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See also
current and
past Comment
To Whom Can We Go?
If you wrote something twenty years ago
that people are still asking for copies of, it's fair to say that the
article must have something pretty significant to say.
The article is entitled "Remembrance and
Commendation: A Rite to Speak to Losses in Pregnancy" by Janet Peterman. She
provided both an introduction to her topic, followed by a liturgical rite (see
Lutheran Partners, July/August 1988, pp. 21-24).
Even though I'm not talking about a lot of
inquiries for this article, I still am receiving a few requests after all these
years.
Scripture in Use
The theme and focus of this issue is: "Real People Read, Hear,
and Speak Scripture." Our content deals with the Scriptures and
those who are using it. We're introducing the Book of Faith
Initiative, listening to a Indian pastor who lives and works in
the U.S. describe how fellow Indian Christians use the Bible,
and entering into the mind of a seminary professor who tells us
what it has meant to present the Bible through the tools of
biblical storytelling for many years.
This online version of Lutheran
Partners continues the discussion. A former missionary who
taught homiletics in Papua New Guinea unfolds a four-question
method for Scripture study that he has also used in this
country. A college professor and a parish pastor continue the
discussion of biblical storytelling by narrating how they both
have used storytelling methods in the classroom and parish.
Contributors for "Written on the Heart" tell stories which
depict how the voice of God through the Scriptures was
particularly clear — or not so clear — as they faced challenges.
Correction
Mir Youngquist-Thurow, an environmental educator, wrote an article for our
May/June 2008 issue called "What
Was That?" a story of the nighttime ministries of Camp Agapé, of Agapé-Kure
Beach Ministries. Fuquay-Vanna, North Carolina. We incorrectly published her
name in the print edition as "Mir Thurow Youngquist." We regret our mistake and
extend our apologies to her. Rostered Lay Ministers Holding Regional Gatherings
In February 2007, more than 60 individuals
representing each of the three rosters of associates in ministry, diaconal
ministers, and deaconesses gathered at a consultation to "articulate how the
theology and experiences of vocation and service should define their role as
publicly called leaders in the ELCA in the 21st century."
The planners wanted to continue this conversation
throughout the nine regions of the ELCA before the end of June 2009 which would
"attempt to develop a consensus understanding of and proposal regarding the
public ministry of Word and Service."
Lutheran Partners Online includes a
Word and Service Ministry
website set aside for rostered lay ministers. There you can obtain
information about these gatherings, as well as other material related to the
ministry of rostered lay leaders.
The regional coordinators are responsible for
communicating with the rostered lay ministers regarding these gatherings. Region
2 will host the first of such gatherings September 22-23, followed by Region 8
on October 6-8 and November 3-4.
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Families who face this kind of sudden loss are
among families whose hearts, while confused, dismayed, and battered, may also be
searching for a Voice from beyond their situation. This Voice, Pastor Peterman
witnessed to in her article and liturgy.
Her liturgy begins with a litany from Psalm
139:1-15. The psalm begins:
O LORD, you have searched me and known me. You
know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away.
You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways
(vv. 1-3).
Throughout the reading, verse 23 acts as an
antiphon: Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts.
Passages from Isaiah and Jeremiah are invoked.
Several Scripture references are recommended, such as Paul's words from Romans
8: The Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we
ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words (v. 26).
Our times of worship and prayer are times to hear
God speak to us through the written word. We believe, as a church, that the
voice of God is found in the real words of human authors written down centuries
ago. The people of Israel and the early church faced questions of salvation and
life, death and the grave, purpose and meaning, and morality and ethics in their
own places, time, situations, and contexts. So do we in our own time and
contexts.
"Remembrance and Commendation" also reminds me
that God speaks with power and purpose as we strive to address specific human
situations through our worship and use of Scripture.
John relates an episode from the life of Jesus
that perplexed many people. Jesus was sharing one of his difficult words. He was
equating his "flesh" and "blood" with true food and drink and as the source of
life eternal (John 6:52-59). This was too hard for many to accept, so they
turned away from following the Rabbi.
Next, Jesus turns to his closest followers. How
would they respond? Would they also wish to turn from him? Would they agree with
others who said, "This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?" (John 6:60).
Simon Peter summed it up for many followers in
his day and ours. "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life"
(John 6:68). John doesn't say whether Simon Peter also harbored some doubts. But
evidently, Peter still wanted to face these words of Jesus by continuing to turn
to the One who had touched the very foundations of his life for the better in so
many ways.
"To whom can we go" as we face difficulties and
challenges? We turn to the God of the Word who makes sense of our lives now and
for eternity through Jesus Christ, our Lord, and the Scriptures that point to
him (Luke 24:27, 44-45).
William Decker is editor of
Lutheran Partners and Lutheran Partners Online, Chicago, Illinois. While we
can still mail or fax you a copy of Pastor Peterman's "Remembrance and
Commendation," it has yet to be converted for online usage on our archival site,
a project we hope to eventually complete.
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