E-mail
Print
RSS
G-bookmarks
Live
TechnoratiDo you speak any German?
Not when I first went there so I first had to go to language study. I went to the Goethe Institute in Munich, but I learned most of my German while working in the parish. It was in a mining area. I spent a lot of time visiting and getting to know people. That’s how I learned most of my German.
After this, you moved on to Africa.
Yes, right on the border of Zaire and Rwanda. I was sent to this church right on the Zaire border to help them train [native] pastors and evangelists. Many of them were never trained and they hadn’t worked with missionaries. They were sort of abandoned by missionaries twenty years ago, so we were sent there to support their church. We were there for five years before the genocide broke out [in Rwanda].
Can you tell us about your long mission experience abroad?
I was abroad for 11 years – 6 years in Germany and 5 years in Africa. Some of that time involved language study. For example, to prepare us for our time in Zaire we learned French in Belgium and Swahili in Kenya.
We had a wonderful ecumenical center there. It was a German mission center where we had music, evangelism and language schools.
How has your mission experience abroad in Germany and Africa helped you in your teaching and pastoral career since you’ve returned to the States?
Well first of all, I don’t think there’s much of a difference between global and local missions. The way we used to treat, teach, and train missionaries is very similar to how we treat, equip, and train local leaders here - pastors and other teachers. People need cross-cultural gifts. They need to know how to evangelize, reach out and sense how God is working in the world they are in.
What is similar or different between the international ecumenical movement and the ecumenical movement in the U.S.?
They’re very different actually. There tends to be more cooperation among churches abroad; the lines between churches in the U.S. are often drawn more sharply. But this is not always the case. It’s a hard comparison to make.
The official ecumenical movement has lost a little steam abroad, but it’s popping up in new and more creative ways. At the local level you’ll find churches working together in all sorts of projects. You’ll find a lot of situations where Christians get together to do outreach, social projects or tackle justice issues. Even revivals are done together across the world. Each place is different, however, so it’s hard to generalize. I do think Christians find a lot of excitement and energy when they come together abroad. That's true here as well.
What is your outlook on the ecumenical movement among the mainline denominations in the U.S.?
Actually it’s quite good. Many of the mainline churches have been working very closely for years. For Lutherans – especially the ELCA Lutherans – one of our strongest gifts is our ecumenical commitment.
You’ll find us working very closely with other churches. With some churches we have very strong ties, even pulpit and altar fellowships. But you'll find strong partnerships even beyond these offical ties. Continue »
