It's Pentecost Video

Final Project - Guatemala - a broken hallelujah

Here is my final project for Gospel and Global Media class. I welcome your comments or questions.

What is Gospel? Again...

So last week we were supposed to post our third and final draft of "what is gospel?" and talk about it in the context of digital technology and the whole of this Gospel and Global Media class. I spent the weekend at the NE MN Synod Assembly. I love Synod Assembly! The Spirit is so at work. I love seeing people that I only see once a year at the assembly. The speakers are always top notch and motivating! The inspiration and richness of what takes place is to uplifting! The ideas are endless and energizing!

The theme this year was "Always being Made New" as is the tag line for the ELCA as we celebrating 25 years as the ELCA! We studies and heard all weekend how we are "always being made new" in Jesus Christ! We were encouraged to thing about our congregations "mission plan" NOT mission statement, but mission plan! We had an hour and a half committee of the whole meeting where we were one big "think tank" sharing with one another! We watched the video I shared on my last post called "Did you know?" to start us off thinking about all the advancements in technology and then we talked about so what does this mean? Well I had a slight advantage in my group as I have been taking this particular class in which we have been engaging this topic all semester. It was very interesting to listen to the group I was conversing with though. They simply didn't know what to do with this information. They were afraid it would take over and church was so far behind it was hopeless.

The best part of assembly for me this year was listening to Dr. Winston Persaud (Professor of Systematic Theology; The Kent S. Knutson and UELC Professor in Theology and Mission; Director of the Center for Global Theologies). He brought us through the Apostles Creed in Luther's Small Catechism. It was here that I started thinking about the gospel, being made new and technology and "what does this all mean?" Dr. Persaud pointed to God's word being made new in Jesus Christ and how we are called to share that. We as leaders are also called to see others gifts and make sure they are empowered to share those gifts as we glorify God and are made new through Jesus ourselves. God's word being made new through Jesus takes place in so many different ways, places and times that we can't single it out to one time and place (Sunday morning worship). We must be willing and open to this new creation that happens when we share the gospel, when we act out the gospel, when we are affected by the gospel, when we invite others to experience, witness and share the gospel. We are always being made new through the gospel. The gospel is written on trees, and lakes, people and animals, songs and poems, here and there, near and far! Here is a quote I found on Persaud's website:

It is important that Christians gain a sense of the oneness of the Church throughout the world, and at the same time understand our theological/cultural roots and their shaping influence on the present. This will help us to put our particular traditions in perspective in relation to the plural contexts in which the gospel of Jesus Christ is formulated and confessed and in which the mission of the Church is carried out.

That's it right? The gospel - the oneness of the Church throughout the world! This isn't about leaving our own heritage behind, but it is about accepting where we come from so that we can carry out the mission of the Church in a way that is contextual, appropriate and confessional!

I will be starting internship in a few weeks and can't wait to implement some of what we have learned, explored and experienced in this particular class! The church is at a place where the use of technology, social media and a mission plan will take them to the next level! It is really an exciting time! I can't wait to get to work connection people through social media. Introducing the church to Facebook, a blog perhaps, and maybe even some online Bible study options! As I work with this congregation and we both experience being made new together and explore the use of technology to further relationships, met new people, reach people that we have reached yet and live out the gospel, I only pray that in this all we will love like Jesus so that the gospel is proclaimed, heard and accepted!

Did you know?

This video was just shown at the NE MN Synod Assembly check it out:

Social media, video loops and Christian faith...

Is Adapt social media creations for worship an item on our Time & Talent Survey? If not, why not? This is an interesting blog post about new social media, what the millenials and high schoolers are gravitating to and what it has to do with Christian faith. Check it out.

Fair Use or Common Sense?

This week in class we have been reading and discussing the many layers of fair use in the the complicated world of digital technology in which we live. We have, at our fingertips, a plethora of music, video, images, sounds, written works, etc... and so how do we make sure what we "find" on the internet and then incorporate into our own works, we are doing in a manner that is respectful, lawful, moral and fair. This is the basis for which we have done our readings and blogging this week. I am not going to summarize any further as you would be welcome to read any number of my classmates blogs for wonderful summaries of the readings. The blog list can be found here. I am going to think out loud here for a few minutes about the gaps that I am left with within this conversation.

First, there are two very long documents that you could read through about Fair Use if you are interested: Love to Share (a document produced by the World Council of Churches) and The Code of Best Practices in Fair Use in Media Education

The documents are interesting to say the least and FULL of information. Information that to be honest and frank is hard for me to sift through. I am not really interested (although there is great need to have awareness concerning this very important topic) in sifting through all the grey areas. Why does it have to be so complicated? This topic makes some people very anxious to the point that they don't use any images, musci, video, etc.... they don't even share their own. I am a sharer! This does not make me anxious, but it does make me take pause... now.

So the gap I have, is what is it that I do in my ministry that will require me to abide by these fair use rules and regulations and when, how, and where will I access the information. This weeks class topic is a great place to start. What this week has done more than anything for me is
1) given me some basic resources and places to begin thinking about this
2) shined a light on a very important topic
3) allowed me to step into the work of other's and think about it from a new lens (how would I feel if my music was taken and someone profited from it)
4) opened a door to be more conscientious about images, music and videos that I currently use and in the future will use, to be sure I am playing and sharing nicely!


For my final project I took a song by Rachel Kurtz and made a video of scripture text and photos set to her song Hallelujah from her album Broken and Lowdown. The photographs I used were all taken by three people (me, and two friends and I asked permission to use them). The Biblical text came from my NRSV Bible. I am pretty sure everything I did was on the up and up. At the end of the video I have a "credits" page in which I name the photographers. I totally forgot to list Rachel as the artist of the song (I will change that for my final). I did not credit my NRSV Bible and I wonder if I need to do that. I will consult my small group and Professor Hess to see about that. When I took a look at Rachel's website I found this written next to the description of her latest album Broken and Lowdown

All words and music by Rachel Kurtz, except the music to “Hallelujah,” which borrows the music and chorus to the song Hallellujah by Leonard Cohen and used here in the spirit of fair use [Supreme Court Appeal (No. 92-1292)]

So here we are in the midst of this fair use conversation and the song I chose for my final is claiming "Fair Use" rights to her rendition of Leonard Cohen's original piece. I wondered about this and just assumed she was on the "up and up" in doing what she did because she is making money off this piece as well. Her version of Hallelujah was used in front of 40,000 ELCA Lutheran youth and adults in July 2012 in New Orleans at the National Youth Gathering. A great way to get "your music" out there.

This discover doesn't clear things up for me, it just leads me to more questions and wonderings about how I know and when I should and what if I don't.... It seems to boil down to common sense, but then if we lived in a time and place where common sense was a reliable state, we wouldn't need 73 page documents telling us what we can share, how we can share it and all the other information in between and side ways.

A Time for prayer...

I was sucked into the television last Friday as we received over a foot of snow over night and school was canceled for Friday. This gave me the time to literally sit in front of the tv and watch the manhunt ensue as reporters and news stations did whatever they could to get those of us watching "breaking news". It wasn't too long that they same information was just being regurgitated and although I should have, I didn't turn the channel or turn the tv off, I found myself in prayer for the suspect. I could not seem to shake some internal sense for the need to pray for him. Every time his picture came across the television there was something, something that just didn't make sense. Well, some of you will say, of course it didn't make sense, he intentionally killed innocent people. Yes, I know; that isn't it though. I can't explain the overwhelming urge to pray and want to love like Jesus would love this person I don't even know. I really hesitate blogging about this, but the reality is that there aren't a whole lot of people that will read this and if they do, well I think that what I was being called to that Friday was / is something we as Christians and followers of Jesus are all called to. It isn't easy to pray for the enemy.... but we are called to do just that.

As I have been searching blogs and other internet postings on this side of the issue, I have found two posts that have made me feel OK about praying for Dzhokar. The first came Saturday night on the Facebook clergy page. Rich Melheim posted what he was going to be doing for his children's sermon on Sunday. When I read it, I wished I was doing the children's sermon at my church...

Rich Melheim A CHILDREN'S SERMON THAT CAN GET YOU IN TROUBLE TODAY (A Jesus kind of trouble, that is...)

Here's what I'm preaching for the children's sermon at Trinity in Lansdale this morning, after handing out paper and crayons:

I follow a Jesus who said, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."

Any kind of kind kid can write a kind letter to the families of the victims of the Boston bombing, and every kind kid should.

It takes a Jesus kind of kind kid to write a kind letter to the boy who did this terrible thing.

Please take this back to the pew with you, and if God puts it on your heart to act the way Jesus would act toward people who hurt him, draw a picture of yourself, your house, your family or something beautiful that you love.

If you dare, explain that you are a Christian, and since you follow a Jesus who teaches you to love and forgive, you love and forgive him.

Close your letter saying Jesus loves him, and that you are praying one day he will know love and forgiveness. Tell him you hope and pray that one day love will crowd out the hate in his heart, and that he will be known as the kindest, most loving person in prison.

Rich Melheim

To: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
330 Brookline Avenue
Boston, MA 02215

To read the whole thread if you are a member of the ELCA clergy Facebook page click here.


The next came today, which prompted me to go ahead and blog this off my chest and out of head and heart. Professor Mary Hess from Luther Seminary and the professor for one of the classes I am taking this semester (Gospel and Global Media) posted on her blog something she read on another blog. I am going to link you to the blog of James Martin, SJ. His blog post is entitled, "Praying for the Dead, for Peace and for our Persecutors." I hope you take the time to read the entire blog, but here is the same excerpt that Professor Hess reposted:

But at some point in this process Christians are called, by Jesus, to pray for those who persecute us, to love our enemies–and even to forgive them. This doesn’t mean that we in any way condone what they did, or that we don’t hope that they receive a just punishment, or that we don’t do everything we can to capture criminals and bring them to swift justice. But we are called to do something more by Jesus: pray for them, love them, forgive them. As he said, if we pray only for those who do good to us, “what are you doing more than others”? Yes, it is hard. For me, it’s almost impossible. But this is what we are asked to do.

When they read this part of the Gospel, some people say that Jesus didn’t know what he was talking about. Jesus didn’t know our world, people say. Or maybe he was just naive. So, therefore, they say, we can ignore this statement. And so some Christians dismiss this part of the Gospel. But if as a Christian you say this, then you must admit that you are saying, in essence, that the Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity, God Incarnate, didn’t know what he was talking about. Or that Jesus of Nazareth, who himself lived in an extremely violent time, when life was held cheap, didn’t understand violence. Or that Jesus, who was himself the victim of a violent and unjust death, and who nonetheless forgave his executioners from the cross, didn’t have the moral stature to ask us to do this hard thing. And if you refuse even to try to love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you, and forgive those who sin against, then you are also saying that you are taking the first step in walking away from Jesus, just like some of the disciples did all those years ago. And where, I’ve always wondered, did they end up?

Here is a link to a Facebook conversation on the flip side saying that

It is disrespectful to those murdered and those maimed, and their families, to quickly jump to the Christian "we love and forgive the bomber" attitude. Michael Cofey

Here is a link to the conversation (if you belong to the ELCA Facebook clergy page)

It is indeed hard to pray for the enemy and for our persecutors, but we have too don't we? This isn't about saving the enemy from the justice system or punishment, but it is about being called to Love Like Jesus.