To most Colombians, and Latin Americans in general, "revolution" is not a bad word. There is, however, a great divergence of opinion as to what sort of a revolution it should be, how it should-be attained, and what kind of new structures might replace the old. Nearly all are seeking some sort of change. A few are trying to maintain the status quo in basic structures.
This writing is an attempt to describe the role of the church, and in particular, that of the Evangelical Lutheran Church - Colombia Synod, within the total context of the complex, turbulent, precarious and floundering "revolution" which Colombia is living today. Grateful credit is given to Colombian and North American colleagues for help in understanding and interpreting the enigma which is Colombia. However, any inaccuracies or omissions are chargeable only to the writer. Subheadings, used for convenience are not categorical divisions, for they are all intimately interrelated.
Independent from Spain, by declaration in 1810, consolidated by the Battle of Boyacá in 1819, Colombia has since lived several bloody internal conflicts and numerous abrupt overthrows of government. Yet, the country has not experienced a structure-changing revolution such as those of Mexico and Cuba. Power and control have remained in the hands of a small wealthy minority. As one Catholic observer put it: "The masses have been ruled and oppressed by an unholy trinity: the bishop, the landlord and the army general." Colombia's few dictatorships have been rightist, including the Rojas regime toppled in 1957.
With the bipartisan government since 1958 began the healing of wounds caused by a decade-long nightmare of politico-religious bloodshed. But basic structures have remained unchanged. Foreign investment and industrialization have benefitted the rich but not the poor. Cost of living continues to rise sharply but salaries do not keep pace. Yearly per capita income for 1969 was figured at $200 U.S. dollars. An important middle class is, however, emerging and present structures are being threatened by pressures from groups including in their ranks people of upper and middle class. Among these forces is a leftist organization of rebel priests known as "Golconda".
Strides made by government in education, social service and land reform are frustrated by top-heavy bureaucracy, corruption, inflation and the population explosion. Increased migration from rural areas to the cities continues to cause urban unemployment and undeveloped land resources. Widespread and deep-rooted discontent enhances the danger of grabbing at any promise of change in preference to the status quo. This may account for the fact that former dictator Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, aided by his enterprizing daughter, María Eugenia, creator of a third party, the ANAPO (Alianza Nacional Popular), probably drew more votes in the 1970 elections than the official candidate, now President Misael Pastrana Borrero who was backed by the old-line Conservative and Liberal parties. Both of these parties are divided, and ANAPO is also harrassed by internal leftist-rightist conflict. At the present writing, the coalition government Congress, embarked on a stormy voyage, is meeting in an equally stormy session.
Discontented students are losing a semester of studies because most of the country's universities have been closed due to riots and strikes. Some are now functioning with military protection. "Che" Guevara has become a hero symbol in Latin America. His picture looks at you from university halls, the walls of vacant lots, the back of buses, cars and taxis. To many observers, the stage is set for an extreme leftist revolution, unless moderate democratic forces are able to take promptly and decisively the needed revolutionary action.
Colombian Protestants are beginning to feel internal tensions over political and social issues. An influencial leftist minority believes that the rebel Golconda priests are the key to solving Colombia's problems. This position is advocated in the National Council of Churches film on Colombia, "A Problem of Power." Most Protestants here, especially those of fundamentalistic lines, are conservative in their political and social attitudes even though they have their political roots mainly in the traditional Liberal party. Most want revolution but by non-violent means. Those who follow the Golconda line apparantly see little hope of change except by a violent overthrow of present governmental and ecclesiastical structures. Lacking, however, is a positive reconstruction concept.
To ascertain the right Christian stance regarding Colombia's complex political, social and religious puzzle, is not a simple question. It cannot always be answered in clear black and white. A recent poster promoting the United Biblical Seminary of Colombia pictures under the caption, "Revolution or Redemption" an angry hippy-type figure with clenched fist, and a good-looking, clean-shaven youth with hands uplifted in rapt attention. The question could well be asked: Is it as simple as that? Is it a clear "either-or"? Is it not rather a question of Redemption being brought into the Revolution? Or, Redemption itself causing a spiritual revolution with political and social responsibility and involvement?
Social questions are probably causing more tensions among Roman Catholics than within the Protestant minority. In spite of official ecclesiastical protest, thousands of Colombian mothers (and a few fathers) are using the family planning methods prescribed by the "Pro-familia" clinics.
Recent years have brought a sharp increase of social consciousness in church and government circles. The government "Bienestar Familiar" is an example of this concern. But problems are gigantic. One of the greatest is that of the "gamines", thousands of homeless boys who roam the streets begging, stealing and sleeping in doorways and under stairways covered with newspapers or cardboard. Finding this kind of life free and even quite remunerative, most of them resist efforts by the community to rehabilitate them.
Colombians, formerly conservative in dress, now appear in minis, middis, maxis, slacks, "hot pants", and high boots. Dark suits and white shirts have given way to all sorts of colors. Ties and lapels are both wide and narrow, trousers come tight and striped, and also conventional. Robed priests are seldom seen, as before, in the streets. Just the clerical collar is popular, or even a colored shirt and tie. All seem to welcome the change. Few would agree with the parishioner who said: "Since the priests have started wearing pants I have lost faith in the Catholic Church."
The much debated legislation which bars Catholics from civil marriage by requiring a written statement of apostacy, is now being reviewed by church and government authorities. Divorce laws are also under revision. So are the Concordat with the Vatican and the "Mission Agreement", extra-Constitutional documents which grant special privileges to the Roman Catholic Church and discriminate against Protestants.
The Vatican Council has relaxed tensions between Roman Catholics and Protestants and has created new tensions within Romanism. Gratifying is the new evangelical concern and Bible hunger evident among Catholics. Deadening, among both Catholics and Protestants, can be an attitude of indifference and superficiality toward existing theological differences.
Little over a decade ago Bibles were burned and Protestant churches stoned and dynamited. Now the Bible Societies' second edition of the popular version of the New Testament appears with a commendatory note by CELAM, the Roman Catholic Episcopal Council for Latin America.
Once, the order of the day was inflamatory, anti-Protestant sermons and distorted, defaming publicity. Now Protestants enjoy favorable coverage by the mass media. Progressive priests are sincerely interested in the Protestant presence in Colombia. The June issue of "Revista Javeriana" carries articles by Anglican Bishop David Reed, Presbyterian Victor Rodriguez, and Lutheran Arnfeld C. Morck. Once, becoming a Protestant was a good way to lose your job; now Protestants hold public office.
On the pessimistic side, we might observe that while the Roman Catholic Church is encouraging its laity to read the Bible, and while the greatest buyers of Protestant versions of Scripture in the world today are Latin American Catholics, it seems that the authority of Scripture has not yet been given its rightful place in the doctrinal and practical deliberations of church leaders. For example, the July 11, 1971 issue of "El Catolicismo" (Archdiocesan weekly) carries an interesting coverage of the opening session of the XXVII Assembly of Colombian bishops. The "ministerial crisis" was discussed with special focus on the question of celibacy, a much-debated issue today. To a Bible-orientated Lutheran, it appears that this question should be faced not only from the standpoint of tradition and sociological considerations, but also by asking the question, "What does Scripture say?" From Scripture, no doubt a good case could be made for optional celibacy, but scarcely for the obligatory practice which not even in Roman Catholic theology has the status of a dogma. In other words, it is still the question of Scriptural authority which most sharply and basically divides Christians today.
Admittedly, there still exists much distrust and suspicion on both sides, not least from Protestant elements who seem reluctant to lose an enemy against whom they might continue to rant, or who fear to meet the challenge of the hour due to theological insecurity or prejudice. Some, like the Pentecostals, are so busy winning souls and establishing congregations that they have little time to concern themselves with the ecumenical dialogue.
Dr. John A. MacKay (President Emeritus of Princeton Theological Seminary, one of the originators of the ecumenical movement, for 16 years Professor at San Marcos University at Lima, Peru, and a leading authority on Hispanic thought) asks a pertinent question regarding today's ecumenical problem. It is the last of five thought-provoking questions with which he brings to a close his discussion of "The Ecumenical Dilemma" in his recent book, "Christian Reality and Appearance", page 88. He asks: "In a time of revolutionary change when all institutional structures are crumbling in the secular and ·religious order, when churches of historical Protestantism are becoming increasingly bureaucraticized, when more and more church members are meeting in cells in an unecclesiastical Underworld, when the Roman Catholic Church is developing evangelical concern and a deepening sense of what it means to be Christian, when the charismatic movement is growing across all ecclesiastical boundaries--might it not happen that, unless our Protestant churches rediscover dimensions in thought and life that they are losing or disdaining, the Christian future may lie with a reformed Catholicism and a matured Pentecostalism?"
Does one really exist in Colombia? Not exactly of the nature described in TIME Magazine as "The Jesus Revolution". Recognizing the work of the Holy Spirit directly within the ranks of Romanism this last decade, not least as a result of the humbler attitude taken by the Vatican Council, there is no doubt on the other hand, that in Colombia Protestantism has been, and is, a marked influence on the renewal process within Romanism. Priests we know have readily mentioned this fact. The interest in studying the Scriptures, the singing of popular Christian songs, the often awkward silence regarding the place of the Virgin Mary, the much clearer focus on the person of Christ in Roman Catholic devotional literature, the awareness of the Holy Spirit and openness to His work are attributable, at least in part, to the evangelical witness in Colombia. The fact that Protestantism could riot be extirpated from Colombian soil, as was the avowed intention during the "violence period", but that, rather, it has experienced a remarkable growth, has made it no longer an undesirable thing to be destroyed but something to be studied and even imitated. In 1948, when the anti-protestant machine was steaming up, 8,000 Protestant adult communicant members were counted. Today the figure would probably reach 100,000, and the total Protestant community, including adherents and children, well over 250,000. No census has been taken since 1968.
This recognition of Protestant influence on Catholicism is made in humility, without any claim that "we have won". We are too painfully aware of Protestant weaknesses. This is no time to brag, but a time to thank God.
The Lutheran presence in Colombia is certainly not causing a spiritual revolution today. On the contrary, we would have to admit stagnation and depression in some of the nine congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church - Colombia Synod. One rural congregation has disintegrated, due mainly to migration to urban centers. (The 5 or 6 German-speaking congregations are not members of the Synod and are not included in this discussion.)
El Buen Pastor, in Socota, the oldest of our congregations (inherited from the Presbyterians in 1939) operates in two points: in the town of Socota and in Parpa, a chilly mountain area whose stingy soil gives scarcely enough for the meagre existence of its tough-sinewed inhabitants.
In the hot, tropical, sparsely-populated lowlands of northeastern Colombia are two of the Synod's congregations, with numerous places of meeting. Even though you would need a guide to find these groups, they show spiritual vigor and growth. "Emmanuel" congregation has its main base of operation at Paz de Ariporo, with points along the Ariporo and other rivers. To get a feeling of the life that pulsates in "Betania" congregation, you would start from the home base of Orocué, from which the riverboat, the "San Pablo", makes its voyages to points on the Meta, Pauto, Guacheria Rivers and other streams of the Orinoco system. Supervising this sprawling lay activity is Gerardo Wilches, veteran pastor of roving, freedom-loving, cattle-raising plainsmen in this insect-infested but enchanting area. Wilches and his wife, Isabel (who lives in Bogota with their three sons who are striving to attain higher education), were the first graduates of our Bible School in 1947. Later, he graduated from Concordia Seminary in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
"El Salvador" congregation, whose members live in the town of El Cocuy and surrounding mountain "veredas", is pastored by another Bible School and Concordia Seminary graduate, swarthy, grinning, balding,cattle-buying, farming, coffee-shop-evangelizing civic leader, Oliverio Mora. Bachelor "don Olivo", as he is affectionately called from coffee shop to mountain top, preaches two or three life-related expository "sermons" during a service, is preparing 20 new members for confirmation and has sent in 20 applications for lay leaders who wish to study theology under the Synod's new auto-didactic, extension program. Oblivious of the liturgy he learned (or didn't learn) at Seminary, casual not to say neglectful of Synod ordinances and practice, Pastor Mora has for years had his own unstructured lay-training program. He grins broadly when chided by brother-in-law, Synod President Pausanias Wilches, for the slow rate at which the congregation's meager quota to Synod trickles in. The cheerful members of "El Salvador" meet in a modest make-shift chapel in the century-old colonial house that serves also as school and parsonage, and in the chapel-school built on brother Vidal Mora's property at Carrizal, some 2,000 feet higher than Cocuy, which nestles at an altitude of 9,000 feet, surrounded by mountains and the snow-caps for which the town is named. Mora and his parishioners seem to have invested less in structures and more in people. Coadministrator of an estate held by the municipality, Oliverio has further helped channel the proceeds of these lands into scholarships mainly for students at the local Santos Gutierrez College. First Protestant graduate from the school, Lutheran Arturo Garcia, 22, is now "personero" of the municipality, a post second only to the mayor.
Chiscas, an hour's drive down from El Cocuy, to lower altitude and warmer climate, is the home of the discouraged and static remnant of a once thriving rural group in the neighboring valley of Santa Ana, routed from their homes during the "violence period". Existing still as a congregation, these "dry bones" can yet live when the Spirit breathes upon them.
"El Consolador" at Sogamoso is strategically located for a significant ministry. Sogamoso itself, center of ancient Chibcha culture, is a bustling city of over 35,000 inhabitants. Four miles to the north is the steel mill of Belencito where iron ore from the nearby mines at Paz de Rio is smelted and processed, involving about 6,000 workers of all categories. A cement factory and a munitions factory are among other industries in the immediate neighborhood. SENA, the national government's industrial training service has an important center in Sogamoso. Of top prestige in the city, and drawing students from other areas, is the Lutheran "Colegio Celco". See coverage below.
Tunja, cold, colonial capital of the state of Boyaca, is the home of the "Principe de Paz" congregation, another church with opportunity at its door. Synod President Wilches in his annual report observed that this congregation was at present neither "princely" nor "peaceful". Progress at Tunja has been slow and difficult, and many members and adherents have moved to other parts.
This, in fact, can be said of all the smaller congregations in Boyaca. Membership would be considerable if those who have accepted the Gospel would have stayed. Had they all, upon migrating to the national capital, affiliated with the Lutheran churches there, these would be bursting at the seams. But this is not happening. Rather, they are either swallowed up by the materialism of the 2,500,000 metropolis, or they join other Protestant churches close to their new abode. The latter should not be counted as a loss to the total kingdom. Yet, Lutherans in Bogota should have founded more than two congregations in more than two decades of work.
These two congregations are "El Redentor", begun in 1949 and organized in 1953, and San Lucas, organized in 1965. Both enjoy excellent buildings, thanks to North American support. Both have been served by a well-trained ministry. Both have enjoyed periods of spiritual warmth and numerical growth. Both have now leveled off into a sort of plateau of indifference and materialism. This is especially the case of El Redentor, in the heart of the north Bogota shopping center. Failing largely to minister to people in the immediate vicinity, it continues to draw a diminishing attendance from many remote parts of the city. Some loyal members travel as much as an hour, on two different buses, to attend.
San Lucas, on the other hand, started its history with a few families from El Redentor who obtained homes in a new suburb of 180,000 people known as Ciudad Kennedy. Strategically located, it ministers mostly to people in the neighborhood.
In contrast to most Latin American countries where a scarcity of important cities is the general pattern, Colombia has 20 cities of over 100,000 inhabitants. Since 1967 the Colombia Synod has opened work in two of Colombia's fastest-growing commercial and industrial centers: Cali and Bucaramanga. While their population is largely Roman Catholic in name, the majority could be classified as "non-churched". It is estimated that in the residential "barrio" where our work in Cali is located only from 15 to 25% attend mass regularly. Bucaramanga, where a Colombian and a North American are working together as a team, is probably less "religious" than Cali. The Lutheran ministry is extended also to English-speaking residents in the city.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church - Colombia Synod officially organized in 1958, and wisely and cautiously guided by Colombian President Pausanias Wilches, sponsors six elementary schools, one secondary school, and a bookstore. It is also launching a social service center and a program of theological training by extension.
Regarding "Colegio Celco" in Sogamoso, Rector Dale Brand reports an attendance of 230 in the elementary department and 160 in the high school. Only about 5% of the students are Lutheran; the rest are nominally Roman Catholic. Enjoying good prestige, it has full government accreditation up to the official basic high school level. It has a winning basketball team and a dedicated teaching staff, and is self-supporting, except for the salary of its North American missionary rector.
Basic ofjectives are outlined by Rector Brand as follows: The school should (1) serve as an instrument of evangelization; (2) serve human needs through education; (3) serve as an instrument of social and religious change. The school should try to be revolutionary in the non-violent and good sense of the term. It should be a model, trying new experiments and ideas and always facing up to the problems of society; (4) serve as an instrument for preparing Lutherans to live and work in the society and in the church.
"Servicio Social Sail Lucas" is the name of the social service program projected at St. Luke's church in Kennedy City. Plans were under way for an out-patient clinic when an excellent health center in the vicinity was completed, rendering our proposed services superfluous. A day care center figures high on the list of community needs, according to a recent survey, and is now under study.
"Libreria El Escudo", the bookstore carrying Luther's coat of arms, came into being when in 1967 Redeemer Lutheran Church was given a "face-lifting", providing space for the Synod offices on one side and the bookstore on the other. Completely self-supporting, it enjoys a brisk trade on busy Carrera 13 and a contact with thousands of passersby.
These letters stand for the long-handled Spanish name of "Lutheran Service for Theological Instruction by Extension." Following the lead of other Protestants in Latin America, including Lutherans in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela and Mexico, the ELC-CS at its 1971 annual convention entered into this new and exciting concept of pastoral training by creating SELITE, which is beginning to function as of August, 1971.
With no wish to discard the traditional residence seminary, this concept of theological "on-the-job" training may revolutionize and vitalize the Protestant ministry in Latin America, and even influence Roman Catholic training. In parenthesis, it should be noted that there exists a general "ministerial crisis". Numberous large Roman Catholic seminaries in Colombia are all but empty. In fact, the Minstry of Education is negotiating with R.C. church authorities the possibility of using some of the buildings for secular education.
Interdenominational United Biblical Seminary at Medellín has 10 students in residence this year, and over 3OO enrolled in its extension program.
During its history, our Colombia Synod has sent ten men abroad for theological training and, the llth about to leave for Augsburg Lutheran Seminary in Mexico City. Of these, five are serving the Synod's congregations and the rest have accepted calls else- where in the hemisphere.
Now, instead of pulling a young man out of his environment, severing his ties with family, work and church, for a period of years, with a high risk of disadaptation, the extension concept focuses on mature men who are already "natural" community leaders, leaves them still working in the total context of their community life, while they study at their own pace. Logically, it takes longer. Theoretically, a good student can complete in six years the material he would study in three at a traditional residence seminary. Training is acquired through programmed learning (used effectively by industry since World War II, and now adapted to theological training). It is not a correspondence course. The self-study method is-supplemented by frequent sessions with instructors who serve more as coaches and coordinators in a situation of group dynamics than as professors, in the traditional sense of the word. The system operates on different educational levels, requiring more in the way of research reports and papers from those of the high school and university levels.
Going beyond the idea of a lay-training program, the extension concept leads to eventual ordination of candidates who in "the judgment of congregations and church leaders have the training, experience and "charisma" to shepherd a congregation. In this sense it is revolutionary. But the revolution is on in Latin America.
During the month of this writing, the Southern Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in Colombia (traditionally demanding of high academic standing) is ordaining into its ministry six experienced men who have had little academic training, but who have proved themselves in spiritual leadership.
Church growth facts tell an interesting story, a story that for us who were trained in the academic halls of learning is humiliating: Church growth (in some areas, at least) is happening in inverse proportion to the amount of academic training of leaders. Examples: In a Colombian area served by the Latin America Mission, two brothers of humble rank and little education are "filled with the Spirit". They begin preaching. An estimated two thousand people in the area are won for Christ and in a decade 80 congregations are formed. A number of Presbyterian congregations, for years weary and static, are influenced by those of the L.A.M.-related ones, are revitalized and begin multiplying. This growth is taking place without highly-trained leadership, and because the general leadership of the backing Mission and Church were wise and humble enough to trust the Holy Spirit rather than restraining Him. Granted, some of these new, effervescent congregations act more like Pentecostals than traditional Presbyterians.
Obviously, the conclusion is not: "Stop all academic training of pastors." With growing academic demands in all places of the Latin American social revoltuion, especially on the university campuses and in urban congregations, there is a great need also for highly trained spiritual leaders. But they must be men with the mind of St. Paul who considered all this academic, moral and technical equipment "mere garbage so that I might gain Christ, and be completely united with Him" (Philippians 3:8,9).
While honesty in this article requires admitting the weaknesses and failures of our Lutheran Church in Colombia, there is no desire to down-grade her importance or to paint a dismal picture. As a confessing church, standing centrally on the Word, and, without compromise, reaching one hand of understanding to Roman Catholics and the other to present-day "enthusiasts", it has an important mission. Nor do we mean to say that being this sort of a "catalyst" is its main calling. That must always be: "Go, make disciples of all nations...", admitting our inadequacy and obeying our Lord who has all power in heaven and on earth and who makes it available to those who believe. Independent of the ALC in administration, the ELC-CS urgently needs to become independent also economically. This could be accomplished by abruptly cutting the umbilical cord of the offspring or, better and more kindly, by earnestly praying, and wisely working, for a spiritual renewal, conducive to spontaneity in giving and serving. Within this praying and working there is still a vital place of service for the foreign missionary, not only as a mere ecclesiastical technician, but even as a pastor, granted that he comes humbly... to listen and to learn, to love and to serve.