EMMAUS, PA (April 12, 2000)-- In the early church, Christians were called to true discipleship rather than church membership and the church enjoyed an influence in society disproportionate to its numbers, a theologian told a group of regional church leaders meeting here recently.

Dr. Timothy Lull said the church no longer enjoys such influence, and regaining it in an increasingly secular age will require each congregation to develop an expanding core of clergy and laity collaborating to make a powerful public witness.

"That kind of witness will require congregations to have a renewed seriousness about teaching adults," said Lull, a systematic theologian who is President of Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, CA. "It is hard to make an adult witness to faith if you only know the story in a childlike way."

Lull was the keynote presenter for the sixth annual Magnet Church event held at the Lutheran Church of the Holy Spirit. The day of continuing education is co-sponsored by The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP) and the Southeastern Pennsylvania and Northeastern Pennsylvania Synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Most attendees are lay and clergy leaders affiliated with growing congregations, or churches that seek to grow.

Lull, a systematic theologian who once taught at LTSP, said many Lutherans have a kind of resistance to mounting a powerful public witness in an age when faith is largely regarded as a private matter. This "nothing ventured, nothing lost" attitude comes at a time when church members and spiritual "seekers" alike are not always "chomping at the bit" for spiritual education.

In calling for a "radical repositioning" of the church, he reminded listeners that the church has a "corporate responsibility to witness....It (the church) needs to find ways to proclaim its message boldly and clearly to those who have only experienced legalistic Christianity." The workplace is a focal point for such witness, but the challenge is complicated by both the religious diversity of individuals found there and the notion that faith is a private matter to be "left at the door."

He urged believers to respond to the call for discipleship, which involves a new commitment and deeper study of faith. Lull also urged modern-day disciples to develop a language of faith, which speaks not only to traditional believers but seekers who become distrustful of the church if it becomes too spiritual. "The deck is stacked against the church," and the challenge calls for congregations to be more counter-cultural. Success depends on the ability of congregations to muster support groups at the local level where people involved in fields like health care "can come together to practice sharing their faith and work out vocational dilemmas in a supportive environment."

He said past renewal efforts in the church have often floundered on the see-saw between clericalism and anti-clericalism. The times now call for lay and clergy collaboration at a new level "and a fresh allocation of tasks within the church."

Lull was one of several workshop presenters for the day. Others included William Diehl, businessman and Holy Spirit member who discussed lay ministry and faith and work issues; Carole Kriebel, volunteer coordinator at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Lansdale, PA, who outlined strategies for involving volunteers and recognizing their spiritual gifts. Youth ministry strategies were addressed by the Rev. H. William Bixby, who directs the Theological Education with Youth initiative at the Seminary. And the Rev. Dr. John H. P. Reumann discussed modern day lessons to be understood from "New Testament House Churches."