I.C.M. - SW MN WordAlone

Should I Stay or Go?

Mike Pancoast

In the eighties, the British rock group, The Clash, sang a song, “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” Of course the context of that song and the present context and climate of the ELCA are completely different. Yet for many, the question remains the same. The advent of organizations like Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ and the American Association of Lutheran Congregations attest to the fact that a number of individuals and congregations formerly within the ELCA have answered that question with their feet. Yet, for numerous others, leaving the church -- THEIR church -- to this point has not been an option.

Why? On some level, would it not be easier to leave the stress behind? Would not it be more faithful to make a confession by leaving? These are certainly a couple of the questions that have been increasingly in the forefront of my mind and the minds of the parishioners I serve. Should we stay or should we go?

For us (myself and the congregations I serve), the answer has been and for the time being will continue to be, "Stay."

I'm afraid definitions of church faithfulness and concerns about confessional purity set up false hopes and false idols. We're kidding ourselves if we believe that ridding ourselves of the catalog of ELCA problems will solve everything. Similar to the "church shopping" phenomenon, a search for the "perfect" denomination, association, or network will lead either to despair or prideful hubris.

That is not to say, of course, that we should not be concerned with faithfulness. Do not miss my point. For Luther the fertile ground for faith was the life of the individual and the congregation in which that individual was planted -- wherever the Word is preached and the Sacraments are rightly administered. Organizations like LCMC or AALC can not offer any more de facto faithfulness simply by virtue of their separation from the ELCA. What they do offer, separate from the catalog of ELCA issues, is a climate and place where our congregations can do what they are called to do.

But that is not unique, even within the ELCA, if we take seriously what WordAlone Network is all about. WAN's calls to renewal, reformation, and reflection begin in our congregations. As our congregations heed the call to faithfulness, might the current course and climate of the ELCA be changed? Possibly but certainly not easily. Yet if the ELCA is beyond repentance and transformation by the place and power of God's Word – one life, one congregation, one synod at a time -- then what hope is there for any of us in God's Word?

Realistically, there may come a point where remaining in the ELCA will be completely untenable. When that is, I don't yet know. (I'm confident that might even be beyond 2007 if WA is rigorous about being a reforming and renewing movement.) At that point, I will be grateful for the current pioneers of LCMC and the like.

Until that time, my conscience and hope are built on God's Word alone and the proclamation and power of that Word where I am. There will always be a place for God's remnant people. There always has been. God is faithful to His Word.

Mike Pancoast is a pastor at Our Savior’s and Stanfold Lutheran Churches,

Rice Lake, WI