wfn.org | Wangerin, ELCA Staff Complete Lutheran Vespers Tour

[News News <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

October 31, 2002

WANGERIN, ELCA STAFF COMPLETE LUTHERAN VESPERS TOUR
02-255-JB

     VALPARAISO, Ind. (ELCA) -- The Rev. Walt Wangerin Jr., speaker for
Lutheran Vespers, the radio ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America (ELCA), and staff completed	a 65-day tour of the Upper
Midwest here Oct. 21.  The tour, "OutSpoken for Lutheran Vespers,"
included 22 rallies, visits to ELCA congregations and stops at radio
stations that carry the 30-minute program each week.
     The tour ended here at Valparaiso University, where Wangerin is
writer-in-residence and Emile and Elfriede Jochum University Professor.
Wangerin was welcomed at the university's regular daily worship service,
and he spoke to supporters about the tour in the evening.  Valparaiso
students and staff gave a $500 gift to the radio ministry.
     "This is my home," Wangerin said in an interview after arriving at
the Chapel of the Resurrection at Valparaiso.  "Several things come to
mind.  One is the gratitude for the people who followed me and welcomed
me.  I'm also beginning to allow myself to know how tired I am."
     "While the tour itself is over, in a very real sense it
continues," said Susan V. Greeley, director/producer for Lutheran
Vespers, ELCA Department for Communication, Chicago. "We need to
strengthen the relationships made during Walt's trip so that his vision
of partnership with our listeners becomes a reality."  Greeley, staff
and volunteers accompanied Wangerin throughout most of the trip.
     Wangerin left Chicago Aug. 17, intending to ride most of the
2,000-mile, seven-state trip on a bicycle, but on Sept. 9 he fell off
his bike near Alexandria, Minn., breaking his left hip.  After surgery
and recuperation, Wangerin was able to resume the tour 10 days later,
riding to each stop in a motor home.  Using crutches to help him stand,
Wangerin spoke to crowds who came to meet him.
     "I often felt like I was being welcomed home by so many people who
listen to Lutheran Vespers and know me because of my voice," Wangerin
said of the trip.  "I got to know them, and I felt constantly welcomed
home."
     The OutSpoken tour was intended to begin raising an endowment
fund, seek endorsement for Lutheran Vespers and involve listeners
directly in the radio ministry.  Lutheran Vespers has 235 affiliates and
is heard annually by some 3 million to 4 million people.
     Despite his injury, Wangerin said the tour was worthwhile, and he
was able to talk to listeners about being partners with the radio
ministry.
     "I wanted to meet as many people as possible face-to-face in the
various places where Lutheran Vespers is on the air," Wangerin said.
"This is only representative, because I couldn't meet 4 million people.
But I did meet face-to-face more than 5,000 people."
     The tour has generated $32,891 in gifts so far, including rally
donations and donations received at the Lutheran Vespers office in
Chicago.  Forty-five people pledged to contribute funds for each of the
686 miles Wangerin rode his bicycle during the tour before he was
injured.  Since July, gifts designated for a Lutheran Vespers endowment
have totaled $14,650.
     "Some things about the OutSpoken tour are easy to quantify -- how
many people Walt met, how much money was collected in offerings,"
Greeley said. "But we have no way of knowing the way in which hearts
were touched, what kind of insights people received, or how many
relationships across generations will be strengthened as a result of
hearing Walt's message.  Those are fruits of the spirit that we simply
trust and believe will blossom."
     March 28-30, 2003, Wangerin and the Lutheran Vespers staff will
host a rally at St. Matthew's Lutheran Church, Charleston, S.C.  Now
that Wangerin has met many listeners directly, he hopes the Charleston
event will be a working event, at which supporters will help solidify
the ministry for future years.
     At the Charleston rally, "I hope to begin to establish groups of
people throughout the country who will now work together as partners,
that they will support one another and share ideas about how they may
continue and increase Lutheran Vespers in their various areas," he said.
     The rally is intended to organize supporters to help undergird the
radio ministry and keep it functioning strongly long after Wangerin has
concluded his tenure as the program's speaker, Greeley said.
     After concluding the OutSpoken tour, Wangerin took a few days to
rest, then left Oct. 27 for Japan.  While there, he will visit several
cities "as an author and a Christian," he said, to talk about his 1998
publication, "The Book of God," a novel based on the Christian Bible.
-- -- --
     Information about the OutSpoken for Lutheran Vespers tour,
including dispatches from Wangerin, news releases and financial support
information can be found at http://www.elca.org/lv/outspoken on the ELCA
Web site.

     See a video news release on the conclusion of the tour at
http://www.elca.org/co/news/videos/video.index.html on the ELCA Web
site.

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