Picture this


STEPHANIE BERKAS/ELCA


tion for the whole issue, as we were encouraged by the ministries of the 10 leaders under 40 (page 16). I have been involved in the reconciliation work between native peoples and the rest of us in South Dakota for 27 years. The return of the church prop- erty in Denver (page 34) was indeed a “stunning, remarkable ceremonial moment.” And I was very appre- ciative of the obituary on James R. Crumley Jr. (page 44), who led the former Lutheran Church in America so well with humility for many years. Legia L. Spicer Watertown, S.D.


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Celebrating a year in Rwanda August marks one year since the ELCA Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM) program started its work in Rwanda. Luke Hanson (shown with two of his students) was in the inaugural group and completed his service in July. He taught English to 80 3- to 5-year-olds for the Lutheran Church of Rwanda. In his blog, Hanson said he learned to shift his priorities from a “notion of progress and development” to building relationships. “[That change] has led me to fi nd more and more fulfi llment by centering my teaching and other activities around the relationships I’m building with playful preschoolers,” he wrote. This month the next group of young adults begins service in Rwanda, one of nine YAGM country programs that was f unded through gifts to Always Being Made New: The Campaign for the ELCA (www.elca.org/campaign).


Note the passings The ELCA growth stats are interest- ing (June, page 9). But the story is incomplete because it does not men- tion the churches closed in the same period. In this area, there have been several closures in the last few years. Why? One reason was the denomi- national merger in 1988. Before we had neighboring parishes from dif- ferent Lutheran bodies. The merger put us all in the same pot and we


suddenly found our synod’s largest church as a close neighbor. Perhaps one other reason for the closures of so many older congregations was the assignment of inexperienced pastors to these mature churches. As new churches are established, old ones die and should be honored in the same story. Peter Homburger Wheat Ridge, Colo.


August 2015 49


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