From Pastor Neuhaus

A good quote from the late Richard John Neuhaus read in the Forum Letter I just received - a tribute edition to this theological thinker, containing some snippets of his writings.

The future of Lutheranism

"If the Lutheran Church has a future, it will be as the Lutheran Church. It will not be as imitation Baptists, Presbyterians, or anything else. If people are to become, remain, and rejoice in being Lutheran, it is because they understand the distinctively Lutheran way of being a Christian. Being Lutheran is an evangelical catholic and catholic evangelical way of being in unity with the entire Church of Christ. The present state of American Lutheranism is not just "not satisfactory." It is a sickness unto death. The alternative is not beating the drums to revive flagging spirits, nor is it to move evangelism a few notches up on the bureaucratic agenda. The alternative is renewal - theological, pastoral, sacramental, catechetical.  . . .  There is no guarantee that a Lutheran Church that is excitingly and distinctively Lutheran would reverse the dismal membership figures, although there is good reason to believe that it might. But at least there would be more purpose and integrity in going down with the ship." (Dec. 1986)