Training for Syttende Mai

Yesterday I ran my longest pre-race training run, 15 miles, and lost my toenail on my right big toe in the last two miles or so. All that pounding. When you head out for a jog that is longer than two hours, there's a while different phenomenon that occurs mentally and physically. For one, all the pounding does strange things to your body. Second, you can smell ammonia at the end of your run. Third, your mind just kind of blanks out and absorbs the hours. It doesn't seem long at all.

I'm still taking pledge for the run to benefit Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. The national office is even doing a fund-raiser for my run. Visit www.eastkoshkonong.org and get our church address if you'd like to make a gift.

Resolutions for the Assembly

In some ways this may be an oversimplistic post. Nevertheless, here's my observation. The major resolutions before the Churchwide Assembly in Florida are as follows:

1) Sexuality statement
2) Full communion study with United Methodists
3) Renewing Worship materials
4) Our "mission" proposal (which has mostly to do with structures and finances)
5) Diversity statement

By and large, I am not opposed to us pursuing these topics and studies and making statements on them as a church. But my frustration lies in the fact that they all focus exclusively on church practice, as if the most worthy things worth talking about as a church are ecumenical agreements, church structure, etc.

When I look at the confessional documents, they consistently start with confessions about the doctrine of the faith (Chief Articles of the Faith). In fact, that is their focus. Issues of practice are placed at the end of AC, in the area entitled "Abuses Corrected".

So, my question: Why do we not discuss in assembly the Articles of the Faith?

Pope Benedict

The Upper Church (of two)