Letters


Mental illness articles aid understanding Kids in worship, movie review, Marty, editor, bishop, birthdays stir readers


Lutheran MAY 2014 www.thelutheran.org $2.50 Mental illness Coming out of the darkness


Story Page 16


24 26 38


Study guide Page 22


Dealing with infertility Bringing kids to worship Crossing continents


Articles on mental illness (May, page 16) are so badly needed. They open up discussions to help quell the stigma surrounding mental illness and encourage those affected to get treatment. I am the director of the Knox County, Ohio, affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (www.nami.org). I have heard the same heartbreaking stories as told by Deb Karch and Bob Mitchell every day—they are not alone. I pray that the articles encourage congregations to address this subject, reach out and help. Education is awareness and awareness is prevention. Dodie Melvin Mount Vernon, Ohio


Prayer for the well As a volunteer chaplain I lead weekly worship and Bible study with home- less and low-income folks. Their con- ditions are accompanied by mental and emotional trauma, substance abuse and sleep deprivation. Amid their great suffering, I find great


48 www.thelutheran.org ®


gifts, deep faith and spiritual insight. A mentally ill guest had a profound prayer request. He asked that we pray for “the people who are well.” Then he added, “So they can understand what it’s like to be sick.” Amen. The Rev. Roger Fuchs Portland, Ore.


Sounds of a future I can’t agree more with “What you don’t see” (May, page 26). I always enjoy seeing young children at wor- ship. They are welcome to come and sit by me and my wife. If the pas- tor’s sermon is getting too long or disconnected, it gives me an excuse and someone to play with. When our daughter was young, we brought her with us to worship. She learned how to worship, what it means to be Christian and to grow in her faith at a very early age. My father-in-law, a Lutheran pastor, said, “God made lit- tle children noisy, fussy and squirmy. So if they are noisy, fussy and squirmy in his house, it is God’s problem and not anybody else’s.” A church that welcomes and has little children at worship is a church with a future. Dick Schmidt Bonney Lake, Wash.


Disappointed You need to find someone other than the Brussats to review movies. Noah (May, page 44) was one of the worst movies I’ve seen in recent years. I went hoping to see at least a some- what biblical version of Noah only to find a fantasy that was 90 percent Hol- lywood and 10 percent Noah. There were about 45 people in the theater— three walked out about midway. The only reason we stayed was to see how


they handled the ending, which was no better than the rest of the movie. David E. Miller Mesa, Ariz.


Good as ever As usual, Peter W. Marty opens the dusty covers of the Ten Command- ments (May, page 3) to give us the light they offer. He also knows how to find a great closing line as he quotes professor Thomas G. Long’s words on the big 10: “wings that enable our hearts to catch the wind of God’s Spirit, and to soar.” Uplifting. Catherine Boone Shealy Atlanta


Decision to blame The editor got it wrong in “A con- versation about money” (April, page 4). It is a conversation about what the ELCA stands for. It’s not a coin- cidence that the drop in donations started in 2009. This drop is a direct result of the ELCA Churchwide Assembly decision of that year to ros- ter openly gay clergy. Don Brohm Chesterfield, Mo.


Changed hearts I was excited to read Ryan Cum- ming’s “Locked up, locked out” (April, page 28). Our little church, Redeemer Lutheran, is in an area where many felons live. We discov- ered a significant percentage of our population is unable to attend church at all. Those on the sex offender reg- istry are unwelcomed or not permit- ted due to legal restrictions. This Eas- ter we began offering an adult-only service. The response has been tre- mendous. God has been on the move.


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