Me, Pastor Kuhn, and my wife, Tammy

Please believe me when I say that this is not going to be a “death” blog. I’m not going to keep posting about those in my life who have entered the next life.  However, it would be wrong for me to miss putting up a post about one of the greatest influences of my life, who died last Friday:

The way the education of a pastor in the Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod works is to get a B.A. degree, and then move on to seminary for four years. The first two years are spent on campus, in class.  The third year is a “real world” internship as “vicar” serving with an established pastor at a congregation somewhere in the United States.  Then the student goes back to the seminary for one final year of class work before graduating and becoming a “full-fledged” pastor.

My vicarage was done near our nation’s capitol in Falls Church, Virginia, under The Rev. Gerald Kuhn, who had been the pastor of that congregation from about the time it was approximately a year old. Pastor Kuhn had risen to the rank of Rear Admiral as a Navy Chaplain.  He was the best you could ask for in a vicarage supervisor:  laid back; ready to allow you to “test your wings”; providing plenty of freedom; and making sure you learned and had fun for a year in our nation’s capitol.

Pastor Kuhn died last Friday. He was a great man of God, a unique character, and a precious friend.  I got to see him last fall, and I am so glad that I did.  With this post, I “salute” the Admiral for the things he taught me.

• Stay for a while.  Pastor Kuhn was the Pastor at St. Paul’s in Falls Church, Virginia, for well over thirty years.  He retired from there.  He proved that a long ministry bears much fruit, builds better relationships, and accomplishes much more than a short ministry ever could.
• Advocate for the community.  St. Paul’s had an “education building” that was originally intended to be for a day school that never panned out.  So Pastor Kuhn decided that it ought to be open to anyone and everyone in the community who had a need for space.  There were AA groups, AlAnon groups, TOPS groups, Exercise groups, Bible Study Groups, and groups that simply needed the space for a meeting or community dinner.  That attitude provided a great connection between the church and the community for many years.
• Lead by example.  One day I walked into the church and Pastor Kuhn was vacuuming the entryway of the church.  We had a very good janitor at the time, but with Pastork Kuhn everything had to be “ship shape” (pardon the pun).  No job was below him.  He did what needed to be done, and he never complained that “it wasn’t his job.”
• Understand you’re part of something bigger.  Pastor Kuhn insisted that everyone who became a member of the church should automatically receive the monthly official publication of our church, directly in the mail.  He told me that no matter what organization you join you receive the official publication.  How much more in the church. Today, every member of my congregation automatically receives that same publication.
• Take the long view.  In the one year I spent with him, there were ups and downs as only there can be in a local church.  But I never saw Pastor Kuhn lose his cool…even when a member went into his office and yelled and screamed for a half an hour.  There may be minor crises from one day to the next, but in the long run it’s all part of ministry, and it all has a purpose.  I learned from him to “take the long view” and “keep my cool” when the chips seem down.
• English is important.  Every week I had to submit my sermon to Pastor Kuhn so that he could “approve” it.  He usually had no problem with the theology of the sermon.  If he had any problem it was with grammar or English usage.  He felt that getting your point across could be done most effectively if you used proper English.

One more thing: while I was there that year, Pastor Kuhn made me take a “quiz” on the history of Virginia, and he gave me some Confederate money that I still have to this day.  He made sure that every vicar who went through St. Paul’s in Falls Church, Virginia, would learn something about the place in which they served.  It was a lot of fun…and I did pretty well on the quiz.  But I learned more than Virginia history.  I learned what it meant to be a great pastor.

Pastor Kuhn will be buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery on July 21st.  Salute the Admiral!

I have now had three-and-a-half months to reflect on my 3-month sabbatical last fall. One of my main initiatives was to study and learn more about Urban Ministry.  I think it was a success!

I love the city. I love the people of the city.  And our nation is becoming increasingly more urban.  It behooves those of us in ministry to learn how best to minister in an urban situation…like the one in which I find myself right now.  Cities are getting bigger.  The mission field is coming to us.  Our nation is becoming more centralized.

As I have reflected on my experiences over the course of three months, I have come to the realization that really good urban ministry consists of Contextualization, Consistency, and Creativity.

1.  CONTEXTUALIZATION

If I were to go as a missionary to New Guinea, Africa, China, or India, the first thing I would do is learn the culture and determine the best way I could use the context of that culture to minister to the people there in the most effective manner; in a way that would speak to their “heart language.”

LINC ministries in Houston, under the direction of Rev. Mark Junkans, does it so well. They have ESL classes that draw people in to churches that use the Spanish language in their worship. They have an Indian (from India) ministry on the campus of The University of Houston that has a native Indian as its pastor.  They use Spanish language Christian bookstores which also double as food banks and educational centers.

Peace Lutheran Church in Washington, D.C., under Pastor James Wiggins, uses both traditional and “urban contemporary” worship to reach those in the immediately surrounding community. There are those in that congregation who would never have been there had it not been for the “urban contemporary” service.

2.  CONSISTENCY

The Dream Center in Los Angeles (check it out at www.dreamcenter.org) is nothing if not consistent. Every Saturday they take panel trucks filled with creative children’s ministry teams into the parks in the worst neighborhoods of L.A. Each and every week they have teams and volunteers that adopt blocks in the most gang-infested areas of L.A.  They simply go into the neighborhoods and care by providing food, furniture, clothing…whatever is needed.  And they share the Gospel.  It isn’t until the people of these neighborhoods realize that these people won’t quit…that they are more than consistent…that they finally begin to trust them.  Through these consistent ministries many have come to know Christ.

3.  CREATIVITY

I found numerous churches on my sabbatical that used both context and consistency in creative ways to share Jesus. Church For All Nations (LCMS) in Manhattan is right down the block from Carnegie Hall, and right in the midst of a neighborhood filled with musicians.  So they have concert series’ that draw people from the uptown Manhattan into their church on a regular basis.

Emmanuel Reformed Church in Paramount, California, (a community similar to my own Sherman Park neighborhood in Milwaukee) fills the front of the church for every single service with a mass choir, and a 20 piece orchestra that would be the envy of most every congregation. Using creative themes, they draw all of their 1500 members into the message each week through song, preaching, and prayer.  It is a sight to see!

Bridgeway Community Church in Columbia, Maryland, was a church planted to be intentionally multi-cultural. You should see the different “nations, tribes, people, and languages” used in the creative context of their worship.

4.  ONE MORE “C”…

And lest you think I’ve forgotten…there is one last “C” that begins, ends, and permeates any discussion or attempt at Urban Ministry:  Christ Himself.  He “completes” Urban Ministry, “cares” for it, and went to the “cross” for all the people of every “city,” throughout the “country,” and across every “continent.”

Contextualization, consistency, and creativity are the three things I pray the Lord will use at Mt. Calvary to “bring hope to the heart of the city” of Milwaukee…and beyond.

Do you have any examples of contextualization, consistency, or creativity in ministry (urban or not) that you could share with me?