Chaplain scholarships Jackie Bradley
Wisconsin woman raises awareness for bipolar disorder
I
t’s something no mother should have to endure: Watching her talented son suffer from bipolar
disorder, eventually ending his life at age 30. Jackie Bradley, a member of
Midvale Lutheran Church, Mad- ison, Wis., was not this young man’s mother, but a friend. Theirs may have seemed an unlikely friendship: Jay Lechler was in his 20s and Bradley in her late 60s when music brought them together. Bradley decided late in life
to follow her musical passions, recording several CDs of stan-
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clergy pedophilia. Members of the “Commission for the Protection of Minors” also include a British psy- chiatrist, a German psychologist and a former prime minister of Poland. The commission will consider measures such as increasing awareness and edu- cation of child exploitation, improved screening for clergy, and criminal action against offenders.
Call for gender justice Young adults representing the ELCA attended the U.N. 58th Commission on the Status of Women in New York City, an annual gathering in March to
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www.thelutheran.org
evaluate progress on gender equal- ity. One understanding they came away with is that without social and economic change, gender inequal- ity continues to grow. Molly Kestner, a member of Lutheran Volunteer Corps serving as an assistant with the ELCA Justice for Women program, called the five days “too much and not enough. ... I heard a clear call from member nations and NGOs (non- governmental organizations) for a stand-alone goal on gender equality and women’s rights. As Lutherans, we can [offer] a place of faithful hope and healing for those experiencing
oppression due to gender issues.”
Crash kills member Bill Strothman, 62, a member of First Lutheran Church, Bothell, Wash., was one of two killed in a March 18 helicopter crash in Seattle near the Space Needle. Strothman, a camera- man for the helicopter company, was known as a great storyteller and, with a “gracious and generous spirit,” was a leader at First. He contributed to projects for Evergreen Youth Televi- sion (located in Seattle but used by the ELCA), Lutheran World Relief, and Holden Village in Chelan, Wash.
dards and original songs she plays on piano. Lechler was a Madison- area musician and producer. They became partners
in recording Bradley’s music (www.
jackiesmusic.net). She said Lechler “opened up the world of music” for her.
Lechler’s death was devastating
to Bradley, who had been working with him for nearly five years when he died in 2012. She is now on a mis- sion to raise awareness surrounding bipolar disorder (see also page 16). She doesn’t want others to suffer like Lechler did or be left behind like his parents. To that end, Bradley recently released a CD titled Comet Boy. With help from singer/songwriter Beth Kille, Bradley wrote all the songs. A tribute to Lechler, the songs
reflect the journey after losing some- one to suicide. Various Madison-area musicians perform on the record- ing. All proceeds will be donated to the Ryan Licht Sang Foundation for Bipolar Disorder.
T
he ELCA Fund for Lead- ers added an endowment to provide partial scholarships
for ELCA seminarians pursuing chaplaincy. The Federal Chaplaincy Endow-
ment “will be part of the ELCA Cam- paign … with a proposed goal of rais- ing $300,000 under the $15 million [goal],” said Eric Wester, assistant to the presiding bishop and direc- tor for federal chaplaincies. “This scholarship is intended to support the next generation of rostered lead- ers discerning a call into chaplaincy ministry.” It is much-needed. “We retire
chaplains at a rate of 2 to 1 compared to new chaplains we appoint,” he said. One ELCA military chaplain can-
didate is Chelsea March, a graduate of The Citadel who received a Fund for Leaders scholarship for her first year at Lutheran Southern Seminary, Columbia, S.C. Currently the ELCA has 163 mili-
tary chaplains in uniform (including 12 who are deployed or at sea), plus 32 Veterans Affairs chaplains and five Bureau of Prison chaplains.
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