pretty good lutherans

Posts Tagged ‘Missouri’

Whose Christmas message is most effective?

Monday, December 21st, 2009

Here’s the Pretty Good Lutherans review:

Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson, ELCA
Christmas letter (short, to the point, biblical)
Christmas video (preachy, recitation of Bible verses. Best line is the last: “My prayer for you is a meaningful and blessed Christmas.”)

The Rev. Jerry Kieschnick, President, Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
Christmas letter (beginning and end catchy, relevant to the times; middle is recitation of Bible verses)
Christmas video (Takes an eternity to download)

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, The Episcopal Church
Christmas letter (thoughtful, provocative, puts Christmas message in everyday language, visually engaging)
No video

The Rev. Geoffrey Black, General Minister and President, United Church of Christ
Christmas letter (more “me-centered” than “we-centered” – but it’s his first year in this role
No video

Cardinal Francis George, President, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Card (pricey and impersonal)
No video
(more…)

Tags: Black, Cardinal, Catholic, Christmas, Episcopal, Hanson, Jefferts, Kischnick, letter, Missouri, NALC, CORE, LCMC, Schori, United, video
Posted in NALC, CORE, LCMC | 5 Comments »

Remembering my mom, the Vet

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

That’s my mom, the Vet, to the left.

She grew up poor and Irish in rural Missouri. She’s the kid who walked two miles to school every day (her parents never owned a car).

After high school, an uncle sent her a bus ticket to St. Louis and money for nursing school. She’d never been so far from home.

She studied hard and dreamed of being a medical missionary. When World War II broke out, she learned of the shortage of nurses and joined the U.S. Army Nurses Corps.

“Maybe I’ll get to see Des Moines,” she thought. The Army sent her to Africa, where she was stationed with the St. Louis University Military Hospital. She tended to wounded soldiers brought there.

She remembered those soliders all of her life. No matter what difficulties she encountered, she would recall the suffering she witnessed and said her problems seemed insignificant by comparison.

(more…)

Tags: Irish, Missouri, mom, NALC, CORE, LCMC, nurse
Posted in NALC, CORE, LCMC | 2 Comments »

The ‘other’ Missouri Lutherans

Sunday, November 8th, 2009

A Blue Ribbon Task Force commissioned by the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod is calling on the nation’s second-largest denomination to change its name.

That sits well with members of the nation’s first largest Lutheran denomination who live in Missouri. Some jokingly call themselves the “forgotten” Lutherans.

“When people talk about ‘Missouri Lutherans,’ they’re usually not talking about us,” said Jim Hochberger, 82, of Jackson, Mo. He’s a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Missouri is home to more than 350 LCMS and 75 ELCA congregations.

The 2.4-million member Missouri Synod’s headquarters is in the St. Louis area and the bulk of its membership in the Midwest. The ELCA has more than 4.6-million members and main offices in Chicago.

Hochberger said some ELCA members even use the shorthand “Missouri Lutherans” to mean “those other guys.”

“We remind them that not all Lutherans in Missouri are Missouri Synod Lutherans,” he said and laughed.

After a four-year study, an LCMS task force issued a 50-page report recently with several recommendations to the denomination’s structure and governance.

(more…)

Tags: Burkee, Central States, ELCA, Hochberger, LCMS, Missouri, Missouri Synod, NALC, CORE, LCMC
Posted in NALC, CORE, LCMC | 9 Comments »