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Where to Begin Series

St. Stephen Cross

Where to Begin? Lessons from a Small Congregation

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St. Mary’s Lutheran Church*, one of the congregations where we did our research, imparts three lessons for beginning an effective adult faith formation process.

Lesson 1: Create buy-in among current active members

After attending a conference led by Paul E. Hoffman, author of Faith Forming Faith, Pastor M followed Paul’s advice and offered a summer Scripture study group to introduce the small group process to current members. This group met between four and six times throughout the summer, engaging in the kind of Scripture meditation Kent described in his post from September 7, using questions about a biblical text that “allow the Word to be proclaimed so that the individual and the community embrace this story as their own account (confession) of who they are.” Because St. Mary’s is a small congregation, the participation by members over the summer, which people reported was very positive experience, was enough to convince the congregation as whole to venture on this new path.

Lesson 2: Begin with a group of inactive members

St. Mary’s boldly started with two small groups that fall. The first was an existing group of retired women who welcomed a young woman (living with one of the retirees because of a temporary housing crisis) into their study group. The young woman and retirees bonded closely over their weekly meditations on and sharing about the story of Jesus. The group convinced Pastor M of the power of the process to form community, especially across generations.

The second small group included inactive or” estranged” members who were connected enough to the congregation to participate in this new venture. Pastor M described the impact on one woman in this group, who was “being folded back in the community” of faith and was now (three years later), active in the congregation and in the adult faith formation process.

Lesson 3: Embrace the practice of serving a meal before the Scripture study

Pastor M, a self-described “convert” to this practice, commented more than once about the power of sharing food together as a way to form community. The goal of an adult catechumenate is more than strengthening the individual’s relationship to Jesus Christ. Baptism, through which the Trinity claims individual persons to be sons and daughters of God, also brings God’s newborn children into the community of faith. It’s within the church that each person engages in the life-long process of dying to sin and rising to Christ, of turning away from self-centeredness to become Christ-like witnesses of God’s love in the world. A shared meal introduces individuals into the joy of communal life and the spiritual support, the bearing of one another’s burdens, that St. Paul exhorts us to in Galatians (5:2).

These three lessons share a common theme: that the adult catechumenate is “not an instructional process, but a process of faith formation,” according to Pastor M. Of course, imparting information is part of the package, but the primary task is forming disciples. This is a lifelong task that at St. Mary’s began by strengthening the faith of committed members; that in the next step drew an estranged member back into the active life of the community and who was transformed into a disciple committed to sharing the Good News with others; and that over the course of three years of an adult faith formation process, always included a shared meal to create and foster community among the neophytes and their sponsors.

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*A pseudonym

Photo (by Rhoda Schuler): St. Mary’s Lutheran Church during Lent

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“Just doing” Small Group Bible Study

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As promised in last week’s blog, we’re hearing again from Pastor Eggold about the catechetical gatherings of those in adult formation at Grace Lutheran Church; in today’s video he describes the African or Lambeth method of Scripture study in detail.

I confess that after my first exposure to the African/Lambeth method, I was not 100% on board with it; my own preference for Bible study leans academic, toward biblical exegesis that informs my understanding for today by shedding light on a text’s meaning in its original historical context. There seemed to be little room for this more “scholarly” approach to Scripture study in the African/Lambeth practice. But if you listen carefully, you’ll hear the many ways which Pastor Eggold lays an exegetical foundation for the Gospel text before the small group study begins.

This video is six minutes. You must be logged into Google drive to access it.

In case you missed some, let me summarize the ways Dan Eggold lays a firm, Lutheran exegetical foundation:

  • Exposure to the Gospel text before the Washed and Welcomed gatherings
    • On Fridays the church sends out homework that catechumens are expected to do. This single sheet includes space for the catechumens to record questions they had as they read the text, to engage the text with their imagination, reflecting on what they “would … have seen, or heard, or felt?” And to write down “For this week: I want to remember … I want to put my faith into action by …”
    • On Sundays Participants attend worship, hearing the Gospel text read and the Word broken open in Pastor Eggold’s sermon.
    • After worship some also attend the Sunday Bible Class, which deliberately is a lectionary-based study during this part of the church year, taught by Pastor Eggold.
  • During the Washed and Welcomed gatherings, which follows worship and Bible study
    • As the fellowship meal is wrapping up, Pastor Eggold draws on the sermon he preached that morning to “help them make the transition to the small groups.” They hear again what a theologically trained Lutheran pastor has gleaned from the Gospel text.
    • Pastor Eggold writes the questions to which the people respond after the third reading of the text, a question that “is linked to the life of the church,” that calls for a real-life application of the text.

The catechists, as facilitators, keep the participants on track and draw them out in the discussion that follows the readings, silence, and responses. But the primary “teacher” of the faith is Pastor Eggold, whose careful work lays a foundation that is centered in the life, ministry, and saving activity of Jesus Christ.

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The Role of the Catechist: Facilitating Bible Study and Prayer

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I recently had a conversation with Pastor Daniel Eggold about his experience introducing an adult catechumenate at his current parish, Grace Lutheran Church in Lafayette, Indiana. Key to his vision was doing—not talking about—Christian practices. As he said, “Instead of talking about Bible study and the importance of it, we just do it; instead of talking about prayer and the importance prayer, we just do it.”  

Here’s Pastor Eggold describing the catechist as facilitator of the “doing” in the weekly gatherings while he also unfolds the sequence of catechumenal gatherings from early January through Pentecost. This video is under three minutes. You must be logged into Google drive to access it.

In this second video (one and half minutes), Pastor Eggold describes how the catechist prepares the candidates and catechumens to pray for one another.

“It’s incredibly simple,” he says, but not quick. Pastor Eggold reported on the 18-month incubation process:

  • First, he said, he spent about six months reading widely about the topic, both current publications and classic texts.
  • Only after immersing himself in the theology and practice of an adult catechumenate, was he ready to introduce the topic to a small group of members from the congregation.
  • Their enthusiastic response was immediate, but it was another year of working together, training them for various roles, and integrating the catechumenal process with the parish calendar before the adult catechumenate started.

In next week’s blog, Pastor Eggold will explain how the catechists facilitate “just doing” Bible study in their small group.

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Where to Begin? A Vision for Transformation

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We have a Readers’ Group at my congregation and we just finished reading The Fellowship of the Ring, the first volume in J.R.R. Tolkien’s trilogy The Lord of the Rings. Hobbits are a very contented lot. Change is not something in which a hobbit believes. Adventures and journeys lead Hobbiton to question the character of a hobbit. Yet, the most prominent models of Hobbit character—Bilbo and Frodo—initially reluctantly, but willingly embrace change and the journey. So it needs to be for the journey of our adult catechumens and congregations seeking robust forms of adult faith formation. We must have a vision for transformation.

All of us know that something is just not right with our adult catechumenal formation approaches. Certainly some congregations that have the typical 10-week adult instruction class are receiving new members. But in most congregations those are professions of faith and transfers, not adult baptisms. With the increasing growth of adults who have not been baptized, the number of those who can enter a congregation’s life by profession of faith or transfer will continue to shrink. Something is not right with our adult catechumenal models. We need a vision for transformation.

Establishing such a vision starts with assessing what we are doing right now. It is comfortable and desirable to remain in the surroundings of the catechumenal Shire, thinking that all is well and good. Lethargy (catechumenal sloth!) is an attractive temptation. But too much is at stake for congregational life and mission to continue to own a dry and dormant adult formation process. Assessment begins by asking questions. What are we doing well right now? What evidence is there to support that? What are we doing poorly in adult faith formation? What evidence supports those conclusions? What is driving our adult faith formation practices? Is it being driven by a clear sense of mission? Are we baptizing a good number of adults each year? Is it fostering active lives of faith and true discipleship in those baptized, confirmed, and who profess faith within the congregation? Are our current practices transforming congregational life and discipleship?

These kinds of questions, as Leisa Anslinger indicates [A Vision for Conversion: Eight Steps to Radically Change Your RCIA Process (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2018], helps to create a sense of urgency for transforming our adult faith formation approaches. That urgency will drive the movement toward change in how we evangelize and form disciples within the congregation. By asking these hard questions about our current faith formation we realize the significant inadequacies of what we are currently doing to disciple new Christians. Sitting on our hands is no longer an option. Transformation is needed NOW.

The entire congregation needs to participate in creating a new vision for faith formation within the congregation and for the transformation of congregational life for and through this new vision. This means being clear about your mission as a congregation and holding that mission close to your congregational heart. For example, as I’ve said elsewhere in this blog, one way to do this is to speak your mission statement regularly and repeatedly in your worship services and congregational activities (as Redeemer Lutheran Church in the Bronx does!). That mission identity is the foundation for the new vision of adult faith formation. And that new vision sustains the urgency for congregational transformation. We can’t remain in the catechumenal Shire. As Bilbo says to Frodo in the Lord of the Rings, “It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.” Let’s hope you’re swept off to the vision of a new journey in adult faith formation.

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Where to Begin? Centering on the Word of God

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Two weeks ago (forgive us for the week hiatus) we entered a new series focused “Where to begin with initiating catechumenal practices in your congregation.” I (Kent) offered some insights from the Roman Catholic RCIA about beginning a catechumenal process. Central to those insights was that the catehumenate is about transformation, the transformation of a Christian community from a consumer-oriented, maintenance spiritual life as a congregation into a congregation of intentional, witnessing, living disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.  And a second observation that orientation toward transformation requires vision. As Leisa Anslinger observes in her book A Vision for Conversion: Eight Steps to Radically Change Your RCIA Process (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2018), the primary orientation of this vision should be toward “an encounter with Christ and to living discipleship” (2). I observed that the Word of God should play the central role in forming this process and shaping this vision. So what does that mean?

               From the outset of initiating catechumenal practices the Word of God in all its forms should be at the center of all practices. This includes the Word of God in all its forms: personal (Christ), proclaimed, and written. The proclaimed and written Word facilitate the encounter with the personal Word, which is the goal. The proclaimed Word is experienced through preaching on Sundays and on other days when worship takes place, in the catechumenal sessions on Sundays and weekdays, and in the mutual conversation between catechumens, the catechumenal staff, and the members of the congregation. The written Word shapes and informs those opportunities for oral proclamation. The written Word should initiate and feed (norm) that oral proclamation within the Body of Christ.

               What are the implications of centering the Word of God in catechumenal practices? It means starting with and choosing parts of the written Word that will facilitate the transformative experience for the catechumens and the congregation. Such parts of Scripture would include key passages that enunciate the biblical story such as Psalm 136, Nehemiah 9, Acts 2 and 3 (for a more complete list email me at burresonk@csl.edu) and the synoptic Gospels in general.  It entails proclaiming that Word so that catechumens and the congregation can address key questions such as: What story is being told here? Who are the characters in the story? What kind of God do I experience here? Who is Jesus in this story? How do I respond to this encounter with Jesus and who he is? Such questions allow the Word to be proclaimed so that the individual and the community embrace this story as their own account (confession) of who they are, who human creatures are, and where we creatures and the entire creation are headed. Centering on the Word of God entails beginning with the Word in your first instantiation of a catechumenate. You might begin with your elders or church leaders. You would allow them to experience this kind of encounter with the Word before introducing it to new inquirers. This would allow congregational leaders to experience the transformative power of the Word regarding their own identity as disciples and as Christian community.  It means that this very basic approach to disciple-making should be at the center of all the gatherings of the congregation, such as at meetings, at social events, at service events, etc…

               Where to begin with creating a vision for the catechumenate and the transformation of congregational life? Begin with practices centered on the Word that is focused on the story of the Creator reclaiming his creation and creatures for himself in the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Where to Begin?: Insights from the Roman Catholic RCIA for Starting a Catechumenal Process

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This week we begin a new series entitled, “Where to Begin?” Where do you begin if you are planning to initiate an adult catechumenal process in your congregation? I believe the Roman Catholics have some insights to offer Lutherans. They have been at this for a while with the renewal of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults as a result of the Second Vatican Council. While every parish has to have an RCIA process, they have learned how to establish an effective catechumenate in a parish. The most important observation about beginning a catechumenal process is that it is about transformation, the transformation of a Christian community from a consumer-oriented, maintenance spiritual life as a congregation into a congregation of intentional, witnessing, living disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you do not begin with the expectation and hope for change and transformation in congregational identity and life, then you will not be able to make a beginning of it. The catechumenate will become just another program among a list of other programs and emphases that the congregation offers. Ultimately the catechumenate is not only about the transformation of inquirers and catechumens but about the transformation of the entire community of the baptized.

Such an orientation toward transformation requires vision. So the best place to start is to imagine and establish that vision. Leisa Anslinger provides a helpful overview of the process for establishing that vision in her book A Vision for Conversion: Eight Steps to Radically Change Your RCIA Process (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2018). The primary orientation of the vision should be toward “an encounter with Christ and to living discipleship” (2). To facilitate that ultimate vision she uses the work of Harvard Professor-emeritus John Kotter to outline the creation of the specific vision for a particular congregation:

  1. Establish a vision.
  2. Create a vision team.
  3. Make your vision a reality.
  4. Share your vision.
  5. Remove barriers to your vision.
  6. Keep your vision alive.
  7. Make your vision last.

Crucial to this process is the involvement of the vested leaders of the congregation. It is essential that those vested leaders collaboratively create this vision and realize the nature of the transformation that is possible by establishing this vision for a disciple-making community. In order to facilitate this vision she advocates for using an Appreciative Inquiry process (6) with the congregational leaders, the congregation, and with the local community:

  1. Discover: What is your current experience or practice? What is already working? What stories come to mind to capture this experience or practice?
  2. Dream: What is your vision? What are your hopes, dreams, and goals for this vision?
  3. Discern: What should be? What needs to change in order to move from your current practice toward your vision?
  4. Do: What will you do to bring about the change you have discerned?

The Word of God should play the central role in forming this process and shaping this vision. More on that next week. By following this process of discovery and visioning the transformation of the congregation from a maintenance orientation to a disciple-making orientation begins. In that space a catechumenal process will take root and begin to grow.