Letters to the editor


Churches seem to be marching in place Ordination article, statistical report, von Bingen review draw responses


® JULY 2011


www.thelutheran.org $2.50


eGreatxpectations


What are pastors, churches


looking for? 20 Plus study guide 26


Go ahead, go to some trouble 12


Scientist, theologian mix specialized studies 16


Global mission program draws young adults 28


Synod assembly reports 34 ‘


I believe pastors should challenge more members more, and members should be braver.


ordinations of two practicing homo- sexual pastors an enlightening lesson in grace, I wonder if this kind of showcas- ing doesn’t further fan the flames of the difference of opinion within the ELCA concerning such ordinations. There are many who, although they disagree with “the vote,” are willing to let the process develop naturally and quietly. Then this article comes out, which I know will be the subject of much discussion in the congregation I serve. Would it be wiser and kinder not to make such a public spectacle of these events? Articles like this only make more people consider leaving the ELCA. If that is the intent, where is the grace in that? If not, where is the consideration of those who wish to remain in the ELCA but live in it with


’


“Like a mighty tortoise, moves the church of God. People, we are treading where we’ve always trod!” That para- phrase of an “Onward, Christian Sol- diers” verse was heard in a sermon in Luray, Va., decades ago. The quip is a reminder of a continuing predicament in the ELCA. We seem to be marching in place. I believe pastors should challenge more members more, and members should be braver. After all, Jesus said, “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). So, Lutherans, as Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton advises in “Great expectations”


(July, page 20): “Let’s stop being shy.” The Rev. Harold E. Burnette Edinburg, Va.


Hold off on these stories While I found the article “R. Guy & Keith Fry ...” (July, page 32) on the


48 The Lutheran • www.thelutheran.org


“bound conscience”? The Rev. Emil H. Klatt III Lancaster, Ohio


(Editor’s note: See July, page 4.) Right thing to do


It would be easier to ignore the issue of homosexuality in hopes it would just go away, but it has been with the human race for thousands of years. Perhaps 10 percent of the population is gay. We learn it might be genetic. Why would someone choose it as a lifestyle, difficult at best? Why would our Creator do this to perfectly good people? “The vote” was the right thing to do. God would not want us to make anyone’s life more difficult over something that can’t be


changed, helped or even fully explained. Pat Oehler


Sacramento, Calif.


Report coming & going In “For the record” (July, page 8) you list congregations that have left the ELCA. I searched and searched the issue


for a record of new congregations to the ELCA. I have looked in past issues also. Why the continual negative slant? Our synod, Delaware-Maryland, cel- ebrated two new congregations at our recent assembly: Joy Reigns and Grace of God. I’m sure other synods have also added congregations. Please also keep us


abreast of the new congregations. The Rev. Nicholas Brie Frederick, Md.


Articles hit the mark


Imagine my surprise and pleasure to find the article “Going green, even at the end” (July, page 30). Our son died in April 2010. His wish was for his ashes to be spread on Mount Hood and the Colum- bia River. Illness kept his father and me from doing that last summer and fall. Then his father Jim died in December. So this summer Michael’s two daugh- ters, two grandsons and I plan to fulfill Michael’s wishes. I was so happy to read that others are making the same choices. Jim was also cremated and interred in an urn made by our son Mark with wood from a tree that had grown 30 feet from the house where Jim was born. No metal or cement for either of our loved ones. I also found the articles on calling a new pastor timely and insightful, as Holy Cross Lutheran in Glenwood City, Wis., will be doing that after having Pastor


Ralph Thompson the past 33 years. Ila Gillis Hammond, Wis.


Godsent, really? The article “Vision: From the Life of Hildegard von Bingen” (June, page 42) portrays von Bingen as a “recipient of godsent visions with insights about the Bible and the natural world.” Since many prophets (for example, Joseph


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52