Our 2000 Synod Assembly passed two resolutions petitioning the ELCA Churchwide Assembly to produce a rite of blessing for same sex couples, materials for pastors in counseling same sex couples and an end to the celibacy rule for gay and lesbian rostered persons. Why? Because we, as a church, are responding to justice issues proposed […]
Archives for June 2016
Reflecting on Let’s Talk
Five years ago, in the parking lot at Carthage College following the Synod Assembly, Pastor Tom Knutson pursued me and laid out a vision of a theological journal for the Metro Chicago Synod. It was time, he said, for this church to engage seriously the issues that were confronting us as a church, not simply […]
The Forde-Nestingen Letter Critiqued
Passage of “Called to Common Mission” by the 1999 Churchwide Assembly has brought a storm of protest organized as the so-called “WordAlone Network.” A preview of the protest could be seen in heated discussions of the “Mahtomedi Resolution” at synod assemblies last year. Let’s Talk published the proceedings of a pre-assembly forum at our MCS […]
A View From Augsburg
At first, rain threatened to spoil Reformation Day 1999, but by 9:00 a.m. the sun had dispelled the clouds and an unusually warm day enveloped the historic city of Augsburg, Germany, which would witness yet one more momentous event before sunset. Bells pealed from churches throughout the city announcing an event of great joy. Those […]
Celebration of the Signing of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification
On October 31, 1999, in Augsburg, Germany, representatives of the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation signed the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification. A Joint Celebration by sponsored by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago and the Metropolitan Chicago Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America at Immanuel Lutheran Church […]
Review: A Letter on Peace and Good Health by James Wind
In 1998, the Inter Lutheran Coordinating Committee on Ministerial Health and Wellness published a booklet concerning issues of health, faith and ethics, titled A Letter on Peace and Good Health. The “letter,” which was the outcome of three years of joint study by representatives of the ELCA and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, was sent to […]
Parish Nurse Program at Our Saviour’s
Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church, located in Naperville, Illinois, initiated a parish nurse program in May, 1985, creating a vital link between this faith community and a faith-based health care system. Naperville at that time was one of the fastest growing communities in the state of Illinois and Our Saviour’s was growing into a large congregation. […]
Wholeness After Loss
The question has been asked, “How does one remain whole after the death of a life partner whom you have loved and lived with for many years?” As I have reflected on that question and looked back on my life since my husband died, some answers have emerged. First, I needed to come to grips with […]
Health, Healing and the Congregation
The beach is not the place to work, to read, write or think. I should have remembered that from other years… At first the tired body takes over completely… One is forced against one’s mind, against all tidy resolutions, back into the primeval rhythms of the seashore… And then, some morning in the second week, […]
Did Noah Get Arthritis?
If sin is the “age old rebellion,” then would Adam have refused to go to the doctor if he got sick? Biblical history often seems to present a clear connection, even a synthesis, between sin and illness—certainly between sin and death and conversely forgiveness and healing—and perhaps, between life and health. But we who live […]
Wellness and Spirituality: I Never Looked Up
I believe we are all spiritual by nature. In other words, we are in search of something other than ourselves, i.e., an “otherness.” I prefer to call that otherness God. Meister Eckhart wrote, “God is always at home. It is we who have gone out for a walk.” The center of our lives is God, […]
Comments and Questions: The Dialogue Extended
[At the 1999 ELCA Metropolitan Chicago Synod Assembly workshop on ecumenical decisions, written comments and questions were submitted by workshop attendees to the panel of presenters resulting in a lively exchange among the four; a “Let’s Talk” moment. The different views of the nature of communion with other church bodies, different readings of confessional documents, […]
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