Author: MASadmin

There isn’t a whole lot of religiousness in my family tree (except for a 16th century saint). The same isn’t true in my wife’s family however. Two of her great-grandparents were clergymen in the free-church/baptist traditions. And during this Christmas trip, I got to see their letters of call.

I’ll admit that, ever since I entered seminary, I’m a little nosey when it comes to letters of call. I’ve seen a few but I want to see more. I’m curious what the differences are between pre-ELCA letters of call and the current letters. I want to know if they change every year or if they are the same. I want to know how they’re formatted, what font they use, how easy they are to frame, what kind of paper they are printed on, what kind of inks are used, and how elaborate (or boring) they appear. I’m sure once I get my own (God-willing), I’ll have a few answers to share. But, for now, the letters of my ancestors-by-marriage will have to do.

The first up is my wife’s grandfather’s father. He was a preacher in England and was good friends with Billy Graham. He helped setup Billy Graham in England, organized crusades, and even answered some of Billy’s correspondence. In December 1933, he was added to the ministerial rolls of “The Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland”.

Click the image to view it at a larger size

Next up is my wife’s grandmother’s father. He never received an M.Div degree, was educated at the Moody Bible Institute, and was called as a minister by 9 “messengers” from 5 congregations in December 2, 1921. I love the title of the piece “Set for the Defense of the Gospel.”

Click the image to view it at a larger size

Although both letters are not part of my denomination’s tradition, both are letters of call issued by different bodies of the wider church. I find these pieces of paper, and what they mean and symbolize, to be just fascinating.

UPDATE: After posting, my father-in-law informed me that there are other folks in the their ancestry that were called towards authority in religious communities as well. My wife’s great-great-grandfather was a Yeshiva student in the Ukraine who was murdered (in front of his family) by a pogram in the 1890s.

Tonight, while visiting with my aunt and some family members on my wife’s side, my aunt noticed that I was much more talkative than normal (i.e. wisecracks, wisecracks, wisecracks). I thought about it for a bit and I think she’s right. I’ve been chatting more, joking a lot, and not minding throwing my opinion around. In my wife’s words, “they’re getting to know you like I know you: you don’t shut up.” I think the wine helps but I also think that my CPE experience has helped a well. I’ve had to chat with folks who died, kids who were sick, etc. After that experience, I guess I don’t mind running my mouth anymore.

Merry Christmas everyone!

While I wait for my wife and in-laws to wake up so we can open our stockings and presents, I want to just share briefly about something that I find myself doing during services. Last night, I went to my usual Christmas Eve service at the local Lutheran church. I’ve been going here for three or four years and I’ve started recognizing people; the kids in the choir and bell choir are all growing up it seems. I don’t particularly like the service all that much (the sermons tend to be boring, the organ isn’t loud enough, they intinct the host for you, the reading of scripture is never that good) but they sing a lot of hymns, the choir is good, and it is easy to get to at 11 pm at night. I thought about trying another church nearby but I stumbled onto their worship assistant schedule and it seemed they have “trayholders.” Ew.

Anyways, so I went to my usual Christmas Eve service and was surprised that the wife of the pastor (who is also ordained) was scheduled to preach! I was curious to hear her. So, with the readings done and the gospel read, I sat down, ready to be met with the Word. Now, it is possible that seminary has ruined sermons for me because I spend most of my time deconstructing what is being presented. And in that deconstruction, I’ve developed a habit where I mentally end the sermon when I think it should end. I catch myself going “Amen” when the preacher gets to a good spot to end. But they never seem to end when I think they should end. They keep going. Part of this might be because I don’t believe that every little detail needs to be explained or that I think giving the assembly something to chew on isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I know that is my hang-up and not theirs. But when I’ve mentally said “Amen” fifteen times and the pastor is still talking, I kind of get annoyed.

The sermon wasn’t bad, per se. It was a little low on the Cross but I can’t fault that too much since it is Christmas. It just bored me. The delievey was too slow, the words too…quiet for Christmas. We were there to celebrate the incarnation! How can that event be explored in a monotone that would put an entire lecture hall to sleep? There needs to be energy there; the “for you” needs to be screamed out explicitly; and forgiveness needs to take center stage. Bring on the Gospel and let the monotone that passes for “sermons” in too many places slide off into oblivion. And this should happen every Sunday – not just Christmas but if you can only muster it once a year, Christmas is a good a time as any to bust it out. Take a chance, explore your dramatic muscle, and see what happens. The sermon doesn’t need to be loud but it does need to be emotional. It needs to feel “real.” If not, then what’s the point in preaching that sermon on the day when the Incarnation is celebrated? Take a chance people!

Anyways, I know that this will be the last Christmas that I probably don’t end up working on. Next Christmas, I’ll be on internship and I’ll have things to do. If it just so happens that I end up preaching, I hope it doesn’t end up falling on its face. If it does, just email me a link to this post. I’ll understand.