Customer Reviews

Reclaiming the "L" Word: Renewing the Church from Its Lutheran Core

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I read Pastor Fryer's book about a year ago and am re-reading it now as part of a congregational look at our Lutheran roots. This book has been widely circulated in the Eastern Synod of Canada since our bishop sent a copy to all active pastors in late 2003.

I recommend this book because it is not so deep that it is intimidating and because it has enough content to stick with you. I am not a theologian, just a pew warmer. I didn't find that the book spoke down to me. I felt it met me where I was. (One of the themes of Chapter 2).

I like her style of writing as it is approachable. She provides good stories to highlight her points. I like the conversational style. I am also had the privilge of hearing Pastor Fryer speak last summer. She is an excellent storyteller.

I also like that "Reclaiming" is a short book and that it is written in a style that encourages sampling. You can read the whole book in a few hours or just read a chapter in a few minutes. I know that many members of my congregation have browsed the church's copies.

It is accessible. And I value that as a way to get people into the discussion far more than I would value a detailed commentary on current theological thought.

Using this and Reclaiming the "C" word in our bible study. Everyone likes the book. It leads to great discussions.

Pastor Fryer's take on Lutheranism is enlighening and humerous. She touches aspects of the church community that certainly
relate to both small (rural) and large (urban) congregations. All can surely learn from her insights. It's touching to see a little bit (or a lot) of ourselves and our former (and present?) congregations in her stories of her own congregation and church life. This is a must-read for pastors, church staff, both paid and volunteer, including Sunday school teachers, secretarial staff, choir directors, council members, and the like. After all, as Fryer reminds us as the book concludes, Luther asked us all to be pastors.

This book was written for those without theological education. It is easy to read yet substantial. It's an excellent book for readers who are curious about what Lutheranism stands for, as well as for those who have forgotten what the "non-negotiables" of Lutheran Protestantism are.

This is an outstanding work, combining solid theological insight and practical application to the everyday life of a parish, with simple, readable language. Fryer writes well about something she knows a lot about. The result is excellent. If I had the resources I would buy a copy for every member of the Lutheran Church of Australia!

Pastor Fryer speaks to you in plain language with a wonderful sense of humor. I think every confirmation class should read it. Our adult Sunday class did, and it was a refreshing change of pace from bible passage discussions. The basic principles she suggests are a solid foundation for any congregation and ones we used during a troubled time in ours. This is a great summary/refresher of what it means to be Lutheran.

If you are looking for dry, over-educated theology, this is not the book for you. This is a book for everyday Lutherans, young & old, who are looking for some basic insight on their chosen religion or non-Lutherans who want to know a little more about how we think.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is a Lutheran. It is also a great gift idea. It is very easy to read- in fact I read it in 2 days! In the age of non-denomination mega-churchs it is easy to question and even defend traditional lutheran congregations. After reading this book I felt proud and re-connected to why I am a Lutheran! At the end of each chapter there are questions and thinking points to help you reflect and generate discussion which is ideal for church book clubs!

As I read the book I thought about the rich young ruler who thought he was leading a good life. Christ asked him to give up his riches. He couldn't or wouldn't and the suggested outcome was not eternal life. I believe Scripture plainly states that one cannot be a practicing homosexual and obtain eternal life. This book wants one to believe otherwise. There was an excerpt where she told of a father who removed his children from the church where homosexuality was condoned. She saw that as a weakness on his part. I thought of the passage about millstones around the neck of those who would lead children astray. Everyone should be welcome in Lutheran Churches because we are all sinners and need salvation. However, we must remember that Christ welcomed sinners who realized that is what they were. He always said, "Your faith has made you well. GO AND SIN NO MORE." No excuses.

Those familiar with current political discussions will immediately think the "L" in the title of this book refers to "Liberal". Many liberals have been reluctant to identify themselves as such in the face of the conservative resurgence while other liberals insist it is high time that all liberals should proudly fly under their true colors. In this case, the "L" actually refers to "Lutheran" but the parallel holds up. This requires some explanation.

America was founded by earlier colonists who were Calvinists of one sort or another. As America plowed along into the 19th century, "revivalism" came to the fore. (OK this is a gross over simplification-but we only have so much time here.) While other Christians such as Catholics and Lutherans were present at the creation of America, the general religious mindset in American culture has been in Calvinist/Revivalist thought forms. Lutherans while Protestant have a unique approach to Christianity that does not find natural fertile ground in Calvinist/Revivalist soil. So resistant to Lutheran evangelism is this soil that most converts to the Lutheran faith find they continually have to "unlearn" their earlier ways of thinking to go further in the life of discipleship. Some Lutherans historically have grown tired of having to "swim against the current" and have advocated the creation of an "American Lutheranism" which openly capitulates to the larger American religious culture. Indeed, since the early days of Lutheran presence in America there has always been a party within the Church which promotes the adoption of this or that feature of "Americanism". (The "what" that is to be assimilated always seems to be a moving target.) In recent years, some have even advocated dropping the actual word "Lutheran" from congregational names and discourage its use it parish publications in the theory that the word is so off-putting to most Americans that its use is counter-productive. This theory thus holds that oblivious young adults will then flock to what they think are "generic" community churches and the realization that they have become Lutherans will only dawn on them long after the fact. Sort of what can't be gained openly will be won by stealth.

Against this "adoptionist" approach stands another party we might call the "radical" Lutherans-"radical" in the etymological sense of "returning to the root". Aside from the inherent dishonesty of hiding ones identity, radical Lutherans genuinely believe that Lutheranism has something to say to the world that no one else will say. They also believe Lutherans have a prophetic mission to the whole Christian Church to "recall" it to authentic and whole meaning of the Gospel of Christ. Hence they believe the answer to the Lutheran Church's quandary in the American mission field is to be "truly" Lutheran-not less.

At first glance, this seems to be where Pastor Fryer is coming from. In all probability, it is where Pastor Fryer herself believes she is speaking from. The trouble is that even a cursory reading of this book brings the suspicion that the accidental reference of the book's title to a more political meaning may not be so accidental after all. I don't mean to suggest that Pastor Fryer is trying to pull a fast one on us. In my humble experience, religious liberals are incapable of separating their politics from their religion. They can easily dissect a religious conservative's confusion of conservative religion and conservative politics; but liberals too easily assume their political liberalism naturally proceeds from their sincere faith in Merciful Christ. Through the centuries, the Church has taught that all Christians have an obligation to care for the poor; but how that is done is left to the prudential judgment of each individual Christian. Only religious liberals assume that Christ's command to care for the poor requires that the coercive power of the state be used to collect taxes from all its citizens (Christian or not) to that end. Liberal certainly in this notion is so absolutely firm that it takes on an almost "fundamentalist" character. All other solutions are deemed less than faithful and even essentially evil. Pastor Fryer does not advocate anything this brazen; but instead her love affair with the "spirit of the times" takes another form.

First a WORD about this book's WRITTEN STYLE. Lutheran pastors have an occupational trepidation that they may BE SPEAKING OVER THE HEADS of their less educated listeners. As a class, they ARE WELL EDUCATED and tread in theological waters few laymen ever venture into. But for the life of me I cannot UNDERSTAND why they think the BREEZY, ALMOST ADOLESCENT STYLE they so frequently resort to is so APPEALING. Pastor Fryer is hardly the worst practitioner of this proclivity; but while LAYMEN don't LIKE TALK ABOVE their HEADS they also don't(!!!!!!!) like to be TREATED LIKE CHILDREN.

Pastor Fryer expounds on five principles that she believes could be "affirmed and accepted" by every Christian; but the way she puts them together (she believes) makes them uniquely Lutheran:

1.) Jesus Is Lord
2.) Everyone Is Welcome
3.) Love Changes People
4.) Everybody Has Something To Offer
5.) The World Needs What We Have.

What is to be noted about these principles is that they are more about other people than they are about God. To Pastor Fryer's credit, as she goes on to explain each of these principles orthodox Lutheran theology plays an obvious hand in the presentation. But I maintain these principles themselves owe far more to humanistic psychology and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's fascination with multicultural "diversity" than it does with the ministry of Word and Sacrament. I don't mean to paint humanistic psychology and multiculturalism in a totally negative light because these things can be quite positive. But while they are helpful they are not decisive.

I have heard Lutheran pastors and bishops without any embarrassment quote Barbara Streisand: "People. People who need people. Are the luckiest people in the world!!!" The whole jest of this is "aren't people wonderful. Boy! We're lucky to have each other. And if we just let people meet Jesus then the whole world would be a better place." But Luther himself was quite unsentimental about the rest of humanity. Even supposedly "holy people" can be nasty to their own blood. In the name of God they will lie, cheat and steal from each other. Not everyone can be welcomed because frankly many want no part of Christ. Love doesn't always change people. Not everyone has something to give- sometimes they are just plain dead weight. And strictly speaking, we have nothing to offer the world because it isn't ours.

People are more different than we know. Many do not think or feel anything like we do. Other people are unloving and devious. Much of the time they do not like us. The much-ballyhooed "brotherhood of man" is a total fraud. War and absolute brutality are far more essential to our nature than we care to admit and cannot be "breaded out" as many foolishly hope. The one true thing is Jesus is Lord. In this we mean that Jesus is God Himself. When we look at other men and women as vile and unlovable as they may be, we are taught that these too are objects of God's love. This is our true relationship with one another-not some bathetic "family of man". We love and do acts of love because that is what God would have us do-not because we find it so easy to connect and love our neighbor. Many of us in time will genuinely come to love even the most vile and ghastly of our brothers and sisters-but that comes from Christ Himself-not from us and certainly not from "them".

It is unfair to fault Pastor Fryer for not writing the book I would write. There is a place within the Church for just to kind of writing because it does appeal and make sense to Christians who are decidedly not like me. After all, Jesus once said, "Liberals, ye will always have with ye". OK. He didn't but I believe the notion still stands. But what this book has to say is not as ecumenical and universally Lutheran as Pastor Fryer would have it. There are many useful and instruction things written here and we would do well to take them to heart. While I recommend this book, I do so with the suggestion that it should not be read without comment.

Kelly Fryer, Lutheran (ELCA) pastor, and Timothy F. Lull, beloved Lutheran theologian, have conspired to produce a stunningly relevant and practical addition to the burgeoning literature of evangelism, telling the "Good News" of Jesus Christ.

Fryer, a graduate of the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia (where Dr. Lull commenced his teaching career)is a sought-after specialist in evangelism today.

Despite his untimely death in May of 2003, Doctor Lull continues to have a powerful, shaping impact on the life, spirit, and joy among Lutherans in the USA and across the globe. Co-author (with Dr. Martinus Luther) of LUTHER'S BASIC THEOLOGICAL WRITINGS, Lull has always combined a keen ecumenical insight with a sense of urgency about proclaiming a Biblical Faith in a world come of age. Indeed, one of his last official acts as a Doctor of the Church was a cordial audience with Pope John Paul II in Rome. Those students, colleagues, and friends who will never forget this Blessed Timothy know that in the afterlife his next official act was to compare notes with Luther and Pope John XXIII, among others--including not a few former San Francisco Giants. Though brief of stature, Tim will surely be recalled as an Evangelical Giant, both a drum major for Justice and a champion of the Good News in Jesus Christ. This book, shared with a contemporary pastor who is also Chaplain to a Catholic university, is ample proof. May it continue the transforming process within the Whole Church always....and all ways!