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A Lesson from Wrigley

The November/December 2007 issue is a final issue of sorts. No, it's not Lutheran Partners' last issue, nor it is it my final issue as editor.

But this issue will be an end of one way of publishing Lutheran Partners. On the flip side, starting with the January/February 2008 issue, a new way of publishing Lutheran Partners — a redesign of editorial and graphic content — will be coming to your mail boxes and computers.

Before I give you a brief rundown on what the redesign entails, let me take you on a trip to Wrigley Field in Chicago.

I'm a Chicago Cubs fan. When I married twenty-six years ago, I also married into a family of avid Cubs fans. I'd swear that my wife's family's blood types are well-matched with the Cubs' own blood types. And as an in-law, I've been a recipient of extensive blood transfusions.

Unfortunately, my wife and I haven't been able to get to the famed Wrigley Field too often to see things in person. So we have been gobbling up the highs ands lows of this franchise mainly through the media, as well as through the mutual conversation (and consolation) of fellow devotees.

On Sept. 10, my wife and I took a train and bus ride downtown to see Chicago's Northsiders play. The team was coming home after a very rough week of away games. But on this day, the Cubs skewered the visiting St. Louis Cardinals 12-3. They did this with 17 pounding hits (including three home runs).

I know that things look and feel differently when your team happens to be winning. But I also realized a truth that we media-soaked sport fans may sometimes forget. There is a lot more to a ball game when you are right there on site than can be adequately transmitted through the media. I am not saying that the media can't provide exciting renderings of what's happening. But it's just not possible for their "eyes" to capture all of what goes on.

But my own eyes did capture and experience a fresh way to look at one of our culture's great traditions. When we first arrived at Wrigley, I noticed how huge the stadium really is. I climbed the stairs to an area just behind home plate and craned my neck skyward to get a glimpse of the entire stadium that seats more than forty thousand fans who regularly attend. (I realize that sport fans can sit in arenas even larger than Wrigley Field, but coming from a small city in Pennsylvania of 40,000, I was asking myself, "My entire hometown could fit in this place!?") I looked out on a field, eye-balling the very green turf and deep brown dirt and how well-manicured things were. During the game, my ears picked up on the cheers, boos, moans, curses, and ongoing arguments with umpires' decisions.

Even in the restrooms — so fans don't have to miss a moment of the game — a local radio station is blaring play-by-play action. I happened to be in one when the Cubs blasted one of their 17 hits; you should have heard the guys cheer. Sounds were bouncing all over the walls. The cheers were deafening.

Then, there were the vendors climbing up and down stairs, hawking hot dogs, cotton candy, peanuts and, of course, all-pervasive beer and soft drink. Fans politely relayed food items and cash down long rows.

Of course, there was a lot of joy in Mudville that day. Fans sprang to their feet, hi-fiving one another with each hit as the insurance runs kept piling up. With near liturgical regularity, they belted out "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" to the leading of Cubs' legend and radio announcer, Ron Santo, during the Seventh Inning Stretch.

For me, that day, the game of baseball was being packaged and choreographed differently than I had envisioned it.

For many months now, we (staff and advisory committee members) have been in the business of considering new ways of re-packaging Lutheran Partners — that is, redesigning editorial and graphic content — for you, our readers.

We'll still be in the business of producing a publication which can support and help you to live out your vocation in congregations and other settings, for the sake of the gospel and mission of Jesus Christ.

But just as a trip to Wrigley Field opened my eyes to see baseball in ways I hadn't experienced in a long while, we're hoping that you will experience Partners in some new and refreshing ways beginning in 2008.

Here are some of the changes you can expect:

Closer Print/Online Partnership
We plan to link ever more closely our print and online versions. One major goal is to provide you with one publication, formatted in two mediums.

Color Throughout
Up until now, we have run color in only two of our six print issues. All six issues will now run in full color, better serving both readers and advertisers.

Thematically Organized
The major features in this issue of Partners reflect preaching. In the past, we have divided our six issues to reflect not only preaching, but also parish education, worship and music, Christian practice, global and domestic outreach, and higher education (church colleges, campus ministries, and continuing education). Now, with the assistance of an editorial advisory committee, we have chosen six themes and are in the process of assigning article topics to each one. We plan to change the themes year by year. For our January / February 2008 issue, we will set our focus on the theme of "Transforming Suffering." (look at "Next Issue" [ADD LINK TO INDEX#] for a rundown of the articles). More information about the remainder of the year's themes will be shared in the Jan./Feb. 2008 issue.

Different Editorial Approach
We have a new statement of purpose:

Lutheran Partners connects those serving in the public ministries of the ELCA by publishing the voices of real people doing real ministry in the real world.

One implication of this statement is that we who are leaders are part of the body of Christ and need to know one another better and what we are doing as ministers of the gospel and mission of Jesus Christ. Over time, our features will allow more of these voices to speak to us through a first person, narrative approach. As examples of this style, I asked three of my advisory committee members to write the major features for this issue, as they cover concerns of substance for preachers through a more personalized narrative.

New Online/Print Features
Currently, our website has been providing digital versions of each print article, as well as editorial guidelines, the beginnings of an archive, PDFs of our recent issues, and advertising concerns and other contact information. The site also includes links to resources specifically focused for associates in ministry, diaconal ministers, and deaconesses (such as Word and Service Ministry).

We also plan to expand our books and DVD review section to include a review of web sites for leadership and ministry. We're hoping to eventually include a more interactive online review resource as well. We also plan to launch a new readers' response column called "Written on the Heart." Readers will have the opportunity to respond to a vital question of ministry which we will share with our readers in each upcoming issue. The editors for "Written on the Heart" will choose some of the best for the print version, and additional responses will be posted online.

The translators of the King James Version included the word "to publish" as a translation for the Hebrew word basar in a noted passage from Isaiah 52. "How beautiful, upon the mountains," writes the author of Isaiah, "are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!" (v. 7)

The use of "publish" by 17th century translators was an equivalent to such words as proclaim, preach, announce (as it is used in the NRSV), and to show forth. As an editor, I hope that what we publish will support you as you proclaim and teach and live out the gospel.

Please keep us in your prayers as we seek ways to serve you in responsible, effective, and respectful ways. Please keep us in your prayers as we together publish and proclaim "the voices of real people doing real ministry in the real world" for the sake of the gospel and mission of Jesus Christ.

William A. Decker is the editor of Lutheran Partners, Chicago, Illinois.