In This Issue

• How many churches has CiT coached so far?
• In search of mentor/coaches ...
• If I only had a map ...
• SIMUL remembers Jim Nestingen
• Latest CORE videos for May
• Pro Ecclesia conference is just a few weeks away!

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by Pastor Dennis D. Nelson, Lutheran CORE Executive Director

We are very grateful for all of the ways in which retired NALC pastor Don Brandt enhances the ministry of Lutheran CORE. He has an article in every issue of our bi-monthly newsletter. In these articles he draws on his decades of ministry experience – both serving as pastor of a congregation and consulting with congregations – as well as his many years of research and writing. We want Lutheran CORE to be a Network for Confessing Lutherans as well as a Voice for Biblical Truth. We want to provide resources for pastors, lay people, church leaders, and congregations in addition to our work of alerting people to ways in which the historic, Biblical, confessional Christian faith is at risk. 

For several years Don has been providing a consulting service through the Congregations in Transition (CiT) ministry initiative. Through this ministry he has worked with transition teams – both in situations where the pastor has already retired or resigned to take another call as well as in situations where the pastor has not yet left but soon will be leaving. He has also worked with call committees in their search for a new pastor. At this point Pastor Brandt has provided some level of coaching support for twenty-five congregations. [...]

He has written convincingly about the need for many congregations – especially smaller and/or more remote congregations – to take seriously the fact that they might not be able to find another   [...]

by Pastor Dennis D. Nelson, Lutheran CORE Executive Director

Our prayers are with Pastor Craig Moorman and all those who are providing leadership for and participating in City Mission 2023, a multi-generational, multi-denominational outreach effort into the inner city of Baltimore organized and hosted by River’s Edge Ministries (REM) of Mt. Airy, Maryland. Craig is an NALC/LCMC pastor and also a member of the board of Lutheran CORE.

Since 2014 REM has been coordinating these outreach ministries into the inner city. One of the participants has described them as “a raw and unfiltered experience of what it means to be the church.”  [...]

by Pastor Dennis D. Nelson, Lutheran CORE Executive Director

Whenever I fly into an airport I have never been in before, I am always very grateful for all the signs that greet me as soon as I step off the plane.  [...]

Web sites are great tools for providing information about a ministry and/or other kind of organization.

Kim [editor and webmaster] has developed a document which can serve as a kind of map to our website. [...]

by Dennis Di Mauro, NALC pastor and member of the Teaching Faculty at Saint Paul Lutheran Seminary.

The Winter 2023 SIMUL, the Journal of St. Paul Lutheran Seminary, is out – and best of all, it’s free!

Click here.

This edition includes remembrances of the life of Dr. James Arne Nestingen. Jim was our provost, professor, a director of DMin students, and the teacher of our popular weekly text study. He left some big shoes to fill, and he will be sorely missed.

SIMUL can be read in two ways. One can enlarge and read through the flip book on the top of the webpage (there is a full screen button that can be clicked on the lower right-hand side of the flipbook), or one can scroll down and read each individual article. This second option allows readers to share individual articles (that can be read on a cellphone) without sending the entire issue.

In this volume, John Pless recalls Jim’s emphasis on private confession, Marney Fritts plumbs his teaching on repentance, and Tony D. Ede explains what it was like to be Jim’s student at Luther Seminary. Steve Paulson continues our tribute to Jim by exploring his roots in a small Norwegian farming community, Jonathan Thompson explains what it was like to be Jim’s fellow church member and MDiv student, Roy Harrisville III provides a history of Jim’s education and early ministry, and Julie Smith reveals how Jim used the Small Catechism as the vehicle for his theology. Randy Freund finishes out this issue with a review of Jim Nestingen and Gerhard Forde’s classic book, Free to Be.

by Pastor Dennis D. Nelson, Lutheran CORE Executive Director

Here is a link to our You Tube channel. In the top row you will find both our Video Book Reviews as well as our CORE Convictions Videos on various topics related to Biblical teaching, Lutheran theology, and Christian living. You will find these videos in the order in which they were posted, beginning with the most recent. In the second row you will find links to the Playlists for both sets of videos. This month we want to feature two videos - a CORE Convictions Video by LCMC pastor Kent Groethe and a Video Book Review by NALC pastor Stephane Kalonji.

[...]

by Pr. Steve Shipman, STS, and Executive Director of The Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology (CCET)

How will we as Christians address the challenges to Christian fellowship after the impact of the pandemic and in the heightened tensions of our political and cultural life?

That is the topic of the annual Pro Ecclesia Conference to be held June 5-7 at Loyola University in Baltimore, featuring a roster of ecumenical speakers under the theme “Life Together: The Communion of the Saints in a Time of Division and Disease.”

I invite you to join us for this very timely conference by registering on our website https://www.pro-ecclesia.org/pro-ecclesia-conference-2023. You can also learn more detailed information about our conference there.

Presenters include William Cavanaugh of DePaul University in Chicago, Rev. Chris Currie of St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church in New Orleans, Dr. Lydia Dugdale (a medical doctor and professor at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons), Wesley Hill of Western Theological Seminary in Michigan, Myles Werntz of Abilene Christian University, and Sondra Wheeler of Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C.

In addition, your registration includes our annual banquet on Tuesday evening with Dr. Joseph Small, retired as Presbyterian Church USA Director of Theology and Worship, as our banquet speaker.

Please contact me if you have any questions, and feel free to share this information widely among your friends and colleagues.

I hope to see you in Baltimore in June.

Steve Shipman

info@pro-ecclesia.org 

• Pro Ecclesia Conference - Loyola University Maryland, Baltimore, MD. June 5-7, 2023. Click here for more information. Click here to register.
• NEXUS Institute Summer 2023 - Des Moines, IA. July 16-22, 2023. Click here.
• ELCA Rostered Ministers Gathering - Phoenix, AZ. July 17-20, 2023. Click here.
• NALC Lutheran Week 2023 - Oklahoma City, OK. August 7-11, 2023. Click here.
• LCMC 23rd Annual Gathering & Convention - St. Charles, MO. October 1-4, 2023. Click here.

© 2023 Lutheran Coalition for Renewal

Email Editor (Kim Smith)

PO Box 1741 Wausau, WI 54402-1741

1-888-810-4180

www.lutherancore.org

Lutheran CORE's mission:

• A Network for Confessing Lutherans
• A Voice for Biblical Truth

Our purpose can be summed up in two words– Network  and  Voice. As  Network  for confessing Lutherans, we support and connect Lutheran individuals and congregations who seek to live in accord with Biblical and confessional teachings and practices. As a  Prophetic Voice, we advocate for Biblical authority and confessional fidelity among churches of the Lutheran community.

We communicate Biblical truth through our newsletter, mailings, and various forms of social media.