Eric Shafer's blog

October 2011 "From Time to Time" e-mail newsletter

2011-10-21T13:36:00.003-04:00

My October 2011 e-mail newsletter for Odyssey Networks members and friends, "From Time to Time," now called "ON the inside," is now online at https://mail.odysseynetworks.org/owa/redir.aspx?C=69f0c35509b345898b56347c4f44311b&URL=http%3a%2f%2fbit.ly%2frfBbJl .

September 2011 "ON Time to Time"

2011-09-15T14:07:00.002-04:00

My September, 2011, ON Time to Time e-newsletter is available online at http://bit.ly/pf2xmz

"Stormy Outside, Mostly Sunny Inside"

2011-08-21T19:11:00.002-04:00

My column, "Stormy Outside, Mostly Sunny Inside," on the August Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA) Churchwide Assembly appeared in the August 20 Reading Eagle/Times newspaper. Here's the link - http://readingeagle.com/Article.aspx?id=327155.

At the White House with the Hindu American Seva Charities, July 29 & 30, 2011

2011-08-05T14:29:00.004-04:00

My work with Odyssey Networks has given me two opportunities to attend conferences at the White House. Some months ago I attended the first of these with the Interfaith Youth Core, http://www.ifyc.org/. Last weekend, I was privileged to attend and speak at the first-ever Hindu conference at the White House, sponsored by the Hindu American Seva Charities – http://www.hinduamericanseva.org/. Both the Interfaith Youth Core and the Hindu American Seva Charities are members of Odyssey Networks.

Meeting under the theme “Impacting Change in America and Abroad,” the Hindu American Seva Charities (HASC) event was a "family gathering" for Hindu Americans. It was a great privilege to be one of the few non-Hindus in attendance.

The first day of the event, Friday, July 29, 2011, was held at the White House in the auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. The theme for this day was “The Whole World is One Family” and it really felt like a Hindu American family gathering!

A major part of the morning was spent with Hindu American military leaders, American heroes really, from several branches of the US military. The US flag was waved proudly. Our National Anthem was sung. US Hindu pride abounded. The first Hindu US military chaplain, a young woman named Pratim Dharm, was introduced. It was all very sweet.

Then the winners of HASC’s essay contest were announced and honored – high school and college aged youth and even older adults were brought on stage to accept their awards. The contest theme was the role the Hindu faith plays in service in their communities and we heard many examples of the work Hindu temples and other local groups are playing in their communities, serving the needs of the poor and much more.

Faith, family, service, America – I could have been anywhere in the USA but I was at the White House with Hindus, Indian Americans – a rare privilege for me.

But a rarer privilege came to me the next morning when the conference continued at nearby George Washington University on Saturday, July 30, 2011. This day’s theme was “Strengthening Local Communities, Impacting Poverty and Advancing Global Development.” I helped open the day on a panel with three others speaking to the theme of the “Pluralistic Landscape of America.”

The other three panelists were Hindus – I was the only non-Hindu and, as far as I could see, one of only three non- Hindus in the auditorium this day. I asked to speak last. The others gave eloquent talks on this theme, outlining the history of interfaith relations in the USA and the Hindu contribution to these relationships.

Two of the speakers before me referenced documents that their relatives had received in years past from the time when the United Kingdom ruled India. Both of these documents stated something like “Despite being a Hindu, so-and-so is a good person.” This example was stated without rancor, just part of life for Hindus in India in those days.

I wanted to share some basic information on faith in the USA in 2011, statistics that I love to share from the recent book, American Grace by Putnam and Campbell. But, I felt it best to begin by saying something like this:

“With the poor history of Christian treatment of Hindus and other American religious minorities, I feel I should begin by saying something like I hope someone would say to you of me, “Despite being a Christian, Eric is a good person.”"

That statement drew the first of several moments of sustained applause from the group. I have never had this sort of experience, having my remarks so wonderfully received with applause interruptions! When I shared Putnam and Campbell’s statistic that 89% of all Americans now believe that more than Christians can go the heaven, including 81% of evangelical Christians, I was again interrupted by applause as I was when I said that I recently shared in a sermon that I could not believe that Jesus Christ would deny the afterlife to 2/3 of the world’s population! (They also loved it when I noted that I was once criticized by name by Jerry Falwell, but that’s for another blog post!)

During the brief question and answer time, one young woman asked how to respond to Christians who feel obligated to try to change her from her Hindu faith to Christianity. Other panelists suggested that she remember that this was a basic tenant of their evangelical faith and that they should not be offended by these efforts, but use them as a teaching time to tell them about the Hindu faith. I asked for their understanding and prayer for these people.

By this time we were far over our time slot (we had begun nearly an hour late – "India time" I was told) and I had to leave to catch my train back to Manhattan. As I tried to leave I was followed by a crowd – people who wanted my business card and a copy of Odyssey’s new brochure, people who wanted to share their faith story and even the sad treatment they had received from Christians. It was all very moving and sobering. I left honored to have had a small chance to say that most Christians would honor their Hindu faith and celebrate that they/we were all people of faith.

What a privilege it is to work for Odyssey Networks and have the chance as a Christian to witness to the commonalities among people of faith – Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, AND Hindus!

Note – my dear friend, Josh Stanton, another of the non-Hindus at this event, wrote a wonderful blog on the Huffington Post about this event, “Hindu Community Makes Its White House Debut.” I recommend it to you – see http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joshua-stanton/hindu-community-white-house_b_910474.html?view=screen. More details of the conference are online on the Hindu American Seva Charities (HASC) website at http://www.hinduamericanseva.org/events/seva-conference.

From "Time to Time" (T2T) for June 29, 2011

2011-07-07T15:35:00.002-04:00

Here is my latest from "Time to Time" (T2T) e-mail to members and friends of Odyssey Networks:

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I like to write to you from “Time to Time” (T2T):

· Will you be in the New York City area on Thursday, July 28^th? If so, you are invited to a 7:00 pm private screening of Odyssey’s new documentary for the Oprah channel, Serving Life, which debuts on the channel later that evening. RSVP to Jocelyn – jdupre@odysseynetworks.org .

· Serving Life, our new Oprah channel documentary, debuts on that cable channel (OWN) on Thursday, July 28^th at 9:00 pm eastern and pacific times. There has been some confusion about this air date – it definitely is July 28^th! More at http://bit.ly/k2HY8U . Please spread the word! Thank you.

· 100 Strong! When the Odyssey Board of Trustees meets in July they will consider membership applications from six new members, five faith-related organizations and one individual. Assuming these applications are accepted, Odyssey will then have 100 members an increase of nearly 100% since January of 2010 (when we had 52 members)! Thus, we are focusing our Monday, September 26^th member gathering here in New York City on the theme “100 Strong!” In celebration of members, we will offer several occasions to network, find out collaboration opportunities, and hear short presentations from all members. Many of you have already heard from Deb Mathews about our gathering which precedes the NCC Communication Commission meetings also here in New York City that week. Many more details coming but please hold the date – Monday, September 26, with activities beginning here at the InterChurch Center at 2:00 pm.

· Recently, thanks to member Josh Stanton, Odyssey was featured in the newsletter of the Parliament of the World Religions. You can see that article online at http://bit.ly/k1oSFK .

· Odyssey’s video, No Future for Terrorism, available at http://bit.ly/kp8A4o, was featured in the June 26^th broadcast of the Greater Chicago Broadcast Ministries program “Sanctuary” on ABC channel 7 in Chicago. More at http://www.gcbm.org.

· Odyssey has won six awards for our video productions from 2010:

o The Scroll of Esther, a video for Call on Faith won two awards –

§ Award of Excellence, the Communicator Awards

§ Silver Award, the Telly Awards

o Beyond Mumbai: Hope and Healing won three awards –

§ Award of Excellence, Videographer Awards

§ Official Honoree, the Webby Awards

§ “Forgiveness” Award, the Interfaith Film Festival

o Dialogue over Threatened Quran Burning won an Award of Excellence from the DeRose Hinkhouse Awards, presented by the Religion Communicators Council.

· Many of you know Odyssey’s Bill Reilly. After many years, Bill is leaving us on June 30^th, and is excited about the upcoming challenges and opportunities facing him. Bill would love to hear from his Odyssey friends – you can write him at Wm.SpencerReilly@gmail.com .

· I am pleased to report that 100% of Odyssey’s Board of Trustees has made a financial contribution to support our work! This is a first for us and compliments the strong staff giving this year. Foundations support is crucial for us now, and they look for support from within first – from trustees, staff and members. So, we count on you, our members to help us, too. You can send your donation, checks payable to “Odyssey Networks,” to me at our offices or use the “Support Us” link on our website, http://www.odysseynetworks.org, for a credit card donation. Thank you!

· We recently produced three video news stories for the web on the issue of gay and lesbian clergy that have had strong viewership and wide distribution – Huffington Post, CNN and more. Here are the links:

o My Journey as a Lesbian Pastor – http://bit.ly/kKBbRv

o Living with Differences: Two Congregations, Two Viewpoints on Gay Clergy – http://bit.ly/iVB5Kb

o Living with Differences: PC(USA)’s Struggle Over Gay Clergy – http://bit.ly/jAStsb

Intersections International’s CEO (and Odyssey Board of Trustee’s member) Bob Chase wrote about these videos: “Just wanted you to know that I believe this video, Living With Differences…, is one of the most helpful videos I have ever seen on the subject of LGBT inclusion … It portrays both sides of the equation without bias – GREAT journalism, so rare in this world … And GREAT job by your producers, editors, etc. to create this piece.”

· I recently celebrated the 35^th anniversary of my ordination as a Lutheran pastor and reflected upon this journey on my blog. You can read it in my previous blog post here.

Eric

35 Years of Ordained Lutheran Ministry - June 23, 2011

2011-06-26T12:02:00.004-04:00

This past Thursday, June 23, was the 35th anniversary of my ordination as a Lutheran pastor! Appropriately for my ministry, I spent the next day with Roman Catholics since Odyssey Networks was sponsoring the interfaith awards for radio and television in the 2011 (Roman Catholic) Gabriel Awards which were presented Friday in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

I was ordained with a group of others, including the first woman ordained by the LCA NE PA Synod, at St. John's Lutheran Church in Boyertown, Pennsylvania on the evening of June 23, 1976. Bishop Wilson Touhsaent, my "spiritual father" who had baptized and confirmed me as pastor of Atonement Lutheran Church in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, ordained me, assisted by his assistant, the Rev. Harold Weiss. (Weiss became the next synod bishop and I later served for nine years as his assistant). The preacher for the ordination service, the Rev. Elton Richards, then one of the best-known Lutheran preachers, told us about an elderly pastor friend who loved playing cards with his friends, but would only do so with all the shades of his or their home drawn so that no one would see that he was playing cards. Richards challenged us to live our lives as pastors "with the shades up," not hiding our personal and professional lives lives, but sharing them with others.

In my 35 years of ordained ministry, I have tried to live my life in ministry "with the shades up!"

I have served as pastor of congregations quite small and very large. I have been on a Lutheran synod (regional) staff and the churchwide (national) staff. Ecumenical and interfaith communication work has been a cornerstone of my professional and volunteer ministry and currently is my full time ministry at Odyssey Networks for which I am pleased to have a call from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Working for justice and feeding the hungry have been central to my life and ministry, all part of sharing God's love for this world and all of its (God's) people.

My ministry has taken me across the USA and around the world (Europe, Africa, Central and South America and the Middle East). I have met Popes, Patriarchs, Archbishops, Presidents, Prime Ministers, and Kings. I have led workshops across the USA and in Europe and taught in South Africa and Madagascar. I have produced weekly television and radio programs and shared in bringing back a children's television stop-motion animation icon through which I have met some of the best (and worst) people in Hollywood. (I even was once criticized by name by Jerry Falwell, something of which I am very proud!)

I have been privileged to have been supervised by some of the finest men and women - bishops, presiding bishops, communication directors, journalists, CEO's, COO's and many others.

Through it all I have been loved and supported by my wife, Kris, and blessed by wonderful friends and staff colleagues.

At worship this morning we sang the wonderful old hymn, "Blessed Assurance," which has the chorus, "This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior, all the day long."

That continues to be my hope and prayer for my ordained ministry! With the shades open!

Only for the Glory of God,

Eric

From "Time to Time" for June 1, 2011

2011-06-16T09:06:00.002-04:00

Here is my most recent (June 1, 2011) From "Time to Time" e-mail to Odyssey members and friends:

I like to write to you from “Time to Time:”

· It was so good to see many of you at our May 9 – 11 annual member gathering which included the special event, “9/11, the Conversation We Never Had.” More than 135 members and friends attended at least part of this gathering. Thanks to all who participated, especially to those who were willing to take part in the leadership of these days together!

· Speaking of member gatherings, we next gather on Monday, September 26^th for an evening to “celebrate our members” here at the InterChurch Center in Manhattan. We chose this time and date to hook onto Pat Pattillo’s NCC Communication Commission annual meetings which begins the next morning. Mark your calendars and plan to join us if you can!

· The afternoon before our September 26^th member dinner, we will have a face-to-face meeting of all Call on Faith channel heads beginning at 2:00 pm. More details later, but please plan your travel accordingly.

· Actually, Call on Faith channel heads now plan to meet regularly via telephone and the web – the first of these regular meetings will happen later this month. More details coming.

· Serving Life, our new documentary for the new Oprah television channel (OWN) debuts on Thursday evening, July 28^th, at 9:00 pm, eastern and pacific times.

· We’ve begun to plan a series of gatherings across the country to raise funds and friends for Odyssey! The first of these will be held on Tuesday, June 28^th in Fort Washington (Montgomery County), Pennsylvania (Philadelphia suburbs). Want more details? Contact my assistant, Jocelyn Dupre, here at Odyssey, jdupre@odysseynetworks.org .

· Mary Dickey, Call on Faith executive editor, notes that two new channels will begin later this month, one for “Mediation” and one new member channel for Day1. Later this summer a new 9/11 related channel will be added.

· Another date for your futures calendar – Odyssey’s 2012 Member Town Hall Meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 24, 2012 beginning at 2:00 pm eastern time.

· Odyssey underwrote four new awards for the Gabriel Awards for 2011. You can see all of their 2011 winners online at http://home.catholicweb.com/GabrielAwards/index.cfm/NewsItem?ID=314220&From=Home. If you plan to attend the Gabriels in Pittsburgh in June, look for Nick Stuart, Mat Tombers and me there!

· Did you read our new monthly member update – ON members? Do you like the new format? This is Deb Mathews’ and Jocelyn Dupre’s fine work and they are eager to hear your comments. Take a look – http://bit.ly/lBBgUl.

· Speaking of new resources, I hope you are subscribing to our newly revised weekday e-mail newsletter, now called ON today. If not, please check it out at http://bit.ly/iA29yn.

It is already summer-like in temperature here in New York City! Hope YOUR summer is full of like!

Eric

T2T e-mail for April 21, 2011

2011-04-21T12:20:00.003-04:00

Here's my latest T2T (from "Time to Time") e-mail for Odyssey Networks' members and friends:

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I like to write you from “Time to Time” (T2T):

Warmest greetings in this holiest of weeks for Christians and Jews.

With the addition of the eleven new members approved by our Board of Trustees earlier this month, Odyssey now has 94 members: 27 faith groups, 53 faith related organizations and 14 individuals, up from 52 members in January of last year. Our eleven news members include these faith-related organizations: Greater Chicago Broadcast Ministries – www.gcbm.org; Jewish Theological Seminary – www.jtsa.edu; Journal for Inter-Religious Dialogue – www.irdialogue.org; National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership (Clal) – www.clal.org; Regional Council of Churches of Atlanta – www.rccatl.org; Women of Spirit and Faith – www.womenofspiritandfaith.org ; and these individuals: Norris Chumley (film producer), Rebecca Larson (www.actalliance.org), Ava Martin (television producer), Claudia McGeary (Faith in Africa email newsletter), and Susan Williams (communication professional). Welcome to all!

It is still possible to register for our May 9 – 11 Annual Member Gathering – registration materials are online at www.odysseynetworks.org/may-2011-member-gathering. Whether or not you can attend, please help us by publicizing the special May 10th event, “9/11, the Conversation We Never Had,” which is part of the member gathering but open to everyone. Please send the online link to this event - www.odysseynetworks.org/may-10-invitation - to your e-mail list and link it to your website. We’d love to fill every seat of the Scholastic Event Center auditorium that day! There is no cost to attend, but preregistration is necessary.

Rabbi David Saperstein is one of our three keynote speakers for the May 10th event. Saperstein was just named one of the 50 most influential rabbis in the USA by Newsweek and the Daily Beast (he is #3). Others on the list include Rabbi Irwin Kula (#20), from our new member the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership – Clal, and Rabbi Burton Visotzky (#23), from our new member the Jewish Theological Seminary. You can see the complete listing online at www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-04-16/50-most-influential-rabbis-in-america/full/full/. There are individual pages online for each rabbi at www.thedailybeast.com/galleries/2809/1.

This is awards season for many of our members – congratulations to all! Odyssey has also received a number of awards:
* Beyond Mumbai: Hope and Healing has won the Interfaith Film Festival 2011 “Forgiveness” Award and is an “official honoree” for documentary series for this year’s Webby Awards – see www.odysseynetworks.org/faith/beyond-mumbai-hope-and-healing
* The Scroll of Esther: Remarkable Artistry, a piece we produced for Coexist to use on their Call in Faith channel, has won a Telly Silver Award for Religion & Spirituality – see www.odysseynetworks.org/call/three-faiths-exhibition-sacred-texts.
* Dialogue over Threatened Quran Burning received an Award of Excellence from the Religion Communicators Council’s 2011 DeRose Hinkhouse awards – see www.odysseynetworks.org/video/odyssey/dialogue-over-threatened-quran-burning. (We did a follow up piece just last week – see www.odysseynetworks.org/video/odyssey-networks/quran-burning-how-media-inflames-extremism).

Beverly Lewis’ The Shunning, our new television film for the Hallmark Channel, premiered last weekend and was the #1 cable movie of the day and the #2 movie of the week! Did you miss it? Hallmark is repeating The Shunning tomorrow, Friday, April 22, at 9:00 pm and Sunday,April 24, at 5:00 pm (both Eastern & Pacific times).

The Baha’i Faith continues to promote its new Call on Faith channel in very creative ways. Check out their new Call on Faith promotional video - www.youtube.com/watch?v=urXQvAoUfeY.

Our current web series, The Politics of Hunger, follows key faith leaders who are fasting to protest federal government cut backs in programs for the poor and hungry. Check them out at www.odysseynetworks.org/faith/the-politics-of-hunger.

In addition to approving eleven new members, Odyssey’s Board of Trustees approved a four-year strategic plan at their meeting earlier this month. The plan includes aggressive goals for fund raising – $300,000 this year alone! Your tax-deductible gift can help – you can give online at www.odysseynetworks.org or send your check, payable to "Odyssey Networks," to me in the mail. Thank you!

I look forward to seeing many of you in May here in New York!

Eric

"From Time to Time" (T2T) for March 24, 2011

2011-03-24T14:57:00.002-04:00

Here's my latest from “Time to Time” (T2T) e-mail that I send to Odyssey Networks' members and friends:

· I hope you all noticed in Deb Mathews’ most recent monthly update the housing discount offer for our May 9 – 11 Odyssey Member Gathering – the first 20 people who register will receive their room at the Desmond Tutu Center at a $100/night discount (Odyssey will pay this for you) so your room rate becomes $179/night instead of $279. And the rooms at the Tutu center are very nice! If you need a registration form, Deb can send it to you again.

· We’ve received lots of attention for our recent Faith Under Fire series with pickup from the Huffington Post, Democracy Now, Beliefnet, Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, NY Net, and CNN iReports, among others. You can catch up with this material at http://www.odysseynetworks.org/faith/faith-under-fire.

· Looked at Call on Faith lately? There’s a new channel from the Baha’i beginning this month. Check out their wonderful Call on Faith promotion – “The Baha’i Faith? There’s an App for that!” - http://ht.ly/4kKbX.

· Odyssey is proud to be one of the founding members of “Prepare New York” - www.prepareny.com, a coalition of New York based interfaith organizations also including Odyssey members Auburn Seminary, the Interfaith Center of New York, and Intersections International, who are committed to preparing New York City (and the nation) for the 10-year anniversary of 9/11 by promoting civil dialogue, education about religious pluralism, support for the Muslim community, and coordinating events on the day of the anniversary. Bill Reilly, Esslie Hughes and I have part of the coalition’s work thus far.

· What’s the latest in the “digital universe?” Odyssey sent staffers Mat Tombers and Greg Nelson to the recent “South By Southwest” (SXSW) conference in Austin, Texas to find out. Read all about their findings at http://www.odysseynetworks.org/blogs/category/odyssey-sxsw-2011.

· Odyssey’s newest film for the Hallmark Channel, “The Shunning,” based on Beverly Lewis’ best-selling novel, will premiere on Hallmark on Saturday, April 16 at 9:00 pm eastern time. Watch Hallmark’s promo piece at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCvrlYUmXYQ&feature=related.

· The NICC Board of Trustees Member Relations Committee met again this week and will recommend to the full board at their April meeting that five additional new members be approved, three faith-related organizations and two individuals. They are:
o The Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue, New York, New York – www.irdialogue.org
o The Regional Council of Churches of Atlanta, Georgia – www.rccatl.org
o Women of Spirit and Faith, Long Beach, California – www.womenofspiritandfaith.org
o Norris J Chumley, New York, New York – www.jesusprayermovie.com (his latest project)
o Rebecca Larson, Geneva, Switzerland – www.actalliance.org

These are in addition to the six I previously reported to you in my last (January 31) T2T e-mail.

· Since I last wrote to you I have traveled to Atlanta where, with Peter Wallace’s help, Esslie Hughes and I gathered twelve members for a luncheon meeting. We also visited several other Atlanta area prospective members. My travel picks up over these next weeks: I’ll be at the Religion Communicators Council’s Convention in Little Rock, Arkansas next week and the Episcopal Communicators gathering in Memphis the following week. Not long after that I am with the Salvation Army in Orlando. And, of course, I am looking forward to seeing many of you at our May 9 – 11 Odyssey Member Gathering here in Manhattan!

Warmest wishes on this snowy Spring Thursday!

Eric

From "Time to Time" for January 31, 2011

2011-01-31T16:09:00.008-05:00

I write to Odyssey Networks' members and friends from "Time to Time," calling my words "T2T." Here's my January 31, 2011 "T2T:"

· Thanks to so many of you who “tuned in” to Odyssey’s first ever Town Hall Meeting on January 11^th. We had around 25 members in our studio audience and more than 100 viewing online, making this certainly the largest gathering of Odyssey members in our history! If you missed the meeting you can view it here . Did you like the black Call on Faith tee shirts Odyssey staff were wearing during the Town Hall Meeting? If you would like one, send me your men’s tee shirt size (S,M,L,XL) and the address where you would like it mailed!

· At the Town Hall Meeting we announced the 17 recipients of Odyssey’s 2011 Member Production Grants. You can see the list of grant recipients here . Here’s one pick up of our Odyssey news release on these grants - read it here . The Episcopal Church wrote their own grant-recipient news release here and I suspect we’ll see others. Our 2011 grants were a record amount ($325,000) to a record number of members.

· Also at the Town Hall Meeting, another grant opportunity was announced, Let’s Do Launch, a marketing plan to help you promote Call on Faith with your constituencies. Two $7,500 grants will be given to the best conceived and executed marketing plans. The funds will help your organization produce short video for Call on Faith – globally pushing out your message and brand! Details are online here .

· And also at the Town Hall Meeting, more details were announced about our 2011 Odyssey Member Gathering which will be held May 9 – 11 at the Desmond Tutu Center here in New York City. This gathering will include a special May 10^th event, “9/11, the Conversation We Never Had,” which will feature keynote addresses by Eboo Patel, David Saperstein, and Bishop Yvette Flunder. Please hold these dates and watch for more details. You’ll want to plan to arrive around noon on the 9^th and leave in the afternoon of the 11^th.

· Can you help us spread the news about Call on Faith? Our focus groups have told us that the #1 way folks learn about new apps to buy is on their app store. So, those of you with smart phones, please go to your app store (iTunes, Blackberry World, Droid Marketplace), and rate Call on Faith. If you have time, a few words about why you like it so much would be welcome as well. These ratings help not only to inform browsers about the value of the app, but can push Call on Faith into a featured more prominent position in the store.

· We are starting to see nice words written by app reviewers about Call on Faith! Here’s one . And, Barnes & Noble has chosen to demo Call on Faith for their new NOOK eReader!

· The Huffington Post recently picked up our video of Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf launching his multi-city interfaith tour - watch it here . Imam Rauf is the subject for our first World Interfaith Harmony Week website video on Wednesday, February 2, will be available here . Watch for more videos about World Interfaith Harmony Week on our site later this week and next.

· Nick Stuart continues to blog for the New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good. His January blog, “Prophets of Peace Inspire Us as Hatred Rages,” can be found here . Other public bloggers among our members include Chris Herlinger of Church World Service who blogs regularly for Huffington Post - here . I always appreciate Bob Chase’s blogs, too (Intersections International). Chase’s latest, “Thank you, Mr. President,” is here.

· The NICC Board of Trustees Member Relations Committee met last week and will recommend to the full board at their April meeting that six new members be approved, three faith-related organization and three individuals. They are:

o Greater Chicago Broadcast Ministries, Chicago, Illinois – http://www.gcbm.org

o Jewish Theological Seminary, New York, New York – http://www.jtsa.edu

o National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, New York, New York – http://www.clal.org

o Ava Martin, Chicago, Illinois (Ava is the former ELCA public media director)

o Claudia McGeary, Founder & director of Faith in Africa

o Susan L. Williams, Allentown, Pennsylvania http://www.susanwilliamsassociates.com

Warmest wishes in these cold days in the east!

Eric

Christmas Television Broadcasts

2010-12-21T10:50:00.002-05:00

Through Odyssey member the National Council of Churches (www.ncccusa.org) and the Interfaith Broadcasting Commission (www.interfaithbroadcasting.com), Odyssey members have Christmas worship services on all three major US television networks on Christmas Eve/Day this year. Here’s the schedule:

· A Christmas for Everybody from St. Paul & St. Andrew United Methodist Church in New York City will be broadcast on CBS television stations across the country on Christmas Eve in the normal David Letterman hour. In New York City, it can be seen on WCBS TV 2 at 11:35 p.m. on 12/24. Of the three programs, this is the only one broadcast across the USA at the same time (a “must carry”). This broadcast will include presentations by a local Rabbi and Imam. More details are online at http://www.interfaithbroadcasting.com/program.aspx?PID=324.

· A Service of Lessons and Carols from Historic Trinity Church on Wall Street, New York City will be broadcast on ABC television stations across the country on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Local stations have the choice to broadcast or not and to schedule this program whenever they wish. In New York City, it will be seen on WABC TV7 at 1:08 a.m. on 12/25 (for most of us that’s still Christmas Eve!) More details are online at http://www.interfaithbroadcasting.com/program.aspx?PID=332.

· Christmas Angels (ecumenical segments from UCC, ELCA, Episcopal congregations) will be broadcast on NBC television stations across the country on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Local stations have the choice to broadcast or not and to schedule this program whenever they wish. In New York City, it will be seen on WNBC TV4 at 3:00 p.m. on 12/25. Our members are heavily involved in this one: Jean Robinson (UCC) is the program producer and Peter Panagore (First Radio Parish of America) produced the segment from Boothbay Harbor UCC in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. (I produced the segment from St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Chicago - in my former life – Christmas video “lives” forever!) More details are online at http://www.interfaithbroadcasting.com/program.aspx?PID=328.

The Interfaith Broadcasting Commission’s website (www.interfaithbroadcasting.com) has links for each program to the local affiliates which are broadcasting each program with the date and time.

From "Time to Time" (T2T) for December 16, 2010

2010-12-16T15:10:00.005-05:00

I write from “Time to Time” (T2T) to members and friends of Odyssey Networks. Here is my December 16, 2010 e-mail to them:

• We want to welcome new members to Odyssey Networks! Five faith-related organizations and one individual were officially received when Odyssey’s Board of Trustees unanimously approved their membership on December 3. They are:
o Center for Spiritual Enlightenment, San Jose, California – www.csecenter.org
o Common Good Radio, Grand Island, New York – www.commongoodradio.org
o Hindu American Seva Charities, Livingston, New Jersey – www.hinduamericanseva.org
o The Interfaith Center of New York, New York City – www.interfaithcenter.org
o Union Theological Seminary, New York, New York – www.utsnyc.edu
o Leo Brunnick, Englewood Colorado – Leo is CEO of www.patheos.com

• This brings our membership to 27 faith groups, 47 faith related organizations, and 9 individuals. We began 2010 with 26 faith groups, 27 faith related organizations, and 0 individual members.

• We continue to receive applications from new members. These applications will be acted on when the Board Member Relations Committee next meets and, if approved by the committee, will come before the April 6 meeting of Odyssey’s Board of Trustees:
o Greater Chicago Broadcast Ministries, Chicago, Illinois – www.gcbm.org
o Jewish Theological Seminary, New York, New York – www.jtsa.edu
o Member Mission Network, Plattsburgh, New York – www.membermission.org
o National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, New York, New York – www.clal.org
o Ava Martin, Chicago, Illinois

• All members and friends, new and “old” alike, are invited to attend the first Odyssey Member “Town Hall Meeting” to be held on Tuesday, January 11, 2011 beginning at 2:00 p.m. eastern standard time. If you can, you are invited to join us in person at the site for this live broadcast at the Jerome L. Greene Performance Space, 44 Charlton Street at Varick, New York, New York - http://www.wnyc.org/thegreenespace/about/ . Those participating in person will receive a free Call on Faith tee shirt! We know that most of you cannot join us in person and will be joining us online at www.odysseynetworks.org . CEO Nick Stuart will present an update on Odyssey’s work and respond to in person and e-mailed questions. Nick will also announce the 2011 Odyssey Networks Member Program Grants and an additional opportunity for a 2011 grant for which all members are eligible. Please plan to attend or tune in on January 11th! And, please share this information with others from your faith group or organization so that they might join us also!

• Call on Faith, www.callonfaith.com, our new app for smart phones, officially debuts on January 18th. Among the many members now or soon appearing on Call on Faith are:
o The Rev. Barry Black, US Senate Chaplain (Seventh-day Adventist Church)
o The Rev. Richard Cizik (New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good)
o Glen Fullmer (Baha’i)
o Imam Johari Abdul-Malik (Inner-Attainment Television)
o The Rev. Dr. Serene Jones (Union Theological Seminary)
o The Rev. Peter Panagore (First Radio Parish Church of America)
o Angela Rice (Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters)

• I hope you have already had a chance to explore Odyssey’s new website which debuted earlier this month. We were pleased to present a five part web-only video series, Beyond Mumbai: Hope and Healing, on our site to mark its relaunch. You can still view this series online at http://www.odysseynetworks.org/faith/beyond-mumbai-hope-and-healing .

• On our website, you will see new material on each of our 74 members. You will want to take a look at what is there for your faith group or organization. The listing begins at http://www.odysseynetworks.org/member-channels .

• There have been a number of staff changes at Odyssey over these last few months. We now have a complete listing, with photos and bios, of Odyssey’s staff online at http://www.odysseynetworks.org/staff . Among the new staff you will see there are Esslie Hughes, new Director for Philanthropy, Jocelyn Dupre, now assisting Mary Dickey and me, and Jennifer Kachler, new Senior Web Editor.

• CEO Nick Stuart continues his monthly blogs for the New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good. His latest, “Home Is Where the Midnight Mass Is,” is online at http://www.newevangelicalpartnership.org/?q=node/94 . I continue to try to track others among our members who blog regularly. Bob Chase’s latest blog, “Please, Mr. President,” is online at http://intersectionsinternational.org/blog/2010/12/13/please-mr-president . Peter Wallace’s blogs regularly appear on the Huffington Post and one of his recent reflections appeared both there and on Patheos - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-peter-m-wallace/shining-the-light-on-the-_b_793715.html . I’d be very interested in seeing the work of others who blog regularly.

• Debra Gonsher Vinik’s latest documentary, I BELIEVE YOU: Faiths’ Response to Intimate Partner Violence, produced with a 2009 Odyssey Production Grant, will be broadcast on ABC television affiliates across the USA beginning in January. You can read more, and see a trailer, online at http://www.divacommunications.com/programs/i-believe-you-2/ .

• Tim Frakes (www.frakesproductions.com) writes that he will be in Haiti in early January working for Church World Service (www.churchworldservice.org) – January 12th is the one year anniversary of the Haiti earthquake.

• Many of you are aware of the It Gets Better Project, an effort to support gay and lesbian youth and others who have been bullied. I recorded a video for this effort which you can view (and share with others) at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMqndB20r2k .

• Mark your calendars – the 2011 Odyssey Member Gathering will be held here in New York City on May 9 – 11. A major part of this gathering will be a May 10 symposium on “9/11, the Conversation We Never Had” with these three keynote speakers – Yvette Flunder, Eboo Patel, and David Saperstein. Hold these dates and watch for more details soon!

• Since I last wrote to you I have traveled to Washington, D.C. (Seventh-day Adventist Church), Baltimore (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) and Phoenix (Episcopal Church USA).

Our Christian members will be celebrating the Christmas religious holidays over the next several weeks. And then we all celebrate the calendar’s new year! Warmest wishes to all.

Eric

2010-11-03T15:10:00.004-04:00

Here is my latest “From Time to Time” (T2T) e-mail to members and friends of Odyssey Networks - I like to write from time to time with updates on the work of Odyssey Networks:

It was good to see so many of you (95 in all!) at our first annual Odyssey Member Gathering in Silver Spring in September. Evaluations were very positive – thank you! New Christian Science representative Brian Talcott blogged about this event. You can read his words at http://christianscience.com/questions/2010/god-in-america-is-coming-to-america/. I hope you have seen the photos from this event – they are still online on the bottom on the Odyssey website main “member” page at http://www.odysseynetworks.org/Members/MemberNews/tabid/394/Default.aspx . Our video summary from this event is also online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfUCCRdvLsQ .

Speaking of blogs, once Odyssey’s new website is up and running later this month, we plan to have a regular blog, BlogON, from Odyssey staff and members and friends. I will be coordinating this effort and would welcome your posts. Odyssey CEO Nick Stuart will blog monthly for Odyssey member, the New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good. You can read his first post at http://www.newevangelicalpartnership.org/?q=node/72 .

In Nick’s blog-post he references the “Three Faiths – Judaism, Christianity, and Islam” exhibit at the New York Public Library for which Odyssey produced videos of key pieces in the exhibit for Coexist, one of the sponsors. You can see samples of these videos online at http://www.odysseynetworks.org/Causes/ThreeFaithsJudaismChristianityIslam/tabid/532/Default.aspx . They are also available on their own channel on Call on Faith, Odyssey’s new app for smartphones - visit www.odysseynetworks.org for more information. Nick’s blog-post also references Auburn Media’s recent “Take the Bully Out of the Pulpit” event. We have a wonderful segment from that event on our website member page also - http://vimeo.com/15779908 .

And, speaking of our Member Gatherings, we already have dates for three Member Gatherings in 2011, one via the internet and two in person:
* January 11, 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. eastern time – “Town Hall Meeting” for members.
* May 9 – 11 – Odyssey Member Gathering, New York City (the NCC Communication Commission may attach a one day meeting to our gathering).
* September 26 – 28 or 29 (tentative) – NCC Communication Commission meeting, location TBA (Odyssey may attach a one day meeting to this gathering).
More details on the “Town Hall Meeting” coming to you soon!

Call on Faith, our new app for iPhone, Blackberry and Android products, now also offered on the Sprint network, has launched its second “flight” of content and a number of new member channels. Here is the new line up: In addition to the special Coexist (“Three Faiths” exhibit) channel noted above, the Odyssey main channels are Wise Words, Compassionate Acts, My Story, Prayer and Spirit Boost. And, member channels now include: Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters, Daily Devotions (First Radio Parish Church of America), The Episcopal Church, Mad About Marriage (Seventh-day Adventist Church), Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, 30 Good Minutes (Chicago Sunday Evening Club), the United Church of Christ, and the Voice of Prophecy (Adventists). You can expect contact from us in the near future about Call on Faith. We want to give you, our key members, this app for free!

On the November 1 deadline we had received 27 member grant proposals for Odyssey’s 2011 Member Productions Grants. Thanks to all those who applied. We are still hoping to notify everyone on or soon after December 1.

Beliefnet is now featuring a number of Odyssey’s “Faith in Action” videos. You can view them on their site at http://www.beliefnet.com/Video/Odyssey-Networks/Faith-In-Action-An-Interview-With-Imam-Muhammad-Musri.aspx .

We were all saddened to read the news of the recent major layoffs at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s (ELCA’s) churchwide offices in Chicago. A number of Odyssey’s good friends lost their jobs, Ava Martin and Kristi Bangert among them. We send our best wishes to Ava and Kristi and so many others at the ELCA churchwide offices and other denominational offices who have been laid off in recent months. Godspeed to you all!

Please take a look at this recent NY1 cable news piece on the “We Are Family” Foundation’s October 27th gala. Odyssey produced two videos for this event and excerpts from one of them, of Nigerian peacemakers and gala honorees Imam Muhammad Ashafa and Pastor James Wuye, appear in this television report - http://www.ny1.com/content/127877/feel-good-rock-benefit-drives-home-how--we-are-family- .

Thank you,

Eric

"From Time to Time" ("T2T" for September 16, 2010

2010-09-16T14:46:00.002-04:00

Here's my latest "From Time to Time" e-mail which I send to Odyssey Networks' members:

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I like to write to you from “Time to Time” (T2T). Here is update from Odyssey Networks -

National Interfaith Cable Coalition (NICC) Board of Trustees meeting on September 15

Odyssey’s Board of Trustees met yesterday and made history! The first non-Abrahamic faith group members were received into membership along with a number of faith-related organizations and individuals. Here is the list of the 17 new members unanimously approved for Odyssey membership:

· New Faith Groups: Baha’i Faith (www.bahai.us) and the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) (http://news.iskcon.org).

· New Faith-Related Organizations - America’s Quilt of Faith(www.americasquiltoffaith.org), College of Saint Elizabeth(www.cse.edu), Fellowship in Prayer (www.fellowshipinprayer.org),

Global Peace Initiative of Women (www.gpiw.org), Life Focus Communications (www.lifefocus.tv), the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg (www.ltsg.edu), Mercy Street (www.mercystreet.org), National Board of Mothers (www.nationalboardofmothers.com), North America Association for the Catechumenate (www.catechumenate.org), and Unity Productions Foundation (http://www.upf.tv/).

· New Individuals - Brian Finnerty, Tim Frakes, Ann Hafften, Ralph Singh and Debra Gonsher Vinik.

Added to the nine new members received at the April board meeting, Odyssey has now welcomed 26 new members in 2010, an increase in faith groups and faith related organizations of 33%.

The board also added a number of member representatives to board committees. This is part of our new membership structure, where we have increased the role of members in board committees. Non-board members added to the Member Relations Committee were Robert Black, Ava Martin and Debra Gonsher Vinik. Non-board members added to the New Media Committee were Mike Collins, Jeff Malmad, Elizabeth Sams and Casey Tom.

The board also elected new Salvation Army National Commander Commissioner William Roberts as a board member. Roberts will replace current Army National Commander Commissioner Israel Gaither on our board when Gaither retires on October 31.

Three Dot Dash Global Teen Leaders

Odyssey’s CEO Nick Stuart has been invited to nominate teens ages 13 – 19 from around the world to become 2011 Three Dot Dash Global Teen Leaders. Check out www.threedotdash.org and the specific information on their 2010 Global Team Leaders at http://threedotdash.org/legacy/Summit_NomProcess_HowItWorks.aspx . Unfortunately, Nick just received this information and their application deadline is October 4^th! I have the application information. So, check out their website, and if you then have someone in mind, send me an e-mail and I will forward you the application details. Hopefully we will receive this information earlier in future years!

Odyssey Member Gathering in Silver Spring

We now have 87 registrants for our NCC Communication Commission/Odyssey Member Gathering to be held September 27 – 30 at the Hilton Hotel in Silver Spring, Maryland! This will be the largest member gathering in Odyssey’s history. While the reduced price hotel rooms are certainly no longer available, it may still be possible for you to register for all or part of this event (and there are nearby hotels). More details online at http://www.odysseynetworks.org/Members/MemberNews/tabid/394/Default.aspx .

There are so many highlights of our coming Silver Spring gathering. Here are just two:

· Our Monday, September 27, producers’ workshop features these guest presenters: filmmakers Martin Doblmeier (“The Adventists” - http://www.theadventiststhefilm.com/), Martin Ostrow (“Renewal” - http://www.renewalproject.net/film), and Karen Lennon, an expert on user generated content.

· Those interested in applying for a 2011 Odyssey Production Grant will receive grant application information during our Grant Writing Workshop on Wednesday, September 29.

Call on Faith now on all three platforms

With its debut last week for iPhones, Call on Faith, Odyssey’s new app for smartphones, is now available for iPhones, Blackberries and Android products. Sprint is also about to replace their “Faith TV” smart phone channel with Call on Faith. A new widget for easy sign up on these platforms is online at www.callonfaith.com . (Note – to get Call on Faith on your iPhone, search “COF” in the app store).

More September…..

During September we are also marking Recovery From Addiction Month with a PSA you can use – please consider linking it to your website. See http://www.odysseynetworks.org/Causes/RecoveryFromAddiction/tabid/510/Default.aspx . And, September 21^st brings “A Million Minutes for Peace” (http://amillionminutesforpeace.org/), but you already knew that!

And

Do check out all of the materials on our website under “Religious Freedom Under Fire” at http://www.odysseynetworks.org/Causes/ReligiousFreedomUnderFire/tabid/511/Default.aspx and our “Faith in Action – Haiti” videos at http://www.odysseynetworks.org/Causes/DisasterRelief/HaitiDisasterRelief/tabid/350/Default.aspx .

Looking forward to seeing many of you in a couple of weeks in Silver Spring!

Eric

"T2T" for August 6, 2010

2010-08-06T10:36:00.002-04:00

I write to Odyssey's members and friends "From Time to Time," and call these my "T2T" e-mails. Here is my latest T2T, for August 6, 2010:

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Hopefully, August brings you some time for “holiday” and refreshment!

Here at Odyssey Networks, we have had a full summer:

• Earlier this week “Call on Faith,” our new “app” for smart phones, become available for Android (Droid) products and should be available for iPhone and Blackberry products within the next week or so. Keep checking at your app store.

• We produced two series of videos for the Odyssey website this summer: The first (three parts), “Prayer in the 21st Century,” was taped at the 60th anniversary conference of “Fellowship in Prayer,” an Odyssey new member. The second (five parts), “Faith at the Gulf,” focused on people of faith in Biloxi, Mississippi, responding to the Gulf oil spill. Part 4 of this series is on our website as I write this and Part 5 should be there next week. This second series has been featured on the “Huffington Post” online religion page. You can find most of these videos on You-Tube.

• Next week, our videographer, Torrey Townsend, who shot these first two video packages, heads to Haiti to cover the visit of Roman Catholic Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York to this stricken country. While he is there he plans also to make contact with other people of faith involved in the Haiti earthquake response efforts – Episcopalians, Lutherans and Roman Catholics are already scheduled and other contacts are in process.

• OWN, the new Oprah Winfrey Network, has announced the purchase of “One Last Shot,” a documentary that Odyssey is producing. There is a nice piece on Oprah’s press page – our documentary is in good company with ones produced by Julia Roberts, Goldie Hawn and Mariel Hemingway, among others. See http://www.oprah.com/pressroom/Julia-Roberts-Forest-Whitaker-Join-OWNs-Documentary-Film-Club.

• Speaking of material online, take a look at the ABC television 2010 “Vision & Values” series online at http://www.interfaithbroadcasting.com/vv.aspx . The final production on this schedule, “I Believe You: Faiths’ Response to Intimate Partner Violence,” is being produced by DIVA Communications (Debra Gonsher Vinik) for the New York Board of Rabbis with the help of a 2009 Odyssey production grant. A number of other members are also providing financial support for this important documentary.

• And, of course, we have recently sent you information on our first annual member gathering, this year offered in cooperation with the annual meeting of the National Council of Churches Communication Commission at the Hilton Hotel in Silver Spring, Maryland, September 27 – 30, 2010. Information and registration forms are available online at http://www.odysseynetworks.org/Members/MemberNews/tabid/394/Default.aspx . Please register soon and please, if you are coming, stay at the Hilton since the number of room nights that are sold affects our meeting room rates (more sleeping rooms – less cost for meeting rooms). Your attendance at the Monday and Wednesday banquet meals, provided for you by Odyssey, also helps control other costs (more folks at meals, less cost for meeting rooms).

• Our “A Million Minutes for Peace” website - http://amillionminutesforpeace.org/ - is up and running and taking pledges. Have you signed up yet? Also, check out the “Prayer Wall” on that site - http://amillionminutesforpeace.org/prayerwall/prayer-wall.shtml - nearly 20 video prayers are already online. It’s very early in the campaign, but, we have already surpassed our 2009 pledge numbers. And, more than 20 Odyssey members have become partners – thank you.

My recent member visits have included members and prospective members in New York City and Washington, D.C. Next week I head to Chicago for the biennial gathering of ELCA Communicators, “Follow Me: Sharing the Gospel in a 2.0 World” - http://www.elca.org/ELCA/Events/Follow-Me.aspx.

I look forward to seeing you in September in Silver Spring!

Eric

The Rev. Eric C. Shafer
Senior Vice President
Philanthropy, Faith Community Relations & Human Resources
Odyssey Networks
475 Riverside Drive, #530
New York, New York 10115
eshafer@odysseynetworks.org
Voice - 212-870-1035
Fax - 212-870-1040
Cell - 267-222-0964
www.odysseynetworks.org

T2T e-mail for July 8, 2010

2010-07-08T12:45:00.002-04:00

I send occasional e-mails to Odyssey members and friends and call them from "Time to Time" or "T2T" for short. Here is one I sent today:

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It is HOT in New York city this week and we have lots of "hot" news for you!

If you go to Odyssey’s website (www.odysseynetworks.org) today, you will see the first of our three video news pieces on “Faith at the Gulf,” shot at the recent 60^th anniversary conference of “Fellowship in Prayer” (www.fellowshipinprayer.org). Today’s (Thursday’s) features Father Edward Beck (ABC News) and Fellowship in Prayer executive director Janet Haag. The second segment will be up on our site late tomorrow (Friday). It will feature Gustav Niebuhr (now a professor at Syracuse University, formerly at the New York Times) and Jan DePinto, a Sufi Muslim. The third segment will be on our site sometime on Monday. It includes “Faith at the Gulf” reflections by Sohaib Sultan (Muslim Chaplain, Princeton University) and Heena Reiter, a rabbinic student. These are the fine work of our summer volunteer editor, Ester Villanueva, and our summer videographer staffer, Torrey Townsend.

Then, next Thursday, July 15, you will see the first of Torrey’s video segments from his work for us along the Gulf coast of Mississippi where he is taping this week. Torrey is connecting with people of faith who are active in the Gulf oil spill cleanup and relief.

Torrey’s earlier piece for us on “Prayer in the 21^st century,” is no longer on the front page of our website, but is still up on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pj80E4XiNYU .

And, by July’s end, “Odyssey – Call on Faith,” our new app (mobile channel) for smart phones will be up and running for our “soft” launch. You can view the “Call on Faith” promo PSA now online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suG7UvXrAOg but the Call on Faith website mentioned at the end of that video is not yet active.

Thus, as you can see, our summer is busy and flying by here at Odyssey Networks!

We are also getting ready for September:

· “A Million Minutes for Peace-a multi-faith movement… mobilizing the power of prayer,” in collaboration with the United Nations, is our initiative aiming to obtain 1 million people to pledge one minute of prayer for peace on September 21^st, the International Day of Peace. Check out the special “micro site” for this effort at http://www.amillionminutesforpeace.org/ . There you will find our updated PSAs (English & Spanish versions) and the first of our “Prayer Wall” prayer videos.

· September also brings Odyssey’s cause work on Addiction. We’ve partnered with SAMSHA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) to promote National Drug & Alcohol Addiction Recovery Month – September, 2010. Our PSA promotes Recovery Month’s 1000+ events nationwide. Also beginning in September, we’ll be promoting eight free one-day interfaith workshops for clergy to be held across the country. Stay tuned for more information.

· And, of course, September is the month for our Odyssey annual member gathering, September 27 – 30. We now have a location for this gathering, the Hilton Hotel in Silver Springs, Maryland (3 blocks from the DC Metro red line Silver Springs’ stop) and a good price (for Washington) of $189/night. Please plan to attend. You will want to arrive no later than Monday afternoon, September 27, and plan your return home for anytime on Thursday, September 30. A pre-event producer’s retreat will take place at the hotel on Monday afternoon, September 27, beginning at 1:00 p.m. We are pleased to be hosting this event with the National Council of Churches Communication Commission. Many more details coming soon.

Nick Stuart and I are traveling to Chicago next week to meet with a new Odyssey Board of Trustees nominee, Bishop Andrea DeGroot-Nesdahl. While we are there we are hosting a luncheon meeting with ten Odyssey members in the Chicago area.

I hope your summer includes some time for rest and relaxation.

Eric

PS: Back in May I preached at my home congregation, Atonement Lutheran Church in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, on "Tolerance" and my sermon became the topic of a column in the Reading, Pennsylvania newspaper, the Reading Eagle/Times. You can read John Smith's column, "Tolerance is narrow path Bible advocates" online at http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=230675

"From Time to Time" or "T2T" for May 3, 2010

2010-05-03T15:53:00.002-04:00

Every so often I send an e-mail message to the members of Odyssey Networks, updating them on Odyssey's work and alerting them to coming opportunities for participation. I have not had a chance to write one of these since the National Interfaith Cable Coalition (NICC - our corporate "parent") Board of Trustees meeting in April. Here is the e-mail (I call them "From Time to Time" or "T2T") I sent out earlier today:

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It has been some time since I last wrote to you all and I have much news to share.

NICC Board of Trustees meeting actions:

The most important news from Odyssey is the actions of the National Interfaith Cable Coalition (NICC) Board of Trustees from their April 13, 2010 meeting. At that meeting, the Board unanimously approved:

• Changing Odyssey from an interfaith organization representing the three Abraham faiths to a “multi-faith organization representing various institutional faith traditions …. including Christian, Jewish, Islamic and other faith traditions, with the goal of representing the religious diversity present in the United States….”
• Membership for six new faith-related organizations and three new individual members – see www.odysseynetworks.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=zDv8LqI5n9g%3d&tabid=97&mid=408 .
• The new membership structure we have been discussing for the past year as presented to the members at our April 7 meeting in Chicago.

In addition, the Board dropped the historic requirement for automatic NICC Board of Trustees membership from several named faith groups with the goal of continuing to have wide faith representation on the Board. Board membership can now increase beyond a minimum of 16 members. These changes give the Board a better opportunity to reflect the wide variety of US faith traditions.

This means that faith groups and faith-related organizations beyond Christian, Jewish and Muslim can now apply for Odyssey membership. Revised membership applications are already online at www.odysseynetworks.org/Members/MembershipApplication/tabid/88/Default.aspx .

New Odyssey membership structure:

It also means that our new, more informal membership structure is now in place. That structure includes the possibility of additional, non-Board of Trustees members being added to the Board of Trustees’ Member Relations Committee, as well as other Board committees.

The four current board members on the Board Member Relations Committee are Robert Chase, Sheri Hartzler, Billy Wilson and James Wind. If you would like to be considered by the Member Relations Committee as a possible additional member for that committee or another Board committee, you should send me an e-mail and attach your resume. Already, three member representatives have submitted their resumes (or had them submitted by someone else with their permission) for possible service. They are: Robert Black, Ava Martin and Debra Vinik. If you would like to nominate yourself or someone else, please e-mail me.

Areas where we’d like your involvement:

There are at least two other areas where we would value your help and participation:

• These folks have agreed to serve on the committee to plan Odyssey’s fall member gathering: Robert Black, Cheryl Leanza, Ava Martin, Pat Pattillo, Hassanah Tauhidi, and Linda Walter. Two others have not yet responded to my invitation. You may remember that this event is scheduled for September 27 – 30 in the Washington, D.C. area and will be held in cooperation with the fall meeting of the NCC Communication Commission. If there are others who are interested in helping to plan this event, please let me know.
• We will soon start the planning for Odyssey’s 2011observance of the 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks. I’ve asked Robert Chase to chair our member advisory committee for this planning. Larry Rich has already volunteered to help. Others who are interested should contact me.

More from April in Chicago:

I hope, if you were not present, you have heard about the fine member gathering we had on April 7th in Chicago. The 37 people in attendance made this among the largest ever Odyssey member gatherings. At that event I announced the first 2010 member production grants. You can read our news release about those grants at www.odysseynetworks.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=rPuyDN%2bZl%2b0%3d&tabid=97&mid=408 . Mary Dickey and Desiree Frieson also wrote a news release about Odyssey members who won awards during the RCC2010 event in Chicago. That release is also online at www.odysseynetworks.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=9ElBdd5kzGE%3d&tabid=97&mid=408 . Congratulations and thank you to all!

Goodbye and Godspeed to Lynn Harden:

One other important piece of Odyssey news that you may not yet have heard is that Lynn Harden, Odyssey’s Director of Philanthropy, has resigned to take the position of Executive Director of the Regence Foundation in Portland, Oregon. Regence is the largest health insurance company in the northwest. Now Lynn will get to give out money rather than try to raise it! She begins her new job in June. I know you join me in wishing Lynn the best in her new endeavor! If you know of someone who might be a candidate for Odyssey’s Director for Philanthropy position, please send me their contact information.

A personal note:

This coming Friday, May 7, my synod bishop, the Rev. Claire S. Burkat, will install me into my new Odyssey position during the opening worship service at the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod Assembly (www.sepa.org). These first five months at Odyssey have been full and full of wonderful contacts with members, staff, board, and other colleagues in this ministry we share, to “build bridges of understanding among people of faith through media.” There is no other time, I believe, when the building of such bridges has been more important. It is a privilege to share this time with you all.

Eric

Lutherans in Diaspora gathering

2010-02-23T17:02:00.004-05:00

Thanks to an invitation from the Rev. Dr. Barbara Lundblad, I had the privilege to speak to a gathering which of "Lutherans in Diaspora," ELCA seminary students (and several faculty) who attend these non-ELCA seminaries - Harvard, Princeton, Union and Yale. There were about 40 folks in attendance at Union Seminary on Saturday, February 13, 2010.

In her introduction, Dr. Lundblad noted my volunteer work as chair of the Wilbur Awards which are presented annually by the Religion Communicators Council (www.religioncommunciators.org) to recognize "excellence int he presentation of religious issues, themes and values." That is significant to note here only because I reference these awards in my presentation.

Here is the text of what I planned to say that morning:

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For a moment, I want to take you back with me to the fall of 1997, some 12 ½ years ago.

The fall of 1997 may be remembered in US television history as the year when television prime time commercial network programming “found” religion. Following the continued success of “Touched By An Angel” on CBS, the six commercial broadcast television networks tried “pastor shows” in a big way with “Seventh Heaven” on the WB Network, “Soul Man” on ABC, “Good News” on UPN and “Nothing Sacred” on ABC.

This was a strange and, sometimes, wonderful television season! “Soul Man” featured Dan Ackroyd as a motorcycle driving Episcopal priest, “Good News” focused on a black gospel congregation and its pastor, and “Seventh Heaven” highlighted a pastor’s large family in a community congregation. All three of these were overtly Christian and two were renewed for another season. “Seventh Heaven” went on to many years of broadcast on the WB and then CW networks. For a time it was the most-watched show on the WB network.

“Nothing Sacred” attracted the most media attention, partly because it had attracted early and vocal opposition from the Catholic League, a small, very conservative Roman Catholic advocacy group, and partly because it dealt so well, in my opinion, with many controversial topics. Lutherans had a vested interest in “Nothing Sacred” because its exteriors were taped outside of Angelica Lutheran Church in Los Angeles and the $3,000 the congregation received each time the program taped there made an important difference for the budget of this struggling Latino congregation.

Although “Nothing Sacred” was quickly canceled and never attracted huge audiences, especially when it was scheduled opposite “Friends” on Thursday evening, it won several awards including a Peabody Award, the Humanitas Prize and a Wilbur Award. I thought their Wilbur Award winning Halloween episode, “Spirit and Substance,” which included the “St. Patrick’s breastplate” prayer prayed in its entirety, was amazing television and a very public witness for Jesus Christ for millions of viewers.

And, the 1990’s were also good times for religion in pop and public media in other areas:

+ The late Peter Jennings, then the most popular evening news anchor, hired Peggy Wehmeyer as a full time religion reporter for ABC television’s “World News Tonight.”

+ The Dallas Morning News set a new standard for newspaper religion reporting with a large staff and a weekly eight page religion section plus regular news and features in the rest of the paper.

+ Fueled by the expansion in newspaper religion reporting, the Religion Newswriters’ Association membership topped 500.

+ In addition to the network television programs I already mentioned, The West Wing, one of my all-time favorite television programs, won awards for its sensitive portrayal of Christian and Jewish themes and included a US President who attended church regularly and even talked with his wife about the sermon afterwards.

+ Singer Joan Osbourne’s 1995 song, What If God Was One of Us, reached the Billboard top ten for pop music. (Osbourne’s song later became the theme song for the short-lived, and often outstanding, television drama, Joan of Arcadia, in 2003).

+ Issues of magazine newsweeklies Newsweek, Time and US News with cover feature stories on faith and religion regularly sold out on newsstands.

+ Films with faith-related themes like Dead Man Walking and The Apostle drew well at the box office and made money for film studios. DreamWorks film studios first production was an animated film about Moses, The Prince of Egypt, a film one of its founders, Steven Spielberg, called the “greatest story ever told.”

There’s more, but you get the idea. The 1990’s were, in my opinion, the best of times for religion and pop or public media, perhaps since the 1950’s.

Well, now it is 2010, 12 ½ years later and what do we see?

+ I see nothing on commercial television that is even close not just to the overtly religion-themed programming of the 1990’s but not even close to programs like The West Wing which occasionally did religion-themed programs. For example, the television drama category for the Wilbur Awards, which I chair and in the past has included winners like The West Wing, ER, the X Files, Third Watch, Without a Trace, has had no entries for the past two years!

+ The newspaper industry is in free-fall and religion reporting has been hit hard. Just within the last month, religion reporters for the Boston Globe and Chicago Sun Times lost their jobs or were reassigned. Not long ago the Dallas Morning News gave up their religion section and laid off all but one of their staff. Folks at the Religion News Service tell me that, while their website continues to have record-setting traffic, even large newspapers no longer appear willing to pay a minimal monthly fee for their news feed. I remember reading that several of the major award winners for the annual Religion Newswriters’ Association last year had all lost their positions since their award-winning work was written. And that organization has seen its membership shrink.

+ Peter Jennings is now in heaven, but before he died, he laid off Peggy Wehmeyer who was not replaced. No major television network has a religion reporter.

+ The music industry is also in free-fall and so-called Christian music is no exception.

+ US news magazines are also in subscription free-fall. I hear continued rumors about the soon demise of both US News and Newsweek.

Now, those of you who know me know that I am a half-full, not a half-empty kind of person. There is still some good news in the field of faith and media and pop culture:

+ The film, The Blind Side, with a visible Christian theme, was the sleeper hit of 2009 and continues to attract record audiences in 2010.

+ Tyler Perry’s faith and family focused films, plays, books and television programs draw large, mostly African American, audiences and readers.

+ William P. Young’s novel, The Shack, continues to be a pop-culture phenomenon with millions of copies sold.

+ Saving Grace, Holly Hunter’s TNT cable network drama in which she plays a police detective with a priest brother and guardian angel, has been a moderate hit for TNT and will have its final run of new programs this summer.

+ PBS’ Religion & Ethics Newsweekly continues its many year run.

+ This year’s Wilbur Awards have a record number of faith-themed entries from television network news.

+ Faith themed websites and virtual materials of all kinds abound.

And that leads us to this morning’s discussion on social media and the virtual world. Let’s look at a piece call “The Social Media Revolution” from YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8 .

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By this time, since we had started a bit late, we had just a short time for questions and answers and small group discussion. I was able to share a fine piece, "New Tips for Social Media Use," prepared by the ELCA's Len Mason - see http://blogs.elca.org/webdev/post/new-tips-for-social-media-use-02022010/.

I had planned to make some additional comments which follow. I was able to add most of these in response to questions and discussion:

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

As I told the folks who planned today’s program, I do not claim to be an expert in social media. I am very active on Facebook and, as of yesterday, had 777 friends. I have recently begun putting material on my blog and then promoting it via Facebook. I have less activity on Twitter – maybe because 140 characters seem quite limiting!

And I know from my recent pastorate in Lansdale that younger people are using Facebook and other social networking sites and texting via their mobile telephones as primary communication tools. I am sure many of you saw the recent news that the average teenager in the US now spends 7 ½ hours using or watching electronic media EVERY DAY. Take away school and sleeping and it is safe to say that many, if not most, North American teens are watching television, texting, or on their computer or mobile telephone for nearly all of their other waking hours each day.

And, this has all changed and is changing very rapidly. In my last pastorate we had teen age leaders who were no longer using e-mail – you had to text them or “Facebook” them to communicate electronically with them! Our new youth director has begun using Facebook as a primary tool for sharing information and dialogue with Trinity’s young people. A check of Facebook or Twitter will find thousands of faith-related “pages” and sites.

Even the Pope has weighed in on social networking, suggesting this past month that all priests have blogs! The February issue of The Lutheran magazine has “Social media & faith: Jump in” as it cover story and includes Bishop Hanson’s column in which he concludes, talking about social and other new media – “We need not fear or become enslaved to them. Used faithfully, these innovations can build and strengthen communities of faith as God’s ambassadors sing the song of God’s new creation.”

Thus, if I have any advice to share with you as current and coming pastors and leaders in the church it is to pay attention to what is happening around you in pop culture and media. It always helps, I believe, to know at least a little about the most popular television and films and even to get for yourself basic knowledge of the professional sports teams popular in your community. And, especially in these and coming days, it will help your ministry greatly if you can find ways that the virtual world, and right now that would be social media, can assist you in your life and ministry.

Thank you.

Ash Wednesday Sermon on www.odysseynetworks.org

2010-02-15T18:03:00.002-05:00

This week Odyssey Networks - http://www.odysseynetworks.org/ - is featuring my 2008 Ash Wednesday sermon on its website. This sermon was preached from Jerusalem and Bethlehem and sent via satelite back to Trinity Lutheran Church in Lansdale, Pennsylvania (http://www.trinitylansdale.com/) where I was then senior pastor. With a few minor edits, the sermon is still "evergreen." Video work on this project was done by Tim Frakes of Frakes Productions (http://www.frakesproductions.com/) and public relations for this trip was handled for me by Susan Williams of Susan Williams and Associates (http://www.susanwilliamsassociates.com/). Trinity communication director, Jane Jorgensen, handled the work on Trinity's end.

Tu B'Shvat

2010-02-03T12:03:00.005-05:00

In my new position with Odyssey Networks, I am learning about religious holidays and festivals that are new to me. Most recently I learned about Tu B'Shvat (pronounced too-bish-vat), the Jewish New Year of the Trees celebrated on the 15th of Sh'vat in the Hebrew calendar which this year was January 29th. The Union for Reform Judaism website calls Tu B'Shvat the "Jewish Arbor Day."

Rabbi Michael Kagan has a wonderful piece on Tu B'Shvat on the Odyssey website at http://www.odysseynetworks.org/Causes/TuBShevat/TuBShvatbyMichaelKagan/tabid/354/Default.aspx . I won't repeat his fine explanation here but it is accurate to say that Tu B'Shvat is an ancient holiday that has found new meaning with the modern State of Israel and their great agricultural success. Many celebrate Tu B'Shvat with a special Seder meal of fruits, nuts and red & white wines.

With Odyssey's continued cause-emphasis on peace and the environment, it seemed natural for us to take an inter-faith look at this wonderful festival day. Thus, we have produced a short video featuring a Jewish rabbi (Marcus Burstein), a Buddhist priest (Kenjitsu Nakagaki) and a Christian pastor (that would be me!). We recorded this video outside in a park near Odyssey's offices in the InterChurch Center in New York City on January 29th (in 0 degree weather!) You can view it online at http://www.odysseynetworks.org/Causes/TuBShevat/tabid/349/Default.aspx .

Also on our website Rabbi Arthur Waskow writes about the connections between Tu B'Shvat and the film "Avatar" at http://www.odysseynetworks.org/Causes/TuBShevat/tabid/349/ctl/Details/mid/1586/ItemID/12/Default.aspx .

All of this, once again, made me aware of how much people of faith, people of virtually any and all faiths, are more alike than we are different. We all wish for peace in our world and stand for the care of this earth. And for that, all I can do is thank God!

E-mail to Odyssey members and friends

2010-01-26T05:42:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I sent my first e-mail letter to the members and friends of the Odyssey Networks in my new position as their Senior Vice President for Philanthropy & Faith Community Relations. Here is the text of that letter (the actual e-mail letter also included the Odyssey emblem, my photo and signature):

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January, 2010

Hello!

For those of you who do not know me, I am the Rev. Eric C. Shafer, Odyssey’s new Senior Vice President for Philanthropy & Faith Community Relations. I began my ministry with Odyssey on the 4th of this month, so I am definitely the “new kid in town!” However, as many of you know, I have a long history with Odyssey Networks, stretching back to the beginning of our work together in 1987 and 1988. Most recently I served for four years on the Board of Trustees of our “parent,” the National Interfaith Cable Coalition (NICC), where I was the Finance Committee Chair and on the Executive Committee.

It is a real pleasure to have now joined the staff team here in New York and to be working with our new President, Nick Stuart, and the others on this very fine staff. You can read more about me on Odyssey’s website at http://www.odysseynetworks.org/AboutUs/Staff/tabid/78/Default.aspx .

I look forward to hearing from you and visiting with you at your office (and I do respond to invitations!) Let’s talk soon about how we might get together.

I will be attending the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) Convention in Nashville from February 26 – March 2 and hope to connect with those of you who will also be at that convention. Please let me know if you plan to be present so that we might get together in Nashville.

More important is our gathering of Odyssey member representatives just prior to the Religion Communication Congress 2010 (www.rcc2010.org) in Chicago, April 7 – 10. An Odyssey member meeting will be held at the Chicago Marriott Hotel Downtown at 540 North Michigan Avenue, the location of the Congress, on Wednesday, April 7, beginning at 3:00 p.m. We will finish our time together in time for us all to get the Congress’ opening banquet that evening. At that meeting we will outline the new member structures which are being put in place to improve our member relationships and contacts and describe this year’s member production grants. I know that at least a dozen member representatives have already indicated to my assistant, Steve Tofte, that they plan to be present. I am pleased that, in addition to these folks and several Odyssey staff members, representatives of our newest member, Harran Productions Foundation (www.harranfoundation.org), will also be able to be with us that day as will the Rev. Dr. James Wind, President of the Alban Institute and chair of the new NICC Board of Trustees Membership Committee.

I know that many of our members are presently heavily involved in numerous aspects of disaster response work following the Haiti earthquake. We would be happy to link to your video and print pieces from the Odyssey website – please let Mat Tombers know of your Haiti relief work and how we might connect to it – mtombers@odysseynetworks.org .

Mat is also interested in knowing what sort of short form materials you might have for Odyssey’s new mobile network that will be launched later this year. Through our contract with GO TV, Odyssey will be the premium mobile “app” for religion and faith materials. In addition to your content, Mat is also interested in your thoughts about what else we should be providing for faith-seeking mobile users.

In addition to our new Odyssey “channel” for mobile, we will be re-launching the Odyssey website, www.odysseynetworks.org, later this year. The new website will be an interfaith online network to share your short and long form video materials. Again, speak with Mat (who will be with us in Chicago in April) about your content and interest. Also later this year, Mat will begin an intranet site for staff and members only so that we can have easy ongoing contact and sharing.

Part of our new member benefits will be an annual membership meeting. Members have already asked that this session at least include workshops, showcases and a producer’s retreat. This year this gathering will be held during/around the meetings of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Communication Commission. Their meeting is September 28 – 30 in Washington, D.C. How we will interface with their meetings (sessions during, before and/or after) is not yet clear, but I wanted to share these dates so that you might hold that week for member meetings. We are doing these sessions with the NCC for the obvious reason to save on travel expenses (and to reduce our “carbon footprint”) and the obvious common interests and staff who might attend both sessions. Thanks to the NCC’s Pat Pattillo for his willingness to hold our meetings cooperatively!

Well, this is probably enough (even too much!) for my first communication with you all! I plan to communicate with you regularly and would welcome your response!

Here is a summary of my many requests in this missive:

· Your invitations for me to visit with you in your offices
· Contact if you are planning to be at the NRB meeting in Nashville
· Your presence at our April 7th Odyssey member meeting in Chicago
· Your Haiti relief materials for our website content/connection
· Your content for our new Odyssey mobile network and your ideas for other content that should be part of this network
· Your content for our renewed website, www.odysseynetworks.org and
· Your hold on September 27 – October 1 for possible member meetings and workshop sessions

Thank you for staying with me through all of this! I look forward to our continued contact.

The Rev. Eric C. Shafer
Senior Vice President
Philanthropy & Faith Community Relations
Odyssey Networks
475 Riverside Drive, #530
New York, New York 10115
eshafer@odysseynetworks.org
Voice – 212-870-1030
Fax – 212-870-1040
Cell – 267-222-0964

Visionary Leaders for Children's Television

2010-01-15T12:30:00.003-05:00

A week ago today Art Clokey, animator and one of the creators of Davey and Goliath (www.daveyandgoliath.org), died at age 88.

The New York Times ran a fine obituary (see www.nytimes.com/2010/01/11/arts/television/11clokey.html?ref=obituaries) and the ELCA news service wrote a very fine remembrance also (see www.elca.org/Who-We-Are/Our-Three-Expressions/Churchwide-Organization/Communication-Services/News/Releases.aspx?a=4385).

Clokey was the last living member of the original team which put Davey and Goliath together in the late 1950's and 1960's. These visionary men and women (Art & Ruth Clokey, Dick Sutcliff, Nancy Moore, Marshall Stross and Frank Klos) gave children a gift which, thanks to new communication formats and distribution, may be nearly eternal!

Davey and Goliath, a stop-motion animated television series for children, was first broadcast in 1960. The show focused on Davey Hansen and his talking dog Goliath, who acted as Davey's conscience. Storylines carried uplifting, moral lessons on topics such as responsibility, care for the environment, acceptance of all people, and other valuable lessons designed to affirm a child's faith in God in an entertaining way. Davey was one of the first television programs to feature non-white characters and, while produced by the Lutheran Church, was non-sectarian in its approach to faith. A ground-breaking episode on racism ("The Polka Dot Tie," tame by today's standards) was even delayed by the television networks as too controversial! I'm told the animators changed the title and put it on anyway!

Art & Ruth Clokey, creators of the well-known Gumby & Pokey series, made the Davey and Goliath programs using doll-like figures with animated faces. Eventually, the cast of the show grew to more than twenty characters.

In all, 65 15-minute episodes and six half-hour specials were produced by the former Lutheran Church in America (one of three church bodies that merged to form the ELCA in 1988). For 20 years, as many as 183 television stations broadcast the episodes on Saturday and Sunday mornings by 1980. Davey and Goliath won several Gabriel Awards and was featured in the International and American Film Festivals. Episodes continue to run on 15 - 20 cable stations across the country.

The nostalgia craze (fueled by us Baby-Boomers who grew up with Davey) helped Davey and Goliath remain popular after production stopped in 1975. The pair has been referenced on such programs as The Daily Show, Will and Grace, Project Green Light, The Simpsons, Friends and Mad TV, as well as in films such as Dead Man Walking, Frailty and Dogma.

Take a look at the testimonials from viewers on the Davey website - www.daveyandgoliath.org/testimonials.html . There was (is) something about Davey and Goliath which continues to connect with people of all ages!

I got involved with Davey during my time as Communication Director for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) from 1992 - 2006. In the late 1990's, under the direction of Kristi Bangert, who now serves as ELCA Executive Director for Communication Services, and Ava Martin, ELCA Director for Public Media, we began activities to bring Davey back into production. We licensed many products (most are now out of production but available on EBay and other places online) and reintroduced the past episodes on DVD (available on amazon.com and many other places).

In 2002 we also licensed PepsiCo to use the Davey characters in a commercial for the soft drink Mountain Dew. (This was a controversial move, but really introduced Davey to a new generation of children and youth). You can find the commercial on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaDxcVPxB3g.

In front of 40,000 high-school age and adult Lutherans, Davey and Goliath appeared on stage at the 2003 ELCA Youth Gathering. A new 90-second Davey and Goliath video on baptism was part of the Youth Gathering appearances. We also produced several television "spot" ads, for evangelism and disaster response, using the Davey characters. The ELCA's publishing house, Augsburg Fortress, used Davey for their 2004 and 2005 Vacation Bible School curriculum.

In 2003, ABC television affiliates across the USA and Canada showed, Oh Davey!...History of the 'Davey and Goliath' Television Series. This one- hour documentary traced the history of Davey and Goliath from its origins in 1958 to that time (see www.daveyandgoliath.org/documentary.html).

And, in the first major new Davey production in nearly 30 years, in 2004 the ELCA produced a one hour Christmas television special, Davey and Goliath's Snowboard Christmas, which was broadcast on the Hallmark Channel and featured Jewish and Muslim characters for the first time (see www.daveyandgoliath.org/snowboard/index.html). Clokey Productions, with both Art Clokey and his son Joe actively involved, produced this new program for us. (Art and Joe liked Ava Martin so much that they immortalized her as a character in this production, Ranger Ava!) Ava Martin, Kristi Bangert and I are listed as executive producers of this program. As you can imagine, I got to know Art and Joe well during these years. (Also their attorney, Bela Lugosi, Jr. - yes, the son of the actor who played Dracula!)

At John L. Peterson's suggestion, the Luther Institute (www.lutherinst.org, now related to the ELCA's Gettysburg Seminary) honored the founders and creators of Davey and Goliath with their Wittenberg Award in November of 2004. There are wonderful photos online at www.daveyandgoliath.org/wittenberg_award_photos.html . The last photo in that gallary includes Art & Joe Clokey, Marshall Stross and me. Ruth Clokey was too ill to attend and Dick Sutcliff also could not attend. Frank Klos' widow Sally, accepted on behalf of her late husband.

There is much more online at www.daveyandgoliath.org, Davey's official website.

With Art's death, the last of this generation of visionary leaders and animators are gone. But, because their work lives on through the internet and DVD's, their contribution to children will continue.

Thanks be to God!

Two recent newspaper articles

2009-12-11T15:29:00.002-05:00

"The Reporter" newspaper had a front page story on Friday, December 11, 2009 about our congregation's new outreach effort, "New 'Code Blue' shelter sets up in Lansdale." On December 7 our congregation council okayed Trinity as a site for emergency overnight housing for the homeless in our county when the temperature drops below 20 degrees (called "Code Blue") as it did on December 10. The newspaper article can be read online at
http://www.thereporteronline.com/articles/2009/12/11/news/srv0000007051589.txt .

Back on October 19, 2009, this same newspaper had a front page story of the news of my leaving Trinity, "Trinity Lutheran Senior Pastor stepping down," complete with a color photo. That article is still online at http://www.thereporteronline.com/articles/2009/10/19/news/srv0000006630678.txt .

My last senior pastor report to Trinity's Congregation Council

2009-12-11T15:22:00.002-05:00

For my final report to the Congregation Council at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, I tried to summarize both some of the accomplishments during my nearly four years at Trinity as well as some of the "unfinished business" that I leave. Here is that report:

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Congregation Council Report, December, 2009, the Rev. Eric C. Shafer, Senior Pastor

In April of 2006, shortly after I arrived here at Trinity as your senior pastor, I shared “A Vision for Trinity Lutheran Church” with an “All Committee Night” in April of 2006. In that vision I spoke of this congregation’s many strengths and my hope that during my tenure as your senior pastor we would focus on leadership and discipleship. I am pleased to say that I believe we have focused on these areas over the last 3 ½ years and have much of which to be proud. We also have much more left to do, but that is the way it is and should be in ministry.

We have accomplished so much together. I am so proud of what we have done together for worship and education and service and outreach. Here are just some of those accomplishments:

•Saturday evening worship and Holy Communion at all weekend worship services. Plus the videotaping of Sunday sermons for our website and Advent Wednesday worship services.
•Wednesday evening FEAST activities, part of our overall increased commitment to serving both our own children and families and the poor in Lansdale.
•Opening our facilities to more community groups, including regular worship services for the Calling Mission Evangelical (Korean) Church. (And, I am very excited and pleased that we have just opened our facilities to be an area "Code Blue" shelter for homeless men on the coldest of nights!)
•Increases in adult education opportunities including Wednesday evening classes, almost daily Bible studies, “Second Saturday,” and our weekly e-mail Bible study.
•Many facilities improvements including new sound systems for the church and chapel, new landscaping in the front of the church, the completion and dedication of the columbarium and addition of the columbarium fountain. Plus renaming the Trinity Center as Hyson Hall.
•The addition of the Evangelical Lutheran Worship hymnal and the Bibles in the pews along with a more user-friendly bulletin and increased differentiation among our worship services. Plus new choirs for children and adults.
•A successful 125th anniversary celebration and the annual “Blessing of Animals.”
•Increased outreach activities from as close Manna on Main Street and Community Housing Services in Lansdale and the Patterson School in Philadelphia to as far as the Lutheran schools in Palestine plus new missionaries in Jerusalem and annual global mission guests. Plus the annual Outreach Fair and this year's Job Fair.
•Improved financial stewardship response, part of an overall stewardship strategy.
•Increases in lay ministry with the addition of lay worship assistants and a large increase in the number of lay eucharistic ministers. Plus many new lay ministries including the Green Team and Garden Club and Wednesday FEAST volunteers.
•New ministry with young adults and renewed student ministry and communication and women’s ministries.

Kris and I were delighted to welcome nearly 2,000 members and guests to our home, the parsonage, during these years.

However, for this, my final written council report as your senior pastor, I want to focus on some of the unfinished business of my ministry with you:

•Sunday morning worship and education schedule – we did much good work in trying to find a good three service/two SCS schedule for Sunday morning at Trinity. Our worship service surveys showed good support for such a change. This remains a piece of our “unfinished business.”
•Commitment to Gettysburg and Philadelphia Seminaries – for more than ten years, Trinity’s leaders have discussed making a major capital gift to Philadelphia and Gettysburg Seminaries. In June of 2006 this council accepted a goal of raising $300,000 for each seminary. Our efforts were postponed by the recent global economic downturn, but must not be forgotten. (As of this date, $3,500 has been given to LTSP and $1,000 to LTSG toward these goals).
•Pastoral staffing – I agreed with staff and council that, after Pastor Tiemeyer’s resignation as our visitation pastor, we should hold off on filling that position and move ahead to fill our Director for Student Ministries position instead. Mark Ristine’s fine work has shown the wisdom of that decision. That said, not having the visitation pastor position filled has left a hole in our ministries, one which the others of us on the pastoral staff have found difficult, if not impossible, to fill because of other ministry needs.
•Financial stewardship – With the help of the TradeWinds stewardship plan we have made great strides in all of our stewardship efforts and emphases here at Trinity and, even in the face of the global economic meltdown, have done well in our financial stewardship response. That said, we still have a long way to go. Many of our members have not been hurt by the current economy issues and can still improve their financial stewardship response. There are no easy answers here, just continued hard work.
•Capital needs – in addition to our gifts for our two seminaries, there are unmet capital needs that should be addressed over the next five – ten years. Among these are a new roof for the sanctuary and remodeling of the “old” education wing. As many of you know, we were close to beginning a capital campaign for these and the seminary needs when the economy began to suffer.

These are five major pieces of unfinished business from our time together in ministry. I list them not to suggest any specific action but to make sure they are not forgotten in the senior pastor transition.

I leave this call with much gratitude to staff and council and other colleagues in the leadership ministries of this congregation. Thank you for all that you have done and continue to do for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in this time and place.

You will remain in my prayers. I will remember you always.

God bless and keep you – today and every day,

The Rev. Eric C. Shafer
Senior Pastor
December 1, 2009

New Call

2009-10-16T08:47:00.004-04:00

Here is a copy of the letter mailed to all members of Trinity Lutheran Church in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday, October 14, 2009:

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October, 2009

Dear friends in Christ:

On October 13, 2009, I submitted my resignation as Trinity’s Senior Pastor, effective December 31, 2009. I have received and accepted the position of Senior Vice President for Philanthropy and Faith Community Relations at Odyssey Networks in New York City effective January 1, 2010. Odyssey Networks (http://www.odysseynetworks.org/) is the nation’s largest coalition of Christian, Jewish and Muslim faith groups dedicated to achieving interfaith understanding and promoting peace and social justice through media. I have long been both interested in the intersection of faith and media and committed to an interfaith approach to peace and justice in our world. This new position gives me the opportunity to work full time in these areas and also brings Kris and me closer to retirement at our Martha’s Vineyard home. My last worship services as your Senior Pastor will be Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

The nearly four years I have served as your Senior Pastor have been both challenging and rewarding. We began our ministry together in 2006 with a focus on congregational leadership and discipleship. I am justifiably proud of the progress we have made in these important areas. There are many examples of our success in worship and music, service, education and outreach over these years. These include but certainly are not limited to:
* Saturday evening worship
* Wednesday evening FEAST activities, part of our increased commitment to serving both our own children and families and the poor in Lansdale
* Opening our facilities to more community groups, including regular worship services for the Calling Mission Evangelical (Korean) Church
* Increases in adult education opportunities including Wednesday evening classes, almost daily Bible studies, and our weekly e-mail Bible study
* New choirs for children and adults
* Holy Communion at all weekend worship services
* The Evangelical Lutheran Worship hymnal and a more user-friendly bulletin
* A successful 125th anniversary celebration
* Increased outreach activities from as close as the Patterson School in Philadelphia to as far as the Lutheran schools in Palestine
* Improved financial stewardship response
* The addition of lay worship assistants
* Major increases in the number of lay eucharistic ministers
* Global mission growth (guests and new missionaries in Jerusalem)
* New ministry with young adults
* Renewed student ministry and communication.

There is, of course, still much to be done, but so much to celebrate and for which we can be thankful. It has been a real pleasure to minister here with such a fine staff and dedicated lay leaders. You will all remain in our thoughts and hearts forever.

Sincerely,

The Rev. Eric C. Shafer
Senior Pastor

**********************

And, here is a copy of the news release that will be sent out by Odyssey Networks next week:

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Odyssey Networks appoints The Rev. Eric C. Shafer as Senior Vice President of Odyssey Networks

Odyssey Networks, the nation’s largest coalition of Christian, Jewish and Muslim faith groups dedicated to building bridges of understanding among people of faith through media, has appointed The Rev. Eric C. Shafer to the post of Senior Vice President. Shafer is expected to start his newly created position on January 1, 2010. As Odyssey’s Senior Vice President, Shafer will be responsible for fundraising activities and relationships with US faith groups.

Shafer has recently resigned as the Senior Pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Lansdale, Pennsylvania effective December 31, 2009. In his letter to the congregation announcing this new call, Shafer notes that he has “long been both interested in the intersection of faith and media and committed to an interfaith approach to peace and justice in our world. This new position gives me the opportunity to work full time in these areas.”

Before coming to Trinity in March of 2006, Shafer served nearly 14 years as Director of Communication for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) at its churchwide offices in Chicago. While at the ELCA, Shafer was responsible for a successful national advertising campaign and the return of the children’s stop-motion animation program Davey and Goliath to television. Shafer has also served as an assistant to the Bishop in the Northeastern Pennsylvania Lutheran Synod and as pastor of Holy Trinity Memorial Lutheran Church in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania.

Shafer presently serves on Odyssey Networks Board of Trustees representing the ELCA. He is also vice chair of the board of the Good Shepherd Home and Rehabilitation Hospital in Allentown and member of the Muhlenberg College Board of Observers. He serves as chair of the Religion Communicators Council's Wilbur Awards which recognize excellence in communicating religious issues, values and themes in the public media. He has previously served as an advisor to the Lutheran World Federation Council, on the board of directors and executive committee of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA and on the Muhlenberg College Board of Trustees.

"Working together with religious communities to create change is more crucial to this world's future than ever, and so to have on board someone with as much experience and energy and enthusiasm for this as Eric, makes this one of the most important signings Odyssey Networks has made," said Nick Stuart, President & CEO of Odyssey Networks. "It shows Odyssey's commitment to working with the faith communities of America through media to really make a difference, and to have someone spearheading this who is as widely respected and admired as Eric Shafer really opens up the horizons for what we can achieve together."

About Odyssey Networks

Odyssey Networks is the nation’s largest coalition of Christian, Jewish and Muslim faith groups dedicated to producing and distributing media that promotes peace and tolerance and addresses issues of social justice. Established in 1987, Odyssey Networks is a service of the National Interfaith Cable Coalition, Inc. For more information visit http://www.odysseynetworks.org/

2009-09-28T09:07:00.003-04:00

It has not been my practice to post my sermons on my blog, since they are found on Trinity's website, www.trinitylansdale.com , in both text and video, always posted by Wednesday or Thursday of the week after the sermon is shared. However, I have received so many comments on my sermon from this past weekend, based on the weekend's gospel lesson from Mark 9: 38 - 50, that I thought it important to post here also.

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Tolerance, Sermon for 17th Pentecost, “B,” September 26/27, 2009, Trinity, Lansdale

(I began by stating that I was not going to preach on cutting off one’s hands or feet or plucking out one’s eye and that I hoped no one would be disappointed (smile). I did note that these statements by Jesus in today’s gospel were obvious metaphors and that they pointed to Jesus’ emphasis on concentrating on what is important in life and faith and not what is not important).

This past week the season changed from summer to fall and, after reading today’s gospel lesson, I got thinking about how the summer of 2009 would be remembered. And, that reflection made me feel sad because I believe that the summer of 2009 will be remembered as the summer of intolerance, the summer of intolerance.

You do not have to go too far to find examples of extreme intolerance from last summer, especially on the national scene. Health care town meetings were orchestrated from all points of view to be shouting matches. The President of the United States was called a liar as he spoke to Congress.

The strangest summer intolerance may have been the many school districts which banned the President’s speech to school children from being shown at their schools, a speech that urged children to stay in school and study. More locally, we saw a Montgomery County swim club withdraw from a contract to allow city children to swim at their club, a withdraw which has since been investigated and found to be racially-based.

Of course, bad summer behavior was not confined to the political scene. There are always bad behavior examples from sports and entertainment figures. We don’t have to look very hard to find too many examples. Just think of rapper Kanye West’s public bad behavior at the Video Music Awards.

Now, I do not follow either rap music or country music as closely as I probably should, but I do follow fellow Wyomissing native Taylor Swift’s career somewhat and it doesn’t take a music expert to identify West’s poor behavior. President Obama correctly described it in a word similar to “donkey.” I also do not have a solution for the United States healthcare crisis, but I surely know as a pastor who sees people, especially the poor and the elderly, members and non-members alike, without adequate health insurance that what we now have is not working. And, my African American friends have told me what they think of Congressman Wilson’s outburst during the President’s speech before Congress and what they think is rather obvious.

Regardless of your personal point of view on these examples, I hope you can agree that, sadly, intolerance was all too common this past summer.

In today’s gospel lesson John says to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.”

Sounds like intolerance goes back a lot farther than this past summer!

Jesus reacts strongly and decisively when he responds to John, “Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us.”

John’s and the other disciples’ reaction to an outsider casting out demons in Jesus name – “He must be stopped” – is a perfect example of intolerant religion.

Now, intolerant religion was not a new phenomenon in Jesus’ day. The Old Testament is full of intolerance with God even ordering the Israelites to exterminate people of other faiths in Exodus, Deuteronomy and Numbers, for example.

The early Christian church didn’t do much better. Remember the Crusades? The burning of heretics at the stake? The execution of women thought to be witches in the early history of our own nation?

Even today, some call for us to “hate the sin but not the sinner.” Let me tell you, those who have those words thrown at them can feel the hatred in those words.

There are just too many examples. The continual history of Christian hatred and persecution of Jews and homosexuals are just two more examples of both historic and modern intolerance.

I hope all of this makes you cringe as much as it does me!

This sort of Christian intolerance is a double problem for us. Not only does Jesus clearly condemn it, as he does in today’s gospel lesson, intolerance creates a very negative image of Christianity among non-Christians. Just ask the average young person on the street what they think of Christians – you will be surprised at their reactions – they will use words like “judgmental, narrow-minded, condemning and intolerant.”

Sadly, many Christians seem almost addicted to such intolerance. Well-meaning people see their intolerance as a desire to keep the truth uncorrupted. They treasure their intolerance as a means of assuring themselves of their own unique superiority. With such a view, open-mindedness and the possibility of changing one’s mind is never even necessary – they own the truth! They defend their racial, religious or class prejudices and asset their right to force their views on others. All this in the name of Christianity. Sigh…

All this caused Mahatma Gandhi, certainly one of the non-violence saints of the 20th century, to say that Christianity was a fine religion; he just had never found someone who lived it!

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am pleased to say that this is less of a problem here at Trinity, and in our Lutheran congregations generally, then it may be in other faith traditions. But, it is something we must be continually vigilant about, lest we, too, fall into easy intolerance.

Jesus looks at tolerance and intolerance differently. In today’s gospel lesson Jesus is clear: Jesus does not care if someone is even his disciple, if he is doing good, then, Christian or non-Christian, that person is doing Jesus’ work in this world. It is a simple as that.

St. Paul follows Jesus’ lead when he writes in Romans 14, “Let us no longer pass judgment on one another, but resolve instead never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of another.” In Philippians, Paul goes even further when he states that he rejoices whenever Christ is proclaimed in any way by any one, whether their motives for doing so are good or bad.

Jesus goes even further in today’s gospel lesson, suggesting that teaching hatred to children, putting any stumbling block before any little ones, is as bad as sinking to one’s death in the sea. Remember that old song about prejudice and hate from the musical South Pacific – “You’ve got to be taught.” Jesus says “no” to any teaching that involves hate or prejudice and even cautions against judging those who do not believe in him!

I believe that Jesus, in today’s gospel lesson, is teaching us that tolerance is the better way. Here’s why:

Intolerance is a sign of weak faith. When some people find themselves insecure in an argument, they think they can win by talking louder – witness the health care town meetings this past summer. In the same way, insecurity about faith can lead us to an intolerant attitude. If we are uncomfortable or unsure in our own faith, it is then easy to try to expose absolute rules in the hope that they will overcome any doubt or ambiguity. Witness those who oppose the recent ELCA changes allowing gay and lesbian pastors in long-term, committed same-sex relationships to be pastors in our church. Some of those who oppose these changes are now shouting a lot and making absolutist and ultimately, I believe, false statements about church history and homosexuality.

Regardless, tolerance is just a better way. Intolerance always damages the cause it tries to defend. Attack a heretic and you give him an audience. Banish a book and everyone wants to read it. Condemn a sin and some want to try it. More importantly, an intolerant Christian attitude only ultimately drives people away from Christianity. If you don’t believe me, check out the fastest growing religious group in America according to recent polls – that group is “none or no religion.” And we Christians have only ourselves to blame, I believe, for the growth of that group.

Tolerance, and only tolerance, overcomes hatred. The church, our congregation, must be a model of tolerance in a hate-filled world. We must present Christ to the world. And Christ is not arrogant, He does not coerce belief, He is not dogmatic. We cannot exult love by encouraging hate.

We Lutherans love the word “grace.” By grace we always mean the unconditional love that God has for us all in Jesus Christ, God’s continual outreach in love to us, even when we do not love God in return, God’s promise, once and for all times, of eternal life with him for all who believe in Jesus Christ.

Tolerance of others, however similar or dissimilar they are to us, flows from this grace. Tolerance is and must be our commitment in Christ. We choose the path of tolerance and grace, not because it is the broad or easy path, but actually because it is the narrow path, the path advocated by the highest and best that our Bible and tradition has to offer.

Tolerance is the path of Paul and Jesus and is the high road of grace. May it be our path and high road also.

Amen.

Communities of Peace

2009-09-24T15:25:00.003-04:00

As you know from reading this blog, I was one of 12 people from a number of faith traditions who were blogging as a part of the "Million Minutes for Peace" effort by the Odyssey Networks (http://www.odysseynetworks.org/), an effort to undergird the United Nations International Day of Peace this past Monday, September 21, in prayer.

The final question we were asked to make a blog response to was this: "Are there some communities or countries that seem to have successfully established cultures of peace? Could you identify them and describe how they achieved peace?"

Here is my response:

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I am interested in "communities and countries that seem to have successfully established culture of peace," but I am more interested in those who champion efforts for peace in the midst of far less than peaceful situations. When I think of such champions, I think of my dear friend, the Rev. Dr. Munib A. Younan, Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land.

Younan serves as Bishop of the Lutheran churches located in Jerusalem, Amman, Jordan, and the occupied territories of the West Bank. He has become a champion for peace with justice in Jerusalem and Palestine while challenging everyone to avoid violence in the pursuit of such justice.

In a recent speech to the convention of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC), Younan said, "In the midst of overwhelming injustice, we Palestinian Christians are called to be ministers of reconciliation, brokers of justice, defenders of human rights, instruments of peace and prophets to speak truth to power." He asked for prayers for peace that affirm each person's humanity.

In his ELCIC address, Younan spoke of "signs of hope" in the Holy Land. Younan went through a long list of hopeful signs for Christians in the Holy Land, emphasizing the unique role his small church has in the pursuit of peace with justice there. I am most interested in his interfaith work which includes the "Jonah Dialogue Group" made up of faith leaders from Palestinian Christians and Israeli Jews, a group which deals with issues of daily life "to help us know and respect one another." Another area of Younan's interfaith work is in Muslim-Christian dialogue where his call for a "code of conduct" resulted in the "Amman Declaration" which supports mutual respect among world religions and continued "dialogue and human cooperation so that justice, peace, development and decent living, called for by the human and religious teachings of the heavenly religions, can be achieved."

Younan also helped call together the "Council for Religious Institutions in the Holy Land" in 2005, a group which, for the first time, brought together Jewish, Muslim and Christian leaders there with the purpose of "promoting interreligious understanding and cooperation." Among other agreements, this group has set up a hotline to take calls about derogatory remarks by clergy, imams and rabbis about other faiths, part of their call for adherents of all three faiths to accurately represent each other at home, in school, at work and at synagogues, churches and mosques.

Near the end of his ELCIC address, Younan stated that reconciliation is possible and is a sign of hope in the Holy Land. He spoke of true reconciliation being rooted in truthfulness and built on justice with the willingness to forgive. The fruit of such reconciliation is peace.

His full speech is online at http://www.elcjhl.org/Signs%20of%20Hope%20ELCIC%20June%202009%20final.doc .

Younan is fond of quoting this story from the Midrash in which a rabbi asked his students how they would know when the night is over and the dawn is come. One student responded, "Is it when, in the first rays of morning light, you can tell a dog from a sheep?" "No," said the rabbi.

Another student responded, "Could it be when we can distinguish an olive tree from a fig tree?" Again, the rabbi said, "no." "So," said the rabbi's students, "when can we tell the night is over and the dawn is come?" The rabbi answered, "It is when you can look in the eyes of another and recognize your brother or sister. Then truly the night is over and a new day has dawned."

I pray for such a new dawn of peace in the Holy Land, throughout the Middle East and across the world.

"Is peace simply "the absence of war"?

2009-09-17T09:25:00.003-04:00

This week's blogger question on www.odysseynetworks.org is "Is peace simply the absence of war?" My response follows. As you know, if you have been reading my blog postings, these blogs are part of a larger effort to recruit "A Million Minutes for Peace," that is, to have 1,000,000 people pray for peace for one minute at noon on the UN International Day of Peace, September 21st. You can sign up for this effort on Odyssey's website also - www.odysseynetworks.org.

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Is peace simply "the absence of war"?

Of course, the simple and direct answer to this question is “no” – peace is not simply “the absence of war.” However, before I reflect on peace in a wider perspective, I must say that, if we asked people in Iraq or Afghanistan or Somalia or you name the war-torn country or area, they would probably say that peace as simply “the absence of war” would be just fine, thank you, and a welcome relief!

So, I do hope we are praying on September 21st and every day for an end to war and for peace in that sense. I also hope we are praying for personal peace (peace of heart and mind), for peace in our families and with our spouses/partners, and for peace in our neighborhoods, schools, workplaces and communities and cities. This peace can look very different from “the absence of war” but, if you ask a child with an abusive parent or parents, they would certainly describe what might only be called a “war-like” atmosphere at home and if you asked a mother in a poor area racked by poverty and violence, their answer wouldn’t be much different than those in the midst of an “official” war. “The absence of war” would be just fine, thank you.

I see far too many people in my community who cannot find any peace because the world has dealt them a very cruel hand. All too often here at our church office one of our pastors or our deacon will exclaim, “the poor are getting screwed again!” as we try to help someone who has had their electricity cut off for a late bill or had their car repossessed after getting behind on a payment (just last week for those two!)

So, let’s pray for peace in the world’s trouble spots, no question. But, let us also pray for peace in our hearts and homes and communities, especially for the poor whose lives offer them little peace.

Amen.

"Unsung Heroes" of Peace

2009-09-11T14:09:00.003-04:00

I have now posted my third blog on www.odysseynetworks.org for the UN International Day of Peace on September 21st and Odyssey's effort to have 1,000,000 people pause at 12:00 noon that day for a one minute prayer for peace. You can sign up for this effort on Odyssey's website.

This week’s question was: "Some of the world’s great peacemakers lead quiet lives unrecognized by the world at large. Have you encountered any of these “unsung” peacemaker heroes?"

Here is my blog response:

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This question got me thinking about the story of the man on the beach and the starfish. You may have heard it in one of the many versions which are travelling around the internet. The basic story goes something like this:

“Once a man was walking along a beach. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. Off in the distance he could see a person going back and forth between the surf's edge and the beach. Back and forth this person went. As the man approached he could see that there were hundreds of starfish stranded on the sand as the result of the natural action of the tide. The person was throwing the starfish from the beach back into the ocean, one by one. The man was stuck by the apparent futility of the task. There were far too many starfish. Many of them were sure to perish. As he approached the person continued the task of picking up starfish one by one and throwing them into the surf. As he came up to the person he said, "You must be crazy. There are thousands of miles of beach covered with starfish. You can't possibly make a difference." The person looked at the man. He then stooped down and pick up one more starfish and threw it back into the ocean. He turned back to the man and said, "It sure made a difference to that one!"” (Loren Eiseley from “The Star Thrower”)

Our communities (faith, municipal, school, work, neighborhood) are full of “star throwers,” people who try to make a difference, who do make a difference each day in small ways, helping others, bringing peace to their homes and schools and neighborhoods and local faith communities. Most of these people not only go unnoticed, they would rather be unnoticed. If you asked them why they are involved in their community, they would probably say something similar to the person in the starfish story – “It sure makes a difference for that one!”

I think of the volunteers who come to our congregation every Wednesday night to feed hungry people from our community. They have no interest in recognition for this ministry. The ministry alone is enough. They are able to give our dinner guests a sense of peace, at least for a short time, in their difficult lives. At the least our volunteers can send our guests out filled with good food (and a bag lunch for later). And, hopefully, a sense of peace. Our once a week meal won’t end hunger in our community, not by a long shot, but our volunteers know, “it sure makes a difference” for those they feed each week.

Does religion divide or unite?

2009-09-04T11:18:00.003-04:00

As I noted here last week, I've joined "A Million Minutes for Peace," a grassroots effort to get 1,000,000 people to stop at 12 noon on the United Nations International Day of Peace, September 21, to pray for one minute for peace. You can join at www.odysseynetworks.org . I am also one of the bloggers for this effort. My second blog response on the "Million Minutes for Peace" website that Odyssey has created is now online. We were asked to respond to this: "Many people maintain that, throughout history, religion has caused conflict by dividing rather than uniting people. How would you respond to this opinion? Here is my response:

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Does religion divide or unite?

Early in my pastoral ministry career I was invited to a party hosted by friends who were not members of our congregation. At the party, I had a delightful conversation with a medical doctor, who, when he found out I was a Lutheran pastor, wanted to talk faith with me, especially the commonalities between his Jewish faith and my Christian faith. It soon became clear to me that I had more in common with this Jewish doctor, who actively practiced his faith, than I did with many “members” of my Christian congregation for whom faith was more of a hobby than a way of life!

That has been my continued experience in ecumenical and interfaith relationships – active people of faith of almost any faith have much more in common with active people of faith of almost any other faith than they do with inactive people of their own faith group. My experience is that the commonalities among world religions far outweigh the differences: almost all religions value justice, kindness, family, concern for the poor and the environment – I could list many more.

Certainly, religion has been used as an excuse, a crutch, for terrible behavior over the centuries. My own faith group, Lutheran, for example, has had to reject Martin Luther’s late-in-life writings about Jewish people. Most religions can point to individuals who have acted in the name of their religion who have perverted their faith. (Think of those who kill in the name of their religion – I’m bold enough to say, and it is not really very bold to say it, that they are NOT true followers of their faith).

True religious faith, at least the many different faiths I have come in contact with over the years, true religious faith is and should be something that unites people, rather than dividing them. When this does not happen, as it all too often does not, that is not the fault of the religion, but of what we Christians would call our “sinful humanity.”

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Please go to www.odysseynetworks.org and join their effort "A Million Minutes for Peace," to get 1,000,000 people praying for peace for one minute at 12:00 noon on September 21st, the United Nations International Day of Peace. Thank you.

A Million Minutes for Peace

2009-08-27T16:11:00.002-04:00

I've joined "A Million Minutes for Peace," a grassroots effort to get 1,000,000 people to stop at 12 noon on the United Nations International Day of Peace, September 21, to pray for one minute for peace. You can join at www.odysseynetworks.org .

I am also one of the bloggers for this effort. You'll find my first blog response on the "Million Minutes for Peace" website that Odyssey has created. We were asked to respond to this: "A common mantra in the peace-making community is “in weakness is our strength.” Have you found this to be true in your experience as a peace builder?"

Here is my response:

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One of my favorite Christian New Testament texts is found in 2 Corinthians 12:10 - “Therefore I am content with weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong” (NRSV). A great and favorite text. And, maybe, a helpful path to peace.

St. Paul wrote these words to the new Christians at Corinth when they were having another church fight, this one over spiritual gifts and some in the congregation who were bragging about their spiritual gifts (“We have them and you don’t!”). Using his own ongoing poor physical health as an example, Paul makes the point that God responded to Paul’s own weak health and Paul’s pleas for physical healing by telling him, “My grace if sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

In the 1960’s and 1970’s, when the military power of the former USSR was perceived to be very strong, I got to know the Rev. Dr. Arvids Ziedonis Jr., a Lutheran pastor and Russian professor at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Dr. Z, as we called him, would often say that the USSR would one day soon collapse from the inside, that its “power” was really a hollow shell. People laughed at him. Lots of people. Called him names even.

After the fall of the “Iron Curtain” in 1989 and the fall of communism and the breakup of the USSR I saw Dr. Z and asked him, “What’s it like to be right?” He just smiled at me.

Turns out, of course, that Dr. Z was right and the USSR was never very “strong!” And so many dollars and lives were spent (by all “sides” in the so-called Cold War) to respond to what turned out to be a lie!

St. Paul writes that true strength is to know and accept one’s weaknesses. To pretend to be strong is an invitation to disaster. Just ask the leaders of the former USSR!

For us, as people of faith, true strength comes not in military might, real or perceived, or any other show of strength and power. No, true strength comes from what we Lutherans love to call God’s grace, God’s unconditional love for all people. That makes our survival as individuals and peoples a matter of faith, not strength or power.

I know this to be true in my own life. In my own times of weakness, I find my strength in God and other people. And, if I let it, my own weakness becomes my strength. In those times, I find that I do not need anything else to survive and even thrive – just God’s love and the love of others who have also responded to God’s love.

I think this is true for people and even nations. I know it is true for me.

ELCA Churchwide Assembly columns in the Lansdale "Reporter" newspaper

2009-08-26T08:38:00.001-04:00

In addition to the seven columns I wrote for the Reading "EagleTimes" newspaper, I penned three similar columns for the Lansdale "Reporter" newspaper. Not sure how long they will keep them on their website, but here are the URL's:

* "Lutheran assembly considering policy changes" - http://www.thereporteronline.com/articles/2009/08/18/life/doc4a8a95ec31e93405952721.txt

* "Lutherans approve statement on sexuality" - http://www.thereporteronline.com/articles/2009/08/21/life/doc4a8ea8eb30b89711386520.txt

* "Lutherans open ministry to gays, lesbians" - http://www.thereporteronline.com/articles/2009/08/25/life/srv0000006208357.txt

They edited them a bit and wrote the headlines.

Reading "EagleTimes" newspaper columns from the ELCA Churchwide Assembly

2009-08-24T15:52:00.001-04:00

I wrote seven columns for the Reading "EagleTimes" newspaper from the ELCA Churchwide Assembly, August 17 -23, 2009 in Minneapolis. Here are the links for each day's columns:

Monday - "Lutheran convention to focus on gay clergy - http://www.readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=152842

Wednesday - "Lutherans respectful in debating sexuality" - http://www.readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=153137

Thursday - "Lutheran assembly agrees to disagree on homosexuality" - http://www.readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=153323

Friday - "Lutherans okay pact with Methodists" - http://www.readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=153473

Saturday - 'Controversal action was really no surprise" - http://www.readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=153628

Sunday - "Lutherans work on after media leave" - http://www.readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=153740

Monday - "Lutheran leaders call for unity as assembly closes" - http://www.readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=153805

The newspaper wrote the headlines and did minimal editing. The copy if very close to what I had on my blog each day.

Saturday at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly

2009-08-22T20:08:00.005-04:00

Although the secular news media may have lost interest in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Churchwide Assembly following the much-reported decision on Friday to open the professional ministry in the ELCA who are in "publicly accountable life-long, monogamous, same gender relationships," the assembly continued the important work of the church as it met in Minneapolis on Saturday.

Among the many assembly actions today were these:

* The re-election of Mr. Carlos Pena, a businessman from Galveston, Texas, to a second six year term as the ELCA Vice President. The ELCA Vice President is a volunteer position and must be held by a lay (non-clergy) person and, as such, is the highest elected lay position in the church. Pena was re-elected on the fourth ballot. (Carlos preached at my 2006 installation as Senior Pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lansdale. He and his wife, Diane, are dear friends).

* The approval of a process which will lead to a social statement on Justice for Women to be presented to the 2015 ELCA Churchwide Assembly.

* A call for a social statement on Human Disability.

* The approval of church constitution amendments which will require that 10% of those who served on congregation, synod and churchwide councils be ages 18 - 30. (Our Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod led the way in this action by allowing congregations to send one additional youth or young adult voting member to each synod assembly, an action which dramatically increased the youth and young adult participation at the 2009 Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod Assembly).

*Affirmation of the ELCA's continued strategy for peace in Israel and Palestine - see www.elca.org/peacenotwalls .

* Approval of the ELCA's budget for 2010 and 2011.

You can read more about any of these actions online at www.elca.org/assembly/actions.

Actually, these assembly actions do not capture the sense or focus of the assembly. Each day has major time spent in worship and prayer and some days include a major Bible study presentation. Saturday included the announcement of the first-ever ELCA video contest winners - 224 videos on the theme of "God's work. Our Hands." from individuals and congregations were submitted and 20 finalists named. The winning videos from a congregation and an individual came from Minnesota and Florida. You can view all of the entries online at http://www.godsworkourlands.org/ or www.elca.org/videocontest . The Odyssey Networks provided the cash prize for the congregation winner. (I serve as the ELCA's representative to the board of the Odyssey Networks - http://www.odysseynetworks.org/ .)

The assembly concludes on Sunday with worship and any remaining business items.

Friday at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly

2009-08-22T07:02:00.002-04:00

"ELCA Assembly Opens Ministry to Partnered Gay and Lesbian Lutherans" is the headline of the ELCA News Service news release summarizing the actions of the ELCA Churchwide Assembly meeting in Minneapolis this week for Friday, August 21.

It is a good headline and a good summary of the debate on these issues which occurred at the assembly on Friday. The assembly spent almost all of it plenary (business) time on Friday discussing and debating and then voting on these actions.

During the day on today, the assembly approved a series of resolutions which have the affect of opening the pastoral ministry in the ELCA to pastors and other professional leaders who are in "publicly accountable life-long, monogamous, same-gender relationships." This is a change for the church which, until these votes, required its pastors to be in heterosexual marital relationships or, if they were homosexual or heterosexual and unmarried, to be celibate.

Of the four votes on this topic, the closest came on a resolution to find "a way for people in such publicly accountable life-long, monogamous, same-gender relationships to serve as professsional leaders (pastors) of this church." That vote was 559 yes and 451 no.

A substitute resolution to preclude "practicing homosexual persons ... from the rostered leadership" of the ELCA failed in a 344 yes and 670 no vote. This resolution was made by Albert Quie, a lay voting member from the ELCA Minneapolis Synod and the former governor of Minnesota. An attempt to require a 2/3 vote for approval of the resolutions also failed by a vote of 407 yes, 576 no. A similar effort to require a 2/3 vote for approval for these resolutions had failed earlier in the assembly. The assembly did approve, by a vote of 771 yes and 230 no, a resolution committing the church to respect the differences of opinions on the matter and honor the "bound consciences" of those who disagree.

The assembly paused often for prayer throughout the day.

This action came as no surprise to those of us who have been following this activity throughout the ELCA. Many ELCA synods (35 or so I believe), including the Northeastern and Southeastern Pennsylvania Synods, had approved resolutions endorsing this change at their 2009 spring synod assemblies and the vote on the Churchwide Assembly rules on Monday evening, endorsing a simple majority for these changes rather than a 2/3 vote, had indicated the direction the assembly appeared to be taking. The Council of my own congregation, Trinity Lutheran Church in Lansdale, took action at its May meeting endorsing this change.

Following these votes, in moving, pastoral words addressed both to those who were celebrating and those mourning this action, ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson concluded, "We meet one another finally, not in our agreements or our disagreements, but at the foot of the cross -- where God is faithful, where Christ is present with us, and where, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are one in Christ."

Thurday at the ELCA Churchwide Assemby

2009-08-20T23:21:00.002-04:00

Voting members at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Churchwide Assembly meeting in Minneapolis this week spent the morning on Thursday, August 20, informally discussing the proposals before the assembly that would provide "ways to allow congregations and synods that choose to do so to recognize, support and hold publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous same-gender relationships" and if people in these relationships can serve as professional leaders (pastors and other rostered positions) in the ELCA. Voting members met in small groups and then in informal plenary discussion (no votes). These actions are scheduled to come to a vote at the assembly tomorrow, Friday, August 21.

15 "implementing resolutions" related to the "Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust" sexuality statement approved on Wednesday were approved by a vote of 695 to 285. These resolutions give direction to various ELCA ministries in relation to this new social statement.

The major item approved by the assembly on Thursday was the action declaring the ELCA in "full communion" with the United Methodist Church. "Full communion" makes exchange and sharing of clergy possible and encourages cooperation in many other areas. The proposal was approved by a strong vote with 958 voting yes and 51 no. It had been previously approved by the United Mehodist Church. The ELCA already has similar agreements with the Episcopal Church, the Moravian Church in America, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Reformed Church in America and the United Church of Christ. You can read more online at www.elca.org/fullcommunion .

All 65 ELCA synod bishops had recommended a resolution "that the ELCA in assembly commit this church in all of its expressions to the premise that "each person should have ready access to basic health care services that include preventive, acute, and chronic physical and mental health care at an affordable cost." It was approved by a vote of 799 to 126.

The results of the second ballot for ELCA Vice President were announced: Current VP Carlos Pena received 657 votes, short of the 733 needed for election on this ballot. However, this should be enough votes to assure him election on the next ballot.

After dinner, I attended the reception for the eight ELCA seminaries and then called it a day!

Wednesday at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly

2009-08-19T22:06:00.003-04:00

On Wednesday, August 19, the proposed Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) social statement, "Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust," was approved by voting members of the assembly meeting in Minneapolis by a vote of 676 to 338, exactly the 2/3 vote that was needed for approval! I have been involved in the process leading to this vote since 1993. I will have more reflections later on this historic vote and my small role in the process leading to it.

Before this vote, the assembly spent several hours in debate on the statement, extending the afternoon plenary (business) session into the evening to allow for more debate time. There were several minor amendments made to the social statement and much discussion. A key "sticking point" for some was the social statement's section on homosexuality which indicates that there is no consensus on this issue in the ELCA. However, homosexuality is only a small section of the social statement, the majority of which supports traditional marriage and family, opposes sexual abuse and exploitation and much more. You can read the full statement online at www.elca.org/faithfuljourney . The Congregation Council at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lansdale, where I serve as Senior Pastor, voted in May to endorse this social statement. I also wrote about it in the "Journal of Lutheran Ethics" - www.elca.org/jle - in February and June of this year.

The assembly met on Wednesday afternoon through terrible local weather including a tornado which touched down in the convention center area, damaging the steeple of Central Lutheran Church next door. There was also some minor damage on the convention center itself, although that damage was not near the area we were meeting. For an hour or so the assembly voting members were asked to stay in the meeting room, which we were told was one of the safest places in the area.

Before the social statement vote, there were a number of items of other assembly business items:

* The first ballot for ELCA Vice President was held. The ELCA Vice President is a lay (non-clergy) volunteer position with a six year term. On the first (nominating) ballot, assembly voting members could nominate any one of the nearly 5,000,000 ELCA lay members! Current ELCA Vice President Carlos Pena, a business man from Galveston, Texas, received 607 votes, but that was short of the 686 (a 3/4 majority) needed for election on the first ballot. The second ballot, also needing a 3/4 majority, will be held on Thursday. (Mr. Pena preached at my 2006 installation as Senior Pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lansdale).

* A resolution to approve a three-year, $10 million fundraising campaign for the ELCA's HIV and AIDS strategy was approved. More online at www.elca.org/aids .

* The first report of the Memorials (resolutions) Committee brought three resolutions to a vote, all of which were approved. One of the these memorials (assembly resolutions) was on "Comprehensive Immigration Reform" which noted "this church's historical commitment to immigrants and refugees," urged a "comprehensive reform of immigration policies and processes in the United States" and called for "the suspension of immigration raids until such comprehensive reform is enacted." The vote to approve this resolution was overwhelmingly positive, 873 yes to 82 no. More at www.elca.org/memorials .

* There were greetings from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and ELCA military chaplains. The ELCA Treasurer, Christina Jackson Skelton, delivered her report as did the assembly's Youth Convo. There was a Bible study led by Luther Seminary Professor Dr. Diane Jacobson - Jacobson is also director of the ELCA's Book of Faith (Bible) Initiative. There were college corporation meetings for four ELCA colleges.

My evening ended with dinner with Beth Lewis, CEO of Augsburg Fortress, Publishers, and her husband, Rick Rouse, and Michael Cooper-White, the President of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg. Mike is also my roommate at this assembly (I snore, he does not!)

Tuesday at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly

2009-08-19T07:49:00.002-04:00

The agenda at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Minneapolis on Tuesday focused on introducing many agenda items that will come to a vote later in the week - the ELCA budget, elections, funding for an HIV/AIDS strategy and the proposed social statement on human sexuality.

The assembly spent about 90 minutes in an open discussion (no votes) on "Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust," the proposed social statement. Again, I heard few new arguments, but, again, the discussion was full and respectful. A final vote on this document may come today. You can read it online at www.elca.org/faithfuljourney.

One important agenda item that did come to a vote on Tuesday was a new "Lutheran Malaria Initiative," the church's cooperative effort, working with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, Lutheran World Relief and the United Nations Foundation, to end malaria in Africa by 2015.The effort will be called "NothingButNets" and will be a grass-roots campaign for $10 donations to provide treated bed nets for African families. You can read more at www.elca.org/malaria.

I was pleased to share lunch with Mark Ramseth, President of Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, and dinner with Roy & Betsy Riley (Roy is Bishop of the ELCA New Jersey Synod).

There is more online at www.elca.org/assembly, including live video of every assembly plenary (business) session.

More from the ELCA Churchwide Assembly on Monday

2009-08-18T09:53:00.002-04:00

The 11th ELCA Churchwide Assembly began with worship at 4:00 p.m. on Monday, August 17, 2009. It was a wonderful worship experience for me - grand music (many musicians plus the National Lutheran Choir) and fine preaching by Bishop Hanson.

In his sermon, Bishop Hanson noted, that, as the assembly proceedings begin, "it is important that fears are recognized and named" and "to recognize what fear and anxiety can do to us." "Fear nurtures the suspicion and cynicism that lead us to act in ways that are downright mean-spirited and anti-neighborly. Fear can drive us to make demands of others for our own security rather than faith freeing us to serve others with confidence and humility." But there is more to the story than fear in this assembly, Hanson said. "We will tell the story of Jesus Christ who is present in this assembly," he said. "This is the story that is waiting to be told about us." "Christ is the source of our joy" and "the source of our peace" in a world without peace, Hanson said. "And into that world Christ sends you and me and all gathered for this assembly," he said. "The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a sent church," sent to "share the good news and remember the poor." (Thanks to Melissa Ramirez Cooper of the ELCA news service for these quotes).

Before worship I had lunch with Ms. Marcia Holman, who, with her husband, Mark, is one of our ELCA missionaries in Jerusalem (the Holmans are supported by my congregation, Trinity Lutheran Church in Lansdale). After worship, I had a quick dinner with dear friends Rebecca and Stephen Larson (Rebecca is Executive Director of the ELCA Program Unit for Church in Society and Stephen is Senior Pastor of St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Park Ridge, Illinois).

The first plenary (business) session began at 7:00 p.m. and lasted until nearly 11:00 p.m. The first hour or so was instruction and introduction to the assembly's agenda, but most of this long evening session, as expected, was spent in debate over the assembly's rule which called for the vote on the proposed changes in ELCA ministry policies to be by a simple majority (this is the vote which would allow people in committed same-gender relationships to be professional leaders in the ELCA). More than an hour of debate later, the assembly voted NOT to change from the recommended simple majority to a 2/3 majority. 57% of voting members favored staying with the recommended rule for a simple majority. In my opinion, this will make the recommended changes in ministry policies more likely to be approved later this week. The debate was marked by civility and fairness. While I did not hear any new arguements on either "side" of this debate, there was full discussion with all points of view welcomed and heard.

A short night of sleep followed.

ELCA Churchwide Assembly Monday - Registration, Worship & Rules

2009-08-17T08:48:00.005-04:00

The ELCA Churchwide Assembly does not begin any business sessions until this evening. Before that time, voting members and visitors will be registering and worshipping. Registration opens later this morning and worship (Holy Communion) begins at 4:00 p.m. The opening Plenary (business) session begins at 7:30 p.m. and is scheduled to end by 9:30 p.m.

In some past assemblies the Monday evening opening plenary session has been short and quiet. However, this year the assembly rules, which call for a simple majority vote on the proposed changes in ministry policies relating to allowing "people in publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships to serve as professional leaders of this church," will certainly be challenged by those who wish these proposed changes to need the approval of a 2/3 vote of the assembly. Many who wish to see a 2/3 vote are opposed to these changes, but some who favor the changes, also favor a 2/3 vote because they are concerned about the possible controversy a close simple majority vote may cause.

Pre-assembly news media coverage of the ELCA assembly has focused, no surprise, on the gay and lesbian issues before the assembly. As I've read these reports online, most seem to be correct in their reporting. The Minneapolis "Star Tribune" newspaper had a front page feature news story yesterday, "ELCA Convention: Lutherans strive to avoid split on gay issue." You can read it online at http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/faith/53304992.html?page=1&c=y .

A brief item is in today's Reading "EagleTimes" newspaper about my blogging from the assembly - http://www.readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=152842 .

ELCA Churchwide Assembly this week

2009-08-16T08:26:00.003-04:00

I am here in Minneapolis this week for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA's) biennial churchwide assembly which begins tomorrow (Monday) evening at the Minneapolis Convention Center. I am registered as a "Congregation Observer" which means I do not vote but have a seat and receive assembly materials. I am also writing for the Reading "Eagle/Times" and the Lansdale "Reporter" newspapers.

Most of the attention at this assembly will be around the "Report and Recommendations on Ministry Policies," four recommendations that were directed by the 2007 assembly to "specifically address and make recommendations to the 2009 Churchwide Assembly on changes to any policies that preclude practicing homosexuals from the rosters of this church." In four stepped resolutions the assembly will be asked if it is ready to find "ways to allow congregations and synods that choose to do so to recognize, support and hold publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous same-gender relationships" and if people in these relationships can serve as pastors and other professional leaders in the ELCA.

The votes on these four resolutions are scheduled for Friday morning but the first action related to them will occur during the opening assembly business session on Monday evening. At that session, I'm told, there will be an attempt to change the assembly rules, which currently call for these resolutions to be approved by a simple majority, to require a 2/3 vote for their approval. This change must be approved by a 2/3 vote so I doubt if it will happen.

Before Friday, the assembly will also vote on a proposed social statement on sexuality, "Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust." That vote is scheduled for Wednesday and must be a 2/3 majority (all ELCA social statements require a 2/3 vote for approval). If approved, this will be the ELCA's tenth social statement. Social statements are written to help church members respond to issues in church and society.

More on both the social statement and ministry policy changes can be found at www.elca.org/faithfuljourney .

Of course, the ELCA churchwide assembly will be dealing with many other matters, some mundane (if still important) like budgets and consitution changes, and some not mundane such as "Confessing Our Faith Together," the proposal for "full communion" with the United Methodist Church (allowing the exchange of pastors and encouraing more cooperation among congregations) and action on further development of a Lutheran Malaria Initiative and funding for the ELCA's HIV and AIDS strategy plus a proposal to develop a social statement on justice for women. You can read more online at www.elca.org/assembly .

I will be posting daily reflections here and adding assembly actions as soon as possible.

Eric

Remembering Robert E. A. Lee

2009-03-23T20:25:00.003-04:00

I had the privilege of attending "A Celebration of the Life of Robert Edward Alexander Lee" on Friday evening, March 6, 2009, at Bob's church, St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Baldwin, New York (Long Island). The evening began with a Hymn Festival (Bob loved hymns and singing) and ended with a Memorial Service. The Hymn Festival included hymns and reflections by family members. The Memorial Service included many remembrances. Only one of Bob's Lutheran communication colleagues spoke, Bill Jersey who was the director for "A Time for Burning." The other remembrances were all by family and friends and fellow members of St. Peter's Lutheran Church. I am deeply moved by all of the remembrances. Those by fellow church members were, perhaps, the most touching since they spoke of a man they knew from choir and Bible study who had treated them kindly. There was lots of Bob's favorite music from J. S. Bach.

One of Bob's daughters, Peg Harris, reflected that there were very few "Don'ts" in their family life. The only major "Don't" she remembered was "Don't get butter on the script!" which started as a real concern (Bob always seemed to have film scripts lying on the dining room table) but became a loving family code word.

More important were the family "Dos" - Do "Keep your air speed" (Bob was, after all, a WWII pilot), Do "Make the most it" and Do "Have an attitude of gratitude."

"Have an attitude of gratitude" was certainly the mood that pervaded the evening. On the cover of the bulletin was duplicated an original artwork piece that Bob commissioned for the North American Lutheran celebration of the 450th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation (1967), a piece by artist Ben Shahn that proclaims "Life New Life." This, affirmed again and again through the evening, summed up Bob's attitude on life - to live life fully and be grateful for all of life's many blessings.

For more on Bob, see the wonderful obituary that was in the "New York Times" newspaper on March 7, 2009 - http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/us/08lee.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=%22Robert%20E.%20A.%20Lee%22&st=cse and the March 3, 2009 ELCA news release - http://www.elca.org/Who-We-Are/Our-Three-Expressions/Churchwide-Organization/Communication-Services/News/Releases.aspx#&&a=4074 . I was honored to be quoted in the ELCA news release and more honored to have known Bob Lee.

There is more on Bob's books on his website http://www.realworldcomm.com/ and more on Bob's films on the Lutheran Film Associates website - http://www.lutheranfilm.org/ .

Bob's life can be summed up in one of his favorite J.S. Bach phrases - "Soli Deo Gloria" - "Only for the glory of God."

John Updike, a Shillington (Pennsylvania) Lutheran

2009-02-04T06:06:00.002-05:00

Much has been written these past days about author John Updike following his death of lung cancer on January 27th. Mention has often been made that he was born and grew up in and around Shillington, Pennsylvania. Mention has sometimes been made that he grew up a member of a Lutheran congregation. (Actually, I believe he was first a member of Grace Lutheran Church in Shillington and then spent most of his formative years as a member of Robeson Lutheran Church in nearby Plowville. He was an active Episcopalian at the time of his death).

My Wyomissing (Pennsylvania) Area High School Latin teacher, Mrs. Florence Schrack, a lifelong Luheran, taught me Latin but even more about English and history. Before teaching at Wyomissing, Mrs. Schrack taught at what is now Governor Mifflin High School (I believe it was the old Shillington High). One of her students was John Updike. Mrs. Schrack was very proud to say that she had encouraged young John in his writing. (Updike's retired teacher father was also a substitute teacher during my years at Wyomissing Area High School. He was as colorful as Updike had already described him in "The Centaur.")

I liked the January 30 "Rabbit at rest" posting on Updike on the website www.getreligion.org and this quote from a fine piece on him by the PBS television program, "Religion & Ethics Newsweekly:"

++++++

"But for the best discussion of Updike’s religious views, head over to PBS’ Religion & Ethics Newsweekly. They provide an intimate look at Updike’s religious life, based on his public lectures and writing:

"While much of his earlier work contains traces of Updike’s furious immersion in Christian theology, he said he looked more to the congregation of his hometown Massachusetts church as the rock of his faith today.

"“When I haven’t been to church in a couple of Sundays I begin to hunger for it and need to be there,” he said, standing at a podium in front of the altar, against a backdrop of Byzantine-style mosaics and dressed in a gray suit befitting one of America’s elder statesmen of letters. “It’s not just the words, the sacraments. It’s the company of other people, who show up and pledge themselves to an invisible entity.”

"As a young man studying at Oxford in the mid-1950s, Updike said he devoured new translations of Soren Kierkegaard at Blackwell’s bookstore, discovering him “so positive and fierce and strikingly intelligent, like finding an older brother I didn’t know I had.” He pointed to his classic character Harry Angstrom, of the Rabbit tetralogy, as an example of the Danish philosopher’s influence. The Swiss neo-orthodox theologian Karl Barth informed another character in the first book of the series, the Lutheran minister Fritz Kruppenbach, who faces off with an Episcopal priest in a scene Updike chose to read. Upon going to Kruppenbach’s house to discuss Rabbit’s desertion of his family, Rev. Eccles is treated to a diatribe against meddling in others’ affairs. Kruppenbach sounds like a stand-in for Barth himself.

"“When on Sunday morning then, when we go before their faces, we must walk up not worn out with misery but full of Christ,” he tells a disconcerted Eccles. “Make no mistake. There is nothing but Christ for us. All the rest, all this decency and busyness, is nothing.....”

++++++

There is nothing but Christ for us. Amen.

1967 Scouting "Report to the Nation"

2009-01-26T09:02:00.000-05:00

The folks in Berks County, Pennsylvania are writing a history of Boy Scouting there. One of the pieces of that history that they are using in this book is my 1967 participation in the Scouting "Report to the Nation" recognition. The Sunday, January 25, 2009 "Reading Eagle/Times" newspaper used a photo of my time with US President Johnson in 1967 and a 2008 photo (young guy/old guy) to talk about the coming book (and solicit other stories for it). The article is online at http://www.readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=122773 .

"The Holy Land, Yesterday and Today"

2008-11-01T15:49:00.003-04:00

My wife, Kris, and I are hosting a trip to Jordan, Israel and Palestine. The dates are February 8 - 18, 2010. The pdf of our trip brochure is online at www.trinitylansdale.com/pdfs/holyland.pdf . While many of those on the trip will be from my congreation, others are welcome to join us.

2008-09-21T16:13:00.002-04:00

Two of my most recent sermons at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lansdale give a "window into my soul:"

On the weekend of July 26/27, I preached a sermon called "God is Good, All the Time; All the Time, God is Good" and spoke about my journey from Chicago to Lansdale in 2005 & 2006. You can read that sermon online at www.trinitylansdale.com/sermons/20080726-27ecs.pdf .

More recently, on Holy Cross Day weekend, September 13/14, I preached on "John 3:16 and John 3:17" and reflected on my experiences on and immediately after September 11, 2001. You can read that sermon online at www.trinitylansdale.com/sermons/20080913-14ecs.pdf .

My sermons are also available on video on our website, www.trinitylansdale.com, although these are not saved beyond several weeks.

Marriage Recognition

2008-06-23T08:59:00.002-04:00

This past weekend Trinity celebrated marriage recognition for those member couples who are marking one year or less of marriage and those marking 50 years or more in 2008.

We added honoring those married one year or less last year and this year had a separate dinner for them at the parsonage on Saturday evening after worship. 30 couples were invited and three were able to attend. It was a very nice evening.

A longer Trinity tradition is honoring those couples married for 50 years or more with a dinner following the 11:00 a.m. worship service. Trinity has 113 such couples in 2008 including 15 celebrating 50 years of marriage this year and 6 celebrating 60. The longest married couple here has been married for 69 years. If you add all of the 113 couples years of marriage together the total married years is 6,337! About 135 attended this year's dinner.

Ten of the 15 couples celebrating 50 years of marriage were with us on Sunday as well as four of the 6 celebrating 60 years of marriage. The longest-married couple in attendance have been married for 65 years this year.

We honored all of the couples during the announcements before the 11:00 a.m. service with special mention of the 50/60 year couples. Then, all of those celebrating 50 or more years of marriage were invited to a dinner in Hyson Hall after worship. Those celebrating 50/60 years were invited to bring along family members and were photographed for our "Lansdale Lutheran" newsletter.

This is not an easy day for our members who have lost a spouse either recently or long ago. Many of our widows and widowers stay away on this Sunday. I tried to address this in the announcements, as we were honoring those long-time married folks who were present, when I said, "As we honor these members we are fully aware that there are many in our congregation who have lost spouses who would be celebrating 50 years or more together if death had not parted them. With you, we remember our loved ones fondly today." This was especially important since our 11:00 a.m. service announcements are heard live on the radio by many who have lost a spouse, I'm sure.

After the dinner, Pastor Tiemeyer and I led an informal program and moved about Hyson Hall with a microphone asking questions. I asked the 65 year married couple for their advise on long-time marriage and they said "patience." A number of these folks (anyone married here more than 52 or 53 years ago) were married in the "old" Trinity church building on East Main Street. Two couples noted that, while they were married at the "new" Trinity church building on West Main Street, their reception was back in the basement of the "old" building on East Main Street. We asked for any "how we met" or "first date" stories and heard some cute stories including one, told by the husband, that his wife-to-be was so excited to be on a first date with him that she couldn't eat her hot dog meal. Pastor Tiemeyer asked how many grew up attending "Luther League" and about one-third of those present responded. When I asked how many had attended church camp, only three hands went up.

A wonderful day to celebrate marriage!

The Rev. Dr. John H. P. Reumann, 1927 - 2008

2008-06-17T11:01:00.003-04:00

Our congregation was honored to host the funeral service for the Rev. Dr. John "Jack" H.P. Reumann last Thursday, June 12th. Dr. Reumann died on June 6th. His father, Paul, was the visionary pastor who brought Trinity from its "downtown" Lansdale East Main Street location to our current West Main Street location in the 1950's. Jack grew up in our congregation and he and his wife, Martha, were married here in 1958.

The service was wonderful, full of the Gospel, stories, music and singing. Jack & Martha's pastor, John Saraka (Christ-Ascension Chestnut Hill/Philadelphia) presided and Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod Bishop Claire S. Burkat preached. Mark Mummert from the Philadelphia Seminary staff was the guest organist and led a choir of pastors and spouses. There were probably nearly 500 people present, many of whom were Jack's former students.

Six colleagues/friends shared "selected reflections:" Phil Krey (Philadelphia Seminary president), Foster McCurley (former seminary faculty colleague), Wally Taylor (former student, now Trinity Seminary professor), Peter Pettit (former student, now director of Muhlenberg College's Institute for Jewish-Christian Understanding), Joe Fitzmyer (former professor, Catholic U of America and member of the Lutheran-Roman Catholic dialogue team), and Lowell Almen (former secretary, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America). Lowell also represented ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson. I saw five bishops in the congregation plus Muhlenberg College President Randy Helm, among many others.

The service was followed by a reception in our Hyson Hall. The reception was catered by Philadelphia Seminary. After the reception, Jack's ashes were committed into Trinity's columbarium.

My contact with Dr. Reumann goes back to my days as a student at Muhlenberg College where Jack served many years on the Board of Directors. As one of the first two student representatives to the Board (with Blake Marles) I was welcomed warmly by Dr. Reumann. As many know, he and his wife, Martha, were noted for their hospitality to all.

My favorite Jack Reumann story is not well known, but tells something important about this man: In the early 1960's (before my years at Muhlenberg) Muhlenberg students regularly hosted famous and sometimes controversial speakers for all-college assemblies. One of these speakers was the "beat" poet, LeRoy Jones, who was noted for his graphic language. At the end of his presentation, Jones gave the audience the finger and repeated the "f" word three times.

This action, reported in the Allentown "Morning Call" newspaper, resulted in many calls in the Lehigh Valley (including a "Morning Call" editorial) for a crack down on speakers on the Muhlenberg campus. Somehow, Dr. Reumann and the Rev. Dr. Paul Empie (who later served as chair the the Muhlenberg Board while I was a trustee) were assigned the task of writing a new student speaker policy. Instead of coming back with a new policy that limited speech on campus, Empie and Reumann produced a policy that guaranteed campus free speech. And, somehow, they got this policy approved by the Board! It stands as Muhlenberg's free speech policy today.

Dr. John "Jack" H.P. Reumann - pastor, professor, scholar, leader AND champion of free speech!

It was my privilege to know Dr. Reumann and now is my privilege to serve in his "home congregation."

Eric

Easter Monday 2008

2008-03-24T14:14:00.004-04:00

I wrote what follows for the online ELCA "Journal of Lutheran Ethics" at the request of the Rev. Kaari M. Reierson, the Associate Director for Studies in the ELCA Church in Society Program Unit and editor of this journal. The ELCA's Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality is online at www.elca.org/faithfuljourney/ .

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A preliminary, quick review of the ELCA’s Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality

March 13, 2008, the public release date of the ELCA’s Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality, was not a date I had noted on my calendar. I confess that I was not paying much attention to the release of this draft, at least until two weeks ago when I was asked to be one of a number of folks who responded to it.

That “void” from my life is a bit surprising considering my life until coming to this call. I served for nearly 14 years as ELCA churchwide communication director, spanning the years of 1992 – 2006. During those years the issue of the ELCA’s conversations about sexuality and, especially, homosexuality, were a big part of my calendar and life. I first “lived through” the release of a possible first draft of a proposed social statement on human sexuality in 1993. That time is the topic for another essay, but “lived through” is about the best term I can think of for those tough days. Then, I helped lead the process of communicating the ELCA’s various attempts at making statements on sexuality and, especially, homosexuality, culminating in the work of the ELCA sexuality task force for the 2005 ELCA churchwide assembly.

However, this “void” is more than a change in call and even more than being senior pastor of a large ELCA congregation. It is, more importantly, because the controversial issues surrounding sexuality in the ELCA are no longer part of my everyday life. They just are not on the agenda of many of the members of this congregation.

Trinity Lutheran Church in Lansdale, Pennsylvania is the largest Lutheran congregation east of the Mississippi River and the largest “Reconciling in Christ” congregation in North America. But, before you assume that we are a large, eastern “liberal” place, I should add that Montgomery County, where Lansdale is located, is a long time Republican area. I assume that most of Trinity’s members voted for President Bush in 2004.

But, I also believe that most of Trinity’s members would not vote again for President Bush and that most would feel that Bush has led us in the wrong direction in many areas, including the War in Iraq, the economy and homosexual rights. Don’t get me wrong, I suspect that, faced with a vote to legalize gay marriage, many Trinity members would not vote for such a change. However, for the majority of folks here this is not a “front burner” issue. I believe that they think that the President has missed more important issues. When asked about homosexual relationships and even gay marriage, I believe most of Trinity’s members would say that this is an individual choice and issue, something about which the government should not to be too concerned.

That all said, I welcomed the chance to read and review this first draft.

I remember Phil Harris, the ELCA’s attorney, sharing an old joke that goes something like this - Question: “What do you call 1000 dead lawyers on the ocean floor? Answer: A good start.” (You can replace “lawyers” with your favorite group to dump on!)

In all seriousness, this statement IS a good start. It grounds our discussion of sexuality in the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions. I really liked the introductory statement that “This social statement addresses the question: What does it mean for us as sexual creatures to love our neighbors as ourselves and thus fulfill God’s law of love in this time and society?” I believe the draft addresses that question well. I also liked the early admission that this statement, and I would add, any statement “does not offer once-and-for-all answers for all contemporary questions.” Again, the draft lives up to that affirmation, offering more questions than answers in true Lutheran form!

I like what is said about Scripture – “Scripture cannot be used in isolation as the norm for Christian life and the source of knowledge for the exercise of moral judgment.” This, of course, applies to much more than just our conversations about sexuality. I also like the emphasis on family and the attempt to redefine family in terms of the 21st century when families come in all shapes and sizes.

Living in a congregation where protection of our children has been more than an item of casual discussion, I applaud the draft’s work on “Protecting children and youth in and for trusting relationships.” I have found this to be a very important and potent issue in this congregation, as I suspect it is in many others.

The draft is very Lutheran when it takes a middle road, so to speak, on the issues around homosexuality and the church. I think its writers are correct to say that the ELCA “does not have consensus regarding loving and committed same-gender relationships.” While I agree with this as a churchwide statement, I do need to point out again that this is not an issue in the congregation I serve. Here, it appears to me, people are ready to affirm any “loving and committed relationship.” In this young congregation (average age is 35) many folks are waiting for the ELCA to catch up to the 21st century reality of widespread acceptance of homosexuality.

Of course, I have a few concerns about the draft:

* It is too long, way too long.

* It reads like it was written by a theologian working with a committee. It desperately needs an editor.

* Some of the language is more than awkward. For example, the term “this church” is used throughout when I believe other words like “the ELCA” would read more easily.

* I always ask the audience question and, I believe, that is a fair question to ask about this draft: Who is the audience for this statement? If it is to be congregation members for youth and adult study, that should guide the use of language throughout.

* I found the criticism of sexuality in the media a bit much. Not that it is an incorrect criticism, but it is a narrow one. It is easy to criticize the media, especially television and film, about sexual content. But, our record supporting programming and film that takes a different view is spotty at best. There is a lot of inappropriate sexual content in the media because people watch and read it! If we want something different, we need to support programming that affirms more appropriate content. I hope the next draft might reflect a call to our members to support programming with a more positive view of sexuality.

* While I certainly agree with the draft’s statement “This church does not favor or give approval to cohabitation outside of marriage,” I also need to share what was obvious in my first call in 1976 and continues to be obvious today: Many, if not most, of the couples who came to me in 1976 and come to me today for marriage in the church were and are already living together! That is a reality that, I believe, no ELCA statement is going to change or even affect. My past congregation experience tells me that this is not a new problem. I guess what I am trying to say is that, for society, this has been a non-issue for many years and we must face that reality.

I hope these preliminary comments are helpful to the task force in its continued discussion and subsequent drafts. Thank you for the opportunity to share them.

One additional comment: Many of my key younger members and leaders are waiting for the ELCA to change its policies on ordination to allow homosexual persons in committed relationships to be on “this church’s” roster. These folks were disappointed that the 2007 ELCA churchwide assembly did not make this change. They love the ELCA and our congregation, but they also have waited a long time for this change. They are not threatening to leave the ELCA over this issue, but I know that they hope and pray for a change soon in these standards. I know this was not part of this draft, but it is a related issue that obviously continues to be before us. We anxiously await the task force’s supplementary recommendations on that issue that will come to the 2009 ELCA churchwide assembly!

The Rev. Eric C. Shafer
Senior Pastor
Trinity Lutheran Church
Lansdale, Pennsylvania
Easter Monday, 2008

Maundy Thursday 2008

2008-03-21T17:56:00.003-04:00

Maundy Thursday, March 20, was quite a day here at Trinity, Lansdale! Earlier this week, two young boys (about age 10, not members) came into our gym and took two Easter baskets that were on a table ready for distribution to our shut-ins next Monday. Someone saw them leave the church building with these baskets and called the police. The police were waiting for the boys when they opened the baskets and were (probably) surprised to find that they were not filled with candy but with items that shut-ins adults might find useful! (tooth paste, tooth brushes, etc.) Our Buildings and Grounds manager made it clear to the police that we did NOT want to press charges against these boys but the police DID want to press charges and took the boys away.

We thought that was all to this unfortunate incident, but, apparently, several news organizations saw the police blotter with "Easter baskets stolen from church" and thought that was a story! So, as we were worshipping at noon on Maundy Thursday, news crews arrived from two Philadelphia TV stations. My colleague, Pastor Dayle Malloy, spoke with the NBC crew and I spoke with the ABC crew. We both emphasized that these boys were welcome to have a good Easter basket, that the "theft" would not deprive any shut-in of an Easter basket and that this week is about God's forgiveness and love for humankind.

The irony, of course, is that we have been trying, without success, to break into the Philadelphia news media and let them know that our large congregation sits out here in Lansdale.

We ended up with news coverage of this "theft" in at least four places:

KYW News Radio 1060AM -
www.kyw1060.com/pages/1865143.php?contentType=4&contentId=1758032

The "Morning Call" (Allentown) newspaper -
www.mcall.com/news/local/police/all-2easter.6324365mar21,0,4019630.story

The Lansdale "Reporter" newspaper carried the same short item that was in the "Morning Call." It is online at www.thereporteronline.com/WebApp/appmanager/JRC/Daily?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pg_article&r21.pgpath=%2FTRO%2FHome&r21.content=%2FTRO%2FHome%2FFeaturedArticle_Story_1775162

NBC TV Channel 10 - www.nbc10.com/news/15652276/detail.html .

This last piece (NBC 10) is the text of what they broadcast during their 6:00 and 11:00 p.m. newscasts. I'm told they used other tape from their time at Trinity 2 or 3 times before 6:00 p.m. and showed the noon service and footwashing and more and did not even mention the Easter Baskets! Their crew spent most of the afternoon out front of our church and introduced their afternoon and 6:00 p.m. pieces live from out front.

ABC TV Channel 6 also spent time here during the luncheon following the noon service. I was interviewed as were a number of our members who were eating lunch. The reporter, David Henry, told me that he did not think this was really a story (and, of course, he was correct!) so he was not sure it would be used. And, it appears that he was correct and it was not used.

We had a record attendance here for Maundy Thursday: 692 at 7:30 p.m. after 106 at noon for a day total of 798! This is probably the best attendance for a Maundy Thursday in Trinity's 126 year history! Thank you to everyone who helped make this day a wonderful experience for Trinity members and their guests!

Holy week blessings to all,

Eric

From Jerusalem - Ash Wednesday sermon, February 6, 2008

2008-02-11T08:50:00.000-05:00

Here is the text of my Ash Wednesday sermon, recorded on video in Jerusalem and broadcast to three Ash Wednesday worship services at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lansdale, Pennsylvania USA:

-------------------------------

Jesus Christ Brings Peace, Sermon for Ash Wednesday, February 6, 2008, video cast to Trinity, Lansdale from Jerusalem

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I bring you greetings this Ash Wednesday from Jerusalem:
* Greetings from the Rev. Claire S. Burkat, Bishop of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, who is traveling with my wife, Kris, and I these days in the Holy Land,
* Greetings from the Rev. Munib Younan, Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, and
* Greetings from our newest Trinity sponsored ELCA missionaries, the Rev. and Mrs. Mark and Marcia Holman.

Kris and I are staying with the Holmans while we are here this week. Bishop Younan remembers his visit to Trinity last January so fondly and asked me to give you his special greetings.

I am preaching to you today fro the Mount of Olives and over my shoulder you can see the Lutheran Church of the Ascension, one of the possible sites for Jesus’ ascension into heaven. The Lutheran Church of the Ascension is part of the complex of the Augusta Victoria Hospital which has been serving Palestinians for nearly seventy years here in east Jerusalem, the West Bank and all of Gaza. It is the only hospital for the more than seven million Palestinians in the areas of oncology, cancer care, and kidney care, renal problems.

This is the Garden of Gethsemane. What a rare privilege it is for me to be able to preach to you from here on this holiest of days, Ash Wednesday, a day on which we begin our pilgrimage to Easter, following Jesus as he heads here to Jerusalem willingly for what will be his trial, crucifixion, death and resurrection. This week in our travel group we are walking where Jesus walked and following Jesus from his triumphal entry to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, here to the Garden of Gethsemane on Maundy Thursday, through his crucifixion on Good Friday and finally to his resurrection on Easter.

Lent is an Anglo-Saxon word that comes from the same route as “length,” since it occurs when winter days are lengthening into spring. In other languages, Lent is called “pascha” or Passiontide, from Christ’s passion, that is, Christ’s suffering.

Between Ash Wednesday and Easter there are 46 days. Usually, we speak of the 40 days of Lent. Since Jesus rose from the tomb on a Sunday, Sundays are festival days and not considered part of Lent, although they are part of the Lenten season. Thus, we end up with the 40 days of Lent. That is also why some people fast during Lent on every day but Sunday.

Why are there 40 days in Lent? No one knows for certain, but 40 has always been a special and holy number. In the early Christian church people fasted for the 40 hours from the time of Jesus’ death on Good Friday until the hour when they believed Jesus had risen early on Easter Sunday morning. We also remember the number 40 from other times in the Bible: The 40 days of rain from Noah’s time, the children of Israel wondering for 40 years in the wilderness, Moses spending 40 days and nights atop Mount Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments, Jonah waiting 40 days before prophesying at Nineveh. Jesus’ temptation comes after 40 days of fasting and there are 40 days between Jesus’ resurrection and ascension.

Lent has not always been 40 days. Early Christians marked it in many time periods: 3, 6 or 7 weeks were common. In the 4th century the Christian Church here in Jerusalem fasted for 40 days before Easter and that become the norm for Christians by the 6th century.

Ash Wednesday falls on a different date each year because the timing of Easter Sunday moves each year. Unlike a state holiday with a set date, Easter always falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon in spring. This practice dates from centuries ago so that pilgrims coming here to the Holy Land could have moonlight to guide them on their nighttime journeys. This year Ash Wednesday and Easter are nearly as early as they can fall.

Ash Wednesday gets its name from the use of the mark of the ash on a person’s forehead, an Ash Wednesday custom from the ancient Christian church, now common in Roman Catholic and most Lutheran and Episcopal congregations, among many others. This custom traces its roots to devout Jews in Old Testament times who used ashes on their foreheads as a sign of grief and mourning. The ashes used on Ash Wednesday are traditionally the ashes of last year’s palms from Palm Sunday. Pastor Eisenhart recently burned those palms to make the ashes you used in today’s service. This links one Lenten and Easter season to another. The words used with the placement of the ashes on one’s forehead are traditional, “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

We are now in the Old City on the Via Dolorosa. This is Kris’ and my third visit to the Holy Land. Each time we have been struck by both the beauty and barrenness of this place – We love the sights and the smells and, especially the people of Israel and Palestine. Each time we have been received with great hospitality and grace by our Palestinian Lutheran brothers and sisters.

And, each of our visits has also been marked for us with a “taste,” so to speak, of the difficult nature of life for Palestinian Christians here. Palestinian Christians, now just 2 or 3% of the population, often are put in a double bind – hated by some Israelis because they are Palestinian and mistrusted by some Palestinian Muslims because they are Christians. Their Christian faith gets them no breaks for life here. They are subject to all the other indignities that come with life for Palestinians in an occupied land – regular military interventions, internal checkpoints, difficulty in finding and keeping employment.

And now we are here in Bethlehem and here we cannot ignore the “separation barrier” built by the Israelis between Palestinian and Israeli territory. This barrier has reduced the incidents of suicide bombings in Israel, but it has often been built within Palestinian territory on land on which the Israelis did not have the legal right to build it. The separation barrier has divided Palestinian lands and cut off Palestinians from lands some of which have been in their families since the time of Christ. It has further isolated and even divided Palestinian villages. And, it has made day to day life for Palestinians, never easy since the occupation by Israel following the 1967 war, even more difficult.

But, even in the face of all of this, Jesus Christ who we now follow to Jerusalem as Lent begins; this Jesus Christ has the courage, the audacity, to promise us that he will bring peace. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.”

And, that is still the hope of Lent for us and for Palestinians and Israelis in 2008. Despite recent and what may seem to be continual setbacks, there is always hope for peace.

Our Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has made it clear that we stand with everyone who stands for peace here in the Holy Land. We stand for safety and security for all Israelis and Palestinians and a negotiated peace agreement that includes a shared Jerusalem as capital of two independent states, Israel and Palestine.

And that, I believe, is where Jesus Christ would also stand.

In the Gospels, Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.”

Jesus Christ can and will bring peace. Let me say that again, - Jesus Christ can and will bring peace. Such a peace is not easy as the continual conflict here in the Holy Land has well shown. But, it is, it must be, the hope and prayer for all of us, not only for us visiting here in this holiest of seasons and for all Christian people.

Jesus Christ brings peace for you and me in our daily lives and even for all the people of Israel and Palestine in 2008.

Shalom, salaam, peace.

Amen.

----------------

Eric

From Jerusalem, January 31 - February 8, 2008 - Media summary

2008-02-10T16:28:00.002-05:00

One of the many reasons for this trip to Jerusalem was to preach my sermon at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lansdale on Ash Wednesday from Jerusalem. If you want to view this sermon, you can find it on our web site, http://www.trinitylansdale.com/ - follow the link from the center of the home page. The text of this sermon is online also - look for the "Sermons" button on the left hand column. The sermon video is also online on Tim Frakes' website at http://frakesproductions.blogspot.com/2008/02/rev-eric-shafer-ash-wednesday-sermon.html .

Another reason for this trip was to attract positive publicity around my Ash Wednesday sermon for Trinity and, by implication, for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL - http://www.elcjhl.org/). Here is a summary of the media coverage that I know of:

1) The February issue of "The Lutheran" magazine included a mention of my sermon it its "Churchscan" column on page #43. You may be able to read it online at www.thelutheran.org/article/article.cfm?article_id=6971 .

2) The Lansdale "Reporter" newspaper had two stories:
A) The first was a front page story on January 30, "One faith, an ocean apart," which included a color photo of Kris and me from our first Holy Land visit in 1998. It is still online at www.thereporteronline.com/WebApp/appmanager/JRC/Daily?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pg_article&r21.content=/TRO/_RSSFeed/TopStories/TopStoryList_Story_1508901&r21.pgpath=/TRO/News .
B) The second was a B1 ("Lifestyle") story on February 5, "Sacred Sermon: Ash Wednesday in the Holy Land." This story included a color photo of ELCA missionaries the Rev. Mark & Mrs. Marcia Holman with Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land Bishop, the Rev. Munig Younan. I cannot find this one online.

3) The Allentown "Morning Call" newspaper ran an "Op Ed" (Opinion) piece that I wrote, "In the Middle East, God is on the side of peace" on Ash Wednesday, February 6. It is no longer on the "Morning Call's" webiste for free, so here is the text of that piece:

In the Middle East, God is on the side of peace
By Eric C. Shafer
February 6, 2008

On a February Sunday in 2004, my wife, Kris, and I were traveling with a group of U.S. Lutheran communicators in the West Bank, the area of biblical Palestine occupied by Israel since 1967. We were scheduled to worship at Reformation Lutheran Church in Beit Jala, a town next to Bethlehem. But that Sunday the entire area was under an Israeli army curfew. Since we were accompanied by the Rev. Munib Younan, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, we were able to get through the military checkpoint from Jerusalem.

This was a surreal experience -- our two Lutheran World Federation vans following the bishop's car into the Beit Jala area. Our three vehicles, with hazard lights blinking, were the only ones on the road that morning. All businesses, schools and homes were closed, even boarded up. Normally on a Sunday morning, a work day for the majority Muslim population, the streets would have been teeming with people. Not this day. The streets and sidewalks were completely vacant and quiet except for an occasional stray dog. The Israeli curfew kept everyone at home and off the streets. Those who ventured out risked arrest and prison.

The church bells were ringing as we approached Reformation Lutheran Church in Beit Jala. We wondered if anyone would be there. As we entered the church grounds, there were hundreds of people waiting for the bishop and for worship. Surprised by their bravery, bravery I thought might be foolhardy, I asked one of our hosts why he had violated the curfew and risked imprisonment to come to worship that day. ''If God calls us, we're coming,'' was all he needed to say.

Like most Americans my age, I had watched the invasion of Jordanian territory by the Israelis during the 1967 war and had assumed that the Israelis were the good guys. I would say that I had even assumed that God was on the side of the Israelis. That's certainly what most U.S. Christians and most Americans probably still believe.

However, I have now heard different views, views expressed to me when I have traveled several times to Jerusalem, Jordan and the West Bank and met Palestinian Christians, Lutherans who are part of the Lutheran World Federation. They are Palestinians who had their homes and pastures and olive tree groves forcefully taken from them during the 1967 war. They are Palestinians -- Muslim and Christian -- who now have to live elsewhere, no longer able to make a living on lands which had been part of their families since the time of Christ.

I have long been a real admirer of modern Israel, what the Israeli people have done with their country created out of desert lands in 1948. But, much to my surprise, these lands may have been desert, but they were not deserted! Real people, Palestinians, Christians and Muslims, lived on these lands and were forcibly removed in 1948 and again in 1967.

We have seen what legacy these wars have brought to the people of the Middle East and the world. Sixty years of almost constant war and conflict with extremists reveling in death and destruction, wars and conflicts which seem to simmer under the surface and regularly erupt as they have in Lebanon and Gaza.

Abraham Lincoln, when asked if God was on the side of the Union forces (and, by implication, not on the side of the Confederate forces), is said to have responded, ''The question is not, is God on our side, the question is, are we on God's side?''

In the Middle East, as in most earthly conflicts, there are Godly people on all sides of the current conflicts. The extremists on both sides may get the headlines. Often forgotten are the majority of people who live behind the headlines; Israelis who fear suicide bombers, Palestinians cut off from oil and heat, food, employment and medical care. The question then is Lincoln's question: Are we on God's side?

And what would God's side be? In the Gospels, Jesus Christ gives us some ideas. God's side is standing for and with the poor and powerless. God's side is standing for peace in the face of violence and war, ''turning the other cheek,'' as Jesus says. God's side is realizing that God is calling us to be peace makers even in the face of opposing forces all claiming God's direction. God's side is for peace in the Middle East and throughout this world.

We are called to be on God's side, to stand with God and God's values of peace and love for humankind and to stand with others who share these values, in Israel and Palestine and everywhere.

The Rev. Eric C. Shafer, senior pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lansdale, is traveling in Jerusalem and the West Bank and plans to preach today from Jerusalem via satellite. His daily blog and sermon are available online at http://www.trinitylansdale.com .

4) Sarah Larson's Doylestown "Intelligencer" front page article on Ash Wednesday, February 6 "Pastor to speak to faithful from the Holy Land," is also online at www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/113-02062008-1483216.html . This article included a color photo of me pulled from my Trinity video Ash Wednesday sermon from the Garden of Gethsemane. Larson's article was also used in the Bucks County "Courier Times" newspaper with this headline - "Lutheran leaders deliver Holy Land sermons," online at www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/111-02062008-1483351.html . This same article , with the first headline, was then picked up by MSNBC and distributed nationally - see www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23027030/ . That MSNBC posting was picked up by a number of global news websites. I found it on World News (http://www.wn.com/) and Channel Afrika (http://www.channelafrika.com/).

5) The Reading "Eagle/Times" newspaper ran a brief item, with my photo, in their newspaper on Saturday, February 2. It is under their summary, "Lenten season to get underway." One of this article's subtitles is 'Wyomissing native to preach near Jerusalem." You'll find it online at www.readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=78745 .

All in all, very fine newspaper and web coverage.

Eric

From Jerusalem - Friday, February 8, 2008

2008-02-10T16:19:00.000-05:00

The alarm rang on Friday just after midnight at 12:30 a.m., after just two hours of sleep, so that we could leave our hotel at 1:30 a.m. for the bus ride to Tel Aviv airport. The very strict security at this airport requires at least a three hour arrival in advance of one's flight. Since our flight left at 5:30 a.m., we wanted to be there around 2:00 a.m.

We arrived in good time and began the security screening process. Once the screeners found that we had spent our time with Palestinians and were carrying home gifts from Palestinians (Kris and I had a ceramic tray from Bishop Younan) we were singled out for intense inspection. Our luggage was completely emptied and searched. The screeners were always polite and professional. This process took around an hour which meant we were still ready for our flight early.

Our flight from Tel Aviv to Frankfurt and then the flight from Frankfurt home to Philadelphia were both uneventful. US Customs at Philadelphia was slow (not enough staff) but that meant that our luggage was waiting for us by the time we cleared customs. After dropping Bishop Burkat at her home, we were home in Lansdale before 7:00 p.m.

Eric

From Jerusalem - Thursday, February 7, 2008

2008-02-10T15:31:00.000-05:00

For our final day in the Holy Land we boarded our bus early to take a tour of Jesus sites in Galilee, about two hours or more north of Jerusalem. We travelled to Galilee with a quick stop in Jericho and then headed north through Samaria. Many sites from Jesus' ministry years are located just north of the city of Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee.

Our first stop was the Mount of the Beatitudes, a possible site for the Sermon on the Mount. Our guide pointed out that good Biblical scholarship doubts that what is written in Matthew 5 ("Blessed ar the poor in spirit..." etc.) was preached in this or any one place. The beatitudes are more likely a compiling of a number of sermons preached at the number of places. No matter, this a beautiful spot on a hillside overlooking the Sea of Galilee as likely as any place for Jesus to have gone when he "saw the crowds...went up the mountain...and taught them..." (Matthew 5: 1&2)

We stopped for a late lunch (most folks had "St. Peter's fish" which is talapia) and then headed to Tabgha, the probable site of the feeding of the 5,000 (Matthew 14: 13 - 21). This is one of Kris' and my favorite spots - the church here is quite beautiful and grounds lovely. The floor of the restored church includes a mosaic of a loaf of bread and two fishes, an image you see on many souvenir items here. Under the church altar is a rock that is said to be the actual traditional site of this miracle.

Right next to this site is the Church of the Primacy of St. Peter, a stone church built along the Sea of Galilee shoreline. In it is said to be the rock on which Jesus said, of Peter, "on this rock I will build my church" (Matthew 16:18). More interesting to me is the tradition that on the very rocky beach of the Sea of Galilee next to this church is the site of Jesus' post-resurrection breakfast "fish fry" (appearance to his discples) in John 21, the spot where Jesus also told Peter and some other disciples, who had all returned to fishing after Jesus' death, to go back out again to fish "and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish" (John 21: 6). We shared Holy Communion in an outdoor chapel on the church grounds.

Our next stop was Capharnaum (Capernaum), the town where Jesus lived as an adult and also the home of St. Peter. A lovely modern church is built on the ruins of St. Peter's birth home. There are also ruins of an early synagogue where Jesus may have taught. The town itself is basically an archiological site and is most interesting.

From Capernaum we headed southwest to Nazareth, home of Mary and Joseph and the place where Jesus grew up. This is the site of the Annunication, when an angel tells Mary that she will bear a son, Jesus (Luke 1: 26 - 38). It was nearly dark when we arrived in Nazareth and hurried to the Basilica of the Annunciation, a beautiful modern church built over a possible site of the home of Mary and Joseph and Jesus. This is an amazing church building, a wonderful combination of modern and traditional.

It was now quite late and we had a long drive to Tel Aviv where we were to stay overnight in a hotel so that we would be close to the airport for our early Friday morning flight. We arrived at the Merkur Hotel in Tel Aviv after 8:30 p.m. and had a late dinner together there after 9:00 p.m.

Eric