About Me...what is an 'evangelical-catholic?'

Elk Grove Village, IL, United States
I was born & raised in rural mid-Michigan (M-go blue!). Life & work have taken me to many different places. God has too, as I've come to learn that faith is a pilgrimage. I very much resonate with the label 'EVANGELICAL-CATHOLIC.' I was raised Baptist, but found myself drawn to the Sacraments & Liturgy of the Church. I appreciate very much the words of the Augsburg Confession: "...nothing has been received among us, in doctrine or in ceremonies, that is contrary to Scripture or to the church catholic." Evangelical-catholic is a term of self-designation used by Christians coming from a broad spectrum of theological perspectives and commitments, ranging from Lutherans, Anglicans, and various Evangelicals yearning for greater catholicity .....to faithful Roman Catholics longing for an evangelical renewal of the Church. Perhaps beneath the apparent denominational differences there lies a common...groaning of the Spirit of God, who is seeking to draw the members of Christ’s mystical body into a communal life that is both fully catholic and fully evangelical. One can always hope and pray!

Thursday, July 8, 2010

"It's been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon"

So goes the standard intro to the now-famous weekly monolog given by Garrison Keillor, concerning the 'happenings' in and around his fictional home town. I first heard those words uttered on Michigan Public Radio when I was a teen. Thanks to my uncle (who didn't own a television at the time) I was introduced to the weekly live radio broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion, and have been a fan of Garrison Keillor ever since. While I have been an on-again/off-again loyal listener of the broadcast over the years, I had never seen a live performance of the show--until now! Last Saturday evening (July 3rd) Stacey and I, accompanied by friends Mike & Julie Govert, attended a live broadcast of APHC at Rivinia (http://www.ravinia.org/). It was ALL I could've hoped for and more! The skits were hilarious, and the music was outstanding. This show won't go on forever. If you're a fan, all I can say is SEE IT LIVE. You won't regret it.

Oh, and by the way, afterward I managed to chat with Garrison Keillor & get his autograph. As luck would have it I was wearing my CTS-FW t-shirt (Concordia Theological Seminary). His eagle eye spotted this fact and asked if I was a Lutheran minister. That led to a neat conversation, given that the evening's "news" from Lake Wobegon had included the fact that Lake Wobegon Lutheran Church had just asked their interim pastor--"Pastor Barb"--to be their permanent pastor. In the skit Pastor Barb asks what the Synod had to say in the matter. The president of the congregation responded that it had been so long since they'd heard *anything from Synod that they, quite frankly, couldn't remember WHICH Synod they belonged to anymore. Hilarious--but for the fact that there are probably MANY isolated/rural congregations that can practically relate.

If you've never heard of the show and don't have a clue as to what I'm talking about, just tune in to national public radio on any Saturday around 5pm central time and you'll discover one of radio's great treats!

Cheers,

TM
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