The evening before I left for Indianapolis to be a voting member at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly, I attended a block party on the street in front of the 100 year old house we’d moved into two weeks before. Flipping burgers on the grill was a woman named Irma who, along with her husband, own the big house …
The Mission Scene in Bali Today: Post-Denominational Church History 2001
Colleagues, Two years ago at this time Marie and I were in Indonesia, serving as mission volunteers with an English Language Protestant congregation in Legian, suburb of Denpasar, the capital city of the island of Bali. Some Thursday Theologies of that era (ThTh 60 to ThTh 72) originated from that venue. One of our colleagues on Bali …
Empire-building infects us all
Colleagues, Co-editor Robin Morgan is attending the national assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America these days in Indianapolis, Indiana. After only a few years on the ELCA clergy roster, she’s a voting delegate! Which is something I never achieved in all my decades on that roster in three different Lutheran denominations. Before she left St. …
What Women Clergy Have Taught Me
Colleagues, The text for today’s posting comes from Paul V. Marshall, Bishop of the Episcopal diocese of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Paul and I crossed paths during my first years of teaching at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis 30 years ago. Yes–tell it not in Gath–his primal roots are in the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod.If I remember right, …
Organized Congregation – An Oxymoron? – Part 4 (Finale)
Colleagues, With this posting I’d like to bring closure to the discussion of the Organized Congregation. Well, at least for the foreseeable future, for there are other things to talk about. Here are some of the remaining responses about OC that came in with an occasional comment from me.Peace & Joy! Ed Schroeder From an ELCA pastor …
Ninety-Five Theses on Church Control
Colleagues, This week the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod holds its convention in St. Louis. There are a growing number of voices for reform within the LCMS, and a fair number of them are in town for the assembly. Robert Schmidt, Dean of Theological Studies (Emeritus) at the Portland, Oregon campus of the LCMS’s Concordia University is …
Organized Congregation – An Oxymoron? – Part 3
Colleagues, I’d like to bring this topic to closure. But Garrison Keillor says some stories do not end. So here’s a batch of responses from you readers, and some thoughts of mine about what you said. Still to pass on to you are responses from a Lutheran pastor in Singapore, another one about the 11th commandment: “Thou …
The Organized Congregation – An Oxymoron? Part 2: Reader Responses
Colleagues, Responses to ThTh 157 with its “musings and mutterings” about organized congregations [OC]–quite a number of them–have been coming in. I pass some on to you today, now and then with my comments to the response. There’s still more for a later posting. But–no surprise–responses are also coming in to last week’s item on homosexuality, ThTh …
Homosexuality revisited
Colleagues, This time a review of a book on homosexuality.I’ve been asked to discuss the topic–this very Thursday evening June 28–with a Lutheran congregation in suburban Chicago. Their last speaker was Stanton Jones, one of the two authors of this book. So for my input at the meeting this evening I’ve opted to do a review of …
Armenian Orthodox Church’s 1700th (sic!) anniversary plus other churchly tidbits
Colleagues, Today’s ThTh posting offers you 4 separate items under the broad rubric of “Ecclesiology.” The most important one is the Armenian item, I think. Don’t stop until you have at least gotten to that one. My own education about Armenian Christianity came primarily through my friendship with an Armenian Orthodox priest, Khoren Habeshian, whom I mentored …