June 6, 2010

Two churches on June 6, 2010

Late in the week, I decided that I would go to Duluth for my first Sunday of visiting. This will probably be as far north as I get on this sabbatical and I liked the idea of starting at a farthest point. But what church? The ELCA webpage has a great congregation finder (www.elca.org) and there are a lot of Lutherans in this part of the world. I browsed through the list and decided on two.

First Lutheran Church, Duluth Minnesota

Membership 1998, Average Attendance 372

First Lutheran Church has its historic roots in the Lutheran faith brought to Duluth by Norwegian immigrants. The Early First Lutheran Church, established in 1870 and Bethesda Lutheran Church, formed in 1892, merged for form the present congregation in 1945. Church buildings in the East hillside were replaced by the present building in 1950. Throughout its history the congregation has given visible and spiritual testament to the life and work of our Lord. (from their webpage)

Duluth is a two hour drive from where I’m staying, so I got up early to arrive in time for the 8:30 service. It was a beautiful drive: fog and trees and cows and deer and a very big lake!

The building (not the most important thing about a congregation, but the first most visible thing) was located on the north side of downtown. It was obviously built in the 1950’s and obviously built for a large congregation. At 8:15 am, the ushers (older men in suits) greeted me at the door and handed me a worship bulletin. They were very professional about it. I’m pretty sure they had done it before. Since I had been drinking coffee, I needed a bathroom. It wasn’t obvious where it was, but I found one in the basement.

No one was too friendly or too unfriendly. A nice older woman sat down beside me and as communion was beginning, she whispered “intinction.” She meant that we would be receiving communion by dipping a wafer into the wine. It was a very helpful whisper.

The sermon was poignant. Not so much because of what was said, but rather by who was talking about what. The senior pastor is April Larson. The text was from Luke and was about Jesus raising the widow of Nain’s son. April Larson’s son Ben was killed in the Haiti earthquake. She never mentioned her son directly, but you could sort of feel that he was on her mind. It was powerful for that reason.

A few things really struck me about this service. First, it’s easier to walk into a strange church when it’s large. There is a sense of anonymity that is helpful for a new person. Second, like many, perhaps most ELCA congregations this one was older, older than our church anyway. That’s not a bad thing, it’s just noticeable.

The third thing I noticed, and this is something that I will need to work on this summer, it’s hard to be the listener instead of the preacher. The sermon was fine, but still I found my attention wandering and then I got kind of sleepy. Is it the preacher’s fault or the listener’s or both? Hmmm…

Finally, the liturgy and hymns were from the ELW (that’s the one we use too). I recognized the liturgy as one that was familiar from my youth. This is a nice feeling, like I belong here even though I’m many miles from home.

Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, Duluth Minnesota

Membership 304, Average Attendance 104

My second church was only a few blocks away and I got there in time of the 10 am service.

The congregation was established in 1870 and its sanctuary would remind you of Capital Hill Lutheran’s in Des Moines. I think Gloria Dei must be an old Swedish Lutheran congregation, and at one time it must have been a large downtown sort of church.

There were about a 100 people in worship in a sanctuary that could easily hold 3 or 4 hundred. Those gathered seemed slightly younger and more diverse than First Lutheran. Everything was very tradition: liturgy, hymns, vestments, etc. But there was a nice band up front: 2 vocalists, a guitar and a bass and maybe something else. They didn’t play along with every song or piece of music. It was nice, especially the vocalists. There was also a choir in the balcony. They used a different liturgy from the ELW and it also felt nicely familiar.

The pastor was a tall, skinny, in his 30’s, white guy. His manner and earnestness would remind you a bit of a young Jimmy Stewart. He preached a very nice sermon on the same text from Luke. He preached from a high pulpit, which I enjoyed. He was easy to see and easy to hear.

Both of the sermons I heard on this Sunday would make a Lutheran Theologian proud. Both of them announced the good news of what God has done and is doing in Jesus Christ. And both them in their own way invited us to imagine our own response to the good news.

I’m collecting bulletins from the churches I visit. (Proof... that I'm not just making this stuff up.) This is going to be a fun summer. How was church at Grace? Pastor Holmes is one of my favorite colleagues. I hope you enjoy each other.

Peace,

Pastor