The Bible, Congregational Leaders, and Moral Conversation

Patrick R. Keifert

Article Type: Article

Publication Date: 10/1/1993

Issue: Biblical Interpretation for Christian Ministry (Vol. 13, No 4, Fall, 1993)

No matter how old an observation, it remains nonetheless true: We tend to remember the preacher more than the sermon, the teacher more than the lecture. Perhaps that is all we have recently learned in a preliminary study of twelve congregations in the Southwestern Minnesota Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (SW Synod). However, there are some nuances that raise very important questions for theological education in seminaries and congregations—and, even more important, insights for the role of leaders and their use of Scripture in the moral conversations within congregations. In short, we have found from dozens of interviews with members of these congregations that congregational leaders are very important in moral conversations within these congregations. They are so important that they are, in practice, if not in principle, even more important than the Bible.

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