Connect and reconnect

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Showing posts from August, 2023

Congregational membership - essay

- August 01, 2023

Congregational Membership in the Lutheran Church My Major Applied Project for the Doctor of Ministry Program has been focusing on connection with disconnected members. People who may not have lost their faith altogether, but they have been away from the voice of their Savior and the fellowship of the Church in the in-person opportunities of the congregation. One of the ways to look at this phenomenon is that it is inserted in the context of the Post-Christian Society in which we live. Here, confession of faith, especially of the Christian faith, has come into decay. Allied to this is normal nihilism , which brought to the Church and to Christians the duty of explaining themselves again in the foundations of their faith. The western reference of a Christian God is not a given anymore. [1] Many people therefore are disconnected from the Confession of Faith and Confessionalism of their congregation, with a waning engagement to the bold confession that “Jesus is Lord”. [2] Anot

Bio

I am a Canadian-Brazilian pastor living in Port Coquitlam BC, Canada. Graduating from Concordia Seminary in São Leopoldo, Brazil, in 1998, I was ordained by my father, Rev. Curt Albrecht, in Curitiba, Brazil, in January 1999. My first call was to serve at Peace Lutheran Church in Campo Bom, RS, Brazil, from 1999–2004. Preaching, Divine Worship and Music, Youth, Member Visiting and Missionary Work were some of the highlights of that period. I started my work at Ulbra (The Lutheran University of Brazil) in 2004, where I served in different Calls: Canoas Campus Chaplain and church-planter of the Campus outpost of St. Paul's Lutheran Church(2004 to 2007). By late 2007, the new congregation called a full-time pastor. In 2004, I joined Ulbra (The Lutheran University of Brazil) in various capacities: 2004-2007: Chaplain and church planter for the Canoas campus outpost of St. Paul's Lutheran Church. By late 2007, the congregation appointed a full-time pastor. 2008-2011: Resumed campus ministry with a focus on communications, especially the “Toque de Vida” (Touch of Life) Project. This initiative began with a daily TV program and expanded to email devotionals in Portuguese, Spanish, and English; a blog; a radio program; and, in 2014, Toque de Vida Lutheran Church in Canoas. 2012-2015: Head Chaplain for Ulbra Canoas and nationally. During this time, I continued my roles with Toque de Vida, served as assistant pastor at Celsp (2012-2014), volunteered in ministry (2014-2015), and taught high school religion. 2016: Became a professor at Ulbra’s Theology School and Campus Pastor in Canoas, while serving as a volunteer pastor at Toque de Vida Lutheran Church. I was called to serve as Ulbra's Head Chaplain - Canoas and nationwide(2012-2015 term), leading a team of 30 chaplains and 25 teachers and Professors of the Ulbra System in Brazil. During the period, I accumulated the activities of the Toque de Vida Project, Celsp's assistant pastor (2012-2014), Toque de Vida volunteer ministry (2014-2015) and High School teacher (2014). In the year of 2016 I was called as Professor of Ulbra's Theology School and Campus Pastor in Canoas. while also accepting the Call to be one of the "Toque de Vida" Lutheran Church volunteer Pastors in Canoas. In November, 2016 I accepted the call to be Associate Pastor at Mount Olive Lutheran, in Regina, Canada, being installed in February 2017. Teaching and Preaching, Music, Member Visiting, Youth, and Online Ministry are some of the highlights of this period. In August 2023, I accepted the Call to serve at Hope Lutheran Church in Port Coquitlam, BC, where I am serving since October, 2023, working with both Church(Active in Love, Growing in Christ) and School (Equipping each child to impact the world for Christ's glory). Educationally, I earned a Bachelor’s degree in Social Communications-Journalism in 2011, focusing on "The Lutheran Sermon from the Receiver’s Viewpoint." In 2014, I completed a Specialist degree in Human Resources, with a dissertation on "Institutional Values in Hiring in a Confessional Lutheran Institution." My second diploma in Theology from Ulbra came in 2015, alongside a Master’s in Theology from Concordia Seminary, São Leopoldo, with a dissertation titled, “Preaching for Everyone and for No One,” which explored the history and production of the Toque de Vida TV program. In the same year I finished the Masters in Theology at The Concordia Seminary, Sao Leopoldo. The dissertation, "Preaching for everyone and for no one" researched History and production process of the TV Program Toque de Vida. I am currently a student of the Doctor of Ministry Program of the Concordia Seminary St. Louis, USA. I was born in 1975 in Naviraí, MS, Brazil, to Rev. Curt and Ligia Madalena Albrecht, the fourth of nine siblings. I have been married to Djenane Hans since 1997, and we have two children, Charles and Rachel Sophie. My interests include family time, music, leadership, communication, digital ministry, and cooking.