are people that love us, even though we don’t speak English that well. Here is a place we belong, where we feel welcome and safe. Here we are given new strength to trust in Jesus. We don’t know what the future holds for our family, but we know we can get through it with the support of our church.”
What a blessing Salem congregation is for all its members! Your generous spirit, your faith in Christ, your desire to serve others and be a witness of God’s love shines through in every person we interviewed.
As Pastor Martin translated his own words from the November 2024 sermon he had preached in English to the Anglo members of Salem, tears welled up in the eyes of two women in the front row; their children, who had been playing quietly in another part of the room, suddenly appeared at their mother’s side, hearing the words and sensing their mothers’ emotional response. After he finished translating, the adults spoke in Spanish to Brandon. When asked by us to translate, he said these or similar words, “They are saying that they had no idea I shared their fears and anxiety with the Anglo members of the congregation; they are grateful that I have done so. To hear the words from this sermon is another way that Salem is for them a place where they feel welcomed and safe.” What a holy moment we shared with these faithful followers of Christ and their beloved pastor! Thanks be to God!
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On Sunday afternoon Kent and I enjoyed the food, fellowship, and festive dancing by a Colombian woman and a couple from Chile at the Festival of Nations. Here, too, we experienced holy moments as people from a myriad of cultures shared with all gathered that day culinary delights from their homelands. Gloria, one of the woman who had attended at the presentation to the Hispanic congregation the previous day, made sure Kent and I each left with a sample of her pupusas.
St. John Lutheran Church is one of the four congregations that we researched for our book Journey to Jesus; chapter 2 features the story of the adult catechumenate at St. John. One couple I interviewed described the weekly catechumenal sessions as “Ted Talks for Lutherans,” their way of emphasizing the vast knowledge and polished delivery of the catechetical teachings by Pastor Scott Bruzek (pictured with me in the banner photo). On Holy Cross Day the people of St. John welcomed me as I promoted Journey to Jesus in their gathering space all Sunday morning.
As I signed books that members had purchased, I chatted briefly with each person; many spoke of the special ethos of St. John. In Pastor Bruzek’s words, “The primary virtue is love” at this congregation. I was delighted when one member purchased two copies, one for herself and another for her son, who is a pastor. To have the book in the hands of pastors (and other church professionals) is our goal.
But I was also thrilled (and amazed) when a young man, a student at Wheaton College, came to the table with cash in hand to purchase a copy. We had a brief conversation about the trend of his generation: discovering the beauty and grace of the historic liturgy and the powerful way it can communicate the Gospel message.
Altar area of St. JohnBook signingPastor Nelson chatting with membersThe people of God in the Divine ServiceConversing with member of St. JohnPastor Bruzek chatting with members
Thanks to be God for the people of St. John, their faithful pastoral staff, and their witness to the love of Christ in their community.
Many congregations with an adult catechumenate include rituals that mark the transitions from one stage of the catechumenate to the next. Our regular readers know that Kent and I are strong proponents of ritual for a variety of reasons. These are suggestions for how and where the traditional rituals might be celebrated throughout a catechumenal process conducted jointly by several congregations. Titles for rites and quotations are from Welcome to Christ: Lutheran Rites for the Catechumenate (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1997).
Rite of Welcome of Inquirers to the Catechumenate
The opening rubric states “This welcome of those inquiring into the Christian faith and life may be used whenever there are people who desire to begin a more public relationship with a Christian congregation” (9). We suggest that this ritual could be included in a jointly sponsored Reformation service that involves all the congregations in the catechumenal process; this is a fitting date, since fall is also the preferred time to begin the process. The core ritual moment is “Signing with the Cross” on various parts of the body: forehead, ears, eyes, lips, heart, shoulders, hands, and feet. Each has a specific blessing spoken as the signing is done (11). Here are two examples.
Receive the cross on your ears, that you may hear the gospel of Christ, the word of life.
Receive the cross on your heart, that God may dwell there by faith.
The action of signing will make a deeper impression on the recipient than a plethora of words spoken without gesture and touch would.
Rite of Enrollment of Candidates for Baptism
This rite can also be adapted for a rite of remembrance and renewal for those already baptized but who are seeking to reconnect to the church or those preparing for confirmation in the Lutheran church. It marks the transition from an inquirer to one who is has heard God’s call to follow Christ in a life of discipleship; the weekly gatherings can take on a more intense time of instruction and faith formation. The recommended day for this ritual is the First Sunday of Lent (19). We recommend that this ritual take place in the congregation where the “inquirers” will become formal members. Thus, participating pastors will need to have individual conversations with participants to determine which congregation each will join. Such decisions might be easily made. For example, if a person has friends or relatives in a congregation; or in a rural area, the closest congregation to the person would be the logical choice; or if the person was drawn into the catechumenate because of a relationship with one of the pastors who provided pastoral care in a major crisis, this would be the obvious choice.
Vigil of Easter
If one participating congregation has a tradition of celebrating the Vigil of Easter, it would be appropriate to hold the service at that congregation and encourage members of all the participating congregations to attend as well. If no congregation has this tradition, we suggest starting a tradition of a joint Vigil of Easter. To encourage participation among the membership of the congregations, good musicians from the various congregations could be recruited to chant the opening Service of Light; strong lay readers could be recruited for the Service of Readings; all the pastors could participate in the Service of Holy Baptism (which would include the Rite of Confirmation, if appropriate). The rite in Welcome to Christ includes a thanksgiving for baptism (45) full of rich biblical imagery of water as source of death (the flood) and life (deliverance at the Red Sea), and language from Romans 6; the whole assembly participates in the renunciations and confession of faith. For those baptized and/or confirmed, this is also their first partaking of Holy Communion; what rich meaning would be conveyed as those participating for the first time would do so with people of faith from several congregations!
Affirmation of the Vocation of the Baptized in the World
This ritual marks the end of the post-baptism teaching, called mystagogy in the early church, because it included teachings about the “mysteries,” that is, the sacraments of baptism and Eucharist, which the neophytes had experienced for the first time at the Vigil. Ideally, this ritual would take place on or near the Feast of Pentecost, the end of the Easter Season. We suggest a potluck meal hosted by one participating congregation, at which the ritual could be done prior to the meal in the church sanctuary as part of brief service of preaching and prayer. The ritual also marks the end of the catechumenal process of weekly gatherings.
Has this series piqued your interest in exploring a joint catechumenal process? Do you still have questions about next steps to implement such a venture? We would love to hear from you! Scroll to the bottom of the web page for our contact information.
+++++++ Photo: Baptismal font, St. John’s Abbey, Collegeville, Minnesota Photo by Rhoda Schuler
This week’s blog expands on two points Kent made last week:
the need for two or more pastors from different congregations to band together to envision a joint adult catechumenate; and
the need for lay volunteers to move such a joint venture from vision to reality.
I make one assumption, namely, that most “compact congregations” have one pastor and no “second chair” paid staff (in LCMS jargon, no commissioned minister on staff). As I mulled over this topic, the words of the hymn, Hark, the Voice of Jesus Calling (Lutheran Worship, #318) kept floating through my head. Click here if you’d like an instrumental version of the tune playing as your read the rest of the post.
Stanza One: A group of pastors in the visioning process
The grammar of stanza one implies my assumption: that pastors of compact congregations have harkened to “the voice of Jesus calling, ‘Who will go and work today?’ Field are white and harvest waiting, Who will bear the sheaves away?” And each has answered “gladly saying, ‘Here am I. Send me, send me.’” (Note use of first person single in the response). These faithful servants toil as the sole pastor of a congregation. To explore starting a joint adult faith formation process with neighboring pastors can be both daunting, yet has “rich reward [that Christ] offers free.”
As a pastor’s wife, I can vividly recall the burdens my husband shouldered when he was a solo pastor in rural Iowa; and I remember well the joy he discovered in a local lectionary group that met weekly. The task of textual study brought them together, but the mutual support they all experienced was also a “rich reward.” To come together with pastoral colleagues to envision ways of beginning an adult catechumenate has similar potential to provide support for one another and to think creatively about collaborate ministry in smaller congregations—there are rich rewards to be discovered. Such an endeavor calls for intentional prayer by the group as they engage in a visioning process over several weeks or months. Resources about adult faith formation might be divided among the members, with each person providing a summary and review to the group for discussion and brainstorming.
Stanza Two and Three: Identifying lay volunteers
Both these stanza begin “If you cannot …” and continue later with “You can tell/say/lead/do …” Last week Kent wrote, “It would be beneficial to have one pastor, ministerial, and/or lay coordinator [to] plan and organize the catechumenate across the congregations.” The planning (after the visioning process is done) ought be done by the pastoral leaders; but once there’s agreement on a schedule and timeline for the four stages and structure for the weekly gatherings, the identification of lay leaders begins. These are some roles to which Jesus may be calling lay people from your congregations:
Logistical Coordinator for the adult formation process: Think about that person with excellent organizational skills who knows how to attend to planning details and who is comfortable with basic tech skills (emails, texting, etc.) to keep others informed with regular updates and reminders. Ideally this person would also be a skilled writer to handle informational materials for bulletins, websites, etc. Or the writing and logistics duties could be split into two positions.
Hospitality teams: Two or three people from each congregation would be ideal to share the responsibilities. These folks would be in charge of the meal or light refreshments served at the weekly catechumenal gatherings; each team would decide on the menu and purchase, prepare, and serve the food on their scheduled week. Each host church would have a person designated to open the building, help in the kitchen, and oversee the clean-up.
Catechists and mentors for the “seekers” going through the catechumenal process: These folks need to be people of mature faith with good people skills, able to listen with empathy, not be quick to judge, and be comfortable praying with and for others. Much more could be said about these roles, but there are many resources available that describe the qualities needed.
In each of these roles, the laity function in a supporting role, using God-given gifts to serve “like faithful Aaron, holding up the prophet’s hands.” I, too, as Kent wrote last week, believe that such collaborative efforts are needed to develop catechumenates among compact congregations. We’d love to hear your ideas by contacting us at Kent@FormingLutherans.org or Rhoda@FormingLutherans.org.
