New "Misa del Mundo" Liturgy Coming to Bethel

“Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.” (Psalm 47:1b)

When you come to Bethel on Sunday, September 11, you will be greeted by this beautiful quote from one of the Old Testament Psalms on a banner behind our altar.  In fact, this verse sets the tone for our worship environment during the months of September through November.  In addition to this psalm verse, your eyes and ears will encounter other fabrics from a variety of  countries, reproductions of artwork that depict Christ as he is seen by Christians around the world, and a liturgy that incorporates elements from a variety of other cultures and languages. 

Much of this may feel unfamiliar, maybe even a bit awkward at first.  In order to help our congregation understand the rationale of the new, temporary worship environment, I am reaching far back into the history of our Lutheran tradition.   Being a historian at heart, I am fascinated by how little things tend to change, even over the span of 500 year of church history. 

There are a few very important things that define Lutheran worship: 

·       the Christ-centeredness of our worship,

·       the emphasis on undeserved grace and forgiveness of God,

·       the avoidance of “should,” “must,” “ought” in our worship language (since we tend to be suspicious of any hint of work-righteousness),

·       the rhythm that leads us from gathering ð listening to God’s word ð partaking in Christ’s meal ð sending out.,

·       the participatory aspect of our worship (worshippers fully participate in the liturgy and are not merely passive observers), and

·       the high musical quality and theological depth of most of our hymns.

All these define the way Lutherans worship in North America and elsewhere.  Our worship is NOT defined, however, by which hymns we sing, how old or young these hymns are, or which liturgical setting we use (LBW vs. ELW, setting, 2, 4 etc.), what vestments the clergy wear during worship, whether we use incense or not, whether we have acolytes or not, or what paraments or other objects we use to adorn our worship space.  These are all what the sixteenth-century reformers called “adiaphora”, which is a term that denotes things that are neither commanded nor prohibited in our gospel. 

We are certainly not the first Lutherans who struggle with one another over what constitutes appropriate worship.  In fact a controversy over matters of worship (over what is permissible and what not in worship) nearly split the Lutheran Church shortly after Martin Luther’s death.  The controversy was finally settled in the “Solid Formula of Concord” (1577), an imposing theological agreement between the various factions that had formed in the Lutheran Churches in the decades after Luther’s death. 

Part of this theological declaration is the shorter “Epitome” of the Formula of Concord, an abridged summary that is far more accessible than the Formula itself.  In Article X of that Epitome the authors discuss certain worship practices that have arisen in various churches and may be useful and edifying for the community of God, but are not part of the of the “worship that has been ordained by God.”  Some of the issues that were controversial among sixteenth-century Lutherans were the dress of the worshippers and certain ceremonies that were part of the worship and in common with Roman Catholic practices.

It is so easy to feel threatened by new things.  Much of this change is going on and impacting our lives at an ever more rapid pace.  Often this pace can be unsettling and confusing.  Often, we may long for islands of peace and calm where things do not change, “solid rock” places where we can come any time and find assurance and comfort.  Some among our churches expect the church and Christian worship to be such islands of unchanging tradition.  This becomes especially evident in people who grew up in a particular tradition, became estranged from it at some point, and are appalled at how things have changed when, decades later, they attend worship in the church of their youth. 

To me, one of the greatest dangers to any community of faith is that it becomes so irrelevant to the culture and problems of its time, that it begins to feel like a museum of bygone times.  Such a church may feel like a solid fortress in an ocean of sinfulness and heresy, but essentially it fails to not only respond to the needs of other people, but also risks turning a blind eye to its own shortcomings. 

Bethel, the way I have experienced our community over the last four months, is not such a museum-like community.  We are actively involved in many ways in the community around us and we are intellectually engaged in issues confronting our nation and society.

In order to further broaden our worship, we will use a different liturgy over the next 2 ½ months.  This change won’t mean that we do away with everything that is tried and true, everything that is good and wholesome and salutary about our Lutheran way of worshipping God.  We will simply use many of the same traditional words and phrases in our worship, but try to say them in different languages (ranging from Spanish, to Polish, Vietnamese, Tagalog, and Tongan).

The setting we will be using is called “Misa del Mundo.”  It is composed by Jesse Manibusan, a Bay Area church musician who traces his ethnic roots to Guam.  We will use five pieces from his much larger liturgy—the Kyrie, the Glory, the Alleluia, the Holy, and the Lamb of God.  The majority of the words are in English, only two of the pieces requires us to learn unusual pronunciations.  Musically, this setting won’t pose any challenge to us at all, as the liturgy is very easy to sing, even for a musically challenged person such as myself.  The tunes are beautiful and lively, yet simple. To help us learn the music, we will have a group of four strong singers help us learn the liturgy the first Sunday or two.

Here is what the composer himself has to say to us:

“When you are first learning this, your mouth is supposed to feel very, very strange, your mouth may not even feel like your own, your lips may feel rented. It is reassuring to know we are having a very similar experience as those at the first Pentecost where everyone began speaking in many different languages.... [Learning this new liturgy is an expression of] hospitality, getting into the language, leaning into the culture of others with more integrity, with maybe more effort than we are used to, but we want to stretch ourselves.  We are taking a deeper lean, maybe even a deeper plunge into what it means to embrace our diversity and to really celebrate as a multi cultural church!”

I hope these reflections may help you understand why we will be introducing this new liturgy and why it is worth to make the effort to learn unfamiliar words and new tunes. 

Bethel is part of the church of Christ that spans the continents and centuries.  Worship always is a mixture of (essential) elements of theological tradition and (peripheral) elements of local, ethnic, or national culture.  Sometimes, though, we mistake the peripheral for the essential and assume that any true Lutheran worship must have Scandinavian or German elements. Taken to its extreme, this view can amount to heresy.  May our new liturgy help us to affirm what is essential in our worship (that is, our human sinfulness and God’s abundant grace) and celebrate the beautiful diversity of Christ’s church on earth!

Wishing you a blessed week, and hoping to see you in church on Sunday
Pr. Gabi

Fundraiser for Dar al-Kalima Lutheran College in Bethlehem

I hope to draw your attention to an important event that will take place on Sunday, September 18,  from 2:30-5:30 in the afternoon at Grace Lutheran Church, Palo Alto: a fundraising event for Dar al-Kalima Academy, the Lutheran college in Bethlehem, Palestine. 

Dar al-Kalima is a ministry of Bethlehem Lutheran Church, one of the six congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (the other five congregations are located in Amman/Jordan, Beit Shour, Ramallah, Jerusalem, and Beit Jala).  

The population of Bethlehem, the birthplace of our faith, so to speak, once used to have a vibrant Christian majority (75% in 1947), most of which were either Roman Catholic, Maronite, or Greek Orthodox.  Today, due to the ongoing restrictions placed on its citizens by the State of Israel, many Christians have emigrated hoping to create a better future for themselves and their children abroad.  Today, Bethlehem’s Christian population hovers around 10 percent.

In order to provide an incentive for young Palestinians to remain in their homeland, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, under the leadership of its pastor, the Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb, has founded a two-year fine arts and education college.  Founded in 2006, the college operated for its first two academic years in a temporary location.  In 2010,  the college moved into its new permanent facility on Mount Murair in Bethlehem. 

In 1009 and 2010, Bay Area Lutheran congregations came together to support the work of Daral-Kalima College by raising funds – first for a music room ($50,000) , then for a multi-media room ($70,000).  

The third Bay Area wide fundraising event is scheduled for September 18.  The founder of the college, Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb, will be the special guest at the event.  A Bethlehem native, he is a renowned educator, visionary, peacemaker and author.   He will speak on “The Arab Spring: the Promise and the Illusion.”      

This gathering is free to the public and will feature Middle Eastern music by the Georges Lammam Ensemble, Palestinian food, prize-winning documentaries by graduates of the Film School at Dar al-Kalima College and a Souk with Palestinian handicrafts and olive oil tasting. 

I hope you will be able to join my family and me for this great celebration of hope in the Holy Land.


As you may know, I studied for one year at Hebrew University, Jerusalem, in 1985/86.  Although since that time I have learnt to see the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from a different perspective, I welcome any initiatives that seek to further peace in the Holy Land.  


By attending this event and by learning more about the Lutheran ministry in the Holy Land, you can do your own part in furthering peace in the region.

For more information on the college, click here.   

For more information about the event, talk to me.  For a travel blog from my 2008 study tour to Israel and Palestine click here. 

Salaam, Shalom, Peace, Frieden

Pr. Gabi

What Good is God? | Philipp Melanchthon

Yes, Lutherans do have saints. One of the better know ones is Philipp Melanchthon. Melanchthon (Greek for Schwarzerdt, lit. “black earth”) was a sixteenth-century German reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, intellectual leader of the Lutheran Reformation, and an influential designer of educational systems. He stands next to Martin Luther and John Calvin as a reformer, theologian, and molder of Protestantism. As much as Luther, he is the primary founder of Lutheranism.

From an early age, Melanchthon showed great love and talent for learning. His interests spanned a wide range of disciplines—literature, classics, astronomy, law, rhetoric, even medicine and astrology.After studies in Heidelberg and Tubingen, he accepted a call to the new University of Wittenberg in 1519.Because of his interest in Biblical literature and Christian doctrine, though, he soon got transferred to the faculty of theology, where he found the great calling of his life.

In Wittenberg, he soon became a close friend and collaborator with Martin Luther.While Luther was the original thinker and theologian, Melanchthon helped to organize the new Lutheran theology and write educational tracts.Luther was excitable and impulsive and did not shy away from fierce confrontation, Melanchthon preferred compromise, caution, peace-making, and moderation.He was the great systematizer of the 16th century Reformation and the primary author of the document that summarized the faith of the reformers — the Augsburg Confession of 1530.Luther wrote of Melanchthon, in the preface to Melanchthon's Commentary on the Galatians (1529), "I had to fight with rabble and devils, for which reason my books are very warlike. I am the rough pioneer who must break the road; but Master Philipp comes along softly and gently, sows and waters heartily, since God has richly endowed him with gifts." 

Melanchthon’s domestic life was happy. He called his home "a little church of God," always found peace there, and showed a tender solicitude for his wife and children.To his great astonishment a visiting French scholar found him rocking the cradle with one hand, and holding a book in the other.

Several original portraits of Melanchthon by three famous painters of his time (Hans Holbein, Albrecht Dürer, and Lucas Cranach) have survived — they all meant to convey a spiritual rather than physical likeness and were said to be eminently successful in doing so).Melanchthon was dwarfish, misshapen, and physically weak, although he was said to have had a bright and sparkling eye, which kept its color till the day of his death. He was never in perfectly sound health, and managed to perform as much work as he did only by reason of the extraordinary regularity of his habits and his great temperance.The immediate cause of death was a severe cold which he had cought on a journey to Leipzig in March, 1560, followed by a fever that consumed his strength.

He set no great value on money and possessions; his liberality and hospitality were often misused in such a way that his old faithful Swabian servant had sometimes difficulty in managing the household.He was an enemy to jealousy, envy, slander, and sarcasm.He never allowed himself or others to exceed the bounds of nobility, honesty, and decency. He was very sincere in the judgment of his own person, acknowledging his faults even to opponents, and was open to the criticism even of such as stood far below him. In his public career he sought not honor or fame, but earnestly endeavored to serve the Church and the cause of truth. 

His humility and modesty had their root in his personal piety. He laid great stress upon prayer, daily meditation on the Word, and attendance of public service. In Melanchthon is found not a great, impressive personality, winning its way by massive strength of resolution and energy, but a noble character hard to study without loving and respecting.

Our Ministry of Conversation | Labor Day Retreat Speaker Randy Fujishin

There is what sometimes may seem a bewildering number of Christian denominations and splinter groups. Our own Lutheran tradition is but one branch on a very large tree; albeit a branch with some very unique features. The strongest assets of our tradition are – in my mind – its theological focus on God’s grace and undeserved love, its stress on God’s agency rather than our own pious works, the both/and nature of its view of human nature (according to Martin Luther, saints are forgiven sinners, but remain sinners always, despite their faith), and Lutheran hymnody and liturgy.

An area, though, in which we Lutherans lag far behind other branches on the Christian family tree is that of person-to-person evangelism. Lutherans, rightly so, have a reputation of being tongue-tied in matters of faith. Think of the many times in which you have freely shared the good news of a particular service organization that you are involved with, or a sports club, or some other cause that you deeply care about. It’s so easy to talk to folks about those things, isn’t it? You don’t have to be afraid that you step onto the other person’s figurative toes or that you might offend the other person’s values or belief system. It’s a bit harder to discuss politics, body weight, or personal money matters, and it seems nearly impossible for most of us to share what’s most dear to us – our faith.

Here at Bethel there is a lot of talk lately about intentional, radical hospitality. It’s kind of hard, though, to practice hospitality without actually inviting people. And how do you invite someone to our church? Wouldn’t that involve not only sharing what’s so great about this congregation, but also why faith is important to you, how your faith sustains you in live, how your faith in Jesus Christ provides purpose and direction to your life?

Chances are that most of such conversations don’t start as grand philosophical or theological discussions. Most faith conversations tend to start small and in every-day contexts – in the supermarket check-out line, at the water fountain at work, at a little league sports game, etc. The hard part is to move from small talk to communicating the love of God.

This year’s Labor Day Retreat speaker, Randy Fuijshin, promises to help us improve our communication skills. Randy is on the faculty of West Valley College where he teaches communication studies. He is also a licensed marriage & family counselor, a husband and father, and member of the Presbyterian church. Most of Randy’s work is done in the secular realm, yet one of his books, Your Ministry of Communication (2008), shares 10 simple ways that Jesus teaches to communicate his love in your conversations. Welcoming others, asking questions, listening, being cheerful, encouraging, thanking, flowing with conflict, forgiving, praying, and sharing Jesus are conversation skills that each one of us needs to practice and improve. At our Labor Day Retreat, Randy will help us hone some of these skills.

I am excited to join the Bethel community for my first Labor Day Retreat and look forward to learning from our speaker. This Sunday, July 24, at both the 9am and the 10:30am service, we will have the wonderful opportunity to meet Randy Fujishin and hear a bit more about his plans for the retreat.

What Good is God:? Bartholomé de las Casas, Father of Liberation Theology

Liberation theology didn't begin with in the 1960s. As far back as the l5th and l6th centuries, a remarkable man devoted the greater part of his 92 years on earth to improving the lot of non-White people who lived in the vast Spanish empire. Often referred to as "protector of Indians," Bartolomé de Las Casase also became an advocate of black Africans who had been brought over by the Spaniards as slaves.

Today is the day (July 18) the Christian church remembers de las Casas as one of her saints.

Bartolomé de las Casas was a 16th-century Spanish Dominican priest, writer, and the first resident Bishop of Chiapas (1484–1566A.D.). As a settler in the New World he witnessed, and was driven to oppose, the exploitation and poor treatment of the Native Americans by the Spanish colonists and advocated before King Charles V on behalf of rights for the natives. Originally he proposed to replace the slave labor of the natives with slaves importated from Africa, but eventually he recanted this stance as well and became an advocate for the Africans in the colonies.

Bartolomé was born in the city of Seville in the year 1484. In 1493, he witnessed the return to Seville of Christopher Columbus after his first voyage, bringing along with him seven native Taínos from the newly discovered "Indies". Later the same year, his father and several of his uncles embarked for the New World as members of Columbus' second voyage. Returning in 1498, his father gave him a native Taíno youth as a servant.

In 1502, father and son emigrated to the island of Hispaniola on the expedition of Nicolás de Ovando, during which he witnessed the brutalities committed against the Taínos. He was critical of Columbus for capturing and sending natives back to Spain as slaves in order to repay the funding for his expeditions. He was deeply moved by the mistreatment of the natives, which included brutal torture, enslavement, and massacres. In 1513, while serving as a chaplain during the conquest of Cuba, he witnessed the wholesale slaughter of the native people by Spanish soldiers. Without provocation thousands of Taínos were slaughtered by soldiers including men, women and children. Natives were taken by force to mine for gold. As compensation for his services, Las Casas was awarded property and slaves and divided his time between being a colonist himself, and his duties as an ordained priest.

In December 1511, a Dominican friar preached a fiery sermon that implicated the colonists in the genocide of the native peoples. The preaching of that friar as well as his own scripture studies convinced Las Casas that all the actions of the Spanish in the New World had been illegal and a great injustice. He gave up his slaves and estate and preached that other colonists should do the same. When his preaching met with resistance, he went to Spain to fight against the enslavement and abuse of the native peoples.

From 1516-1522 Las Casas would embark on a period of reform. He envisioned a utopian society where natives could peacefully co-exist with Spanish colonists. He petitioned to be allowed to establish a settlement in northern Venezuela. He proposed reforms such as the natives would be paid fair wages, Indian pueblos would have hospitals and churches, and he would recruit Spanish farmers to teach them agricultural techniques. The entire episode, though, ended in bitter failure, with Spanish settlers going on slave raids in Las Casas’ absence, the native Caribs attacking the settlement, burning it to the ground and killing four of Las Casas’ men.

After this incident, Las Casas joined the Dominican monastery in Santo Domingo in 1523. There he continued his theological studies and began working on his History of the Indies in order to report many of the first hand experiences that he had witnessed in the conquest and colonization of New Spain.

In 1537 he arranged to convert a group of natives in Guatemala. Using songs and merchant Indian Christians, he was successful in converting several native chiefs and building several churches in the territory named Verapaz, or True Peace. He returned to Spain to push for rights of the natives and end of slavery. He was successful in the passage of the New Laws (1542) curtailing the worst of the excesses of the colonial system. In response, riots broke out, threats were made against Las Casas’ life, and he returned to Spain .

The writings of Las Casas and the new legislation he helped implement were the beginning of international law and are very similar to the United Nations declaration of Human Rights. In 1552, Las Casas was finally able to bring international attention to his cause when he published A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies. This book, was one of the accounts by a colonial Spaniard to depict the genocide committed against Native Americans.

Bartolomé de Las Casas died on July 18, 1566 in Madrid.

What Good is God? -- Fr. Damien of Molokai



Fr. Damien's Arrival on Molokai

 This is one more installment in my summer series on saints (for the Lutheran view of saints, see the entry on June 26, "Do Lutherans believe in saints?"). 

Fr. Damien/St. Damien of Molokai (feast day: July 10)

Father Damien (1840-89 a.d.), born Jozef De Veuster, was a Roman Catholic priest and missionary from Belgium. He won recognition for his ministry to people with leprosy. After sixteen years caring for the physical, spiritual, and emotional needs of those in the leper colony, he himself eventually contracted and died of the disease. He is the first person recognized as a saint by the Catholic Church to have lived, worked, and died in Hawaii.

Damien was born in the village of Tremelo in Flemish Brabant. He attended college at Braine-le-Comte, then entered the novitiate of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in Leuven, taking the name of Brother Damianus. During his studies, he would pray every day before a picture of St. Francis Xavier, patron of missionaries, to be sent on a mission. Three years later his prayer was answered when Damien was sent to Hawaii.

On March 19, 1864, Damien landed at Honolulu Harbor. Ordained priest in May 1864, he was assigned to the Catholic Mission in North Kohala on the island of Hawaiʻi.

At the time, the Kingdom of Hawai'i was facing a public health crisis. The Native Hawaiians became afflicted by diseases introduced to their islands by foreign traders and sailors. Thousands died of influenza, syphilis, Hansen’s disease (a.k.a. leprosy) and other ailments which had never before affected them. At the time, leprosy was thought to be highly contagious (we now know that 95% of the general population has immunity) and was thought to be incurable. In 1865, the Hawaiian legislature established settlement colonies at the east end of the Kalaupapa peninsula on Molokaʻi. The colonies were divided from the rest of the island by a steep mountain ridge, and even today the only land access is by a mule track. Over 8,000 people were sent to the Kalaupapa peninsula between 1866 to 1969. The Hawaiian government provided the quarantined people with supplies and food but did not yet have the resources to offer proper healthcare. It was planned to not only provide more appropriate healthcare, but also to equip the quarantined to grow their own crops. When those plans failed, despair and alcoholism spread among the quaranined.

The local Catholic bishop, while recognizing the pastoral needs of the colony, hesitated to send a priest, potentially condemning him to a death sentence. The plan was to send priests for shorter periods of time, assisting the distressed. Father Damien was the first to volunteer and, in May 1873, arrived in Kalaupapa. His first course of action was to build a church and establish a parish, yet his role was not limited to being a priest: he dressed ulcers, built homes and beds, built coffins and dug graves. Six months after his arrival at Kalawao he wrote his brother: “I make myself a leper with the lepers to gain all to Jesus Christ.”

Under his leadership, basic laws were enforced, shacks became painted houses, working farms were organized and schools were erected. At his own request, and that of the lepers, Father Damien remained on Molokai.

In December 1884 while preparing to bathe, Damien put his foot into scalding water, causing his skin to blister. He felt nothing. This is when he realized that he had contracted leprosy. In his last years Damien engaged in a flurry of activity. While continuing his charitable ministrations, he hastened to complete his many building projects, enlarge his orphanages, and organize his work.

Father Damien died of leprosy on April 15, 1889, aged 49. The next day, the whole settlement followed the funeral cortège to the cemetery where Damien was laid to rest under the same Pandanus tree where he first slept upon his arrival on Molokai.

In 1936, at the request of the Belgian government, Damien's body was returned to his native land where it now rests in the university city of Leuven, not far from the village where Father Damien was born. In 1995, the remains of his right hand were returned to Hawaii, and re-interred in his original grave on Molokai. In October 2009, Father Damien was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI.



A movie about Father Damien is available on Netflix.  Click here for more information on the movie.



Bethel Summer Camp: Glee Week

Here are some photos from the dance & color guard performance at the end of week 3 of Bethel's summer camp.  Enjoy! 

Picasa Album