Being German Canadian by Alexander Freund

Author:Alexander Freund [Freund, Alexander]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780887558474
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: University of Manitoba Press
Published: 2021-04-30T00:00:00+00:00

The “Old” and “New” Theology

Perceived theological differences between the pastors and their students as a result of their generational identities further intensified the animosity between the two groups. Theories on generational identity, such as those proposed by Mannheim, explain why the pastors and students expressed their disagreements over immigrant integration in ethnic and theological terms. Mannheim’s definition of generation proposes that members of a young generation form their identity in opposition to the older generation and vice-versa.43 This conflict between the young students and middle-aged pastors mirrored broader social trends in 1960s Canada. Canadian youth throughout the 1960s increasingly defined themselves against their more traditional parents and participated in protests advocating for civil rights, world peace, and nuclear disarmament on university campuses.44 While these events did not directly shape the internship program, the social discourses surrounding them did. Generational differences heightened the religious and ethnic tensions between the students and pastors that were expressed against the backdrop of the 1960s.

The relationship between Schwantes and Holst in particular mirrored the broader tensions between Canadian youth and adults throughout the 1960s. The pastor of Martin Luther Church criticized Holst for embodying the rebellious generation of Canadian youth. In fact, Schwantes believed that the student-pastor relationship should consist of the pastor exerting “his authority and the student ‘submit[ing]’ to his authority.” It is no wonder, then, that Schwantes felt Holst expressed “an almost defiant attitude to accept the pastor and his word” when he continued his gatekeeping efforts against Schwantes’s wishes.45 The older man reflected contemporary discourses on troubled youth when he commented that the seminary students came from a “fatherless society” that produced “aimless, frightened and fearful” students who could not adequately face the challenges of the modern world. “To come into an established congregation to experiment and play havoc with the congregational life are indications of immature behaviour and childish rebellion,” Schwantes believed. He stated, “Their reluctance to submit to authority and discipline are further indications that something has gone amiss in their training and instructions. Wayne Holst, at the age of 24, is still very immature and emotionally unstable.” On the whole, Schwantes’s characterization of Holst as “fatherless” echoed the dominant postwar discourses on troubled youth. Traditional understandings of fatherhood situated fathers as the powerful head of their families who, if neglectful, could produce delinquent and disobedient children.46 As a mentor in the internship program, Schwantes took on a parental obligation to authoritatively criticize Holst for his gatekeeping ways. He believed that the students needed “to be corrected or else they will never grow up.”47 The synod leadership agreed with Schwantes. Reble believed that the students often behaved immaturely and that the Waterloo Lutheran Seminary more generally was dealing with a “rebellious generation” of students.48

Out of the four students, Boeckner most clearly embodied the “rebellious” spirit of the seminary students and overtly challenged the “traditional” church practices of the older generation. Boeckner performed what he termed a “hottenanies and folk”-styled service at Redeemer after Lorch granted his request to preach a guest sermon.

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