Posts in Church Fellowship

A Sermon for Gaudete on the Stewardship of Closing the Altar by Rev. Evan Scamman

Explanation of Closed Communion on Gaudete Sunday

Advent, Church Fellowship, PreachingDavid PetersenDecember 19, 2023The Office of the Ministry, Closed Communion, Gaudete, Lutheran Sermon, Lutheran Preaching, Advent Preaching Comments

The King of Kings Debacle

Sometimes Gottesdienst gets criticized for complaining too much and too quickly, and not leaving enough leeway for district officials to handle trouble spots that pop up in the Missouri Synod. And we’re certainly willing to take constructive criticism, since we know how fallible we are, and that we sometimes can get things wrong, or make mistakes, and that we certainly have the capacity to be unfair. It’s always a good thing to be circumspect.

Adiaphora, Church Fellowship, Doctrine & Practice, LiturgyBurnell EckardtOctober 7, 2023 Comments

A Walk Down Seminex Lane

I received this link to a fine assessment of the Seminex history afforded by an interview on the online Eric Renn show, with astute layman Eric LeFevre. It’s definitely worth a listen. It comes at an appropriate time, just about 50 years after the St. Louis walkout (in January 1974). And as he wrote to me, "it is very important that we pass this history on so that we can learn from mistakes.”

Synod, Church FellowshipBurnell EckardtSeptember 19, 2023 Comments

Church Fellowship in Doctrinal Fellowship

Dogma is an expression of the faith, a confession of what is believed. It is not the personal act of believing that forms the unity [of the Church] but what is believed. This is true for all Christians. It is true in a special way for bishops. Unless he is contradicted, a bishop may regard himself as united in the faith with his own congregation. Since he has the office of teacher, he represents what is taught both within and without. For this he does not need to be professor. Dogma is the basic stuff of the whole Divine Service.

Church Fellowship, Doctrine & Practice, Ministry, QuoteRick StuckwischOctober 20, 2020Quotes of Lutheran Fathers, Church Fellowship, Doctrine, EucharistComment

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