wfn.org | ELCA Lectures Address Preaching to Those Without Basics

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

January 4, 2002

ELCA LECTURES ADDRESS PREACHING TO THOSE WITHOUT BASICS
02-01-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Preachers can no longer assume their listeners
know basic Bible stories or understand some of the words familiar to the
Bible's English translators of the 17th century.  That's the premise of
"Biblical Preaching in Babel: Preaching in a Post-Christian World," a
series of lectures to be delivered on the eight seminary campuses of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
     The Rev. Barbara Lundblad, associate professor of preaching, Union
Theological Seminary, New York, will begin the series Feb. 7 at Lutheran
Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, S.C.  She will also speak Feb.
27 at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, March 1 at Pacific
Lutheran Theological Seminary, Berkeley, Calif., and April 11 at
Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa.
     The Rev. Peter J. Gomes, professor of Christian morals, Harvard
University, Cambridge, Mass., continues the series Feb. 19 at the
Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, April 8 at Lutheran
Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, Pa., April 16 at Luther Seminary,
St. Paul, Minn., and April 22-23 at Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus,
Ohio.
     Lundblad, an ELCA pastor, was ordained in 1980.  She served as
pastor of Our Saviour Atonement Lutheran Church (Manhattan), New York,
and as campus pastor for Lehman College (Bronx) and New York University.
Since 1984 she has been a frequent speaker on The Protestant Hour, an
ecumenical national radio program.  Lundblad authored "Transforming the
Stone: Preaching through Resistance to Change."
     Gomes, a pastor of the American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A.,
taught history at Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University),
Tuskegee, Ala., for two years.  He has served as minister in The
Memorial Church at Harvard since 1970 and on Harvard's faculty of
divinity and faculty of arts and sciences since 1974.  In 1979, Time
magazine named him one of the seven most influential preachers in the
United States.  Gomes is author of "The Good Book: Reading the Bible
with Mind and Heart."
     The Hein-Fry lecturers are to address the difficulties of relating
biblical themes to an audience that shares no common stories or
experiences.  The Internet and the availability of hundreds of cable
television channels have made it possible for people to get their
information from a vast array of sources.
     "This year's Hein-Fry lectures should be of interest to everyone
charged with the responsibility of preaching and teaching biblical texts
in our situation of simultaneous globalization and increasing
pluralism," said the Rev. Jonathan P. Strandjord, director for
theological education, ELCA Division for Ministry.
     "A special feature of this year's program is that our lecturers
will not just talk about  preaching; each will also preach a sermon that
attempts to speak biblically in Babel," Strandjord said.
     The Hein-Fry Lecture Series predates the ELCA which was formed in
1988.  The endowed theological lecture series fosters original
scholarship and enriches theological dialogue throughout the church.  It
combines the Dr. Carl Christian Hein Memorial Seminary Lectures of the
former American Lutheran Church and the Franklin Clark Fry Theological
Lectures of the former Lutheran Church in America.
-- -- --
     The Web page at http://www.elca.org/DM/hf/heinfry.html has
information about the lecture series.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html