Nostbakken, Paul

English

Scholars Commons

Reflections on a church in mission

Wilfrid Laurier University

ConsensusVolume 15Issue 1 Mission of the Church Article 25-1-1989Reflections on a church in missionPaul NostbakkenFollow this and additional works at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensusThis Articles is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Consensus by anauthorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca.Recommended CitationNostbakken, Paul (1989) "Reflections on a church in mission," Consensus: Vol. 15 : Iss. 1 , Article 2.Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol15/iss1/2Reflections on a Churchin MissionPaul NostbakkenDirector, ‘Division for World Mission,Evangelical Lutheran Church In CanadaThe Evangelical Lutheran Church In Canada (ELCIC) is achurch in mission. These reflections are written in response toan invitation to outline the mission of this church through theDivision for World Mission.Missionaries? In this day and age? Thirty years ago ques-tions such as these were raised in discussion groups at univer-sities.What are we doing in mission? The church has long strug-gled to understand its mission and church history reflects thatstruggle.The ELCIC is clear in its definition of the mission of thechurch: “The mission of this church, as an expression of theuniversal church and as an instrument of the Holy Spirit, isto bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to people in Canada andaround the world through the proclamation of the word andthe administration of the sacraments and through service inChrist’s name.”lThe mission of the church is the mission of God. Thatmission is the saving work of the Triune God. The church isin mission. The ELCIC is a church in mission in Canada andabroad. That mission is to proclaim by word and by deed thegood news of the Gospel that “God so loved the world... ”. Themandate is expressed by Christ himself: Go, make disciples ofall nations. The task is for all followers of Christ: to live Christby word, deed, and through fellowship; to live the love of God.We are imperfect instruments. We live in the world, and welive our faith in the context to which we are called. The expres-sion of faith in Christ will vary according to that context. Weare servants of God and servants of humanity. The church par-ticipates in the mission of God through proclamation but also8 Consensusthrough service in Christ’s name. As members of the church,followers of Christ, we participate in the mission to bring theword of life and the cup of cold water to people in need. In aworld whose needs are love, peace, justice, and a cup of coldwater, we must participate in the mission to bring the messageof reconciliation and the message of justice in Christ’s name.We are servants.Wherever people are viewed as if they don’t count, we mustprotest—protest in order to affirm the worth of life in Christ.How can we tolerate the ongoing utter selfishness of oppression,militarism, and political domination which denies the dignityof peace, promotes mass starvation and brutally kills? Wemust proclaim the good news. We must proclaim the end ofoppression. We must proclaim the dignity of life, the dignityof life in Christ. In Christ one is a new creation. In the faceof oppression we must proclaim the rule of Christ, the rule oflove, and of the recognition of the value of human life. Thetask is great. So is our Lord!The ELCIC is a church in mission. Through its divisionsand offices the church seeks to meet the challenges of that mis-sion at home and abroad. The ELCIC presently supports 15missionaries who serve in various capacities in six countries.These missionaries are involved in proclamation, in service, indevelopment, and in advocacy.Five pastors serve abroad. Pastor Jose Ariza and his wifeCarol serve in a parish ministry which includes work with ruralpoor in Colombia. Pastor Margaret Kreller is inaugurating anew ministry in Lima, Peru, serving the urban poor. In PapuaNew Guinea Pastor Barry and Alice Lang function in parishministry, especially with young people, teaching religious edu-cation in schools in the Madang area. Pastor Brian Rude, whorecently arrived in El Salvador, is involved in a most sensitiveparish ministry serving people caught in the throes of politicalturmoil. Pastor Hubert and Marcy Willrich serve a parish inRivera in Uruguay which includes proclamation and service tothe poor people in the area.Other ministries include an agricultural development pro-gram in the Finisterre mountains of Papua New Guinea, con-ducted by Ernest and Kathi Haab. Dolores Hall, nursing in-structor, helps to train young people in a recognized medicaltraining school as rural community health workers. Bert andChurch in Mission 9Frances McNair, together with Miss Carmen Campbell, pre-pare teachers at Balob Teachers College in Lae, Papua NewGuinea. Mrs. Joan Nabert directs a rehabilitation programfor people recovering from leprosy. Whether as pastors or aspeople involved in other professions, the missionaries of ourchurch live their faith by word and by deed in the places towhich God has called them.At the time of the formation of the new church, the Di-vision for World Mission undertook the support of Canadianmissionaries who were members of the merging churches. Var-ious relationships with partner churches and institutions werealso established at that time, some of these through formalworking agreements.At the second meeting of the board of the Division for WorldMission, time was set aside for some “futuring” sessions toestablish the direction of the new board. Among other matters,that included the affirmation of support of those missionarieswho became part of the division as a result of the merger aswell as a commitment to continued support of the churches andinstitutions with which these missionaries are related.Questions facing the board included the possibility of con-centrating DWM efforts in one continent or area rather thanof outreach around the world. The board also reviewed thepossibility of establishing new, pioneer work should need andopportunity make that evident. For a proposed plan of out-reach, the counsel of church leaders was sought. And therewere also continued requests from partner churches for morepersonnel.At a recent meeting the DWM board consulted withDr. Roland Miller, internationally recognized missiologist, on“Mission in the 90s”. As a result of this discussion, a TaskForce is currently preparing recommendations to the board toguide future efforts. Among concerns highlighted in the dis-cussion with Dr. Miller, were such concerns as an agenda forthe poor, the emergence of the Third World church, trends oflocalization, and the development of ecclesial (base) communi-ties. Solidarity with women, trends toward urbanization, thesearch for leadership, the rise of world religions, and the pop-ulation explosion, also form part of the concerns of the boardin its discussion of mission in the 90s.10 ConsensusThe church is in mission. It is true that the manner ofbeing in mission changes as times change. Throughout thecenturies, the church has not only been founded and organizedin all parts of the world, it has also tried to interpret missionin order to realize its mandate. Where established churchesexist, the ELCIC collaborates with them in mission. Goneare the days when all decisions are made by representatives ofnorthern churches. Gone too are the days when “missionary”was a title to be avoided. There has been a struggle, and overthe years the very nomenclature illustrates the nature of thatstruggle. We have gone from missionary to fraternal workerto consultant to missioner and, it seems now, back to mission-ary. In the transition from “mission fields” to partner churcheswe have heard of such things as devolution, self-support, self-government, self-reliance, fiscal self-reliance, moratorium, con-textuality, wholistic mission, and now reverse mission.All this represents the continuous effort to understand themission of the church and how to be about that mission inthe places in which we live. The Divisions for World Mission,Canadian Mission, Parish Life—indeed the total ELCIC—par-ticipate in that study. Studies in evangelism and mission havebeen circulated throughout the church. It is important thateach congregation consider its role in mission. One of the finestdocuments that has appeared recently is a study of missionprepared by the Lutheran World Federation through its De-partment of Church Cooperation: Together in God’s Mission:An LWF Contribution to the Understanding of Mission."^The ELCIC is a church in mission. It is not alone in thatmission, because participation in mission should not only bethe sending of missionaries from north to south. For years nowthe DWM has proposed partnership through exchange of per-sonnel on the level of pastors, seminary internships, staff andstudents of seminaries and colleges of the church. Study toursfrom Canada to partner churches are being organized to pro-mote better international awareness and understanding. Thereis much to be done and resources are limited. The challenge isbefore us, at our doorstep and at doorsteps around the world.Dr. Allan Boesak comments on Isaiah 40 and says:The word of our God will stand forever.Let us therefore not falter in our obedience to this God, let usremain faithful to him and to his promises. Let us work for, and letChurch in Mission 11us believe in humanity, that it shall become a sign of the kingdomof God. Let us work for, and believe in justice, that it shall becomea sign of the kingdom of God. Let us believe in the power of God,that it shall become real, and that it shall overturn even our historyand heisten that day when “every valley shall be exalted and everymountain and hill made low; the rough places shall be made plains.And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed and all flesh shall seeit together” (vs. 4,5).^The urgency of the common task is highlighted in the LWFstudy on mission:The urgency of the common taisk leads the Lutheran World Federa-tion once again to extend a plea to all its member churches to renewtheir commitment to the one mission of the church universal andto pool their gifts in announcing by word and deed the salvationfor the world in Jesus Christ. He, the light of the world, is the giftof God to the church, to God’s people in mission and to the wholehumankind."^Notes^ Evangelical Lutheran Church In Canada Constitution, Article IV, Sec-tion 1.2 LWF Documentation, No. 26 (Geneva, 1988).^ Allan Boesak, Walking on Thorns, The Call to Christian Obedience(World Council of Churches, 1984) 57.^ LWF Documentation, p. 29.

https://scholars.wlu.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2002&amp;context=consensus

Reflections on a church in mission

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Scholars Commons

Wilfrid Laurier University