"During the recess, word circulated in the press section that the tornado had damaged the top of Central Lutheran Church, which is practically next door to the convention center."
Goodsoil's Faith
American Lutheran Publicity Bureau ^ | 19 August AD 2009 | Richard O. Johnson
I didn’t go, of course, but I got a look at the bulletin for the “Goodsoil Eucharist” tonight at Central Lutheran. Presider was Bp. David Brauer-Rieke, preacher was Barbara Lundblad, others involved included Robyn Hartwig and Gladys Moore. I thought you might like to see the “Affirmation of Faith” used in the service:
I believe in God,
Maker of an unfinished world,
Who calls us to participate in bringing about the fullness of Creation.
God, who created abundant resources to provide for all
. God, who has not divided people into rich and poor,
owners and slaves,
Nor pitted us against each other because of race, color, social class or sex.
I believe in Jesus Christ who was ridiculed, tortured and executed for the sins of humankind.
He has overthrown the rule of evil and injustice and continues to judge and redeem the hatred and arrogance of human beings.
I believe in the Spirit of God whose flame comforts us with divine presence and causes our hearts to burn for righteousness and justice.
I believe in the reconciling power of God in our lives and in the world.
I believe that God, through people, can bring peace and hope, justice and equality, the relief of suffering and pain, and the final triumph of love and grace.
Amen.
Hardly the faith once delivered to the saints, is it?
***
GJ - Goodsoil is one of many lobbying efforts within ELCA. Lundblad preached for a Missouri Synod congregation some years ago. She graduated from Augustana College in 1966 and from Yale Divinity in 1979. In the US, the most famous lectures on preaching are the endowed Beecher Lectures at Yale Divinity. Lundblad was invited to give them in 2000.
*2000 Lundblad, Barbara K. "Marking Time: Stories Remembered at the River's Edge : Lecture 1: It Will Be All Right: New Rubrics in the Holy Man's Room; Lecture 2: The Camel and the Cash Machine: A Story to Take Literally; Lecture 3: Water on a Desert Road: Splashing in the Scroll of Isaiah.
Readers can probably guess that the recent Beecher lectures are to preaching what the Nobel Prize is to literature, a reward for being radical.
The Minnesota Independent sheds light on the lobbying effort.
