STS

A brief presentation for the October Conference 6 Gathering of the Northwestern Minnesota Synod, following the Black Vespers.

THE SOCIETY OF THE HOLY TRINITY

Societas Trinitatis Sanctae (STS)

The Society of the Holy Trinity is a pan-Lutheran ministerium or Order of clergy dedicated to helping one another uphold our ordination vows. It is the only place where I’ve seen ELCA, LCMS, LCMC, NALC, WELS, LCI, &c all get along.

Those who subscribe to the Rule of the Society promise the following, from the Preamble:

1. Promote an ecclesial and pastoral piety shaped by the daily discipline of prayer and meditation on the Holy Scriptures [i.e., the Liturgy of the Hours, personally and publicly].

2. Challenge and encourage one another to live in obedience to Jesus—helping one another to be faithful to the promises spoken when we were ordained and seeking to live as examples to the faithful—and to adorn with holy living the Ministry entrusted to us.

3. Gather regularly in retreat for hearing God's Word, celebrating the Lord's Supper, prayer, and theological reflection. [This takes the form of thrice yearly Chapter Retreats, and one annual General Chapter Retreat.]

4. Engage in mutual pastoral visitation, in order to fulfill the commitments of the Society. [This is perhaps the part of the Rule we find hardest to fulfill.]

5. Provide one another with the opportunity for individual and personal Confession and Absolution, so that we may enjoy the true "mutual conversation and consolation of the brethren" and, in turn, become faithful confessors for others [a real life-saver].

6. Engage one another in disciplined reflection on the mysteries of the Faith, sharing our learning in the Scriptures, the Creeds and the Confessions, as well as Christian theology and literature—desiring to glorify God with Our minds and to be more faithful and learned teachers of the Faith. [The Society’s opportunities for theological, liturgical, and ecumenical education are second to none.]

7. Work together to shape a parish pastoral practice centered in the Word and the sacraments that is consistent with the catholic Faith as formulated in the canonical Scriptures and confessed in the ecumenical Creeds and the Lutheran Confessions.

8. Serve the cause of Christian unity as confessing members of the western catholic Church, stopping at nothing, in so far as God and conscience allow.


Personal Reflection:

I learned about the Society in Israel, of all places, thanks to a Lutheran pastor and fourth-generation undertaker who wore the seal of the STS on his jacket: Rublev’s Trinity icon. The Minnesota Chapter gathers in retreat at King’s House in Buffalo. The General Chapter has for years gathered at St Mary of the Lake University in Mundelein, Illinois. These retreats are reinvigorating but rarely restful! Your dance card is full.

The Society includes pastors, bishops, theologians, and professors from the US and Canada. Our current Senior is a former Benedictine monk from London. The greatest Lutheran liturgies of which I have ever been a part have involved the Society. It is an Order of support and edification, often filling the gaps left in our seminary degrees.

There are funds available for guests, especially seminarians. The NALS regularly sends students to STS retreats, and these young people often subscribe to the Rule. The STS also produces a liturgical Lutheran calendar, and works well with the American Lutheran Publicity Bureau (ALPB) which publishes For All The Saints and Lutheran Forum. STS Retreats worship using the Lutheran Book of Worship (LBW) as it is the last hymnal shared by the majority of North American Lutheranism.

At our most recent General Retreat, we celebrated the Society’s 25th anniversary. Guest speakers included a Jesuit professor of liturgy from Notre Dame and an Evangelical professor of liturgy from Yale. The Jesuit openly told us that Lutherans and Catholics should be communing one another, and that the Roman Catholic Church should ordain women and married people. He spoke of the joy of seeing women wear clerical collars.

In previous years, we’ve had presentations on demonology and exorcisms; this is how I ended up with a Lutheran exorcism manual on my bedside table. At one Chapter Retreat, we learned to paint icons in the Eastern Orthodox style. Suffice to say, gatherings of the STS are rarely boring. A typical day begins with Matins at 7:30 a.m. and ends with Compline at 10:30 p.m. After that, the scotch, cigars, and games come out.

I can’t say that the STS is for everyone, but I can say that joining the Society has kept me Lutheran and greatly enriched both my faith life and my public vocation. It has also been a source of great friendship, instruction, book recommendations, meaningful worship, and the sort of challenging conversations brought by faithful, experienced, and well-read pastors. It is “Evangelical Catholic” in the best sense.