"Keep the faith!"

by the Rev. Thomas Clark

Pastor--Ascension Lutheran Church, Jackson, MS

In case you have not noticed, there are not a lot of Lutherans living in these parts. Years ago, I got a letter from a Lutheran pastor in Wisconsin. (I am not sure why he sent it to me, other than that he probably looked up Lutheran churches in Jackson and found “Ascension” was the first one listed.) Inside the envelope, all I found was an article from his local newspaper that had one of those occasional random tid-bits of information about various subjects. This one was about areas of the country with the most and least percentage of Lutherans in the general population. I don’t remember the exact numbers but in Madison, Wisconsin, Lutherans made up something like 90% of the population. (That’s probably high, but whatever it was it was HIGH!) Then in the “Fewest Lutherans per 1000” cities, there was Jackson, Mississippi, with “1 Lutheran per thousand.” In the margins of the newspaper article, the pastor who sent it had scribbled, “Keep the faith!”

Over the years, I have occasionally had someone who had moved to Jackson from one of those states with a dense population of Lutherans ask me, “Where are the big Lutheran churches?” My answer has always been, “You’re in one.” (My grandmother, who lived just outside of Louisville, MS, was a member of one of the small Lutheran churches, which has an average Sunday attendance of 15.)

The South was not an area that was settled by people who were predominantly Lutheran. Around here, Lutherans are not only few in number, they are generally an “unknown quantity.” It is not unheard to be asked, “Are Lutherans Christians?”

However, Lutherans have much to offer a community where the non-religious may perceive “church folk” as legalistic and self-serving. Luther emphasized that grace is a free gift of God to be received by faith or trust (Ephesians 2.8-10). It is a trust based on the belief that ours is a God of love who revealed himself through Jesus Christ, a Savior who suffered and died for his followers opening for us a life of grateful service and eternal joy.

Unfortunately, Lutherans don’t have a great reputation of being people good at inviting others to our wonderful church. That’s probably because we, taken as a whole, are a fairly reticent group, not wanting to push our opinions on others for fear we will be perceived as one of those “pushy types.” However, we have something good to share; something sorely needed in our communities—a faith that is warm and accepting, fully aware of our own sin but greatly appreciative of God’s abundant mercy offered to us through Jesus Christ.

Sometimes we simply need the right opportunity to bring others through our church’s door. One way that can happen is through making our congregations open to the community as a meeting place, such as for A.A. groups or Boy Scout troops. Another is to offer events that have an appeal to outsiders as much as for our own members. One way Ascension has done that over the years is to throw an “international dinner” where members from various ethnic backgrounds cook a few dishes from which “tastes” can be shared. No one eats a full meal of German brats or Norwegian lutefisk, but rather a good taste. In our congregation, one of the big draws is the Indian “table” where several of our families with roots in India share the task and produce an amazing taste feast. But there are other great “tastes” as well from Ireland, Mexico, “Cajun”, and sometimes one from my own ethnic background—Southern .

In reality, the food is only the excuse for members to get together and enjoy each other’s company but also the excuse for a non-threatening way to invite others. Once those who are non-members get among our own church family and see what we are like, getting them to try out our worship is easy. Too often, the problem with our hesitancy in inviting others is our own fear of rejection. We need to remind ourselves, however, that if Christ accepts us, whether others do or not, everything else is irrelevant. Keeping that in mind, inviting others to church is easy.