Lutheranism - Old, Male, and Lifeless

OK, I'm prepared to be offending a lot of folks with this (I mean, just look at the title, it's not the most politically correct), but hey, i guess it takes some overarching generalizations to get the point across and maybe draw some attention.

I was graced with the pleasure of staying all day at UBC yesterday. After the busiest day at work yet (I filled out 7 whole pages of my lab notebook, the most yet in a day), I somewhat reluctantly stuck around for the opening service for the LCC ABC District Convention (Lutheran Church of Canada, Alberta-British Columbia). And I must say, it was quite the experience that got me thinking....


Moo was saying how there was a certain air that defined us Lutherans.....white-haired, slightly hunched, with general lack of momentum......and i must say, this is true......it's not only the general lack of youthfulness, which Flo later pointed out, that seem to define the denomination, but more of a stubborn unwillingness to change.

True, we are the oldest Protestant denomination, and no doubt we are the closest to Catholicism you will get without throwing the Pope and all the saints. But I'm beginning to wonder, has our adherence to tradition gone a bit overboard. It's not news that different congregations adapt and omit different bits and pieces of the liturgy (basically preset dialogs you speak or chant as the worship service progresses) because of complaints that service would drag on for too long without anything really meaningful. But the problems don't end there........

I'll admit here that me and pastor are not on the best terms. There just seem to be some uneasiness between us that we mask with superficial friendliness and goodwill. I suppose the reason being that I've always challenged our church traditions. I have no problem with the theological views we hold, but it's the unspoken traditions that make no sense to me.

There seems to be a general snobbery, especially amongst the older generation, that you are not truly Christian unless you are a Lutheran. Despite this thought being less verbally expressed, there is still a ridiculous amount of hostility toward other denominations. More than once have I experienced this first-hand as I tried to push for more collaborative events. Concerts, city-wide youth rallies, joint fellowship with other churches.....and time and time again the response I received was that we were allowed to go as individuals, because the church has no control of our actions, but we were not allowed to go as a fellowship or as a church, because the events were not Lutheran and we were not to have any dealings as a church with other denominations. There was some brief mention of differing theological views and conflict avoidance. But this was made most clear during a pastor's meeting last summer where all the pastors from metro vancouver met up. There was an overwhelming tone of resignation and defeat in the announcement that there was to be no Lutheran evangelical effort for the 2010 Olympics. We had to join up with the collaborative More than Gold effort put on by the rest of the churches in Vancouver. Is it truly such an appalling thought?

And then there just seems to be a general disregard for the youths in the denomination, as very evident by the lack of them last night (I can almost claim that I had the most singular hairstyle in that room of 500-ish people). It's not that they are not concerned about us, but we seem to have very little say in the direction of the church and even less so in the direction of the district. Even the government has a Youth Parliament, but as obvious in the delgates present in that opening service, the people chosen to attend the convention is doniminantly older, Caucasian male. Ask anyone if youths are important and I'm sure they will more than agree we are the future of the church, yet all they really seem to care about our growth and maturation is that we follow their example. Anything new, anything different, begone, devil! This was evident when a student at a Lutheran seminary became so frustrated with his professor because he basically demonized the whole contempory Christian music movemnt. It was evident when I attempted to convince the church to purchase a drum set. It was evident when pastor introduced me to a seminary professor yesterday, saying, in an apologetic and he's-weird-that-way-please-don't-mind-him tone, that "He like the modern praise songs."

Sigh.......increasingly i feel like I'm a problem that the larger church is trying to fix......that I'm a rebel that needs correction becuase I'm unwilling to conform to the way things have been done since the 1500s......and the sad thing is that whenever there is an idea brought up by our fellowhsip, there is always a general verbal agreement that it's something that should be done. But the support ends there, and any deeper conversation with any of the older members would only have them point to some higher person in-charge that would oppose the idea. And so despite them verbally giving support, they are in reality against the change in thought and in deed. They just very cleverly disguise it as an opposition from someone else.

We Lutherans, however, do have one redeeming quailty. We sure can sing. The overwhelming operatic male voice we sung the hymns in cannot be described in words. It simply has to be experienced. (If only our congregation can sing like that.....)