Background: Leaders from spiritual communities of various cultures asked if they could hold worship services here at St. Johns Lutheran Church. As a result, during the past few years, three congregations (African, Nepalese, and Vietnamese) have been worshiping in our facilities. After several years of interaction with these Christian congregations, leaders of two of these churches showed an interest in being a part of our congregation and learning the Lutheran doctrine.

Process: With the desire to learn and lead their congregations, they partnered with us in the life and mission here at St. Johns. We began with classes in Christian doctrine using Luther’s Small Catechism. After the class, I asked if they wanted to be confirmed and become members of our church. They accepted, and on Sunday, February 25, the two pastors from the Nepalese church were confirmed, and a celebration brunch was served.

reception for the bhim and nabin families

The Hope: Having completed their preliminary pre-seminary Christian Doctrine course, all three received recognition certificates. For Ban Le (not pictured), it is hoped that he will go through the colloquy process and become a Lutheran pastor serving the Vietnamese church. For Nabin and Bhim, the hope is that they will begin to teach their congregation the catechism and, at the completion of the course, confirm their members here at St. Johns.

All in all, my hope is to train the leaders of these ethnic churches and partner with them as they evangelize those of their cultures and languages, which we aren’t able to do very effectively. As we incorporate them into our congregation, our prayer is that the next generations will raise up leaders to be enrolled in the seminary.

By Rev. Michael Tanney Pastor at St. Johns Lutheran Church

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