Gottesblog

What does this hold for May? I assume that those 37 congregations looking for senior pastors won't be looking for seminary graduates. That leaves 261 calling congregations. Do half of them really want seminary graduates? Doesn't there need to be some room for mobility among veteran pastors as well?

Curiouser and curiouser. . .the CTCR has a new (now that new, I don't get over to their website that often, I'm afraid) document out responding to a couple of questions from the South Wisconsin District. The latter asked if it was appropriate under AC XIV for lay men to "regularly carrying out the duties of the pastoral ministry, viz., the public proclamation of the Word and the administration of the Sacraments." The answer was "not appropriate."

There is a faithful LCMS mission start to Chinese immigrants in Evansville, IN, under the pastoral leadership of the Rev. Dr. Michael Paul. They are starting from the ground up and would like to buy a chalice. They have been offered free individual cups from the usual sources but want to start this new mission out right.

A very fine sermon from Dr. Stephenson.

Picking the hymns is the most stressful part of preparation for the Divine Service if you ask me. So I am a big fan of the hymn selection guide in the LSB volumes. Here are two more excellent resources.

The publisher of Gottesdienst editors' choice is running a cyber Monday sale. Get Daily Divine Service Book, The New Testament in His Blood, and other titles from Dr. Eckardt or myself for 30% off with the code CYBERMONDAY305 at checkout.

The most useful thing I've read about being a pastor in a long time. How to live a life out of your depth.

While I have been constantly updating Daily Divine Service Book to correct the typos that users have found in the first edition, it has always been my hope to eventually offer a fully reworked second edition. As you might imagine, this is a lot of work and I wanted to make sure that a full-blown second edition would really have something unique to offer. If I'm not going to be able to produce a product that is significantly different than the first edition, then I can make better use of my time.

The guys at the local bar/coffee shop/restaurant/town meeting place like to rib me since I only work one day a week. I retort that yes, I only work one day a week, but I only get two days off all year long.

In years past there has been much hand wringing about the decline of Missouri's membership. In these pages we have often argued the problem is a demographic one. I am gratified to see that we're not the only ones who have noticed. Thank you to Dr. Heidenreich for transcribing the following from Fr. Harrison. - +HRC

Advent rapidly approaches and with it the awkward question of what to do with those midweek prayer services that became popular in the mid-20th century. Here are a few ideas for the liturgically minded.