The Rev. Dr. Elizabeth C. Langensiepen
(Pastor Betty)
WILDWOOD RETREAT FORMS
<Article from May/June 2008 Newsletter is here>
Message from the Pastor:
On behalf of the members of St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church, I wish to thank you for visiting our web site. We know that people visit our web site and join us for worship for many different reasons and find many things here that may interest them and help them in their spiritual lives. We come together in worship in an assembly of people drawn to Christ, trusting that here we will, in fact, encounter the Living God and pray that He will pour out his blessings and renew our spirits. Each week as we hear the story of God's love revealed to us in Christ we go away refreshed and knowing that He is with us.
As you can tell from the other parts of our web site, life at St. Peter's is rather busy. We have the usual Sunday school, First Communion, Confirmation, Youth Group and Adult Education opportunities. The adult, youth, and bell choirs regularly enrich our worship lives. St. Peter's provides facilities for Boy Scouts, Girls Scouts, a diet class, Senior Citizens as well as Gamblers and Alcoholics Anonymous support groups. We are actively involved with other area churches and social ministry organizations, and we encourage participation in wide reaching efforts such as the Lehigh Mission District Ingathering and the CROP Walk for Hunger. We maintain an active profile in our community, serving as the meeting place for many community groups as well as by participating in various athletic leagues including a bowling league and basketball and softball teams.
Once again, thank you for taking the time to become more acquainted with us. I wish to extend a personal invitation for you to join us for worship. If you have any questions about our church, please do not hesitate to call or e-mail our the church office.
May God's grace, love and peace be with you always.
Pastor Betty Langensiepen
Contact St. Peter's:
phone: (610)432-8762
e-mail office: office@stpetersallentown.com
e-mail Pastor: pastor@stpetersallentown.com
From the Pastor...
The Dangers of "Media Religion"
I recently became very aware of just how danerous the new American fad of using the media - both print and broadcast - for a source of religious information can be. I know a great many Americans - and, I expect, members of St. Peter's - choose to watch worship services and other religious broadcasts on television - or listen to them on the radio. Some also like to read "religious columns" in the newspaper or in magazines. Few of these folks, however, choose to avail themselvs of adult Christian education opportunities and/or Bible study in their own congregations - and in that lies the danger!
"Denominations" exist in Christianity for a reason! Each denomination or church - be it Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Episcopal, Methodist, Presbyterian, UCC, Baptist, etc. - has a "different take" on things theological. It was for this very reason that they parted company through the centuries of Christianity in the first place. Thus, Protestant churches perceive things in a very different way from the Roman Catholic Church. And each Protestant denomination is different than the next in its interpretation of theology. In fact, most of us who are "hard core" Lutherans would draw a very clear line of demarcation between us and the other churches that are labeled "Protestant". In many ways, we are farther from these Protestant churches in our theological stances than we are from the Roman Catholic Church. For example, we are a liturgical church, utilizing the ancient mass of Christianity as our primary service of worship. Presbyterians, UCC's, Methodists, Baptists, etc., are not liturgical. We also believe that Christ is truly present in the bread and wine of Communion. All other Protestant churches (with the exception of the Episcopal or Anglican Church) believe that the bread and wine are only symbols and that they are not Christ's body and/or blood. In fact, Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli (the found of all Reformed churches like the UCC and Presbyterian Churches) had a huge debate about this at a place called Marburg in Germany in 1525. It was at that time that the Lutheran and Reformed traditions essentially parted ways.
Thus, when yo choose to watch a religious broadcast on TV, you most certainly hear things in sermons, etc., that contradict what your own religious tradition embraces and teaches. And if you don't know what Lutheran theology says on a certain matter, you can have no way to compare and/or critique what you hear. Remember, just because someone on TV calls him or herself Rev. So and So, it doesn't really mean they have been well trained in theology. Did you know, for example, that an independent Baptist is not ordained by any national or international church body, but only by the local congregation he or she serves? Thus, there are no "examining committees" nor checks and balances to see whether that person is preaching heresies condemned by the church long ago. There is no wider "community of faith" with which to compare the utterances made from pulpit or broadcast studios. They can pretty much say whatever they like - and since they use the title "Rev." (or better yet, "Dr."), mostpeople believe their word is to be taken as "gospel truth". That folks, is VERY dangerous. Since the heyday of the "televangelist", I have heard more downright dribble and dangerous heresy spouted across the television airwaves than I care to think about. And what scares me is that I know at least some of my parishoners are listening to what is being broadcast and taking it to heart without being able to discern heresy from orthodoxy and, thus, are accepting some very dangerous teachings as "gospel" because some popular TV preacher has proclaimed it.
So, how do we combat this? Well, to start with, why not consider utilizing St. Peter's for your religious education and worship experiences rather than relying on the media? Excellent adult education opportunities are offered here at St. Peter's on a regular basis. The adult Sunday school class meets each Sunday (Sept.-May) and a Bible Study is held twice a month during those same months on the 2nd and 4th Monday evenings. But, very few people choose to take advantage of them. We'd love to offer some new adult Bible studies and educational opportunities as well. Please speak to me if you would be interested in being part of such offerings. Tell me what you'd like us to study. Let me know what would be the best time to schedule a new Bible study or adult class. I hope to hear from at least some of you with suggestions in the near future.
Peace, Pastor Betty.
