Tale of Two Synods: A Reason for Optimism
“All shall be well and all shall be well and every manner of thing shall be well.”
~ St. Julian of Norwich
For all of our complaints about the shenanigans, monkeyshines, and dingalingery (SMD) that goes on in our synod - especially liturgically - there is reason to be upbeat and hopeful. I may well yet have an actual orthodox heterosexual male pastor conduct himself with reverence and liturgical propriety and deliver to me Word and Sacrament if I find myself in a nursing home or on my deathbed. God willing, the Boomers will be long gone by that time. It is good incentive for me to stay physically fit for as long as the Lord allows me to remain here slogging it out in the trenches of the church militant. I cannot prove it, but I suspect that one of our Lord’s favorite Rolling Stones songs is “Time is On My Side.” I should perhaps check with Fr. Fabrizius on that one.
The reason that I am hopeful is my contact with Gen-Z. These are the next generational cohort after the Millennials (who are largely a lost-cause: like Boomers, but without even the consolation prize of some decent pop music to offer the world). Yes, we should continue to reach out to them, and some of them do manage to come to Jesus, but for the most part, like Boomers, you can always tell a Millennial, but you cannot tell him much. That said, the Boomers and the Millennials who are with us tend toward the excellent end of the bell curve!
But in general, I find Millennials to be thoroughly and irredeemably brainwashed by political correctness, wokeness, Critical Theory, Economic Socialism, feminism, and whatever other opinions their entertainment gods command them to hold. They suffer from short attention spans and biblical illiteracy - combined with a narcissism that tells them how knowledgeable that they are, and how much better they are than the ancients. After all, they can perform in depth research in one second by offering prayers to St. Google. And they always seem have a little Boomer-devil on their shoulder encouraging them. My contrary experience with Gen-Z is admittedly anecdotal, but I do see a promising trend.
I teach and conduct worship for high school seniors and their families at Wittenberg Academy - which is a subset of Lutheran, mostly LCMS, youth. I teach and give chaplaincy care to Civil Air Patrol cadets (ages 12-20), most of whom in my circles, but not all, are some kind of Christian. I also have a lot of contact with university-aged young people through the Ludwig von Mises Institute (especially at their annual intensive Mises University program), some Christian, many not (although the only two LCMS students were both among the 12 who passed the rigorous final exam this year). Admittedly, these are institutions that would attract the more conservative side of Gen-Z. But there are definitely differences even between the more conservative Millennials and the more conservative Zoomers.
Just as Millennials are like mini-Boomers, Zoomers are like mini-Gen Xers. They are delightfully jaded and cynical, not afraid to slay the sacred cows and mock the false prophets of our cultural clown-show. They tend toward social media savvy (many having their own podcasts), and they are fearless of blowback from their Millennial and Boomer elders. In fact, they enjoy the fray. They tend toward real conservatism - and I don’t mean GOP, Inc, but actual traditionalism, corresponding to young Roman Catholics who embrace the Latin Mass. Indeed, younger Lutherans also love the liturgy, and they press for more reverence, more ceremony, and more confessionalism expressed in our ritual and conduct. They are not your grandfather’s Boomer youth who wanted campfire songs, hippy vestments (or no vestments), and cheesy ceramic communion vessels in between hits of acid. By contrast, they appreciate goodness, truth, and beauty; they yearn for classical learning; they seek serious worship (rather than Pastor Boomer’s Casual Shuck and Jive Comedy Hour and You-Know-What-Show); they recognize and strive after authenticity and fidelity.
Here’s the bad news: when I find young people with whom I have contact - especially those with no religion who are intrigued by Lutheran Christianity because of conversations with me, or with disaffected Protestants seeking something of theological and sacramental depth and liturgical gravitas - they often see what goes on in our churches, say, “No thank you,” and they go on to Rome or Orthodoxy instead. Thanks a lot, Pastor Boomer! You have made a mess in your own nest. As an aside, you might listen to minutes 1:00 to 7:30 of this podcast for an interesting recap of the journey of a Millennial convert (who has an Evangelical mother and a Muslim father) to Roman Catholicism. Obviously, Rome has its own liturgical goofiness, but given its size, one can always seem to find a decent liturgy somewhere within driving distance. I cannot say the same of the LCMS in many places.
There are situations in which someone wants to visit an LCMS church, and the closest congregation to the person is an utter embarrassment, whether being a big-box happy-clappy congregation, celebrating infrequent and/or open communion, or a train-wreck liturgy: whether a monstrous franken-mass of chip-chop creative hash, or a bronzie service carried out robotically, slovenly, and cluelessly, or as if the Divine Service were some kind of joke. We all know dedicated laymen who drive an hour or more to find a decent church that actually worships as if they believe the Bible and the confessions. And guys, it’s not that difficult: say the black, do the red, and say it and do it like you mean it. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you can get help.
But here is more bad news: the Boomers that still cling to the cultural and political landscape of power in the LCMS are a huge turnoff, especially to our Zoomer brethren who can sniff out a phony marketing scheme a mile away. Ironically, the run-down has-beens that, like zombies in a horror film, refuse to retire and shuffle off gracefully to the glue factory, continue to apply the same old tired worn-out strategies from their earlier failed anti-liturgical church growth (sic) garbage.
One of the district conventions had all of the delegates receiving a particular book written by the Usual Boomer Suspects - more awful Ablaze, Jesus-First, Congregations-Matter methodologies that didn’t work then, are not working now, and would have disastrous effects on the Gen-Z young people that these Boomers - all past their “freshness” dates - are still pushing. They are a one-trick pony that is now a one-trick nag whose hooves are destined to become mucilage for fourth-grade art class.
I received a free copy of this book. I have read some of the essays. The book is awful. I’ll be writing more about it in the future - so stay tuned.
Once again, the days of Boomer hegemony are numbered. And a lot of younger Lutherans are turning to Gottesdienst and likeminded others, and seeking truly Evangelical Catholic confessors of Augsburg to join up with. They are yearning for the holy, and they are willing to incur the cost of discipleship rather than bolt and leave for other communions, which, though flawed, actually seem to believe what they say they believe. I find this cohort willing to read and think and learn and write. They seem to be looking to us for marching orders. They want to help. They want to find the best path back toward reverence and uncompromising Lutheran identity. And they have a delightful sense of humor and positive energy about all of it.
Mind you, I’m not saying that we should do what we do because it will “grow the church” or is popular with a specific demographic tranche. That is not the point. We worship with reverence because it is the right thing to do, just as our pastors are commissioned preach the Word: “in season and out of season.” But the irony is this: the Church Growth Movement is doing the diametric and diabolic opposite of what they should be doing to attract the youth. They are culturally clueless and out of touch with the real world - especially the young people whom they claim to know about. We need to push back: both clergy and laity of all ages.
So please support our work at Gottesdienst and other groups in the LCMS and in other communions within the Lutheran world who work toward a restored piety, liturgy, confessional integrity, theologically rigorous and beautiful hymnody, and practice that is congruous with our faith: worship that teaches us that Christ is truly present with us in the Divine Service. If you can donate money, donate. If you can share our blog and podcast on social media, please do. You can give a buck a month on Patreon. Believe me, it is much appreciated! If you can afford a bulk subscription to our journal to put in the narthex of your church: an investment for the future of our confession. Subscriptions to Gottesdienst make great gifts for pastors and laity alike.
If you can attend our conferences, please come! They are worth your while! Just to worship with other confessional liturgical Lutherans is like a breath of fresh air, and the outstanding teaching and fellowship that goes on is like the cherry on top. And bring in those young people - young women whose hands will rock the world by rocking the cradle, and young men who will manfully and unapologetically lead their families, and some of whom will serve as the next generation of pastors.
So, confessional liturgical Lutherans, take heart! Our younger men and women have the mindset of warriors. They see through the slick marketing and gaslighting. Like most of us, they just want solid biblical theology, sound sacramental preaching of the Law and the Gospel, and reverent liturgical worship that looks like we actually believe what we say we believe. They seek after Christ and Him crucified - without gimmicks and fluff.
As St. Julian of Norwich said, “All shall be well and all shall be well and every manner of thing shall be well.”