Leaving Book of Faith Program

[Gary Kavanagh]

We have decided to cancel further participation in the Book of Faith program because we do not support, nor will we perpetuate the style of Bible interpretation of Opening the Book of Faith that has led ELCA into this debacle! All of our materials have been returned to Augsburg for credit so we can purchase Lutheran materials elsewhere.

[Robert Holmen]

You don't explain your understanding of the "Book of Faith Approach to Biblical Interpretation", but you imply that BOFI offers something radical and new. It is not. The so-called "Historical Critical method" has been taught in our universities and seminaries and those of our ecumenical partners for a long, long time. Even the Roman Catholic church has taught this method of interpretation since the 1940's. True enough, this historical and scientific point of view is rejected by those with a literalist bent.

If your congregation truly wants to engage the text, to wrestle with the task of understanding, to dare to challenge preconceptions, then stick with BOFI. If you merely want study materials that reinforce a simplistic, literalist view of Scripture, there is plenty of that pablum out there.

[Bobbie Steinhauer]

What is your reason for posting your Leaving BoF? I'm just curious. I wish you grace and peace in your further endeavor's with Bible Study. BoF has been tremendously successful in our congregation.

[Pastor Kay Richter]

Gary --

As Bobbie asked, I am also curious about your announcement on this site of your intention to leave it. I hope it is an invitation for us to respond and give our reasons for staying. I also hope that it means you are reading the responses and listening carefully to the faith statements that are being made.

The Book of Faith Initiative does not promote any one way of interpreting Scripture, at least not that I have seen. Book of Faith simply encourages everyone to engage in reading the Bible. As we engage the Bible by reading together in a community of faith, we begin to understand God's Word for us today.

The Book of Faith materials acknowledge that there are a variety of reasons that we read the Bible. At times, we are reading devotionally -- to hear God with our hearts and to see with our souls the path that God is guiding us upon. At other times, as Robert suggests, we are digging deeply into the history behind and around the texts so that we can better understand the people of faith who responded to God's call thousands of years ago. And there are many other ways in which we engage our heart, soul, mind and strength in learning God's Word for us.

I don't see the Book of Faith as a "program." The congregation I serve (Calvary, Two Rivers, WI) is not following any prescribed path. The members are not being told they must interpret the Bible a certain way. I see the membership here talking and discussing and raising questions. I see them getting excited as they discover how the New Testament writers have interpreted the Old Testament texts. I see my Confirmation students learning about the exile and the Second Temple period and many other things, because we have opened the Bible and begun to read it more thoroughly.

I don't think you are looking for a simplistic reading of the Bible. I cannot imagine that you would be upset about the ELCA Churchwide Assembly decisions, if you were reading in simplistic ways. I think you are taking the Bible seriously and trying to follow God in the best way that you can. I believe that your congregation is doing the same. I believe that all of us on this site are doing that, too. No one among us takes the Bible in a totally literal way -- we no longer stone those who have committed adultery, for example. And so we all struggle with how we apply the teachings to our modern world.

I think the Book of Faith Initiative encourages us to talk with one another and among our partners in ministry in our particular context, so that together we can discern more clearly the path that God has laid out for us. I hope that you will continue to engage in Bible study and reading and conversation, so that others will be blessed by the insights you and your congregation bring to the table.

Shalom,
Kay

[Greg Kaufmann]

Greetings Gary, and all who have taken time to respond to your short pronouncement about leaving the Book of Faith "program" since it led the ELCA into "this debacle." Not sure which debacle you might have in mind, but I do know that faithful folk from North Carolina asked their synod, which then asked all of us in the ELCA, to set aside our own personal preferences when it comes to Biblical interpretation and engage in a a five year initiative to become more fluent in the first language of faith.
I'm thankful that we voted to do just that!
In my own synod, where I serve as both the Book of Faith Synod Advocate, and our Resource Center Director, I've witnessed a large upswing in congregations that are opening Scripture and joining the conversation. Members of congregations are using resources from Select Multimedia Resources, Augsburg Fortress and others of our ecumenical partners as they become more fluent in the first language of faith.
I've sold over a 1000 of the three new Bibles from Augsburg Fortress - more than the last 10 years combined! I've noticed congregations placing Bibles in the pews - what a novel concept for Lutherans.
We've even connected with our companion synod in Malawi to do Bible study together using the Lutheran Study Bible and some of the studies from Augsburg Fortress.
What our synod is finding most helpful is the simple four step process of encountering the Word - devotional, historical, literary and Lutheran lens. Folks have not seen this as something new - but they like the way the four different methods of encountering Scripture help them see things in new ways.
Finally, they like the fact that it is not a program. They are free to put together the best resources for their particular context. They also like the fact that the new resources that are available from Augsburg Fortress are designed to be lead by their peers. They don't require their pastor to lead every study!
Whatever you end up deciding to do, Gary, I am certain that you'll be constantly surprised at what the Spirit might lead you and those who gather to study with you to think about the text.
Just a short read of Martin Luther and how he handled biblical texts about the 10 commandments is enough to let us know that we should expect the unexpected when the Word is open and alive in our midst.
peace and joy,
Greg