Circles of Grace

July 2015

Circles of Grace

Steven H. Shussett, St. Paul's Lutheran Church

As a Presbyterian now three weeks into serving an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) church, I’ve come to see my ministry under the Formula of Agreement as a series of concentric circles. Each overlaps in my circumstance, and yet is independent, informing one another and yet unique.

In my case, this is my first pastorate in 14 years, after two stints in specialized ministries. I long for the rhythm I once knew, the way the contents of a sermon are sifted together, and the confidence that simmering on the fire of the Holy Spirit over time will provide an outcome, the different ingredients making for a different flavor each week. After 14 years without weekly sermon preparation, three weeks isn’t enough to re-establish that rhythm, or fortify the hope, mid-week, that somehow things will come together. But, of course, that would be true in a Presbyterian or Lutheran context.

Then there is the nature of place. My family and I have lived in Allentown, Pennsylvania, for ten years, but rarely had any reason to come into the center of the city. Beyond our dentist on 13^th Street, “there be dragons,” with only the museum, a once-favored, now-defunct restaurant, and city hall to give us cause to enter.

Now I’m on 8^th Street, in the center of unbelievable change as a new city emerges from the old, as new shops, eateries, and housing pop up like mushrooms around a new arena. This chaos would be true for any pastor in a new place, but what makes this even more dramatic is that the congregation doesn’t know its space either. It is as if we all dropped from the sky. True, parishioners know where North 4^th and West Allen intersect, which is more than I can say. But even lifelong residents are at a loss to know what is located there! To respond to your context and your neighbor means to get to know them. Except many who will live here do not yet live here, their future homes now a hole in the ground. The one constant is in itself ever-changing, the homeless served by the church soup kitchens four times a week, and ministry far beyond that.

The third circle speaks to the ways of the ELCA. I am teased by Presbyterians and Lutherans alike about my connection to the other. I reply that I’m following in the footsteps of Philip Melancthon, (1497-1560) who tried to bring the two together. As is so often the case, relationship and vision have made this call possible.

I have known Bishop Sam Zeiser since his installation, and while our paths did not cross frequently, they were always friendly. Some years ago, common vision led our mid councils to join to United Church of Christ conferences in providing boundary training for all of our pastors. This past fall, shortly after intuiting that I was open to seeking a new call, I went for my own boundary training, hosted that year by the Lutherans. There to greet us was my friend, the Bishop.

The Formula of Agreement has been on the books since 1997. But it isn’t something commonly known by church members or pastors. But I knew that just as I, as the Teaching (Executive) Presbyter, was aware of the possibility and how it was practiced, the Bishop would know about this as well. Vision is not only seeking what is in the near-distant future; it is also seeing what is possible right at your feet. I sensed an immediate, if unstated, interest on his part to my shared confidence that I was exploring possibilities for my future. The seed planted that day is taking root as I write.

Finally, there is the particularity of this specific congregation. Not only am I learning general Lutheran theology and practice, but I am living out St. Paul’s expression of these on a daily basis. I am constantly asking, “Is this a Lutheran thing or a St. Paul’s thing?” to know whose line I am in danger of crossing — and it is often both!

But this, I am glad to say, is an overstatement. Not every bishop or EP would be open to considering a Formula of Agreement relationship, laying the necessary foundation in a congregation. Nor is every congregation open to receiving someone quite so different, who requires on-the-job training. That it was even considered says a lot about all of them.

The word I have used, repeatedly and daily, is “gracious.” Would that every congregation were so gracious as this one, and thanks be to God that so many of them are. Ecumenical, and interfaith, relationships will be multiplied and extended as we recognize that not everyone is as we are, and all have something to contribute to us and our growth. Without years of witnessing and participating in Lutheran practice, lacking time to study and embody its ideals, and lacking experience presiding at the altar (and remembering to bow!), each Sunday is a new adventure, and every day a lesson in Lutheran theology and practice.

But for one who, baptized as an adult, who accepted Eugene Carson Blake dictum that “To be Presbyterian is to be ecumenical” even before he knew what they meant, I am so grateful. For the opportunity to live out what to this point had been a theory, seen but until now never personally experienced. And grateful for the witness of this Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the ELCA and more particularly, St. Paul’s, which has put flesh and bones on the word “gracious,” to me and those whom we serve.

Originally published by the Ecumenical Office of the Presbyterian Church (USA)