Visit to the Silesian Lutherans (Bohemia)

On Sunday, December 14th, a group from the Missouri Synod arrived in Prague for a week long conference with the Silesian Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession (SECAC). In 2010, the LCMS and the SECAC, who are not in altar and pulpit fellowship, signed a working agreement describing how the two churches will work in the area of human care (particularly in the area of people with disabilities through Slezská diakonie) and in the realm of theological education and conferences. (Read more about that at http://abc3miscellany.blogspot.com/2010/11/working-agreement-with-silesian.html)

The Slezská diakonie requested that the Missouri Synod present on the topic of the theology of mercy, so that the church can remain closely connected to human care work. Dr. Collver presented on the Biblical view of mercy, both to the Slezská diakonie and to a pastors' conference at the Silesian Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession (SECAC).

Approximately, One hundred of the 600 staff members attended the conference. Deaconess Grace Rao and Deaconess Dorothy Krans also presented to the staff of the Slezská diakonie.

Pastor James Krikava, Eurasia missionary to Czech Republic and associate Eurasia regional director, presented to the pastors' conference at the Silesian Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession (SECAC) in Czech. His paper addressed the topic of mercy in pastoral care through confession and absolution.

Above is a short video (15 seconds) of Rev. James Krikava presenting at the SECAC pastors' conference in Czech. The LCMS believes it is very important for her missionaries to know the local language. Rev. Krikava, born and raised in the United States, learned Czech at home from his parents and attained fluency during his 15 years of experience as a missionary to the Czech Republic. 

Rev. Peter Lang, 1st Vice-President of the Kansas District and Pastor at St. John's in Topeka, KS, was part of the LCMS delegation to Silesia. Pastor Lang's congregation has supported the international mission work of the LCMS for the past 15 years, primarily through the Network Supported Missionary (NSM) model. In the video below, Pastor Lang describes how his congregation provides support for Rev. James Krikava in the Czech Republic.

If there is interest to support the work of Rev. James Krikava in the Czech republic please visit: http://lcms.org/krikava

Kay Kreklau, President of from the Lutheran Women's Missionary League (LWML), came to the Czech Republic and Poland as part of the LCMS delegation. Kay Kreklau was particularly interested in how the LWML can work more closely with the Office of International Mission (OIM) to better support LCMS missionaries and their work.

The future work of the Eurasia team under Rev. Tony Booker, Regional Director for Eurasia, is looking bright with many opportunities for strengthening Lutheran identity in Central Europe. Rev. Tony Booker also serves as the pastor of St. Michael's English Congregation in Prague.

-- Rev. Albert B. Collver, Ph.D., Director of Church Relations / Regional Operations

Worldwide -- Witness, Mercy, Life Together

Sign on Silesian Lutheran Headquarters

This post is much less about the Silesian Lutherans that I have written so much about lately, and more about the Synodical Emphasis of Witness, Mercy, and Life Together. One thing I have noticed in my travels to various churches throughout the world is that nearly every church focuses on three areas summarized by witness, mercy, and life together. Various churches do not necessarily call their work by these names, nonetheless, this is the work that they do. I was rather surprised (and pleased) when I saw that the Silesian Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession had an evangelism department, a diakonia department that is celebrating its 20th year, and a church fellowship department.

Evangelism (Witness) Area of Silesian Church

Witness Emphasis for LCMS

In John 1:19 - 20, the words for witness (martyria) and confess (homologein) are used interchangeably. For the past several years or so, it seems as if the Missouri Synod has been engaged in a struggle over "evangelism / witnessing" and "confessing / remaining confessionally faithful." St. John, the Evangelist, shows that "witness" and "confession" are synonyms and that they belong together. A person cannot witness the truth unless the confession is correct and orthodox. A person retain the orthodox confession without bearing witness to it. Witnessing and Confessing are two sides of the same coin. In ecclesiastical terminology, a "martyr" is a person who gave his or her life bearing witness to Jesus. A "confessor"is a person who did not lose his or her life but who stood before the authorities, kings, or governors and confessed the truth about Jesus at risk to life and limb. Therefore, Robert Barnes is a confessor and martyr, while Martin Luther is only a confessor. Ignatius of Antioch was a martyr, while Cyril of Alexandria was a confessor. Witnessing leads to confessing and confessing leads to witnessing.

Diakonia (Mercy) Area of Silesian Church

Mercy Emphasis for the LCMS

Church Fellowship (Life Together) Area for Silesian Church

Life Together Emphasis for LCMS

In the Missouri Synod, it seems that every new Synodical President brings a different emphasis, slogan, or program to the church. In some ways, this is inevitable and not entirely bad. The time in which a given President serves requires that Law and Gospel be divided for the church at that time and for him to focus on what he believes is most necessary at that moment. This is simply providing pastoral care to the Synod as a whole, not unlike what a new pastor does upon arriving in a congregation. President Harrison's office has strived to not call Witness, Mercy, Life Together a program or slogan, but rather an emphasis. Witness, Mercy, Life Together isn't really anything new. It is really just what the church does as she lives under the cross of Jesus. What these areas are called isn't ultimately important, simply that the church carries these out. The example from the Silesian church shows that Missouri Synod isn't alone in the task but the Christian church throughout the world engages in Witness, Mercy, and Life Together -- even if different church bodies and groups of Christians call it something different.

Silesian Diakonia Work

Here are some photos of the diakonia work in Silesia. They are celebrating 20 years of work.