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By Daniel J. Lehmann
Holiday cheer from readers
Feedback surprisingly positive G
ifts come in all shapes, sizes and forms. Sometimes they aren’t physical things at all, they’re events or intentions. You’ll find
some great examples in the delightful cover story “Gifts to remember” (page 20).
Gifts can also be ideas and special words. That’s what The Lutheran
received over the past few weeks from readers about the future of the maga- zine, as requested in this space in October. Perhaps most surprising was what wasn’t given—rebukes. There’s no shortage of criticism directed at the maga- zine month in and out, but not on this occasion. Following is a sampling of what came in. “Your mag is cool the way it is (I’m a 20+ year reader). You’re overly
stressed about doing more or less of this or that. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” wrote Brian Akey of LaPuente, Calif. “I appreciate that hard issues in the church aren’t sugarcoated and even
though I don’t agree with all of the opinions and articles, I appreciate the diversity of our church and try to read with an open mind,” said Shiela Mugaas of Sherwood, N.D.
“I love it. I read every page,” said John Ondrejcek of Garden City, S.C. “You work to portray the mission that unites us and the direction we are heading as a church. Isn’t that being a proper voice, a ‘mouthpiece’ for the ELCA, for us?” wrote David Schulte, a pastor in San Antonio. “What I especially like—Peter Marty. I would love to be able to write like that. … I like the balance of stories. You put the funnies in the back, plenty of news, good studies, resources and links. I think you do an excellent job of being balanced. No small feat considering the wide range of perceptions and agendas,” said Jim Wenger, a pastor in Williamston, Mich. To mix things up a bit, Bernard Kern, a retired pastor from Fort Worth,
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Texas, suggested three “My views” (page 49) every month, expanding the “Letters to the editor” (page 48) to two full pages, limiting all feature articles to one page (“if our presiding bishop can manage that [page 50], so should other authors”), including one article each by a high school and college stu- dent every month, and one article a month by a seminary professor dealing with the issues that he/she believes to be the most compelling for the church to address. In all, these were good Christmas presents for the magazine. A sincere thanks to those who took the time to write. And what do I want for Christmas? Your active support in getting The Lutheran, The Little Lutheran and The Little Christian magazine subscriptions to as many ELCA members as possible. Be our advo- cates. Help us share the good, and sometimes diffi- cult, news to be found across our church. M
‘You’re overly stressed about doing more or less of this or that.’
MICHAEL D. WATSON
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