Concordia Journal COncordia July 2008 Journal volume 34 | number 3 July 2008 a special issue volume Where’s the Center? 34 | number 3 What Are Ecclesiologically Challenged Lutherans to Do? The Trans-Congregational Church in the New Testament Thinking with Walther: Congregation, Synod, Church COncordia Journal (ISSN 0145-7233) publisher Faculty Dale A. Meyer David Adams Erik Herrmann Paul Robinson President Charles Arand Jeffrey Kloha Robert Rosin Executive EDITOR Andrew Bartelt Robert Kolb Henry Rowold David Berger Reed Lessing Timothy Saleska William W. Schumacher Joel Biermann David Lewis Leopoldo Sánchez M. Dean of Theological Gerhard Bode Thomas Manteufel David Schmitt Research and Publication James Brauer Richard Marrs Bruce Schuchard EDITOR Kent Burreson David Maxwell William Schumacher Travis J. Scholl William Carr, Jr. Dale Meyer William Utech Managing Editor of Anthony Cook Glenn Nielsen James Voelz Theological Publications Timothy Dost Joel Okamoto Richard Warneck EDITORial assistant Thomas Egger Jeffrey Oschwald Robert Weise Melanie Appelbaum Ronald Feuerhahn David Peter Quentin Student assistants Jeffrey Gibbs Paul Raabe Wesselschmidt Carol Geisler Bruce Hartung Victor Raj David Wollenburg Joel Haak Matthew Kobs All correspondence should be sent to: Travis Scholl CONCORDIA JOURNAL 801 Seminary Place St. Louis, Missouri 63105 Issued by the faculty of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri, the Concordia Journal is the successor of Lehre und Wehre (1855-1929), begun by C. F. W. Walther, a founder of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Lehre und Wehre was absorbed by the Concordia Theological Monthly (1930-1972) which was also pub- lished by the faculty of Concordia Seminary as the official theological periodical of the Synod. The Concordia Journal is abstracted in Internationale Zeitschriftenschau für Bibelwissenschaft unde Grenzgebiete, New Testament Abstracts.Old Testament Abstracts, and Religious and Theological Abstracts. It is indexed in Repertoire Bibliographique des Institutions Chretiennes and Religion Index One: Periodicals. Article and issue photocopies in 16mm microfilm, 35mm microfilm, and 105mm microfiche are available from University Microfilms International, 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346. Books submitted for review should be sent to the editor. Manuscripts submitted for publication should conform to a standard manual of style. They will be returned to authors only when accompanied by self- addressed stamped envelopes. The Concordia Journal (ISSN 0145-7233) is published quarterly (January, April, July, and October). The annual subscription rate is $12 U.S.A., $13 for Canada and $16 for foreign countries. Periodicals postage paid at St. Louis, MO and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to Concordia Journal, Concordia Seminary, 801 Seminary Place, St. Louis, MO 63105-3199 Special thanks to the LCMS Blue Ribbon Task Force on Synodical Structure and Governance and Concordia Publishing House for use of the artwork featured on the cover. © Copyright by Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri 2007 www.csl.edu interior_mlp:Layout 1 7/10/2008 10:35 AM Page 1 COncordia Journal CONTENTS EDITORIALs 149 Editor’s Note 152 Where’s the Center? Dale A. Meyer ARTICLES 157 What Are Ecclesiologically Challenged Lutherans To Do?: Starting Points for a Lutheran Ecclesiology Charles P. Arand 172 The Trans-Congregational Church in the New Testament Jeffrey Kloha 191 Thinking with Walther about the Church: Congregation, Synod, Church William W. Schumacher 217 GRAMMARIAN’S CORNER Greek Participles, Part VII BOOK REVIEWS 223 Highlights in Contemporary Ecclesiology: A Review Essay John H. Rhoads 230 Additional Book Reviews July 2008 volume 34 | number 3 CJinteriorJuly08FINAL:Layout 1 7/1/2008 12:54 PM Page 2 CJinteriorJuly08FINAL:Layout 1 7/1/2008 12:54 PM Page 3 editoRIALS COncordia Journal CJinteriorJuly08FINAL:Layout 1 7/1/2008 12:54 PM Page 4 CJinteriorJuly08FINAL:Layout 1 7/1/2008 12:56 PM Page 149 Editor’s Note As we are preparing this special theme issue of the Concordia Journal, the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers are renewing their historic basketball rivalry in the 2008 NBA Finals. Much has been made of how Boston coach Doc Rivers has led his team to a marvelous turnaround season by rallying his players around the slogan of ubuntu. Ubuntu is the traditional African concept that personhood is most deeply realized in community. Hence, ubuntu is expressed in communal wel- fare, mutual high regard, unmitigated hospitality, and, yes, teamwork. It is expressed in the simple maxim: “I am what I am because of who we all are.” It seems to me that ubuntu provides a powerful philosophical analogy to ekklesia, to why God would gather his children together as one into the body we call church. It is why individuals find themselves (in more ways than one) in a con- gregation. It is why a congregation finds itself in a synod. It is why a synod finds itself in the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church. “I am what I am because of who we all are.” And yet, we find ourselves in an American context where it seems the oppo- site holds sway. As part of his massive Pulpit & Pew research study, Jackson Carroll cites one of the central challenges faced by American clergy and their churches as “de facto congregationalism.” This reality confronts all of American Christianity, a reality intensified by our ever-growing consumerist society and economy. De facto congregationalism is seemingly unique to American religious life. It is rooted in the Enlightenment notion of religious communities as “voluntary associations” of autonomous individuals, part and parcel of the intellectual milieu in which “America” as a nation and culture was founded. As Carroll states in God’s Potters: Pastoral Leadership and the Shaping of Congregations (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006): This particular characteristic of American religious life has had its impact on almost all American religious communities. To varying degrees they all have come to adopt the voluntary principle. Almost all practice what sociologist R. Stephen Warner has called “de facto con- gregationalism,” an organizational pattern that more or less follows the model of the Reformed Protestant tradition that defines the congrega- tion as a voluntarily gathered community.... [T]his has important impli- cations for pastoral leadership in their work of producing religious cul- ture. (52-53) American Christians, including those of us who find ourselves in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), have been living with these realities for generations. And this is all the more true in a denomination that understands its polity as a “modified congregational structure.” Concordia Journal/July 2008 149 CJinteriorJuly08FINAL:Layout 1 7/1/2008 12:56 PM Page 150 Yet, what does de facto congregationalism implicitly say about the church? What are the ecclesiological implications of such denominational structures? These are important questions, and this isn’t the first time they have been asked. But with the publication of Congregation–Synod–Church, the study document of the Synod’s Blue Ribbon Task Force on Synodical Structure and Governance, and in the advent of its ongoing work, we felt is was a good time to ask these questions again. Hence, this special theme issue of the Concordia Journal. Its theme is ecclesiology. Its goal is to deepen and extend the conversation about what it means to be church today, and what kind of church we—in one little corner of it—intend to be, already eight years into a new century. For us in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod this conversation has direct and significant implications. But for the broader church, the implications are just as meaningful. This conversation impacts many American Christians, indeed many global Christians. We enter into the conversation with the prayer that it may benefit the whole church throughout all the world. And if we are to speak to each other with integrity and charity, we must listen to each other openly and faithfully. To that end, Concordia Journal submits the following voices to the conversa- tion. Concordia Seminary President Dale Meyer opens the discussion with the provocative question, “Where’s the Center?” in the church today. Charles Arand follows up with “starting points” in ecclesiology, especially as it pertains to the Lutheran tradition, where ecclesiology is never cut and dried. Jeffrey Kloha then digs into the New Testament foundations for “church,” particularly church as con- ceived as what he calls a “trans-congregational” community. William Schumacher follows with a historical analysis of what one of the “founding fathers” of the LCMS, C. F. W. Walther, meant in his understanding of “synod,” how that culture has changed in the intervening years, and what the historical implications are for us in a radically different cultural context. Finally, John Rhoads provides a compelling review essay of “must-reads” in contemporary ecclesiology. All this is in addition to some of the usual things you see in Concordia Journal. But we should add a quick word about something you do not see, namely the Homiletical Helps. In light of what appeared as a kind of kairos moment in the life of the church, we felt the church benefitted from as much space as possible to talk about it. For that reason, we made the difficult decision to cut the Homiletical Helps for just this one issue. Of course, the perception of kairos is often in the mind of the beholder. So, we invite you to visit www.ConcordiaTheology.org, for homiletical helps, and the ever-popular “Lectionary at Lunch” (under “Congregational Resources”) on the Seminary’s iTunesU portal (itunes.csl.edu). Both places provide a wealth of homiletical resources. And rest assured that this is a temporary hiatus; Homiletical Helps will be back with the next issue. 150 CJinteriorJuly08FINAL:Layout 1 7/1/2008 12:56 PM Page 151 As for the church, the Christ who is its head has promised that as long as two or three or more are gathered, he is there.