At the heart of this is a question about pastoral formation. Can it really happen apart from embodied community, shared life, shared worship, and shared accountability?
If formation becomes something that happens in isolation, or something that bypasses the larger church entirely, what exactly are we forming? Pastors, or just degree-holders?
It seems worth pausing to consider what’s actually being built here, and whether it’s strong enough to bear the weight of real ministry.
"As imperfect as the LCMS is, it has unambiguous mechanisms and procedures to address problems and advance what is best. It has scaffolded governance that overlaps in a dozen places."
Who would go to a heart surgeon with good “ book learning” who had no supervised residential training ??
At the heart of this is a question about pastoral formation. Can it really happen apart from embodied community, shared life, shared worship, and shared accountability?
If formation becomes something that happens in isolation, or something that bypasses the larger church entirely, what exactly are we forming? Pastors, or just degree-holders?
It seems worth pausing to consider what’s actually being built here, and whether it’s strong enough to bear the weight of real ministry.
"As imperfect as the LCMS is, it has unambiguous mechanisms and procedures to address problems and advance what is best. It has scaffolded governance that overlaps in a dozen places."
I eagerly await these addresses and advancements.