Soon - The I AM Sermons in the Gospel of John Should Arrive by Saturday or Sunday. Mine Was One Day Late, So That Can Happen.

I sent one or more copies of - The I AM Sermons in the Gospel of John: The Name of God in Exodus 3 - using Prime, so the copies should arrive this Saturday or Sunday. I was promised yesterday for mine, but it came today.

Don't be shy about emailing me if you did not get yours by Monday, or if you need more copies. Email - greg.jackson.edlp@gmail.com

Cub Editor Phil Hale will get his copy of The I AM Sermons in John. He will probably use it to stabilize the kitchen table leg. The WELS, ELS, and LCMS Seminary libraries are getting theirs. I skipped the ELCA seminaries because I do not know which one will close next.

The Synoptic Parables are next, and my academic calendar has been trimmed by me. Three classes tended to morph into more, so I am now keeping the number at two online classes.

I will work on audio for the broadcasts tomorrow morning. We had a big improvement in sound, with two more steps to take - 

1. using the hymn files, not linking from the Net, and 
2. using the Broadway Mike alone for sound coming from the same approximate place. I will record that tomorrow morning, d.v.

WELS spies were sent to the Southern Babtists - and were dismayed by the convention banning the NIV from all their bookstores. And you wonder why WELS and Missouri are fading as fast as ELCA?

In 1914 John Alexander Smith, Professor of Moral Philosophy at Oxford University, told his new class of undergraduates:

“Gentlemen, you are now about to embark on a course of studies which will occupy you for two years. Together, they form a noble adventure. But I would like to remind you of an important point. Nothing that you will learn in the course of your studies will be of the slightest possible use to you in after life, save only this, that if you work hard and intelligently you should be able to detect when a man is talking rot, and that, in my view, is the main, if not the sole, purpose of education.”

 Editor of the worst hymnal ever, until WELS cranked out another one, even worse.

 Why no apologies?

Words Cannot Describe

 Kathryn Kleinhans, dean of Trinity

Committed to womanist theology, Trinity Lutheran Seminary and the ELCA’s Quality of Call Initiative for Women in Ministry have appointed Denise Rector as the seminary’s first joint doctoral scholar-in-residence (DSIR).

Womanist theology is an understanding of God and the world that centers on the experiences and insights of Black women. Trinity, part of Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, has made increasing efforts to give voice to historical and contemporary exploration of Christian faith based on the unique experiences and contributions of women of African descent.

 ELCA leaders

 Does anyone guess where Eaton, a mere bishop, stood after the 2009 vote?

The DSIR is awarded to ELCA women of color who are completing their dissertations in theology, biblical studies or religion. The position supports the practical and professional requirements of doctoral candidates as they complete their dissertations in fields that serve the ongoing reformation of the church.

 Nadia

Rector is completing her doctorate through the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. Her dissertation explores the feedback loop between historiography (how we imagine and write history) and epistemology (how we know) in the construction of African American racial identities throughout U.S. history and in the church.

“I became interested in the study of womanist theology when I realized that I wasn’t seeing myself—a Black woman—or the history of Black women represented in the teachings of some of the theology classes I was taking,” Rector said. She finds that womanist theology “recognizes the importance of including people … whose rich, cultural understandings of the divinity of God may not always show up in church on Sunday morning.”

Rector said it was essential to explore these issues faithfully and theologically and to understand their effect on how church history and American history are incorporated into the teachings of God’s creation. “For a long time, there has been an Americanist religion that doesn’t always reflect the racial and ethical variety of creation.”

Womanist theology “recognizes the importance of including people … whose rich, cultural understandings of the divinity of God may not always show up in church on Sunday morning.”

Kathryn Kleinhans, dean of Trinity, said the seminary is committed to looking at American history “through marginalized groups and telling their stories of history, theology and ethics that we haven’t told yet.”

In 2021, both ELCA Gender Justice and Women’s Empowerment and the anonymous-donor-funded ELCA Quality of Call Initiative supported Trinity’s activities related to the ELCA Womanist Theology Initiative. The project allows students at all ELCA seminaries to take classes focused on womanist theology, regardless of which seminary offers the course.

The appointment of Rector also builds on the success of “Hush No More: Perspectives From Womanist Theologians,” a series of seminars hosted by Trinity in fall 2021 on the development of womanist interpretation of Scripture and womanist perspectives on pastoral care.

Mary J. Streufert, ELCA director for the Quality of Call Initiative and for Gender Justice and Women’s Empowerment, said the doctoral scholar-in-residence is an investment in women.

“Supporting women of color working in fields such as womanist theology is also an investment in ministerial imagination and formation in the ELCA,” Streufert said. “I cannot wait to see the Holy Spirit continue to work.”

Rector, who expects to finish her dissertation in 2024, said Black women seminary professors are rare.

“Being here at Trinity Lutheran Seminary has been like landing in the best-feathered nest for someone starting a teaching career,” she said. “Dean Kleinhans wants to bring in professors of color to be part of the diversity of academia so students have exposure to theology taught with a culturally rich, expansive and inclusive view.”

 Recent bishop photo above, the pioneers below.