Last month I (Rhoda) had the privilege and joy of serving as the keynote speaker at the LCMS Northwest District Youth and Family Ministry Conference, held at Camp Lutheridge in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. The theme of the conference, “Formed,” was a great opportunity to introduce some of the resources Kent and I have promoted through […]
This past week brought this 7 week catechumenate course to a close. With some regret for me personally, because I can no longer, as I tell me students, be the apostolate for the catechumenate—at least to them in the course. But I can in this blog post toward you. In this last reflection I’ll highlight […]
Throughout the 7 week catechumenate course—which comes to a close next Thursday— I have tried to expose students to primary ritual experiences and the methods of Bible study that introduce catechumens to the biblical metanarrative centered in the Lord Christ Jesus. We have experienced the rites of acceptance, election, and baptismal thanksgiving, the latter this […]
The last two weeks of my catechumenate class we have focused on the history of conversion and the catechumenate in the church and conversion from the divine side. Alan Kreider’s The Change of Conversion and the Origin of Christendom has facilitated the exploration of this history emphasizing the intertwining elements of believing, belonging, and behaving […]
Last week I took a hiatus from blogging on the catechumenate course I am teaching at the seminary. The last three class periods, however, have provided some “eye-opening” moments. It’s not surprising that an experience that leads catechumens to the revelation of the mysteries of the rites of initiation should pop with eye-opening moments. In […]
Back from July 15-August 20, 2021 Rhoda and I ran a series of blog posts on Diana Macalintal’s aptly titled book published by Liturgical Press in Collegeville, Minnesota. Macalintal is one of the founders, along with her husband Nick, of TeamRCIA.com, A Roman Catholic group promoting best practices in the Rite of Christian Initiation of […]
At the conclusion of our introduction to Part I of our book Journey to Jesus, Rhoda and I write: “A visit to each of these four congregations on a Sunday would reveal differences in styles of worship, preaching, and communal expressions—all part of the contextualization of the ministry in these disparate congregations. But they share […]
Shortly after returning home from the Best Practices Ministry 2026, all the attendees (I assume) received an email from Jeff Schrank, pastor of Christ Lutheran in Phoenix, which hosts the conference. Jeff wrote: “Would you please be willing to reflect upon how this event impacts you, your team, your church? I will share these thoughts […]
I, Rhoda, also had the joy of presenting at a breakout session at Best Practices Ministry last week. After a brief presentation that began with the “grim statistics” of the decline in church membership in recent decades, moved to the need for adult faith formation, and zipped through a quick summary of the stages of […]