These interesting questions and many others emerged in small group conversations with Lutheran lay leaders in Honduras during my recent visit there, October 15 - 22. 

 I was part of a 7-member companion synod team (including my husband Dave) from NE MN Synod.  A three-day theological conference on Holy Baptism and Holy Communion, "Born of the Spirit, Bread of Life," was held in the middle of our week in Honduras.  Along with our team of 7 from Minnesota the gathering included 20 lay leaders from 12 Lutheran worshiping communities in Honduras, 4 interpreters, a lay minister/social worker from Germany and the sole ordained Lutheran pastor / president of Iglesia Cristiana Lutherana de Honduras.  John 3 and John 6, along with Luther's Small Catechism, served as the primary biblical and theological bases for our learning and reflections together.

Lutheran heritage and influence is major in Minnesota, but it has a very minor voice in Honduras where Pentecostal and Roman Catholic influences are stronger.  The question regarding re-baptism arises persistently where Pentecostal theology is presented as authoritative.  Many of the 300 worshiping Lutherans in Honduras carry Roman Catholic and Pentecostal backgrounds as well.  One woman in her 50's who leads her worshiping community shared in my small group that she has had 10 children and only 7 are still living.  Her common law husband of 23 years refused to marry officially and eventually left her for another woman.  She had been part of a Pentecostal congregation that did not allow baptism for people living together without marriage.  She was finally able to be baptized when the father of her children left the household.  She has also completed elementary school since then and continues her education while providing strong leadership in her Lutheran worshiping community. 

Soul-stirring situations often arise in Honduras and are difficult to describe.  I find there is so much to learn about ourselves and each other when contexts/cultures/languages are placed side-by-side in dialogue.  The faith of our Honduran brothers and sisters appears remarkably strong, sometimes as the only thing that seems to function reliably in a context of poverty, violence and political corruption.  As one Honduran said to us, "Honduras is a rich and beautiful country.  We just have a distribution problem."  

Options for Our Congregation's Future 

What do you hear in your congregation? Are there questions about your future as a stand-alone congregation? Or, even as part of a multi-congregation Parish? Could it be the Holy Spirit is stirring you to consider your options as a congregation?

Recently, I was invited to meet with the council of Siloah in Graceville and Eidskog in Ortonville. Both congregations had requested a packet of information from our synod office for congregations considering dissolution (closing).

Dissolution may be the right option, but before any congregation comes to that conclusion, there may be other options available. I remember attending a similar meeting with the councils of Good Shepherd in Princeton and Glendorado Lutheran with Pastor Joel Xavier and a couple of members of the Partner in Ministry Parish. By the end of the evening, the two councils had some new ideas, which gave birth to the God's Greater Glory Parish with three congregations in the area all continuing to hold worship and have a renewed sense of God's mission for their congregations.

Following that similar experience, it was Steve Dolin from Glendorado and Pastor Mike Carlson that joined me in meeting with leaders from Big Grove and Crow River in Belgrade, a two point parish, and Grace Lutheran in Belgrade, when they were considering becoming a new parish together. The conversation with other synod leaders who had gone through similar changes was so valuable.

It may be true that a congregation believes it is time to close. Meeting with the council members at Siloah and Eidskog, I brought along Pastor Mike Nelson, Ned Root and Lukus Lekander, who had each been a part of Redeemer in Kingston before it closed. These synod leaders knew things from experience and their voices were extremely valuable in addressing the questions that were on the minds of the council members also considering dissolution.

Together being synod, we can walk together, often learning from each other and supporting each other through transitions. In the Southwestern Minnesota Synod we have many resources for your congregation. Some come in the members of your synod staff. Other resources are in the paper resources we have put together to help with your questions. And still others are the connections between leaders in one congregation to another. Together we are the SW MN Synod. Together we ask ourselves and others hard questions. Together, God works through us toward God's mission, even in ways we may have a hard time imaging.

Welcoming or Inviting Church?

+Pr Larry Strenge, Director for Evangelical Mission, SW MN Synod, ELCA