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PEACE LUTHERAN INSTALLS REV. MICHAEL BONHAM Praise be to God! Rev. Michael Bonham was installed on August 10, 2003, as the pastor of Peace Lutheran Church in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Mrs. Lenae Rasmussen, a charter member of Peace, and the Executive Chair of Augsburg Lutheran Churches, was the installing minister.

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THE HARBOR CALLS REV. MARK BEEBE

Rev. Mark Beebe accepted a call to serve The Harbor, on September 7, 2003. The Harbor is a new mission start in the Hilton Head– Bluffton area of South Carolina. The Harbor began with about 35 members and has grown in three months to about 60 people per week. Pastor Beebe is listed on the Augsburg List of Clergy.

The Harbor Christian Community Church 8 Buckingham Plantation Drive Bluffton, SC 29910 843.836.DOCK (3625) E-Mail: theharborhhi@theharborhhi.org http://www.theharborhhi.org Worship Sundays 10:00 a.m. @ Hilton Head Beach & Tennis (Folly Field Rd)

"God gives life to The Harbor to change lives through the power of the cross
and to develop fully devoted followers of Jesus."

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FAITH LUTHERAN INSTALLS PASTOR GLEN PETERSON

Rev. Mark Jamison installed Pastor Glen Peterson at Faith Lutheran Church in Humboldt, South Dakota, on October 19, 2003.

Faith Lutheran in Humboldt is one of the new mission churches of Augsburg Lutheran Churches (ALC) and LCMC. Faith was formed this summer when 75 people began holding Sunday morning worship services under the guidance of a local seminarian, Glen Peterson. They came together as people dedicated to upholding the Scriptures as the sole norm and authority for the Christian Church's proclamation and teaching, and the authority of the Lutheran Confessions in interpreting and explaining the meaning of the Scriptures. Their consciences told them it was not possible to hold to these convictions in their former parish and denomination.

This fall, the members of Faith Lutheran formally called Glen Peterson, a lay pastor completing his theological education and pastoral training under the auspices of the Augsburg Lutheran Churches (ALC) and Claus Harms House. Glen Peterson is a member of the Augsburg List of Clergy and the LCMC List of Pastors.

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THE CONGREGATION'S DIVINE RIGHT TO CALL A PASTOR

Lutherans have traditionally understood the ministry to be a divine call confirmed by the call of a congregation. Luther states this clearly in his treatise "That A Christian Assembly or Congregation has the Right and Power to Judge all Teaching and to Call, Appoint, and Dismiss Teachers, Established and Proven by Scripture" (LW 39:306). God himself has placed the right and the responsibility to call pastors, and judge teaching, in the hands of the congregation. Thus, congregational call committees cannot abdicate their right and duty to the gospel when calling a pastor today; neither can anyone take it from them— it has been given to them by Christ, who is the Lord of his Church. The Augsburg Lutheran Churches (ALC) uphold this teaching.

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A LAND OF OUR OWN!

Peace Lutheran Has New Roots on the Foley Beach Expressway in Gulf Shores
by Esther Nance

Peace Lutheran Church has a "permanent" home on 8250 Roscoe Road, as of October 10, 2003. Peace is planting new roots on what used to be a "tree farm" along the Foley Beach Expressway in Gulf Shores between Orange Beach and Foley, Alabama. With the help of ALC members and LCMC, ten acres of land and a house were purchased. With a few modifications and lots of volunteer cleaning and painting, the mission congregation is holding the inaugural worship service on its own land the first Sunday in Advent.

Gifts and offerings for Peace Lutheran may be sent to: Peace Lutheran Church 9248 Hammock Road Elberta, Alabama 36530 Attending the Augsburg Lutheran Churches (ALC) convention at Our Saviour's Lutheran Church in Audubon, Iowa, was another highlight of the summer for our delegates: Rev. Bonham, Mrs. Barbara Bonham, and Mrs. Esther Nance. The members of Our Saviour's and Elk Horn Lutheran

Church were gracious hosts to the Lutheran ambassadors from the South. The ALC gathering gave us the opportunity to meet mission partners in person, and share our vision for building a Lutheran church and spreading the Gospel in Baldwin Country, Alabama.

In October, Peace sent two delegates to the LCMC convention in Canton, Michigan. The convention allowed our delegates, Pr. Bonham and Mrs. Rasmussen, the pleasure of meeting Pr. Drex Morton and many other "listserv friends" and mission partners for the first time. The members of Peace were thrilled when the LCMC Trustees granted their request for a $10,000 loan to help purchase land and a building on the Foley Beach Expressway. Closing on our property was definitely "the highlight" of the fall.

We are so appreciative of the help we have received from Augsburg Lutheran Churches, LCMC, Pr. Bonham, Mrs. Rasmussen, and Mr. Harold Lewis. In addition to helping us call a pastor, Mrs. Rasmussen has worked diligently with Pr. Bonham and other ALC and LCMC members to share our vision and budget needs for 2003-2004. As a result of their dedicated work and leadership, the down payment of $80,000 was raised in less than sixty days, and our prayers for more mission partners was answered. God is truly giving us a future with hope.

Peace Lutheran meets at the South Baldwin Community Theater, 2022 West 2nd Avenue, Gulf Shores, Alabama. We enjoy their comfortable seats and fabulous acoustics, but soon we will be moving to "a land of our own" along the Foley Beach Expressway in Gulf Shores.

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CH JOHN H. G. RASMUSSEN
PROMOTED TO MAJOR

On September 1, 2003, CH John H. G. Rasmussen was promoted to the rank of Major in the United States Army. With his promotion to Major, Rasmussen was also commissioned into the Regular Army of the United States of America. He had been serving as an active duty member of the Illinois National Guard. Rasmussen was selected for promotion in April 2002, and transferred from Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, to Fort Bragg, North Carolina in June 2003. He is the 229th Aviation Regiment chaplain. Rasmussen's new commander, COL Millard Vance Sales, Jr., (pictured above on the right) "pinned oak leafs" on Rasmussen and presented him with his new commission in a ceremony at Regimental headquarters on September 2, 2003.

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WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
REVISITING THE LUTHERAN CONFESSIONS

The Lutheran Lay Academy of Claus Harms House held its first event, "What Does This Mean? Revisiting the Lutheran Confessions," at Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, Illinois, on October 25, 2003. The Rev. Dr. Michael Hoy, our guest speaker, gave an excellent presentation on "The CRUX of Lutheran Confessional Theology: Criticism, Revelation, Universality, Xristening."

Twenty-five people participated in this one-day overview of the Augsburg Confession.  The Augsburg Confession was written in a time of crisis and church persecution. Dr. Hoy began the seminar with an introduction to the six elements of "church persecution."

1) Oppression is taking place. While persecution came primarily from the Emperor in Luther's day, church persecution is not necessarily limited to the state's persecution of the church–church authorities may in fact be oppressing their own members!

2) The Gospel of Jesus Christ is being oppressed.

3) When the Gospel is oppressed, Christians must "take the witness stand." They must stand and confess.

4) Thus, the oppression creates a need to redefine authority; what is the authority of the church? Law and gospel must be clarified.

5) The work (#3 and #4) is done "to" and "for" the oppressed. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is your freedom–stand on it! In doing so, you become the mouthpiece of the Gospel.

6) Ambiguous certitude–we are on to something in the Gospel, and this demands that we stand up and assert the Gospel. There is ambiguity in the situation–"I am a sinner, too"– still one must elevate himself to assert the truth to those that may otherwise have authority over him. When the Gospel itself is being persecuted, sinners are called upon to assert the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Criticism is an Enlightenment term; it is only three hundred years old. It means to dare to think ... to learn. Luther was the first in the church to take a critical stand in his treatise on "The Freedom of the Christian." Luther understand that human beings have a serious problem with God and thus, God has a serious problem with us. We have no love or respect for God; we do not fear or trust him but are filled with concupiscence. We want to tell God, "shove off, I'm in charge!" Luther changed the order of his catechism and began with the 10 commandments rather than the creed. He addressed the law first, then the gospel. Luther understood that no one gets out of life alive–not even Jesus. God solves our problem of sin with the gift of "new obedience," unbelief is solved by the gift of faith, and our concupiscence problem is solved by Christ crucified.

Revelation–God reveals himself as a loving God in his Son, Jesus Christ, and the gift of justifying faith in Christ (CA 3 and 4). Our sins are forgiven for Christ's sake and thus, we are righteous before God by faith given out of grace for his Son's sake.

Universality–Christ came everyone: "For I have come not to call the righteous but sinners" (Mt 9:13). Jesus the Christ came to save the world (2 Cor 5:18; Col 1:20, 2:14). This is not to say "everyone is saved" (universalism). For Luther, election is a doctrine of the Gospel (predestination). Luther put it all on God–unbelief and faith are both the work of the Spirit–God's choice. It is God's "will" to save whom he saves, to have mercy on whom he has mercy, and his mercy is greater than his justice. We are to leave our salvation in the hands of God–in the work of Christ.

Xristening–Christ is the solution to our problem. He is obedient to the Father unto death on a cross (Phil 2:5-10). He went through the humiliation and pain of becoming human and dying on a cross to reconcile the world to God (2 Cor 5:21; Gal 3:13; Col 2:14). While people are suspicious of authority today, society still clings to the myth that if we get "the right person" in office, all of our problems will be solved. This is false! Christ crucified is the only solution to our problem. In his gift of faith, we are heirs with Christ to God's promise. In the sacraments, we meet the parent (God the Father) with his Son (Christ). Forgiveness doesn't mean you won't suffer the consequences of your sin ("pain"), but Christ will be with you always and in him you are reconciled to God.

Dr. Hoy earned the Doctor of Philosophy degree from the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago (LSTC), Chicago, IL. Hoy is the pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Louis, and Dean of Lutheran School of Theology, an independent house of studies supported by 40 congregations in the St. Louis, MO, area. Claus Harms House is planning to open a similar program with several satellite locations by the fall of 2004.

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LUTHERAN LAY ACADEMY

The Lutheran Lay Academy focuses on introducing people to the richness of the Holy Scriptures, the Lutheran Confessions, and the history of the church. The specific goals of the Lutheran Lay Academy are to teach Confessional Lutheran theology through intensive workshops and courses; prepare committed lay people for focused and informed service to God in the church; and offer a certificate program that teaches Confessional Lutheran theology through directed reading, intensive workshops and courses, and graded examinations..

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AUGSBURG CLERGY OPEN FOR CALL

The members of Augsburg Lutheran Churches (ALC) do not believe there is an ontological change in ordination; hence we do not teach that a person is a pastor for life after ordination. At the same time, ALC realizes that congregations need help in finding candidates to interview and call. For this reason, in addition to the list of pastors serving under a congregation's letter of call, ALC maintains a list of clergy who are open for call. These clergy have met the Augsburg Ministry Standards and completed the Augsburg colloquy process.

For more information about pastors available for call, please contact Rev. Mark Jamison at markjamison@hopeluthranchurchsf.org  or Lenae Rasmussen at lrasmussen@earthlink.net.

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