Monthly Archives: May 2015

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on May 16, 2015  

Vicar – Rev. David J. Schreffler

May 16, 2015 – “V” is for Vicar

When a third year seminarian from a Lutheran Seminary enters into his or her “Internship”, they are then named a “Vicar”. The name Vicar has a long history of meaning. The Wikipedia page for Vicar indicates “Vicar derives from the Latin “vicarius” meaning a substitute.”

“Vicar is the title given to certain parish priests in the Church of England. It has played a significant role in Anglican Church organization in ways that are different from other Christian denominations. The title is very old and arises from the medieval situation where priests were appointed either by a secular lord, by a bishop or by a religious foundation. Wherever there is a vicar he shares the benefice with a rector (usually non-resident) to whom the great tithes were paid.” (Wikipedia on Anglicanism)

In the Roman Catholic Church a Vicar is a parish representative for the pope or a bishop. And, as I mentioned above, in the Lutheran church, a Vicar would technically be an assistant in worship life of a congregation or mission. During a Seminarians four-year education, they serve in several roles. The first is during their first year of education, where they are assigned to a parish for what is called “Teaching Parish”. Often, the student will be called a “Vicar” in this circumstance, although it is not the true meaning of the word for first-year Seminarians. However, in this circumstance, there is a loss for what members of the congregation should call this individual, and since Seminarian is too “specific” or too sanitized, often the term Vicar is chosen.

The true Vicar in the Lutheran church is a Seminary student in their third year or in their internship year of education. They are assigned to a congregation and are given specific duties throughout the internship experience. It is the most important year of Seminary education, in my opinion, because it is during this year that the student has the opportunity to form their identity (or at least begin that formation) as a pastor.

On May 13, 2015 I celebrated my 10th year anniversary of graduating from Gettysburg Seminary. Since my ordination on June 10, 2005 I have been a parish pastor serving first Christ Lutheran Church in Duncannon and now Trinity Lutheran Church, Lemoyne PA. When I think back on my seminary education, while all of the classes had value, the classes that have had the most impact on my parish ministry would include (but is not necessarily all-inclusive) preaching, worship, all of the biblical classes (new and old testament), reformation and church history, and all field education classes (CPE, Internship, Teaching Parish, and others). The classes I wish I would have taken, fall in the areas of spirituality and church administration. Each year that goes by in my ministry I find it harder to set aside the appropriate time for bible reading and personal spiritual practices. Currently our congregation is supporting a first year seminary student who is one of our own — and as he progresses through his seminary education I plan to encourage him to find time to work on his spirituality. And we can all take a lesson from Jesus — who found the time to get away from the crowds and the stresses of his ministry to be alone and to pray.

Pastor Dave

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on May 15, 2015
Tags: , , , ,   

Unity – Rev. David J. Schreffler

May 15, 2015 – “U” is for Unity

“I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.” John 17:20 – 24

One of the most difficult tasks of any Christian Community is to maintain the “unity” of the faithful. This is the prayer of Jesus in John 17 – it should be called “The Lord’s Prayer” and what we call “The Lord’s Prayer” should be called “The Disciple’s Prayer”, because it is the disciples who ask Jesus “How should we pray?” From the beginning of Christianity we have wondered how to pray. Jesus models the attempt of an active prayer life by getting away (which always proves so difficult for him) so he can be in prayer. Jesus prays for the unity of the believers for all time and place in this 17th chapter of John. He realizes that “being in the world but not of the world” is going to be a struggle. He knows that ego and power and coveting will always get in the way of relationships.

Since the time of the Reformation, we have seen the Christian church fragment in many different denominations. I believe these divisions, the fact that we identify more with what denomination we belong to rather than to the fact that we are all Christians has been to the detriment of the church. It has certainly not helped us find unity. We have to work very hard at finding ways to be united as Christians, while still being able to celebrate our individual traditions, theologies, and worship practices. But the divisions are not just between churches — they also thrive within each church. When the church, or a club, or any human endeavor is filled with people, there is the chance for divisiveness. We all do not think alike, plan alike, and see ministry the same (neither did the apostles of the early church — read the first 10 chapters of Acts if you don’t believe me). And it is when we become more invested in “keeping things the same”, or “rejecting other ideas because they do not fit our view of ministry”, then we are in danger of driving a wedge between rather than finding unity with our brothers and sisters in the congregation.

Christ prayed for us to be united – we need to continue that prayer so we can work united as Christians, inside the church and in the church universal.

Pastor Dave