Questions & Answers

Here are some comments from Christian Worship: Manual  (NPH, 1993):

The origins of the feasts of Christmas (December 25) and Epiphany (January 6) are elusive. The word epiphany comes from the Greek and means “appearance,” referring to the appearance of Christ as the Savior (see Titus 3:4). It is almost certainly the older of the two festivals, with the written traces of an Epiphany celebration from Clement of Alexandria at the end of the second century. Other eastern writers confirm the identification of January 6th as the birth date of Jesus. At the same time in various regions of the east the coming of the Magi, the baptism of Christ, and his first miracle at Cana were celebrated on this day. As with the date for Christmas, various explanations have been advanced as to why January 6th was chosen as the Festival of the Epiphany. ...

In the Western church, the Festival of the Epiphany was adopted as the day on which to recall the coming of the Magi to worship the infant King. The twelve days between Christmas and Epiphany came to be known as “the twelve days of Christmas.”

Planning Christian Worship excerpt:
 
The readings during the Epiphany season carry forward the emphasis in the readings for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the theme of Jesus revealing himself to us as God and Savior. At the same time the readings present us with a real conundrum. The conundrum is that he hides the manifestations of his deity, so that his glory remains a secret and a mystery, even while he is revealing it. All the riddles are present in the readings for the Feast of the Epiphany. The theme present in all of the Epiphany readings is: He shows his hidden glory to those he calls. You may notice that in many of the Epiphany season readings appropriation is much easier than application. There is a good reason for that: In Christmas and Epiphany our attention is on getting to know Jesus, who he is and how he works; thus there is not so much emphasis on our response beyond the response of faith, which itself is always seen as his work and not ours.
 
From Proclaim: A Guide for Planning Liturgy and Music (CPH)
 
Not even so rich a feast as Christmas prepares the worshiper for the opulence of Epiphany. At first glance, Epiphany may seem simple and direct: the Magi offer their worship and sacrifices to the Child born on Christmas. But Epiphany is much more.
 
Epiphany is about Christ's birth; it is the nativity celebration of the East.
 
Epiphany is about the Magi, the coming of the Gentiles, as the prophets had proclaimed, to offer gifts as a sign of the end of the division of humankind and the acknowledgment by the nations of Israel's God.
 
Epiphany is about the Baptism of our Lord. Jesus is the true Israelite who crosses the waters of Jordan, conquers the ancient serpent, readies for the baptism of His death and resurrection, is identified as the Lamb of God, declared God's Son and Servant, and anointed by the Holy Spirit with kingly gifts.
 
Epiphany is about Cana, its water turned into wine in anticipation of the wine of the new covenant, the espousal of Christ to the Church, and the eschatological wedding of the Lamb.
 
All this is a part of the history and meaning of the festival. Epiphany is a celebration fit for an Eastern monarch. Everything is in abundance, and a new surprise is hidden behind every veil. Orderly western minds have separated these themes and fixed them to Christmas Day, Epiphany Day, the First Sunday after Epiphany (Baptism of Our Lord), and the Second Sunday after Epiphany (Cana in Series C). Yet, they remain permanent and essential aspects of the festival itself. The historical events we celebrate are the rays of God's glory in history within which He reconciles Himself to us and us to Him. The Light of the world has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen on us. God's Light bathes the feast and drives away all darkness. The festival, indeed, has been called the Feast of Light.
 
The word "Epiphany" refers to the appearance of a god among mortals. The same word was adapted to describe the visit in state of a king to a favored city. He was greeted with pomp. Days were spent in feasting and revelry, all at the king's expense. He granted generous gifts and gave tokens of his favor. All this was his "epiphany." The epiphany of Jesus is the Lord's gracious appearance to His people with signs and wonders and favors given at His own expense.
 
The season of Epiphany opens with the splendor of the festival on January 6. The ancient character of Epiphany Day and the significant role it plays in presenting the Biblical keys to an understanding of Christ's person and work should encourage every congregation to celebrate the festival on January 6 even when it falls on a weekday. If the festival is not celebrated, it remains merely something after which Sundays are counted. (Where sufficient reasons exist for not keeping the festival on January 6, a congregation may consider celebrating it on the Second Sunday after Christmas.)
 
The First Sunday after Epiphany is the Festival of The Baptism of Our Lord. As for Epiphany Day itself, the color for the Baptism is white. We see Christ rise out of the waters of Jordan and the Spirit anoint Him, and we hear the Voice from heaven declare Jesus to be the Beloved Son….
 
The same Voice and words heard at the Baptism of our Lord close the season on the last Sunday after the Epiphany, Transfiguration. On that day Jesus is bathed in the heavenly light proclaimed on Epiphany. Indeed, Jesus is revealed to be the glory of God. Appropriately on this day the color is again white.

The Lord's Supper is given to the Church. Ordinarily, the congregation calls a pastor to publicly administer the sacrament on its behalf. Private individuals normally should not set up their own communion services.

We cannot say dogmatically that one must be ordained to validly consecrate the Lord's Supper, but the regular practice of the Lutheran church has been that only pastors acting in the name of the congregation do this. It has not been considered "appropriate" for laymen to consecrate the Lord's Supper under ordinary circumstances.

In cases where there are no pastors available, however, due to persecution or some other circumstances, a congregation could arrange for a man from their midst to serve as their minister of Word and Sacraments.

The pastor has no special authority to provide a forgiveness of sins that is any different from or greater than the forgiveness which is given by any Christian. The ministry of the keys, the authority to forgive or retain sin, is given to the Church even when only two or three are gathered together (Matthew 18). Any Christian may speak the law and gospel to another Christian. The gospel has the same authority when it is spoken by a pastor or by a lay person.

You are by no means the first church member who has had these kinds of thoughts. We are extremely grateful that you love your pastor and that the thought of losing him is emotionally unpleasant. No doubt it is equally and perhaps more unpleasant for the church that currently has no pastor and that has extended a call to your pastor to consider serving them at this time in his pastoral career.

Procedurally, the Bible does not give detailed instructions about how churches are to obtain their pastors, teachers, or staff ministers. The procedures that have been developed within our synod (and in many other church bodies as well) have served us well over the years and are an orderly and suitable way of going about filling public ministry positions that are vacant. I say this lest we give the impression that our way is the only way of doing this. But it is a good way, and you may be sure that other ways have been considered and minor changes to the way we do things have been implemented over the years.

Briefly stated, we entrust the task of filling vacancies among us to the 12 district presidents in our synod. Their task is to be familiar with the congregations and schools in their respective districts, so they know the challenges and opportunities that exist at a given place, and the desires and expectations of the calling group. They also have and keep informational records on all eligible called workers (pastors, teachers, staff ministers) so they have a good idea of the strengths and weaknesses, skills and aptitudes of these trained public ministers. And they provide a list of suitable people for the calling church or organization to consider as they strive to fill their vacancy. In the case of your pastor, then, his background, skills, experience, etc., were seen as a suitable match for the vacant church; his name was placed on such a list by a district president; and the vacant church selected him from that list and extended a call to him. He must now prayerfully determine whether he can best serve where he currently is or at the other place at this particular time. And he will likely be receiving counsel and input from a variety of sources as he considered his two calls (the one, to his current parish and the other, to his potential future parish).

The task of assigning graduates from our seminary and college (pastoral, teacher, and staff ministry candidates) to their initial place of labor is also entrusted to the Conference of Presidents (COP) composed of the 12 district presidents in our synod. They receive help and guidance from school officers and administrators who serve to give them a good portrait of the strengths, weaknesses, and skills of the candidates. The district presidents then seek to assign the candidates to fitting churches and schools that provide a good match for their skills and aptitudes.

But remember that many churches and schools, because of their size and other circumstances, may not be a suitable place for an inexperienced worker to be assigned. So it's not as simple as assigning graduates to any vacant place. Many places, due to their situation, need or desire an experienced pastor -- like yours. So they extend a call to him even though there may be graduates available.

We are very much aware that many times a degree of turmoil and discomfort accompanies this process. At the same time, there is value in having churches, schools, pastors, and teachers undertake the self-appraisal and the thorough look at how the public ministry at a given place is going. There are definite blessings that come with the discomfort.

Every step of the way in this process we give mutual encouragement that we approach this important task prayerfully and with the confidence that the Holy Spirit will be guiding the district presidents, the churches and schools who are seeking workers, and the churches and schools who may eventually lose a beloved called worker if he or she accepts a call to another place. This is our prayer and confidence regarding your church and pastor as well.

The word "Maundy" very likely is from the Latin word "mandatum" which means "command." The name Maundy Thursday is probably a reference to the command Jesus gave his disciples on the Thursday of Holy Week -- "A new command I give you: Love one another" (John 13:34) or it comes from the words of institution of the Lord's Supper, "Do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me" (1 Corinthians 11:25).