Volume I, No 1 Syndouloi October 1999

At the end of the 1996-1997 school year, ten pre-seminary students signed the proposed constitution of the newly formed Pre-Sem Club. This organization, which was student formed and led from the very beginning, is dedicated to promoting “the fellowship, education, spirituality, maturity, and faith of those who seek to be pastors in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.” The Pre-Sem Club has aimed to fulfill these goals through times of fellowship, picnics, trips, and weekly meetings. However, until this year the Pre-Sem Club had no official newsletter that would keep its members informed and reach out to new members.

What you are reading is the very first issue of Syndouloi, the Pre-Sem Club’s official periodical. The name comes from Colossians 4:7 and means fellowservants. As St. Paul called his friend Tychicus his fellowservant, so we remember that all of us are fellowservants of Christ. This monthly publication will include devotions, book reviews, interviews, editorials, notices of upcoming meetings, and anything else you want it to include. This is your publication, so if you have any ideas, opinions, devotions, or anything else you want to share with the pre-seminary community here at Concordia, just sent it via campus mail to the editor, Heath Curtis. I hope you enjoy the issue, and I’ll see you Wednesday night at 9 in the Dorcas chapel.

Stay in the Word Read Jn 15:1-8; LC Pref. 3-8 (Tappert 358)

College is one of busiest times in our lives. There are papers to write, books to read, meetings to attend, friends to see, and more. Often, things can get so busy that we can allow them to push God out of our lives. At first we just skip the longer reading in our devotions, then we drop the reading altogether, then our prayer time dwindles to nothing, and eventually we are careening through life without the support we need so much.

Jesus reminds us that we do, in fact, need this support. In John 15, Jesus says quite plainly that if we separate ourselves from him, his word, and his love, we can do nothing. We will be nothing.

Luther also chastises those who think they do not need a regular time of study and prayer. Luther notes in his Large Catechism than even he, a doctor of theology, studied the most basic Christian doctrines everyday.

With warnings like these, do we dare allow our projects to crowd out God? Certainly not, especially when we recall that God comes to us only through his Word and Sacraments. He will not visit you while you sit on the couch watching the game. We can only find him in the ways he has given us to find him.

Besides this stern warning from God, we also have his promises to always be with us if we remain with him. Jesus says it best, in John 15:7 “If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.” He is waiting: take his gifts, and lift up your requests before the throne.

Prayer: Lord, forgive me for ignoring you, help me to stay in your Word and Will. Amen.

Across Christendom and in our own LCMS, people are arguing about worship. While the arguments differ from place to place, they all hang on one important question: is liturgy adiaphora? The answer to that question, in my opinion, depends more on how someone defines terms that to his or her orthodoxy or intelligence.

First, let's start with the more accepted of the terms: adiaphora. This terms means "indifferent thing," something that could be changed or even ignored and forgotten about with no adverse affects to the faith which we profess. Everyone accepts this definition from the stubbornest (they prefer the term "orthodox") "traditional" to the most free-wheeling (they prefer the term "Spirit-led") "contemporary." The question still remains, is the liturgy adiaphora, is it something that can be changed, altered, or ignored and left out at the will of Christians?

How you answer this question will, of course, depend on what you mean by liturgy. In fact, two people might have an entire conversation (or fight) about worship and altogether miss the mutual points they have to offer because they define liturgy differently. I believe that this is both the reason we have so much animosity and misunderstanding in the LCMS about worship and the beginning to the solution of the problem.

You see the "contemporary" worshipers define liturgy as chant, chancel prancing, vestments, candles, 16th-century chorales, processions, and organ music. If any of these things were changed, altered, or passed over the Christian faith would not be harmed. Of course liturgy is adiaphora!

On the other hand, "traditional" worshipers define liturgy as Trinitarian invocation, baptism, confession and absolution, the Lord's Prayer, the Lord's Supper, and an orthodox statement of faith (the Creed). None of these things can be altered or changed without changing (i.e. damaging) the Christian faith: they are the Christian faith. Of course liturgy is not adiaphora!

That is quite a problem: two groups of dedicated, sincere Christians fighting tooth and nail and each not even knowing what the other is saying. I am not saying that there is some easy fix to the "worship wars" but let us at least get our terms straight. Perhaps it would be better to drop "liturgy" from our vocabulary when we discuss how Christians should worship; it seems to do more harm than good. Instead, we should begin by talking about what is essential to Christian worship and what is not. When we have a list of the essentials, then we can talk about music, instruments, vestments and their places and forms. Until we do that I am afraid the "worship war" will be a hopeless quagmire with no victor, but three losers: us, them and God.

Notes and News

· September 20-22: Over twenty pre-seminary students from Concordia-Seward traveled to St. Louis for the Seminary’s Symposium. The Symposium focused on eschatology and the Church’s hope for the next millennium. Professor Block will be purchasing six audio cassette tapes from the Symposium and will have them available in the Pre-Sem Room (Becker 107, combination SPI). The consensus from all who attended is summed up well by Scott Adle, “It rocked.”

· The Pre-Sem Club has three officers, an editor of this publication, and a sponsor, all of whom are there to serve you. Here is their information if you need to contact them: President, Bert Mueller, 8665; Vice President, Dan Wing, 8530; Secretary/Treasurer Chris Ahlman, 8631; Editor, Heath Curtis, 8505; Sponsor, Prof. Block, 7442

· October’s meetings are all scheduled at the regular time and place: 9pm Wednesday nights in the Dorcas Chapel. These one-hour meetings usually consist of free pop and cookies, a speaker or Bible study, and prayer. If you, or someone you know, would like to lead one of our weekly meetings please contact Bert or Dan.

Something to Ponder

In 1675, Dr. Philip Jacob Spener wrote the following to his brothers in the ministry. It is still a good piece of advice today. (Pia Desideria, page 36. Translated by Tappert in the Fortress Press 1974 edition.)

“Let us remember that in the last judgment we shall not be asked how learned we were and whether we displayed our learning before the world; to what extent we enjoyed the favor of men and knew how to keep it; with what honors we were exalted and how great a reputation in the world we left behind us; or how many treasures of earthly goods we amassed for our children and thereby drew a curse upon ourselves.

Instead we shall be asked how faithfully and with how childlike a heart we sought to further the kingdom of God; with how pure and godly a teaching and how worthy an example we tried to edify our hearers amid the scorn of the world, denial of self, taking up of the cross, and imitation of the Savior; with what zeal we opposed not only error but also wickedness of life; or with what constancy and cheerfulness we endured the persecution or adversity thrust upon us by the manifestly godless world or by false brethren, and amid such suffering praised our God.”