Life in Christ: Christian Formation Through Narrative Teaching and Preaching At Holy Cross and Immanuel Lutheran Churches

Filipek, Adam T.

Etd

Life in Christ: Christian Formation Through Narrative Teaching and Preaching At Holy Cross and Immanuel Lutheran Churches

Public Deposited

MLA citation style (9th ed.)

Filipek, Adam T. Life In Christ: Christian Formation Through Narrative Teaching and Preaching At Holy Cross and Immanuel Lutheran Churches. rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/0f3e5a7f-ff1c-4916-b0dc-a2d0c8dcdad2.

APA citation style (7th ed.)

F. A. T. Life in Christ: Christian Formation Through Narrative Teaching and Preaching At Holy Cross and Immanuel Lutheran Churches. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/0f3e5a7f-ff1c-4916-b0dc-a2d0c8dcdad2

Chicago citation style (CMOS 17, author-date)

Filipek, Adam T. Life In Christ: Christian Formation Through Narrative Teaching and Preaching At Holy Cross and Immanuel Lutheran Churches. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/0f3e5a7f-ff1c-4916-b0dc-a2d0c8dcdad2.

Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.

Creator

Filipek, Adam T.

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In Copyright

Abstract

Recent studies conducted by the Barna Research Group reveal that while eightyseven percent of households surveyed own a bible, and seventy-three percent profess to be somewhat knowledgeable about the contents of it, only fifty-seven percent knew that Mary Magdalene was the first person to see Jesus after the resurrection. Fifty-six percent knew that Peter was the disciple who denied Jesus. And less than fifty percent believed that the bible is the infallible, inherent Word of God. America is increasingly biblically illiterate. We do not know the basics of the Christian story and content. If we do not know the story and content of the faith, then we will not understand what the Church is, why she gathers, and what happens in her midst during the Divine Service on Sunday morning. And if we do not understand the central purpose for and message of our weekly gathering, then Christ’s church, and Christianity for that matter, can become little more than a social or communal gathering. This trend can certainly be observed in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod parishes I serve, and is exacerbated by their small-town context. One chief contributing factor to an increase in biblical illiteracy in our churches, beyond an individual’s lack of attentiveness, study, and regular hearing of the Word of God, is the current pragmatic, progressive educational philosophy and pedagogical methodology employed in catechesis and catechetical material, which assumes a general knowledge of the Christian story and content, and thus focuses on the intellectual knowledge and propositional truths of the Christian faith that can be apprehended by reason and assented to intellectually. Catechesis of this nature in increasingly biblically illiterate congregations and society further leads to a disconnected, compartmentalized understanding of the Christian faith and the Divine Service, and their impact on the Christian’s life, thus further solidifying and exacerbating a social understanding of the Christian faith. In my dissertation, I propose a more comprehensive and cohesive approach to Christian formation which takes the genius of Luther’s Small Catechism, or the Law/Gospel salvific narrative, and joins it to the framework of the Catechumenate, thereby situating the Law/Gospel salvific narrative into a broader, unified, overarching, grand-sweeping biblical narrative of God’s salvific work in Christ, as proclaimed in Scripture and the Liturgy. Its purpose and design is first, to cultivate a love of the One True God and a desire to dwell with him, here in time: weekly in the Divine Service, and daily through confession and absolution, witness, service, and acts of mercy in the assumption of our respective vocations; and there again in eternity: when Christ appears in glory and we dwell with him forever. Second, to situate the participant’s life into the grand-sweeping biblical narrative. Third, to foster a love for the Lutheran Liturgy and hymnody, and thus orient the participant’s life, both individually and communally, around the presence of Christ through Word and Sacrament in the Divine Service. Fourth, to improve the process of Christian formation for all new, existing, and prospective members. Fifth, to develop a biblical confession and piety that is grounded in the life of Christ. And finally, to improve the integration and participation of members, both existing and new, in the life of their congregation. Or perhaps more succinctly stated, this catechetical methodology helps to prepare individual Christians and their congregations to live their life in Christ.

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