Those of you who visit this column on a regular basis know that it's unusual for me to go so long without writing a new blog. For the last two weeks I've been in the Pacific Northwest. The first ten days were spent at my dear mother's bedside, before she left this vale of tears to enter the presence of her Lord and Savior in Heaven.

Since then, between accomplishing various tasks to prepare for her memorial service and the arrival of family from all over the world, I have had some time to reflect on the many gifts and the wonderful life with which God abundantly blessed mom throughout her almost 90 years on earth.

Mom actually loved History. She earned a Masters Degree in History in the early 1940s, at a "time in history" when it was rather unusual for women to return to college to acquire a graduate degree. I realize now that it was she who engendered and nurtured a love of history in my own life. Each summer when we took the annual family vacation road trips, the travel itinerary always included visits to state capitol buildings, museums, famous geological formations, Cowboy-and-Indian Era towns or forts, and anything else of interest about the United States and its history. She enjoyed these family holidays. And she succeeded in including these educational excursions in the midst of our vacations in a way whereby we didn't even realize that she was secretly "homeschooling" us on the road!

Mom was a great planner and organizer. In August 2009 she and dad visited our Pennsylvania home and we had a wonderful time together. After a great game of pinochle, she made an unusual request. "Cheryl, I'd like you to take a picture of me. I'd like you to take a nice picture for my obituary." As comical as I thought the request was, especially since she looked and felt so well, I honored her request. She looked at the digital photo right away and was pleased with the result. How odd it is now, to be using that photo, exactly five months after it was taken. It is the same photo that appears at the top of this blog.

For those of you who have not read the tribute that I wrote to mom on Mother's Day 2009, please go into the Woman of the Week archive (on this website) and click on May 10, 2009 - Dorothy (Bauman) Freitag.

What a privilege it has been to be the daughter of my mother; to be instructed by her example of Christian faith and life; to have her ever-listening ear and receive counsel from her in so many areas of life; and to have had the privilege of being with her as she walked through the gates of Heaven into the presence of Jesus. "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord."

January 12 marks the 30th birthday of the official inauguration of Concordia Deaconess Conference - Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.

Chapters 14 and 15 of In the Footsteps of Phoebe go into detail about the origin and colorful history of this deaconess conference, started by nine confessional deaconesses in 1980.

Concordia Deaconess Conference is launching a new BLUES NEWS newsletter format and celebrating its anniversary throughout 2010, including a special 30th anniversary conference to be held at Concordia University Chicago, June 23-26, 2010.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Concordia Deaconess Conference!

January 3, 2010 saw the addition of a new "feast" to the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church: the commemoration of William Passavant!

To my mind this would be an appropriate addition to Lutheran calendars as well, given the fact that Passavant was the Lutheran pastor who arranged for Theodor Flieder to bring four of his deaconesses from Kaiserswerth (Germany) to Pittsburgh in order to help him run the Pittsburgh Infirmary (which became the first Protestant Hospital in the United States). Of course the LCMS has an even tighter connection with Passavant, in that after two of these women served as deaconesses under him, they married LCMS pastors and one of them played a part in the history of the deaconess movement in the Synod.

The Collect (prayer) used by the Episcopal Church for commemorating William Passavant on January 3 is found in a new publication, Holy Women, Holy Men (2009):

"Compassionate God, we thank you for William Passavant, who brought the German deaconess movement to America so that dedicated women might assist him in founding orphanages and hospitals for those in need and provide for the theological education of future ministers. Inspire us by his example, that we may be tireless to address the wants of all who are sick and friendless; through Jesus the divine Physician, who has prepared for us an eternal home, and who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen."

Most often when Bible passages are discussed in relation to the office of deaconess, the starting point for discussion is Romans 16:1. Wilhelm Loehe - in a series of paragraphs titled "On the Deaconess" which he wrote in 1858 - was additionally very interested in the application of 1 Timothy 5:3-16 to the female diaconate.

Loehe wrote, "Holy Scripture contains a passage, which does not, to be sure, talk about the office of the deaconess, but has nonetheless been interpreted as talking about the deaconess office from time immemorial; it is the passage 1 Timothy 5:3-16. When we have just said that the passage has been interpreted as talking about the deaconess office from time immemorial, we must not think of a unanimous and general interpretation of the Christian Church. Two great teachers of the ancient church who were in office during the second half of the 4th Century, the oriental John Chrysostom, patriarch of Constantinople, and the occidental Ambrose, archbishop of Milan, see the adduced passage talking about nothing else but the care of widows. Contrariwise, others, like the occidental Tertullian, who died in 220, and the oriental Epiphanius, who died in 403, already hold that the passage talks about the vocation of deaconess. The view prevailed in later times and has become the generally accepted one. If the passage talked only about the care of widows, one has said, it would be hard to see, why the selection of the widows to be cared for was so tightly attached to certain moral and other virtues, since Christian mercy does not make such great distinctions; therefore widows have to be in mind who, on the one hand, to be sure, are cared for, but who, on the other hand, are employed for the blessing of the congregations. There is something to commend this view, and the entire antiquity has therefore taken the requirements for the deaconess office from this passage."
[Quotation taken from Wilhelm Loehe on the Deaconess, translated by Holger Sonntag.]

Theodor Fliedner provided the probationary deaconesses in Kaiserswerth, Germany, with a hefty set of guidelines for day-to-day living and working in institutions of mercy. For example, the women were told how to carry out their duties in hospitals, especially in terms of following the doctors' instructions for medicine, diet, or ventilation for each patient; how to make daily reports to the doctors; and how to assist the pastors without imposing their Christian belief on those who were not receptive [to witness to Christ through their actions instead when necessary].

Each day the probationers and working deaconesses went to Chapel for half an hour. The time in Chapel began with the singing of a hymn, but was followed by complete silence during which each woman could choose to pray, read the Bible, or meditate on the Word. During the week there were other Bible classes and prayer meetings available to the women. In relation to this focus on God's Word, J.S. Howson once quoted Fliedner as saying, "We have no vows, and I will have no vows, but a bond of union we must have, and the best bond is the Word of God, and our second bond is singing."

The deaconesses in the various Motherhouses established by Fliedner always met together to vote on acceptance of new deaconesses into their houses and elected their own superintendent of the House. In turn, each woman was expected to obey the superintendent and to gladly and cheerfully accept whatever work was assigned to her by her superiors.

All of the German Deaconess Houses used a similar service of consecration for deaconesses. The service included singing; an address reminding the deaconesses that they are servants of Jesus, servants of the needy, and servants of one another; an opportunity for the deaconess candidates to indicate that they wish to take up such a ministry of mercy; the kneeling and blessing of the candidates; the recitation of a prayer from Apostolical Constitutions; and lastly, the service finished with the celebration of Holy Communion.

Two days ago I received a wonderful surprise in the mail from a deaconess friend who lives in St. Louis. The surprise is a plate depicting the 100th anniversary of the Lutheran Orphan's Home in Des Peres, MO, from 1868 to 1968. The back of the plate is inscribed: "In Memorial to the 100th Anniversary of the Lutheran Orphans' Home Celebrated July 21, 1968. Dedicated to all the Children, Housemothers, Fathers, and to the Glory of God. 1868-1968."

I'm not sure where my friend found this treasure, but I'm delighted with it. [Of course it is already 41 years old, which makes it even more precious!]

In chapter one of In the Footsteps of Phoebe I make reference to the very first Lutheran orphanage - which opened in Des Peres, Missouri, in 1868. This venerable institution has several connections with deaconesses.

1. We know that at least one deaconess from Germany worked at the orphanage in its early days;
2. We know that in 1934 Rev. Herman B. Kohlmeier, superintendent of deaconess training for the Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America, took a long road trip that included visiting the orphanage;
3. We know that Deaconess Florence Storck was assigned to work at the orphanage at the time of her commissioning in 1937, and worked there until transferring to the St. Louis Lutheran Mission in 1940.

My guess is that there are other connections between the deaconess community and the Orphans' Home that are still waiting to be discovered. In the meantime, I'm enjoying the plate! Thank you, Pam!

As I progress through the little volume titled, "Deaconesses in Europe and Their Lessons for America" (by Jane Marie Bancroft), I am fascinated to discover that even though the office of deaconess may not have been continuously present in either the Eastern or Western Churches, there were many ways (outside of convents) in which women were banding together to give service to God and their fellowman.

One case in point is the various communities of "Beguines," who are known to have lived from the 12th century onward, in the Netherlands, in Belgium, along the Rhine River, in Switzerland, and in eastern France. During the first half of the 13th Century, there were thousands of Beguines. For some reason they began to be persecuted, nuns disliked them, and the Pope withdrew his "protection" of them. At the time of the Reformation, many of these women became Protestant, but continued to resemble sisterhoods of Catholicism.

As for the life and work of the Beguines, Bancroft explains:

"As a rule they lived alone, in separate small houses build closely together and surrounded by a wall. Each house bore on its door the sign of the cross, and with every Beguine court there were invariably two large buildings - a church and a hospital; the one for the worship of the sisters, the other the field of their self-denying ministrations. At first they were in no wise distinguished in their dress from other women, but in time they wore a habit which varied in color with each establishment, but was generally blue, gray, or brown. The veil was invariably white. The sisters had to earn, or partly earn, their own livelihood. In the time remaining they rendered essential service in performing acts of charity. They received orphans to bring up and educate, taught little children, nursed the sick, performed the last offices for the dead, and bound themselves by good deeds closely with the lives of the people. They were in no sense isolated from the world, but lived busy, useful lives in the midst of the world. They could leave the community at any time, and after severing their connection with it were free to marry. They also retained control of their own property."

This strikes me as a pretty modern arrangement for women in the 13th-19th centuries! And except for the living together in groups of houses, pretty close to how some deaconess communities serve today.

The Apostolic Constitutions (a collection of Eastern Church ecclesiastical instructions collected into one work in the 4th Century) provides historians with the clearest idea of how deaconesses were involved in the administration of the early church. Briefly, the Constitutions show that a deaconess served the church by caring for the needs of other women in specifically designated ways:

1. She was a doorkeeper at the women's entrance to the church.
2. She showed women to their places in the church, taking care to meet the particular needs of the poor and strangers.
3. She instructed women catechumens and visited their homes where men could not go.
4. She carried out certain duties pertaining to the Baptism of women.
5. She provided for the physical and spiritual needs of women in prison during times of persecution.
6. She cared for the sick and sorrowing.
7. She served as a "mediator" for the resolution of disagreements in families or among friends.

In light of Romans 16:1, it is interesting to see the Constitutions state that both deacons and deaconesses carry out work pertaining to "messages, journeys to foreign parts, ministrations, services."

On May 10, 1889, Edward G. Andrews wrote (in the Introduction to "Deaconesses in Europe and Their Lessons for America" by Jane Marie Bancroft:
"The General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, at its session in May, 1888, inserted in the law of the Church a chapter on deaconesses, defining their duties and providing for the appointment and oversight of them through the Annual Conferences."

Now that is what I consider to be prudent action! Yes, we can learn a lesson from those who became organized (way back in the 19th century) about defining the duties of their professional church workers, and making provision for both their "appointment" and their "oversight." With many deaconess candidates waiting for placement in the LCMS, it seems that some of these areas could do with review and revision - not only for the sake of those who desire to serve in the vocation of deaconess, but for the church at large.

Anyone else care to offer a thought or suggestion on this topic?

The opera King Roger, written by Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937) about the Norman King Roger II of Sicily (1095 - 1154), includes a deaconess as one of its six characters. The actress who plays the deaconess sings contralto and fills a key role in the story line in Act One.

A summary of the three-act production of King Roger can be read on a website titled Operawonk, which claims to be “an operating theater for dissecting operas and disseminating operatic knowledge.”

http://operawonk.blogspot.com/

When the second quarter of the school year began week, my 7th and 8th grade Biblical Studies class started a new study unit on Old Testament History. We utilize great material from Concordia Publishing House called Voyages: Exploring God's Word, which includes colorful student workbooks.

Such a course might sound a bit dry, or perhaps boring. After all, the Old Testament has a reputation for being law-oriented and irrelevant to today's world. However, my class's experience with the Old Testament doesn't support that stiff view of the Old Testament. Through the study of Scripture itself, we recognize that every story in the Old Testament presents threads of the Gospel and eye-opening relevance to both our personal life and society today.

The first two lessons in the unit were marvelous examples of this fact. In Genesis 1 and 2 we read about how God made and ordered the world that we live in. God didn't create and then just let go. He created in such a manner that our entire existence would have a pattern that was sustained by the design of God Himself: day and night; seven day weeks; a cyclical day of rest; time and seasons; partners fit for every species; marriage; and so forth.

In Genesis 3 we read of the fall into sin and can only imagine how disappointed God must have been. He took great care in creating the human race and providing an Eden-life for people. All that Adam and Eve needed to do was to fear, love, trust, and obey God the Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, above all things. Fortunately, God came back to the garden to speak to Adam and Eve, in spite of the fact that He knew of their disobedience and sin. And while He informed them of the consequence of their sin ("for the wages of sin is death") He also provided the hope of a deliverer, the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15) Who would one day crush Satan's head.

In the meantime God continued to show His love to Adam and Eve. He gave them clothes made from animal skins. Yes, He killed animals to cover the humans. Almost like a foreshadowing of how His Son Jesus would someday die to cover the sins of all humans. [In Holy Baptism we "put on Christ."] And He would chase them out of that beautiful garden so that they could die a physical death and have the opportunity to receive new life in Heaven with Him someday. In other words, that they might live eternally with Him in everlasting bliss. Whatever else was to come along in their long lives, they would turn to God as the bringer of their redemption, and God would forgive and renew them in His grace.

Reading with Christian eyes, we see that Old Testament History is really an account of God's grace to the human race. It's our story. Thanks be to God for such a gift!

My husband and I are back in the United States after a wonderful holiday in the United Kingdom. I say that the time away was wonderful - not for the sake of the rest that it provided to body, soul, and mind - but because we were together with our entire nuclear family. Every one of our six children, daughter-in-laws, and three grandchildren were present.

The experience of such a reunion brings much joy. But on this occasion, the reason for the gathering brought even greater joy. Our son Gordon was ordained into the Holy Ministry.

It's funny what goes through a mother's mind on such an occasion. Looking at him in the chancel, I actually thought about the day he was born. I remembered how he struggled with issues in primary school and in junior high. I remembered how much he loved to play rugby and could see him coming through the door in mud-covered rugby kit. I thought about his never-ending smile and blond hair, and how when he got to high school he had such a passion for sharing Jesus with his school mates.

I thought too about how history was repeating itself. When I looked at Gordon and his wife and two children, it took me back to the day in 1982 when my husband was ordained, in the same country (England), in the same customary manner at a closing worship service of the ELCE Synod, also with a wife and two children. My husband was then placed as Pastor in the only Lutheran congregation in the country of Scotland. Last week Gordon was placed as Pastor in the only Lutheran congregation in the country of Wales.

Knowing the love and mercies of God, we thank and praise God for the life of service ahead of Gordon and His family. God is faithful, and that is a proven history that will continue to repeat itself over and over again in our lives - and in the lives of our children.

Today was one of those very special days; a day with silhouetted mind photos that will live in the memory more vividly than any synthetic photograph. First of all, my husband and I were walking, each holding one of the hands of our two-year-old granddaughter, and from time to time taking turns holding her 7-month-old sister. That was pure joy in itself.

However, the memory gets even better. We were in Cardiff, Wales, at the Museum of Welsh Life in St. Fagin's, within walking distance of where our son will be installed as a pastor on October 18. [That in itself is kind of an amazing story. A young man born in Scotland of American/British parents, raised in England, studied in England and Canada, married to a lovely American gal in the state of Montana, and now poised to live and serve the Lord in Cardiff, Wales. But I digress!]

As we walked through the outdoor exhibits I was struck by the wonder of History and the archeology that had contributed to this particular History. We walked through the replica of a 2000-year-old Celtic village; toured authentic ancient homes, chapels, and schoolhouses that had been moved to the museum from various parts of Wales, and almost best of all, walked through a series of row houses, starting with one built in 1800, each house having been built 40-50 years after the last one in the row. The progression of interior design in this row of houses was fascinating, from the change in window and stair designs to the cooking facilities, bedding and wall hangings. What a commentary on Life in the country of Wales.

Interestingly, in the row houses of the early and mid-20th century, there were articles that could be found in the homes of my own grandparents and parents, even during the time that I was growing up. What a strange sensation to view part of one's own life in a 'still life' documentation of History! That's something for all of us to muse upon from time to time.

We all know that Martin Luther wrote and lectured so much that researchers can find something authored by him (or said by him and jotted down by one of his students) on just about any subject.

I was recently thumbing through a notebook one of my sons brought home from a Classical Education conference which included several pages of interesting Luther quotations focused on various aspects of education. Of course the one on History really caught my attention:

"Hence, too, historians are the most useful of men, and the best teachers. Nor can we ever accord too much praise, honor, or gratitude to them; and it should be the work of the great ones of the eart, as emperors, kings, and the like, to cause a faithful record to be made of the history of their own times, and to have such records sacredly preserved and set in order in libraries. And, to this end, they should spare no expense, which may be needful, to educate and maintain those persons whose talents mark them out for this task.

But he who would write history, must be a superior man, lion-hearted and fearless in writing truth. For most manage to pass by in silence, or at least to gloss over the vices of the mischances of their times, to please great lords or their own friends; or they give too high a place to minor, or it may be, insignificant actions; or else, from an overweening love of country, and a hatred toward foreign nations, they bedizen or befoul histories, according to their own likes or dislikes. Hence it is that a suspicious air invests histories and God's providence is shamefully obscured; so the Greeks did in their perverseness, so the Pope's flatterers have done heretofore, and are now doing, till it has come to this, at last, that we do not know what to admit or what to reject. Thus the noble, the precious, and highest use of history is overlooked, and we have only a vain babble and gossip. And this is because the worthy task of writing annals and records is open to everyone without discrimination; and they write or slur over, praise or condemn, at their will.

How important, then, is it, that this office should be filled by men of eminence, or at least by those who are worthy. For, inasmuch as histories are records of God's work, that is, of His grace and His displeasure, which men should believe with as much reason as if the same stood written in the Bible, surely they ought to be penned with all diligence, truth and fidelity."

After writing about Catharina Louisa Marthens (see Woman of the Week blog for Sept. 6), the first woman to be consecrated as a deaconess on American soil in 1850, I thought it might be fun to take a look at the General Principles under which Sister Catharina took up her work.

The following list of Principles were adopted after W.A. Passavant organized the Institution of Protestant Deaconesses of the County of Allegheny, Pa.

1. The association of Christian females is purely voluntary. The members unite without persuasion, remain without vows, and retire without restraint.
2. It is not an order, but the restoration of an office, that of "Servant" or Deaconess in the primitive church.
3. Its members heartily confess the faith, engage in the worship and observe the discipline of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.
4. Its object is habitually to engage in works of mercy among the sick and poor, the ignorant and fatherless, and other suffering members of our Lord's body. In the better attainment of this object, the association is incorporated and fully empowered to establish and conduct the necessary charitable institutions.
5. Not earthly reward and honor but the desire for an opportunity to manifest their gratitude to Jesus Christ in the way revealed in His Word, has influenced the members to associate themselves as servants of Christ and of His church. [taken from The Life and Letters of W.A. Passavant by G.H. Gerberding]

The members of the Institution also had a set of Regulations to follow, which simply summarized, obligated the deaconesses to live in a parent house (later usually referred to as a Motherhouse); obey the Director and Directing Sister or other governing authorities; and wear a "plain, economical habit, as much as possible conforming in style, expense and color, which shall be black or gray or blue on week days." [Gerberding]

We know that the Pittsburgh community disliked the "habits" worn by the deaconesses because they supposedly made the women look too much like nuns! The history of this institution and its connection to the first Protestant Hospital in the United States makes for some very interesting reading.

After many months of planning, the LCMS Deaconess Biographies Project was launched on June 4, 2009. A new URL has been acquired for the project website and the Project Manager is now in the process of designing a website to facilitate project goals.

So what is it all about ? The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod archives house good biographical records on the men who have served as pastors, missionaries, and teachers for the Synod. These records make it possible for families to find information about their ancestors, and also very importantly, provide information about the church's activities and mission throughout the decades. What fun it can be to make a visit to Concordia Historical Institute in St. Louis and read patriotic hymns penned by one pastor, or the stories of parish visits made on horseback by another.

Over the last five years or so, members of the Missouri Synod have become increasingly aware of the presence and role of other church workers that fit into the category, "ministers of religion - commissioned." That is not to say that such people hold the "office of the ministry" but that they are non-ordained professional church workers who have been commissioned by the church into a particular "church vocation." Among these vocations, of course, is the office of deaconess, in which a woman engages in a ministry of mercy which complements the ministry of Word and Sacraments carried out by the office of the ministry (or pastoral office).

As a result of research needs, the fact that there are three deaconess training schools in the Synod, and an increased interest in the deaconess movement, the LCMS Deaconess Biographies Project is being carried out at a good time in the Synod's history. Watch this space for an future announcement of the website address.

On June 9-10, 2009, the annual meeting of the Oriental Orthodox-Roman Catholic Consultation met in New Rochelle, New York, and discussed "the diaconate in the theology and practice" of the attending church bodies.

According to Deacon Dennis (http://deacondennis.livejournal.com/): "Father Shenouda Maher Ishak spoke on behalf of the Coptic Orthodox Church, which counts the diaconate as one of seven clerical orders. The deacon has such an indispensable role in the liturgy that a priest is not allowed to celebrate the Eucharist without one. Others of lower orders may assume this role if a deacon is not present. Coptic deacons are not allowed to baptize, but in the early centuries had a prominent role in devotional censing. They are not allowed to marry after ordination. At present there are very few full time permanent and professional deacons in the Coptic Church, since almost all of them are called to higher orders. The Coptic Church is now in the process of restoring the female diaconate in three orders: the female reader for women (now called "devoted one"), sub-deaconess (now called "assistant deaconess") and deaconess. The Coptic Holy Synod has made it clear that deaconesses may not in any way participate in service of the altar or sacerdotal service. The rite of initiation into the female diaconate is performed by a bishop without the laying-on-of-hands but with a signing of the cross three times over the candidate. In their ministry they are to work exclusively with women and children. They assist at the baptism of women, visit sick women in hospitals, supervise women's activities in parishes, and clean the church building except for the sanctuary area which they may not enter."

Remember the days when "paying with plastic" was the exception rather than the norm? Yes, there was such a time... not really that long ago... and I've recently discovered that there are some places that still operate their business with this assumption.

In our own lovely little village, which we moved to from the larger Pittsburgh area in May, there are still places that only accept cash payment. These include establishments that people go for to for entertainment and socialization, for example, the movie theater and the local ice cream shop.

These kind of hold-outs for the old-time ways might feel like an inconvenience with one's first patronage of them. But after that it's fun. I mean, it's like stepping back just a little bit in time, to a less complicated, less rushed time in history, in which every corner of life was not yet infiltrated by technology - or by plastic!

I like to live a simpler life when possible!

Today's announcement of the death of Senator Ted Kennedy will, for many people, bring to mind the assassination of his brother, President John F. Kennedy. And the conversation that ensues around that other memory often includes a recitation of where we were or what we were doing when that traumatic news was announced to us. Yes, if you were living at that time, I am certain that you can tell me exactly what you were doing when President Kennedy was killed.

Those who are active in the Church actually have similar experiences with significant ecclesiastical events, not necessarily that they can recall where they were when they heard the news, but they can recall the high emotions, expectations, and hopes or disappointments associated with such news. Examples might include the rulings of Vatican II, the first ordination of women in the Episcopal Church, the Lutheran-Catholic Catholic Joint Declaration on Justification, and this week, decisions made by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA).

The news about ELCA reminds me of a painful time in my childhood. One summer our family returned from a long and wonderful summer vacation, and when we went to church the next Sunday we learned that several families had left the congregation. These families included people that I loved and was close to... my Sunday School teacher, a girl in my confirmation class, others that I knew were special to my parents. Since we had been away when the families decided to withdraw their membership, the departures were a surprise ( Or at least they were a surprise to me, as a naive child). There was no opportunity to say goodbye and we never saw these people again, even in a social setting. Many years have gone by and I still feel the sting of that experience when it comes to mind.

There will certainly be some fallout from the controversial resolutions passed by ELCA. The more conservative Lutheran denominations are not happy about what they consider to be a deviation from Holy Scripture, as well as the reflection that such decisions have on the "Lutheran name. " In addition, there are many ELCA members who are disappointed and may be looking for new church homes. Wherever and whenever we intersect with ELCA people in the aftermath of their convention, let's remember to treat them with the love of Christ, to gently win them to correct thinking where needed, and to provide fresh ground for them to experience God's love in repentance and forgiveness.

Sometimes in the course of our lives there are a series of changes that are so dramatic, and sometimes so shocking, that we become sort of numb and refuse to engage in any meaningful discussion about the subjects involved.

This sort of reaction can happen when someone close to us dies. When children leave home for college. When people that we love choose to end their marriage. When our family and acquaintances are without jobs; lose their homes; become bankrupt. When an illness comes on suddenly and threatens to worsen or at least pester us for the duration of our time on earth.

And then there are historical events that can make us feel numb to the very core of heart and soul. Church denominations voting on issues that God has already clearly spoken about in His revealed Word. Misuse of the Bible that triggers a heaviness of heart and an inability to pray anything more than the plea, "Lord, have mercy on us all, and show these people the error of their ways."

God IS merciful, and so sometimes we just let the changes go by, assimilating them as we can with the passage of time; steeping ourselves in the Word of God and in prayer, receiving God's gifts as He administers them to us in Word and Sacraments; and last but not least, preparing ourselves once again to be ready to give an accounting of the hope that is within us. (1 Peter 3:15)

Here is a first of what I hope will be many more guest blogs. Please go to the Woman of the Week link and then click on Dolores Jean Hackwelder. Rev. Dr. David Stechholz has written an article in honor of the memory of this deaconess, who was once a member of his parish in Oakmont, Pennsylvania.

On July 27, Concordia Historical Institute opened its new state-of-the-art museum at the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod International Center (1333 South Kirkwood Road, Kirkwood, MO).

Designed to celebrate the "Heritage of Lutheranism in America," museum displays cover five periods in LCMS history:

1. Luther and the Reformation – describing the origins of the Lutheran church in mid-16th-century Europe and providing insight into the life of Martin Luther.

2. Colonists and Missionaries to America – tracing the travels of the Saxon immigrants to the United States and missionaries who helped form the LCMS in 1847.

3. Growth of a Synod – illustrating the growth of the LCMS in the 19th century as the young church organized under its first president, Dr. C.F.W. Walther, to reach the people of America with the Word of God.

4. From St. Louis to the World – demonstrating how from its founding near St. Louis the church's mission work has expanded domestically and internationally.

5. An Unchanging Message for a Changing World – indicating how the LCMS has worked to meet the challenges of proclaiming the Gospel in the 20th century and into the future through the use of new media, an expanding system of higher education, and outreach to all parts of society.

The museum is open on every weekday except for holidays and is free to the public.

I hope that as many people as possible take time to record the "history" of their lives and the communities around them, particularly within the church. One of the reasons that multiple records are valuable to (church) historians is that no two people see or record the same event in the same way. We know this to be true about the four Gospels, for example, even as the apostles wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

It is also interesting to see that the same event can be reported as inherently good, bad, or neutral in its value to individuals, society, or the church. Before I started writing In the Footsteps of Phoebe, and old friend asked me, "What are your presuppositions?" I was rather taken aback, and stated that I simply planned to report historical events, rather than color them with my own presuppositions. Now that the project is finished, I understand what my friend meant. All of history, when reported, is seen as either good, bad, or neutral - and years down the road whatever is painted as neutral will be reassigned to good or bad in light of its long-term effect in a continued history. And so we are sometimes caught saying things like, "the jury is still out on that decision."

Of course, years down the road, not everyone will agree about whether today's current events have had a positive or negative effect on our lives - particularly in relation to our faith and the and our goal to be true to God's Word and to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all nations.

We should be praying fervently for God's guidance now, that the history we live and influence lands on the side called "good;" that someday when they is reported in newer history books, our decisions and actions as individuals and as "church" will be viewed as well-informed, wise, and God-pleasing.

Today the people of Grand Forks, North Dakota, are mourning the death of Robert Jacobson, who worked as a chief hospital administrator in the city for 30 years (1963-93). Interestingly, Jacobson, who was a Lutheran from Minnesota, started his Grand Forks career as administrator of Deaconess Hospital (located downtown on 4th Street), where the hospital's Lutheran nurses still lived in a dorm near the hospital.

In 1971, Jacobson led a merger of Deaconess Hospital with St. Michael's Catholic Hospital to create "United Hospital." From that point he had the vision to grow the hospital in a way beneficial to the community, including moving it to a new site, where the name was eventually changed from "United" to "Altru."

Beyond the main thrust of this story, with my historian's hat on, I was particularly pleased by the following nugget couched in an article about Jacobson written by Stephen J. Lee of the Grand Forks Herald: "It was a fulfillment of bigger moves led by Robert Jacobson years before, from when nuns and Lutheran “deaconess” nurses provided much of the care at two religious — and sort of rival — Grand Forks hospitals for little pay to the advent of contemporary secular, if still nonprofit, medical centers."

This kind of "hospital history" is more common than most people realize!

The recent history of Fiji - in terms of the freedom of Christian churches - has been a dark one due to the success of a Military Coup carried out there in December of 2006. Today's morning news includes a report of how Fiji's interim prime minister, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, has championed "the arrest of several Methodist church leaders and Fiji’s most senior female High Chief over the church’s annual conference, which the interim government has banned."

Another report explains: "Fiji police have charged the paramount chief Ro Teimumu Kepa and two top Methodist Church ministers with defying the Public Emergency Regulation. The church president, the Reverend Ame Tugaue, and the secretary general, the Reverend Tuikilakila Waqairatu, have been charged with contravening orders by organising a meeting last week with two church figures that the interim regime wants to have expelled from the Methodists’ leadership. Ro Teimumu has been charged with inciting the people of her home province Rewa by publishing a letter on the internet which invited the church for its annual conference after the interim regime had banned the gathering. The three have been released on bail and made to surrender their passports."

Thanks be to God that we live in a country where church leaders can plan meetings and gather together without fear of being arrested! Let's remember to pray often for the people of Fiji and anywhere else in the world where Christian churches are controlled or muzzled by evil governments.