Study guide I
n three years Lutherans will celebrate the 500th anniver- sary of Martin Luther’s posting of the 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg—the Oct. 31, 1517, event that began the Protestant Reformation. No won- der Lutheran churches are steeped in tradition. The chal- lenge for us is to use our traditions as a springboard into the future rather than a shackle keeping us in the past.
Exercise 1: What’s tradition? Different elements of tradition are important to different people. • What does tradition mean to you? • Which of the following church elements define tradition for you and your congregation? Which are most important? Which least important? Why? 1) The architecture; 2) the sanctuary; 3) the church
smell; 4) the church calendar; 5) Sunday school; 6) hymns; 7) prayers; 8) the order of worship; 9) music; 10) communion; 11) church festival days; 12) Christmas; 13) Easter; 14) social activities; 15) coffee hour; 16) the robes; 17) the paraments; 18) our Lutheran theology; 19) the choir; 20) the organ; 21) the Small Catechism; 22) Martin Luther; 23) other things? • Why is “tradition” such a complicated issue?
Exercise 2: My favorites List your favorite church traditions and then discuss: • How do these traditions fit into your experience of church? • How do they enrich or ground your life as a Christian? • What emotions are stirred and what thoughts are triggered by this tradition? • Is it a deal breaker for your participation if your favorite traditions are missing in your church? • Taking the exercise to another level, research the history and theology behind these most cherished traditions.
Exercise 3: Picture this Supply everyone with crayons and paper. Introduce the sub- ject by spending 15 minutes discussing “My favorites” from the above exercise. Ask participants to spend 10 minutes in prayerful silence meditating on church traditions and cre-
By Robert C. Blezard Tradition: New life for old practices
ating an image. When time’s up, invite members to share and explain their image, as well as the thoughts and feelings behind it.
Exercise 4: Bridge to the past • How does church tradition link you to your religious past? • Which of your cherished traditions were handed down to you by loved ones? • In what ways is it comforting to worship in the same fash- ion, in the same place, and using the same words and songs as you did when you were a child? • How does tradition link you and your family to Lutherans and Christians of generations past? • How are you working to hand over those traditions to the younger generation? • How can your congregation work harder to do this?
Exercise 5: Family traditions • What faith traditions do you keep in your home and family? • How do they connect you not only to God but to one another? To your deceased relatives?
Exercise 6: Change is hard Think of an incident in which someone left a congregation (or got highly upset) because a tradition was changed. • What happened? • Why did they react so? • What was at stake for them? • In that case, did the person cling too hard to tradition? • Did the congregation err in the way it changed the tradition? • Is there a “right way” and a “wrong way” for a church to tinker with tradition? • What are the risks of changing? • What are the r i s ks in n o t changing? • Which risk is greater?
This study guide is offered as one example of the more than 390 that are currently available on The Lutheran’s website. Download guides (includ- ing a longer version of this one)—free to print and Web subscribers—at
www.thelutheran.org (click “study guides”).
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www.thelutheran.org
Author bio: Blezard is an assistant to the bishop of the Lower Susquehanna Synod. He has a master of divinity degree from Boston Uni-
versity and did subsequent study at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg (Pa.) and the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia.
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