Winds of change

In my native place, Minneapolis, where Episcopalians/Anglicans first decided to "ordain" women, it seems that my former confessional splinter group the Lutheran Church – no wait – there is no Lutheran Church…. the ELCA, is debating the issue of openly homosexual clergy.

They were joined by a guest speaker.

Tornado!

This is an aftermath photo from Central Lutheran Church in downtown Minneapolis… where the meeting and debate has been taking place.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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29 Comments

  1. pattif says:

    Slightly reminiscent of what happened to York Minster shortly after the installation as Bishop of Durham of Dr David Jenkins, who had questioned the Virgin Birth and described the Resurrection as ‘a conjuring trick with bones’ in which he didn’t feel obliged to believe.

  2. TMA says:

    Beautiful! God has spoken!

  3. medievalist says:

    pattif beat me to it. This year was the anniversary of that fire. You’d think that the Protestants would, at least, learn from each other.

  4. Jack Hughes says:

    hehehe, sometimes I wish that God would send one of the Apostles back to get prots on the right track, still they’d probebly think it was a trick of the devil sigh……

    Btw Father have you ever posted your conversion story here ? I just wondered how one goes from ECLA to a Traditional Cathoic priest

  5. Mariana says:

    Yes, please, Father, the conversion story!

  6. Vincenzo says:

    “Yes, please, Father, the conversion story!”

    The Journey Home 8/25/2000

  7. Frank H says:

    Check out this audio archive of Marcus Grodi’s EWTN interview with Father Z. Tells all about his “Journey Home”.

    http://www.ewtn.com/vondemand/audio/dload1.asp?audiofile=jh_000825.mp3&source=seriessearchprog.asp&seriesID=-6892289&T1=

  8. Frank H says:

    Great minds think alike, Vincenzo…

  9. Agnes says:

    You beat me to it – disregard my email then! What a stitch!

  10. lofstrr says:

    Contrary to recent new reports, God still holds the whole world in his hands.

  11. kmart says:

    The tornado came with no warning, they didn’t even have time to sound the sirens.
    There was no loss of life, and all the local news was talking about how lucky people were since most of the trees that fell did so in the street or besides houses and that the damage could have been much worse then it was.

    The local news covered the ELCA confrence but you’d never learn this detail in the secular press. A sign from God indeed.

  12. John V says:

    There goes any chance of Fr. Z. being named auxiliary bishop of Linz.

  13. Warren says:

    kmart’s details speak tons. I don’t have much experience with tornados, not having been in nor near one. However, it seems to me that total devastation is the expected outcome when such a whirlwind strikes. Or, is it that the Lord Who made heaven and earth decided to exercise just enough force with pin point accuracy to send a message?

    The Lord’s timing is impeccable.

  14. Soler says:

    Perhaps, Father, it might be a good idea to make a permanent link to your conversion story on the blog sidebar, for the benefit of future curious visitors to the site. :-)

  15. Sandy says:

    Good idea, Soler, I second the motion. I was not aware of the Marcus Grodi interview. How awesome that we got you, Father!

  16. Paul Q says:

    I was ordained as a pastor of the ELCA in 1988, and served in the ELCIC (Canadian version) for 16 years before my exodus. I was received into the Catholic Church in 2005. Thanks be to God!

    A happy convert from Edmonton, AB!

  17. Agnes says:

    Nice to be home, isn’t it, Paul Q? I grew up at St Mark’s Episcopal next door to that unfortunate steeple. Its square top bell tower has had its share of lightning strikes! So glad to have crossed the River Tiber (Mississippi) to my beautiful Bavarian parish.

  18. tiggermom says:

    Reminds me of the lightening strikes at Guiliani’s (sp?) debates…

  19. Jack Hughes says:

    To think that everyone’s favourite Padre once had long hair and a moustache :), another incident this story reminds me of is the television transmitter in alexander platz; Berlin. Ever since the soviets built it (1950’s) the cross can be seen when it is struck by the sun. I believe its known locally as the Pope’s revenge.

  20. Hidden One says:

    I third Soler’s idea.

  21. Kimberly says:

    I fourth the idea. But WAIT,why not a book so we can buy it? Just think how many birds that would feed!

  22. Fr_Sotelo says:

    Fr. Z, it is so hard for me to picture you as a former Lutheran. It is like imagining Fr. de Torquemada as a former Jew (although Fr. Z never worked for the Inquisition).

  23. Sid says:

    Jack: I lived two years in what was then called “West Berlin”. The locals, with pointed cynicism, also called the cross on the ball of the TV tower “Sankt Walters” after Walter Ulbricht, the Commie dictator of East Germany. Some East Berliners told me that the regime gave thought to redoing the tower to remove the cross. But even Marxists can’t repeal the laws of physics. The tower also started to lean. Given the sandy soil in Brandenburg, a certain verse from the Sermon on the Mount came to Berliners’ minds. The Commies had to bring in West German engineers to fix the lean.

    Father Z: Upon hearing your conversion story at the EWTN site, I would be equally curious to hear of

    1. your seminary experience in the USA,
    2. how you were accepted for an Italian diocese, and
    3. your seminary experience in Rome.

    #1, judging from some of your comments over the years, seems not to have been a picnic — and doubtless would be painful to recall. Yet remember Dante didn’t start with Paradiso. And I can imagine that many who were seminarians in the 80s might recognize your circumstance as their own.

  24. MargaretMN says:

    I actually know a delegate to this convention. He has been against the changes but knew before they started that his side would not prevail. It was contested at the last meeting so it was only a matter of time. He said when they met a few years ago in Orlando and discussed ministering to gays, there was a power failure and all the lights went out. Really. Maybe they just talk about the issue a lot, so chances are something will happen during a discussion. Or it could be a sign.

    BTW, the meeting is taking place at the convention center downtown, not at Central Lutheran. I spoke to someone today who works at the Lutheran Brotherhood (sort of like Catholic Charities for Lutherans) across the street and the Tornado nearly hit them too. Bad day for ELCA Lutherans all around.

  25. Mariana says:

    Thanks, Vincenzo, and good idea, Soler!
    Wonderful interview! As a former Lutheran myself I so understand the attraction of “the intellectual stuff” plus “what’s appealing to the heart” (I hope I am not misquoting) that the Catholic Church offers. And which also happens to be the Truth!

  26. becket1 says:

    They have agreed on Friday to allow Gay and Lesbians to be clergy. Now they are in complete communion with TEC. Satan is really laughing his head off on this one. He deceived them both. Now the Roman Catholic Church needs to focus more on communion with the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, and just plain forget about the Protestants.

  27. bernadette says:

    I agree becket1. I cannot, for the life of me, understand why our diocese continues to have ecumenical services with the Episcopal church and the Lutherans.

  28. Greg Smisek says:

    I’m finally getting around to reading Archbishop Chaput’s Render Unto Caesar (just released in paperback). The following jumped off the page (p. 32, to be precise) as relevant to the Lutheran disgrace:

    acedia; a stagnancy or sloth of the soul that shows itself in an unwillingness to “judge” in the name of false compassion; a disregard for moral conviction that hides behind flexibility and openness.”

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