Colleagues, This week’s Thursday theologian is Timothy Hoyer, pastor of Gloria Dei congregation (ELCA) in Lakewood, New York. A Seminex grad, Timothy has been pastoring ever since he got his sheepskin in 1982. That’s 25 years already. He’s hooked on the Augsburg Aha! as the best way to get to what’s really “good” and genuinely “new” about …
Crossing the Word of God with the “Work” of Zion Lutheran’s Church Council
Colleagues, Marie and I have been away from St. Louis for three weeks–and nobody seems to have noticed. But now we’re back home and I want to tell you what we did on our early spring “vacation.” Some of it was work. Trigger for the adventure was an email from Dick Lanoue, now of York PA, council member …
The Elephant in the Sanctuary
Ed received this sermon from an interim pastor and wanted to pass it on to you.Peace, Robin Grace, mercy and peace to you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.I’ve been standing in this pulpit for almost eight months now. Truthfully, sometimes it seems like forever and sometimes …
Reflections on the 2007 Crossings Conference, Part 2
Colleagues, Some more comments from conference-goers.Peace & Joy! Ed Schroeder I was at the Crossings Conference and I was pleased with the focus on hermeneutics and the proclamation of law and gospel rather than on effecting social change.Referring to the participant you quote in the letter this week I will say that “Faith as a transformative force …
Reflections on the 2007 Crossings Conference
Colleagues, I asked for participant reflections on the Honest-to-God Gospel conference we had here last month. A few folks responded. Some told me that they already did so on the Crossings Conference blog. Here are some items that came back to me. I also offer my own comments on their comments.Peace & Joy! Ed Schroeder A-1. Comment received: …
Speaking from the Heart
Colleagues, Last week the bishop of the Central States Synod of the ELCA–my bishop–Gerald (“Jerry”) Mansholt was in St. Louis talking to a strange-and-wonderful bunch of Missouri Synod and ELCA pastors, local folks all sitting together around tables having lunch. The group consists of parish pastors “from both sides of the aisle.” For some years now they …
An Incarnation Narration
Colleagues, In the early 1950s Norman Dietz and I were seminary classmates in St. Louis. It was a five-year program. About halfway through those five years I wound up as editor of the theological journal published by the Seminary Student Association, THE SEMINARIAN.So far as I know, nobody had yet invented the term “narrative theology” in those …
Book review: “Cross Examinations: Readings on the Meaning of the Cross Today”
Colleagues, [I thought I’d get around to ruminating on last week’s wingding Crossings conference for this week’s ThTh post. But not yet. Just this a.m. we took the last of our five international guests to the airport–all of them having crashed with us–so now first we can breathe. Tomorrow, perhaps, think. Next Thursday, maybe . . . …
Sermon from Crossings Conference (2007) “The Net Made Flesh”
Colleagues, This Thursday (Feb. 1) came up pretty fast. The very day after last week’s posting the international guests started arriving for the 3-day Crossings Conference: “Honest-to-God Gospel For Today’s Church and World.” By Sunday evening we had five in our home, from Germany, Australia, Ethiopia, Singapore. Early Monday morning we then drove to the conference site …
The Net Made Flesh
Epiphany 5, Series C Honest to God Gospel Conference Eucharist, 30 Jan ‘07 Luke 5:1-11 Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and …