The ecumenical report Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry (WCC, 1982)—a valuable indication of where the various member denominations stood on those practices both theologically and ritually—said that the images of baptism “are many but the reality is one” (II, A-E). It is that plurality of images that we intend to explore in this new series over […]
In this video interview, Dr. Lakies suggests that a “winsome witness” includes a willingness to enter into conversation with others in order to see people “in the complexity of their full humanity.” The video is six minutes in length. To view, one must be logged into Google. Pastor Lakies has been on the podcast circuit […]
The Rev. Dr. Chad Lakies is the Vice President of Ministry Engagement for US Ministries at Lutheran Hour Ministries and author of How the Light Shines Through: Resilient Witness in Dark Times. The first of today’s video is from the beginning of our lengthy conversation on Zoom and touches on the connections between this book […]
Christmas greetings to our subscribers from the Annual Meeting of the North American Academy of Liturgy (NAAL), which we both started attending in the late 1990s as graduate students. This year’s gathering is at our Alma Mater, Valparaiso University, where worship at the Chapel of the Resurrection fostered in both of us a love of […]
“This wonder fills me with astonishment!” So St. John Chrysostom (347-407) says in a Christmas day sermon. In this excerpt Chrysostom points to the way of discipleship that one enters through the catechumenate, a way that begins with God and the incarnation and birth of the Word, the Ancient of Days. He comes that he […]
In our continuing series exploring a catechumenal process during the Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany seasons, Kent’s blog last week reviewed the Gospel texts for Advent 2 and 3, both of which highlight John the Baptist, who comes “to prepare the way of the Lord (and) make his paths straight.” Today’s post concludes this series with a […]
A full and robust catechumenal process has four stages: inquiry, catechesis, enlightenment or final preparation (which culminates with the sacrament of baptism or a rite of remembrance/renewal for those already baptized) and mystagogy. Our current Advent Series is exploring an alternative timing of the catechumenal process. We are taking a close look at the lectionary […]
If one were to utilize Advent as a season leading to the rites of initiation culminating in baptisms and incorporation into the Church’s life on Epiphany or the Baptism of our Lord, then, as Rhoda noted last week, the period of Enlightenment and Purification could begin on the second to last and last Sundays of […]
All four congregations where Kent and I did our research on adult faith formation followed a similar calendar, one inspired by many early church literary sources from the fourth and fifth centuries. Like the early church, these congregations shaped the stages of the adult catechumenate so that the stage of “final preparation” for baptism or […]