In Memoriam: Hans Knut Petersen: On Wednesday April 7, Hans Petersen, our good friend and long-time fan of Lutheran (True!) Confessions was killed in a work-related accident. He was 30 years old.
Hans was an affable, good-humored young man who dealt with others in a direct, uncomplicated way. He did not have the gift of punctuality, but his talents for joy, respect, and care far outweighed his tardiness. He was a skilled musician and woodworker.
Hans was well-liked. Among the more than 300 people who crowded into University Lutheran Chapel for Hans' funeral, there were friends from PLTS, Oberlin College, and Holden Village. Bishop Mark Holmerud of the Sierra Pacific Synod and PLTS President Rev. Dr. Phyllis Anderson were present. Hans' friends are organizing memorial events in Portland, Los Angeles, Denver, Oberlin, and Chicago.
A memorial fund has been established in Hans' name to benefit Global Health Ministries and Maasai Health Care, Petersen Family Habitat for Humanity Build in Guatemala, and Holden Village.
We met Hans during his time at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary (PLTS) and his participation in campus ministry at Berkeley.
When Hans left the seminary for a time of discernment, one of the odd jobs he took to support himself put him in close proximity to Pr. Sophie as she was beginning to learn the ukulele. Inadvertently Hans became an audience of one for Pr. Sophie's early practice sessions. Pr. Sophie reports that Hans was the first person to offer a spontaneous compliment on her playing. (He may perhaps be the only person to do so.)
We thank God for the gift of Hans Knut Petersen.

Seeing and Believing: At the reception following Hans Peterson's funeral on April 11, one of our reporters overheard this story:
Pr. Craig Minich, who serves congregations in the East Bay Lutheran Parish in Oakland and Alameda, California, was scheduled to preach on Sunday April 11Trinity Lutheran Church in Oakland. Pr. Craig is rostered with Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries (ELM), and he is one of the 17 pastors who were ordained extra ordinem because ELCA policy required a promise of celibacy from LGBT clergy.
Shortly before the beginning of worship, Pr. Craig received a text message from the ELM attendees at the ELCA Church Council meeting in Chicago: the Church Council had just approved a rite for receiving onto the ELCA roster the ELM clergy who had been ordained extra ordinem. On Saturday the Church Council had approved changes in ministry policy to remove the celibacy requirement for LGBT clergy.
The worship service started, hymns were sung, the first two lessons were read, and Pr. Craig began to read the Gospel, John 20:19-31, the story of Thomas, the disciple who needs to see to believe, the story that is quoted in the rite of ordination:
When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." (John 20:22-23)
Pr. Craig is a man of large emotions, and the Gospel lesson cast a new light on the news that been texted to his phone a few minutes before. He stopped reading, paused to compose himself, and then explained what the Church Council had done and his connection to it:
I never thought I would see the day when I could be accepted on the ELCA roster.

From Draft to Policy: On April 10, the ELCA Church Council enacted the new ministry policies called for by the 2009 Churchwide Assembly by adopting revisions to the ELCA Candidacy Manual, Vision & Expectations (used to establish expectations for rostered leaders), Definitions & Guidelines for Discipline (used for discipline of rostered leaders), and changes to the Board of Pensions policy to include same-sex partners and families. On April 11, the Council approved a rite of reception allowing pastors ordained extra ordinem before these policy changes to be received on the ELCA clergy roster without "re-ordination."
The policy revisions are a significant milestone in a the ELCA's journey to become a more fully inclusive church.

The First Saltie, 2010: At daybreak on Wednesday April 7 from the deck of an unidentified tug boat at the entrance to the Duluth-Superior Port Bishop Thorvald "Wally" Noe-Effingway offered a blessing for the

Federal Elbe, the first Saltie of the 2010 navigation season.
After loading 23,700 short tons of durum wheat, the Federal Elbe, under Captain Darius Malinowski, is bound for Italy. Durum wheat is used in pasta production.
The first Saltie of 2009, the Medemborg, arrived on April 12. The Duluth port’s earliest recorded arrival of an oceangoing vessel was the Indian ship LT Argosy on April 1, 1995.

New Strategy at LCNA: On April 1 with the 2010 Synod Assembly Season beginning, the Lutherans Concerned North America (LCNA) blog outlined a new strategic direction for LCNA. In addition to a proposed new tag line (Hot and Lutheran Since 1517!), other changes include:
We will expand our community organizing skills by including "mime." There is something very powerful about people in black-and-white striped shirts and berets that will engage the “movable middle” into embracing full participation. If not, we will simply trap those who oppose us in an invisible glass box...
Prospecting of RIC congregations will start with standing outside of worship with a sandwich board sign that reads "Free Hugs." When people try to hug the person wearing a sandwich board, it will be difficult and both people will laugh. That will break the ice and allow the conversation to continue.
We will abandon our philosophy of "graceful engagement from within" and now focus on "socially awkward contact."
Our web site will feature photos of the sacristy of RIC congregations, so potential visitors can make an informed decision.
An early report indicates that LCNA's new strategic initiative may have been put into practice at the April 1 annual assembly of the Central Great Lakes Synod at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum in Paradise Michigan.
In the opening session an unidentified voting member wearing a distinctive black and white striped shirt proposed a rule change that would ban vocalization during business sessions and limit speakers to sign language and charades. When the proposed rule fell one vote short of the two-thirds majority needed for adoption, the voting member caused a stir by eating his talking points on the convention floor.

Purple Prose: On April 8, AfricaNews.com reported the emergence of an organization named Anti Gay Movement (AGM) in Malawi:
The wind of homosexuality refuses to die in Malawi. The newly formed Anti Gay Movement (AGM) said it will conduct a general referendum to give Malawians a chance to choose if they want it or not. AGM Interim Chair, Grandy Chikweza, said that the referendum follows the arrest of the gay couple and the increasing gays in the country.
Chikweza also said the AGM campaign will feature posters stickers and light purple arm bands.
Light purple is our colour representing our message to the world that we are saying no to homosexuality in our society.
The movement is being run under the theme; 'Homosexuality is sinful and evil therefore it cannot be a human right'.

Off and Running: The Lutheran Reporter reports that the nominees for the offices of Synod President and first through fifth Vice President of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS) were announced by Synod Secretary Dr. Raymond Hartwig on April 7. Elections for Synod offices will be held at the 2010 Convention in Houston, Texas, July 10-17.
Each Synod congregation may nominate two ordained ministers for president, two for first vice-president, and four for second through fifth vice-presidents. The candidates who received the most nominations from LCMS congregations and who agreed to stand for election will be listed on the official ballot at the convention. Five candidates will be listed for president and first vice president, and 20 for the offices of second through fifth vice-president.
The candidates to be listed on the ballot for Synod President are:
Rev. Matthew C. Harrison (1,332 nominations)
Dr. Gerald B. Kieschnick (755)
Rev. Herbert C. Mueller Jr. (503)
Dr. Carl C. Fickenscher II (5)
Dr. Daniel L. Gard (3)
Dr. Kieschnick is the incumbent, and his presence among the nominees answers a nagging question that first occurred to us when his book Waking the Sleeping Giant appeared ealier this year. Now we have to wonder if the possum episode will help or hinder his candidacy.

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