All Saints Lutheran Church, San Diego

6355 Radcliffe Drive, San Diego, California 92122
Church: 858.453.3595 • allstsofc@sbcglobal.net
Preschool: 858.453.5340 • allstspre@sbcglobal.net
June—August, 2017

FROM THE PASTOR...

Dear Christian Friends,

I got a haircut the day before writing this. It was probably my usual attire that moved the very pleasant young lady who cut my hair to inquire about my occupation. Upon hearing that I was a Lutheran Pastor she told me that her family had been active in a Lutheran congregation when she was a girl and that she had been baptized there. “So,” she said, “I guess I’m a Lutheran. But now I’m more spiritual than religious.”

How many times have I heard that phrase? I know you’ve heard it, too. The one who says it usually intends to make a distinction between “religion,” understood as an all-too-human enterprise full of failure and hypocrisy, in contrast with “spirituality,” a free-floating mysticism of beautiful sunsets and warm feelings.

For the last three months, this space has offered reflections on the Church, that thing that the “spiritual but not religious” are so sure they can do without. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, has recently opined that his online community could offer the community that used to be provided by churches (and Little League teams).

I don’t think so. And, as a Lutheran Pastor, I believe that the notion of “spiritual, not religious” is one of the most pernicious notions being peddled in this post-Christian age. Why? Because human beings need community; we are made to live in actual, not virtual community. And the incarnated Son is the source of our community both with God and with others. The Church as the body of Christ is a community that goes beyond Facebook, beyond spirituality.

St. Paul reminds the Corinthians that the cup of blessing and the bread we break are our koinonia: fellowship, communion, participation in the body of Christ. (I Cor. 10.16–17) Communion with Christ is community with all who belong to him. In communion with Christ, my human existence is opened up to God—a necessary condition for a true opening to others—and so community is born.

The Church is the place, or, better, the event of sacramental communion. The Church celebrating the Eucharist becomes fully herself: receiving the body of Christ, we become the body of Christ, as St. Augustine taught. Our embodiment is our availability to others in a way no Facebook Friend or spiritual avatar can be. The Church is the body of Christ available to the world because we gather around the bread and cup in, with, and under which the embodied Christ makes himself available to us.

For Lutherans, the spiritual presence of Christ is not enough. Our salvation is the God incarnate, the God present to us in his divinity and his humanity. There is much more to be said about that.

I didn’t actually bring all of this up during the haircut, but I did invite my stylist to “come and see.” After all, being present with and in the body of Christ gathered around the body of Christ, the incarnate Word, the proclaimed Word, the canonical Word, is the best way to learn that these things are true.

Grace and peace,
 
Paul Bieber+, STS, Pastor
Please visit our Liturgical Ministries page
for schedules of acolytes, deacons, lectors, offertory giftbearers, and coffee hour setup hosts.

What's happening at All Saints? News & Notes is our online newsletter!

We Invite You to Join Us!

Sunday Eucharist – 9:00 am
We regard the Church's liturgy as the birthright of the baptized and invite Christians of all ages
to worship as they are able. At the end of the liturgy on the first Sunday of the month,
we encourage children to join the pastor for a children's sermon.

Sunday School and Adult Forum – 10:30 am

Confirmation Classes – 11:15 am every other Sunday

Wednesday Worship – 7:00 pm
      • Evening Prayer (Vespers) during Daylight Savings Time
      • Compline (Night Prayer) during Standard Time
      • Brief Eucharist when a Feast Day falls during the week


All Saints is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and its Pacifica Synod.

We are also a member congregation of the Community Christian Service Agency.


Website most recently updated on Monday of Pentecost IV – 03 July 2017.