Now I’m not saying that church professionals need faith more than other folks do. But I’m tempted to. Nor is that what ELCA means when it says of “pastors and lay leaders” that what they need first of all is “depth of the faith.” Who doesn’t? Nobody’s faith can afford to be skindeep. Still, when it comes to …
Encountering the Hidden God
Edward H. Schroeder [Printed in AREOPAGUS- A Living Encounter with Today’s Religious World, published by Tao Fong Shan Christian Centre, Hong Kong, Pentecost 1993.] It’s easy to talk about God’s grace, but what about his silence? Edward Schroeder argues that sharing the most painful side of faith can lead to a more honest and fruitful dialog. Raimundo …
A Whole New Work: Lutheran Images Of the People of God in Creation
Edward H. Schroeder [Presentation: St. Luke’s Lutheran Church (Chicago) April 24, 1992] 1 Classical Lutheran Images of Creation The Great Chicago Flood of Holy Week 1992 is too much trouble with too many images to let go to waste—especially when we are reflecting on God’s creation. For it provides us some of the classical Lutheran images of …
Carl J. Peter, Jr. (1932-1991): A Tribute
Robert W. Bertram [Printed in Dialog 31:1 (1992): 2-3. Used with permission.] Vividly I recall the stern admonition I once received from the later Father Carl Peter, now asleep in Christ. What brings to mind that admonition of eleven years ago is the sermon which his brother recently preached at his funeral. “Carl used to say often to …
The Soteriological Mission of Theology: Robert W. Bertram
by Michael Hoy Zion Lutheran Church Wausau, Wisconsin with Response to Michael Hoy by Robert W. Bertram [Printed in dialog 31:1 (1992): 48-53. Reprinted with permission.] In an essay published a decade ago, Robert W. (Bob) Bertram comments on “How a Lutheran Does Theology.” “Lutheran theology begins where all Christian theology does, namely with our risen Lord’s …
Thankfulness: An Apostolic Afterthought?
Edward H. Schroeder [Printed in Lutheran Woman Today (Sept. 1991) p. 5-8. Reprinted with permission.] “And—oh yes—be thankful.” These words, tacked on almost, as an afterthought, are a loose translation of the apostle Paul’s words in Colossians 3:15—his well-known advice about new life in Christ. Thankfulness an afterthought? For Christians, that can hardly be true. Or …
Abounding in Hope
Robert W. Bertram [Address at the 1991 Assembly of the Missouri-Kansas Synod – (ELCA), Lindsborg, Kansas, June 7-8, 1991.] ABSTRACT The “abounding in hope” theme of Romans 15: 13 can address the boundaries of hope the Christian faith community experiences in the divisions between those strong and those weak in faith. In the setting of the Epistle, in …
The Exchange of Peace
Robert W. Bertram [Address at the 1991 Assembly of the Missouri-Kansas Synod, ELCA in Lindsborg, Kansas, June 6-8, 1991.] Isn’t that what we in our congregations act out on Sunday mornings when we come to that point in the service called “The Exchange of Peace” or “Passing The Peace” or just “The Peace”? I mean, aren’t we …
IS DIALOGUE HAZARDOUS TO ECUMENISM?
Robert W. Bertram [Address at Liturgical Institute, Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Indiana, April 10, 1991.] If we distinguish between bad dialogue and good dialogue, then, yes, bad dialogue is indeed hazardous to ecumenism. But good dialogue, by contrast, is the very soul of ecumenism. In what follows I would like to go so far as to propose that …
“Laity in Ministry to the World: God’s Secret Weapon for Reforming the Church and the World”
Edward H. Schroeder [Presentation to Salt Lake Ministerial Association, Salt Lake City, Utah, March 4, 1991. Printed in Crossings Newsletter, A Tribute Edition, 2001.] 1. A new offertory collect in the Lutheran Book of Worship has the praying people saying this: “We dedicate our lives to the care and redemption of all that you [God] have made.” …