Roger W. Fjeld, Power to you!

We have lost a wonderful word that could have been used in another decade to describe Roger Fjeld—churchman. Unfortunately, that word leaves out all the sisters, something that Roger would never do. Instead, we will settle for a collection of other descriptors—church administrator, president, pastor, husband, father, friend. Roger also has an amazing memory of why things are as they are in American Lutheranism, what has worked and what has not worked and, most importantly, why. This issue of Currents is written by colleagues at Wartburg Theological Seminary and other friends to honor a leader in the church’s mission and ministry, then and now.

Duane Larson, Fjeld’s successor as president at Wartburg, hails the honoree for his sound memory, faithful imagination, and virtually endless capacity for engagement. As an accomplished American church historian, Fjeld knows the forces that shaped, threatened, and nurtured our Lutheran institutions. His faithful imagination got Wartburg beyond maintenance and into mission. And, finally, his engagement with people and ideas showed an ideal mixture of tenderness, solidarity, hard-headedness, forthrightness, trustworthiness, transparency and enduring joy in the Gospel.

Charles Maahs, bishop emeritus and former member of Wartburg’s Board, gives a summary overview of the writings and leadership of Roger Fjeld. It is in his writings and sermons that one finds the depth and wisdom of his understanding and love of the church. Here one also discovers the theologian and missional leader. He endeavored to make Wartburg a sending community of set-apart people. He showed empathy and understanding of rural life and the vocation of farmers, and he had strong feelings about what the church should be doing in youth ministry, to challenge and encourage young people. He is a sharp critic of American civil religion, but positive and hopeful about the vocation of the church in America today. His letters always ended: "Power to you!"

H. S. Wilson describes the great changes in world religions and Christian mission after the end of colonialism. Christians should not find it difficult to comprehend the global dimensions of human community. Through baptism Christians become part of a global community, and are connected at the same time to those who have gone before and those who are yet to come. Wartburg Seminary has long participated in the church’s mission in Papua New Guinea and has been a strong ecumenical partner in the Schools of Theology in Dubuque. Wartburg regularly invites international scholars to teach at the seminary and also sends faculty to teach in New Guinea and Namibia. During Fjeld’s presidency Wartburg started a Center for Global Theologies and launched an MA in Theology, Development, and Evangelism.

Craig L. Nessan observes that while there is widespread prosperity in the United States, young people and people in rural communities and inner cities know another reality. An undertow of hopelessness threatens to lead many to despair. God is the only person who has the power to ground our hopes for the future. The crucifixion of Jesus raised a radical question about God’s reliability in keeping promises, and only the power of God to raise the dead could vindicate all that Jesus had claimed for God. A fresh way to describe the kingdom Jesus promised is to call it the dream of God. Wherever that dream intervenes, there is a dramatic reversal of expectations and values. Two central characteristics distinguish this dream: God is near, and God is merciful. According to this dream all those who do the will of God are our family. Wealth is the greatest danger to our spiritual well-being, and the most honored ones are "the least." The one who would be great becomes the servant of all. If we are to live by hope and not despair, we must renew our understanding of what God is seeking to do to us when we gather for worship. There we enter into an alternative world that profoundly alters and shapes our life in the ordinary world. God is at work at worship to instill in us the dream of God. At worship we catch the dream of God and have our hope renewed. Hence planning for worship becomes one of the central activities of those called to Word and Sacrament ministry.

James L. Bailey writes about the mission discourse in Matthew 9-10 in honor of President Fjeld. In Matthew’s day the ecclesial assembly’s mission was to announce as good news the nearness of God’s reign and to undertake its healing and restorative ministry. The church exists to identify with needy people, and in responding to this mission, Christians experience their own healing. The verbal testimony to the gracious gospel of God’s reign must find concrete expression in a congregation’s acts of kindness and justice for those in need. Any congregation unwilling to risk its resources and itself for evangelical outreach and restorative actions beyond its own members’ comfort zone will not win the trust of others. Generosity is like an enthusiastic embrace, where the distinction between giver and recipient vanishes. Preaching and practicing the reign of God in public ways invariably meets resistance and outright hostility from those who profit from the way the world is currently managed. The church that glibly talks about suffering often does not suffer, although according to Matthew suffering is a necessary consequence of the proclamation and of Jesus’ lifestyle. Evangelical mission is far more exciting and far more demanding that we might suppose.

Winston B. Persaud asks where God is in a religiously-charged, post-secular world. Religious diversity means real people and communities in our neighborhoods and workplaces who show their "differentness" in dress and worship. What in our Christian faith would prompt us toward openness, hospitality, and welcome toward these folks, and what might hinder us from doing so? One practical reason for leaving behind Luther’s stereotypes and diatribes against people of other religions is that we could easily break the law of the land by following them. A primary theological reason for leaving them behind is that Luther’s own explanation of the eighth commandment shows that to follow such stereotypes would be to violate God’s word and God’s will for the neighbor’s good. Such stereotypes also obscure the One whom we confess, who stands with and came to die for all, including those against whom we are polemicizing. Our baptismal identity raises the ethical challenge of bearing witness to Jesus Christ who died for those who are persecuted and victimized in his name or who are relegated to the periphery of life and its bounties.

Nancy Maeker asks how we can prepare young people to be effective in communicating the gospel in a variety of cultural contexts. The consequences of sin are alienation, injustice, exclusion, oppression, racism, subjugation, and domination. Two biblical metaphors form the basis for understanding cross-cultural mission: breaking down dividing walls and inviting all to the banquet. Some of the qualities needed in cross-cultural mission are personal humility, confidence in God, compassion and respect for the other, a sense of justice, willingness to take a risk, patience, joy, and resilience for the long haul. Two early experiences are also crucial: supportive and unconditional acceptance in family or community and early cross-cultural encounter. The article closes with recommendations for families, congregations, seminaries, and candidacy committees on how to raise up leaders for cross-cultural mission.

Nathan Frambach wonders whether it is helpful to compare the local congregation with a family. Instead, congregations are a public outpost for mission. According to Wolfhart Pannenberg, the true identity of human beings lies in their exocentricity. We are called to be open to the other, to the world, and ultimately to God. Congregations are also called to be open in the same ways. The missionary power of the Christian message and the evangelical, public orientation of the congregation is undermined by the family metaphor. Perhaps a better metaphor would be "gathered community." Jesus’ voice continually calls us out of our comfort zones and private enclaves and into public service and engagement with others in God’s world.

Ralph W. Quere reviews a variety of catechisms and the roles they can play in equipping people for evangelizing. The first commandment calls us to loyalty and faithfulness, and the other commandments show us God’s will for our lives and actions and that we are sinners whose sins violate God’s call to love. In the second article of the creed Luther speaks of a lordly Redeemer and a redeeming Lord, who has rescued each one in order that they might belong to him. Through baptism youth can be assured of their identity as children of God, and of their place in the church. Holy Communion is repetition, not initiation; daily food, not the first bottle. The catechisms are valuable resources because they address life’s most profound questions of origin, purpose, and redemption.

I have a long list of memories of Roger Fjeld in action. This includes his rock-solid support for Currents, also financially, and a wonderful afternoon and evening Peggy Eldredge, my assistant, and I spent with their faculty some years ago discussing Wartburg’s participation in this venture. I remember his eagerness in writing back-page editorials for Currents and his tireless participation in the conversations that led to the "Covenant Cluster," that unites LSTC, Trinity, and Wartburg in a coordinated strategy of theological education. But I also remember his magnificent and hope-filled sermon at the tragic death of Professor Ralph Smith. For these and many other memories, I echo back to him his famous salutation: "Power to you, Roger!"

Ralph W. Klein, Editor