wfn.org | ELCA Lectures Explore Classism and the Church

[News News <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

January 25, 2000

ELCA LECTURES EXPLORE CLASSISM AND THE CHURCH
00-18-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The barriers between economic and social classes
impede the work of the Church.  That's one idea to be examined Feb. 3-May 3 
on the eight seminary campuses of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America (ELCA) during the 2000 Hein-Fry Lecture Series, "Class
Matters: Mission Across Unseen Divides."  The series will include an
interactive session May 2 on the World Wide Web.
     "Americans talk about racial, gender and cultural differences.
The topic of class, however, is rarely addressed," said the Rev.
Jonathan P. Strandjord, director for theological education, ELCA
Division for Ministry.  The series is coordinated through the division.
     "Class lines are very real in our society -- and in our churches
-- and seem to be growing sharper and stronger.  This year's Hein-Fry
topic aims to bring into the open the ways class shapes and mis-shapes
the church today," he said.
     Dr. Karen L. Bloomquist and Dr. Tex Sample will each address these
topics in four lectures and an Internet Webcast.
     Bloomquist is an ELCA pastor, director for studies in the ELCA
Division for Church in Society and part-time associate professor of
theological ethics at Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa.  She
is currently on sabbatical leave and serving as study secretary for
church and society issues in the Department for Theology and Studies of
the Lutheran World Federation, Geneva, Switzerland.
     Sample is an ordained elder of the United Methodist Church and
professor of church and society at St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas
City, Mo.  He authored "U.S. Lifestyles and Mainline Churches: A Key to
Reaching People in the '90s" and "Blue-Collar Ministry: Facing Economic
and Social Realities of Working People."
     The lecturers have the task of answering some key questions about
the reality of contemporary class dynamics and their relation to the
life of the church, such as "How do the powerful yet often hidden
realities of class shape and mis-shape the church?  Does the ELCA have a
class location?  Are aspects of its teaching and practices 'classist?'
If so, what would it mean to repent of classism?"
     Sample will begin the series Feb. 3 at Lutheran Theological
Southern Seminary, Columbia, S.C.; Feb. 17 at Luther Seminary, St. Paul,
Minn.; Feb. 25 at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, Berkeley,
Calif.; and March 21 at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at
Philadelphia.
     Bloomquist will speak Feb. 10 at the Lutheran Theological Seminary
at Gettysburg, Pa.; April 26 at the Lutheran School of Theology at
Chicago; April 27 at Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa; and
May 3 at Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio.
     May 2 at 8 p.m. (Eastern) "Sample and Bloomquist will converse
with each other and a worldwide audience via the Internet," said
Strandjord.  "This interactive Webcast will allow the lecturers to
answer audience questions and to think together about their views on
class and its impact on the life and mission of the church."
     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 a link for
the "Live Webcast" and 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