Reflection # 16: The Hidden Calling

One moment in my internship sticks with me more than any other, I was meeting with my internship supervisor, Pastor Fred Haugen.  Fred had a reputation for telling it like it is, and so I was always a little apprehensive of these sessions where Fred reviewed and reflected on my work as an intern pastor.  Towards the end of my year at Zion Lutheran Church in Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Fred was summing up what he saw as my strengths and weaknesses in ministry.  His first comment deflated me. “Dennis, your preaching needs some more work.”  This comment blind-sided me because I felt I was a decent preacher at the time (truth be told, looking back on things I think Fred was accurate in his assessment).  Quickly I began falling into a cauldron of self-pity and was resigned to wallow there for the rest of the day until I realized what Fred Haugen had said next - a comment that was every bit as unexpected as the first, a statement that gave me a new sense of who I was and what my calling included.  “I think you have a real gift in teaching.  I’ve even learned things from the Bible Studies you’ve led!”  Suddenly I realized that I was a ‘teacher’, though I really shouldn’t have been surprised – after all I did teach piano lessons while still a High School student, and I have always enjoyed sharing what I learn with others.

Looking back over my ministry I can see that my approach to preaching has often been didactic, that is I always wanted teach people in my sermons, I sought to impart information and knowledge to those listening.  One parishioner, a teacher herself, has commented to me on many occasions “I always learn something new from your sermons.”  Those types of comments bring me a great deal of satisfaction.

Part of being a teacher is continually learning yourself, and I find some of my favourite ways to spend my time is reading books and online articles, watching documentaries, attending seminars and workshops, and listening to the wisdom of others.  The way I see it, there is so much to learn that all of life should be a continual process of education.  To stop learning, or to despise new knowledge and understanding is like walking through an art gallery or museum with one’s eyes shut tight – a big waste of time and opportunity.

When Pastor Bob Leeson went on a year-long sabbatical I took over the responsibility of the Search Bible Study program at Christ Lutheran Church.  This was the same Bible Study that I led at Zion Lutheran in Weyburn on my internship, so it was easy for me to jump right in.  From that point on I assumed responsibility for the Adult Education program in our church (with the exception of the Stephens Ministry program, which Bob so capably leads).  Over the years I have run published programs like Search, Alpha, The Lutheran Course , and most recently the Disciple Bible Study - but I have also run Studies of my own invention.  Some of my favourites in recent years were “Swimming in the Heart of the Sun”, an in-depth study of the Lord’s Prayer; “The Screwtape Letters” a study of C.S. Lewis’ classic work on temptation and Christian life (complete with an audio recording of John Cleese of Monty Python fame reading the letters); “The Book of Revelation and the End Times”, a look at the last book in the Bible that tried to steer folks away from the rapture hype and misunderstanding; and “The Summer Psalm Series”, a noon hour study of the Book of Psalms exploring praise and lament and many other themes found in that ancient collection of Hebrew poetry.

For the past four years I have been overseeing a Sunday Morning Adult Education program that we call EnLightenTime.  This program has used a number of folks from the church and community to present on a wide variety of topics.  We are fortunate to have Luther College as a local resource and we have had a number of University professors make presentations at EnLightenTime.  Another favourite of the participants are the Nooma videos of Rob Bell, these are always good for a discussion starter.  Mostly however I have made presentations on everything from “Sharing Our Faith in a Cynical Culture” to “Dualistic Thinking and Judgmentalism” or presentations growing out of my trip to Europe with Beth, my wife, a couple of summers ago, “Authors and Ideas – Oxford and London” and “Celtic Christianity – the Iona Experience”.  While Beth and I went on our 6 week trip throughout Europe we kept a blog, and true to my calling I felt like I had to make my blog entries educational.  While Beth thought I was crazy typing away at our mini-computer late at night (after a long day of sight-seeing) I was driven to capture what I had learned and experienced in words (and a few pictures).  We called our blog “Being There – a Pilgrimage”. It is still accessible for anyone interested, you can find it here. (The posts from our trip begin June, 2009)

Back in 1991 Pastor Allan Christiansen from Luther CollegeHigh School, a member of Christ Lutheran and Vice-principal at Luther College at the time, asked if I would be willing to fill in for Pastor Randy Faro, who taught a Christian Ethics class at the High School in addition to his pastoral work at Our Savior Lutheran Church.  Randy was taking a sabbatical, so I agreed to take his class for a semester. After all, Luther College was right across the street from Christ Lutheran, so it would be easy for me to hop over to teach a class, then return to work at the church.  That one semester has turned into many semesters, basically I have taught a Grade Eleven Christian Ethics class almost every semester ever since.

The interesting thing about teaching this Christian Ethics class is that I had a lot of freedom to develop my own curriculum (within some basic guidelines).  The subject of this Grade 11 class is general Christianity, so I would be teaching what I was ideally suited to teach in many ways.  Over the years I have modified the course content, adding things that were missing, dropping things no longer important.  In its current form we look at a general overview of Christian teachings using the Apostles’ Creed and four basic themes: Faith, Service, Patience/Endurance, and Love. In addition to this we cover the history of Christianity, broken into three sections: The Early Church, Church and Empire, and Reformation and Expansion.  It is amazing how much I end up using material developed for this High School class in my work at Christ Lutheran.  The other thing this opportunity has given me is a way to stay in touch with the world of teenagers – and not just church kids, but a whole spectrum – from atheists and agnostics to active members of many different denominations and religions.  In some ways I have learned as much from these students as I have (hopefully) taught them.

Whether any of this would have happened had not Pastor Fred Haugen said those fateful words back in 1984 I don’t know.  I am grateful for all the opportunities I’ve been given to develop this calling to teach, opportunities to use this gift that I believe is Spirit-fired.  This does not mean I think I am a great teacher (in fact in attempting to teach others has only made me grow in my appreciation for all the wonderful teachers I have had the good fortune of learning with over the years - how they taught with creativity and passion is truly inspirational and makes me realize how much I still have to learn about teaching). What is does mean is that I have a desire to teach, especially those who want to learn (if you read between the lines here you will notice the absence of any discussion on teaching confirmation – a continual frustration for almost every Lutheran pastor I know).

I believe, more than ever, that teaching is an important function of the church today and in the coming years.  This is because our current culture no longer teaches the Christian story - I am noticing big gaps in people’s understanding of the Biblical story in general, and Jesus’ story in particular, and big mis-conceptions about basic Christian doctrine.  Instead we are seeing much mis-information in society, mis-understanding that steers people away from the Christian faith. The great commission that Jesus gives his disciples at the end of Matthew’s Gospel remains as relevant today as ever - we are to go to all nations to baptize and teach (Matthew 28:19-20).  I remain committed to do both.