Here comes news that Lenoir Rhyne University in Hickory NC is essentially taking over Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary (LTSS) in Columbia, SC. Southern will become the University's divinity school. Finances, culture, attitudes, distance learning are but a few of the challenges and opportunities for any Lutheran institutions of higher learning these days, especially seminaries.
Here is the press release from LRU.
Lenoir-Rhyne University and Southern Seminary Joining Forces
Tue Mar 29 2011
Following a feasibility study, the boards of Lenoir-Rhyne University and Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary (LTSS), have recommended that the institutions enter into a formal collaborative partnership leading to a merger of the institutions. The plan calls for the seminary to become the university’s school of theology and remain a seminary located in Columbia, South Carolina. Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary will maintain its name and own identity while integrating with the larger university system. The study leading up to this recommendation was coordinated and fully supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), which supports and partners with both institutions.
The proposed merger will be the first such combination of a Lutheran seminary with a university. The new model was developed by LTSS and LRU in order to combine the strengths of both institutions and to leverage their respective reputations in a manner that LTSS can become the premier Lutheran seminary in the country.
The boards of trustees of each institution authorized the intent to pursue a full merger at their spring 2011 meetings after hearing the report of the partnership feasibility study authorized in the fall of 2010. The committee to study the feasibility of stronger partnerships consisted of senior leadership at the two institutions, including President Wayne Powell of LRU and President Marcus Miller of LTSS.
Preliminary discussions began when it became clear that the two institutions had similar goals and strong reputations. LRU offers numerous professional programs and nine master’s degree programs while LTSS offers three theological master’s degrees and a variety of contextual learning experiences that teach, form, and nurture women and men for ministry in the church. By working together as one institution an opportunity exists to strengthen the existing programs and develop new offerings.
“By joining with LTSS, Lenoir-Rhyne has an excellent opportunity to provide greater service to various constituents, especially those within our church,” said Wayne Powell, LRU president. “We are fortunate that both of these institutions are excelling in their respective areas and because of this we are able to enter into this agreement to provide theological education to a broader range of people in the south.”
Powell went on to say that LRU envisioned being able to expand the offerings at the LTSS campus in Columbia by placing relevant graduate programs there.
The trustees also approved a preliminary timeline for completion of the merger. Beginning in the summer of 2011, the two institutions will identify areas where they can combine operations to become more efficient and effective. As part of this process, LRU and LTSS will initially begin to combine their administrative responsibilities and operations in enrollment management, financial aid, and advancement through management contracts or enhanced partnerships. LRU is already managing the financial component of the seminary. In March of 2012, the trustees of each school will receive a final recommendation for an agreement and plan to merge LTSS into LRU as its school of theology, with the earliest possible effective date for a completed merger being in the summer of 2012.
The trustees of both institutions will be regularly briefed and the applicable accrediting bodies (the Association of Theological Schools and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools), as well as the ELCA and Synods comprising Region 9 of the ELCA will continue to be engaged and consulted throughout the process.
“The seminary appreciates the high quality of the Lenoir-Rhyne program and the seminary welcomes the affirmation we have received from LR, said Marcus Miller, LTSS. “We believe a merger can only strengthen the mission of both schools.”
Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary is located in Columbia, S.C. LTSS was founded in 1830 and is one of eight seminaries of the ELCA. The seminary offers graduate and post-graduate degrees to men and women from many Christian denominations and traditions. Sacred theology, religion, divinity and ministry are some of the areas of study offered at the seminary. LTSS also offers programs on military chaplaincy.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Former Lutheran Pastor in Tanzania getting rich selling cure all
From the NY Times:
Crowds Come Over Roads and by Helicopters for Tanzanian’s Cure-All Potion
He’s a sensation in two countries. He’s snarled traffic for miles. He’s so popular that people have literally died waiting in line to see him.
Ambilikile Mwasapile, a 76-year-old retired pastor in rural Tanzania, has been offering a herbal concoction that he bills as a miracle potion that can cure just about any illness. In the past few weeks, tens of thousands of sick people have scrambled for a sip of his homebrewed drink. Some, apparently, have even flown in by helicopter.
On Monday, Tanzanian officials said that several dozen elderly and sick people had recently paid the price for joining the throngs.
“They died from the long queues,” said Isidore Shirima, a local official in Arusha, a town popular with tourists about six hours’ drive from the pastor’s village. “We’re not going to stop this, but we want to organize it better.”
Mr. Mwasapile, a former Lutheran preacher, lives in Samunge, a village in the middle of the savannah near the Kenya-Tanzania border. He began administering his miracle potion several months ago, and charges about 30 cents a cup. He says it can cure AIDS, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure — you name it.
According to The Daily Nation, Kenya’s largest newspaper, Tanzanian officials have tested the herbs in the concoction and have verified that it is safe to drink. Mr. Mwasapile even has a Facebook page, listed under “Doctor, Arusha, Tanzania.”
Traditional healers are not considered fringe elements here. Sometimes, their teachings take macabre directions. In Tanzania, so many people believe, for example, that the body parts of albinos carry good luck, that dozens of albino people have been killed by thugs, who then sell their bones, hair and skin for thousands of dollars.
Mr. Mwasapile’s village is remote, with no good roads, and is hard to reach from any sizable town. It can take people from either side of the border days to reach him, with the elderly and sick camping out under trees on the way.
He issued a statement over the weekend saying that he planned to halt new arrivals to his village for a week, until he could serve everyone who was already camped out there.
Esther Lally, a recent college graduate living in Arusha, said she saw helicopters landing in the bush ferrying Tanzanian politicians to the village. She said that the potion worked.
“It’s all about faith,” said Mrs. Lally, who drank it herself two weeks ago. “If you believe that this works, it works. I saw many people there who had gotten better.”
Mrs. Lally wanted the potion to cure her ulcers, and she said she was already feeling better.
She said the drink “tastes like tea, without the sugar.”
Crowds Come Over Roads and by Helicopters for Tanzanian’s Cure-All Potion
He’s a sensation in two countries. He’s snarled traffic for miles. He’s so popular that people have literally died waiting in line to see him.
Ambilikile Mwasapile, a 76-year-old retired pastor in rural Tanzania, has been offering a herbal concoction that he bills as a miracle potion that can cure just about any illness. In the past few weeks, tens of thousands of sick people have scrambled for a sip of his homebrewed drink. Some, apparently, have even flown in by helicopter.
On Monday, Tanzanian officials said that several dozen elderly and sick people had recently paid the price for joining the throngs.
“They died from the long queues,” said Isidore Shirima, a local official in Arusha, a town popular with tourists about six hours’ drive from the pastor’s village. “We’re not going to stop this, but we want to organize it better.”
Mr. Mwasapile, a former Lutheran preacher, lives in Samunge, a village in the middle of the savannah near the Kenya-Tanzania border. He began administering his miracle potion several months ago, and charges about 30 cents a cup. He says it can cure AIDS, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure — you name it.
According to The Daily Nation, Kenya’s largest newspaper, Tanzanian officials have tested the herbs in the concoction and have verified that it is safe to drink. Mr. Mwasapile even has a Facebook page, listed under “Doctor, Arusha, Tanzania.”
Traditional healers are not considered fringe elements here. Sometimes, their teachings take macabre directions. In Tanzania, so many people believe, for example, that the body parts of albinos carry good luck, that dozens of albino people have been killed by thugs, who then sell their bones, hair and skin for thousands of dollars.
Mr. Mwasapile’s village is remote, with no good roads, and is hard to reach from any sizable town. It can take people from either side of the border days to reach him, with the elderly and sick camping out under trees on the way.
He issued a statement over the weekend saying that he planned to halt new arrivals to his village for a week, until he could serve everyone who was already camped out there.
Esther Lally, a recent college graduate living in Arusha, said she saw helicopters landing in the bush ferrying Tanzanian politicians to the village. She said that the potion worked.
“It’s all about faith,” said Mrs. Lally, who drank it herself two weeks ago. “If you believe that this works, it works. I saw many people there who had gotten better.”
Mrs. Lally wanted the potion to cure her ulcers, and she said she was already feeling better.
She said the drink “tastes like tea, without the sugar.”
Monday, March 28, 2011
LCMS School in case before the Supreme Court
Here is the story from CNN:
In a twist on the hotly contested national debate on church-state matters, the Supreme Court will decide whether a teacher at a religious school can sue under a federal law against workplace discrimination. The justices accepted review Monday of an appeal from a Lutheran church in Michigan, and will hear oral arguments this fall.
At issue is whether the Americans with Disabilities Act applies to hiring and firing decisions involving "ministerial employees" like teachers who may have primarily secular job duties.
Court records show Cheryl Perich went on medical leave for narcolepsy in 2004. When she tried to return several months later to the Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School, officials refused to accept her, saying a substitute had been hired to complete the school year.
After weeks of often acrimonious discussions between herself and the school, Perich was fired for insubordination and "regrettable" conduct toward church leaders. She then complained to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which then sued the church on her behalf.
Perich had been hired five years earlier, and eventually became a "called" teacher, meaning she could not be fired without cause.
Assigned to third and fourth grades, she led instruction in math, language arts, social studies, gym and music, with much of the curriculum identical to the local public schools. Perich also taught a religion class four days a week, and engaged in daily prayers and devotionals with her students. The religion-based activities typically took up about 45 minutes of the seven-hour school day.
She also led chapel services with her class twice a year, on a rotation basis with other instructors.
The faculty has two types of teachers - "lay" employees who are on one-year contracts; and called teachers like Perich who have completed a formal colloquy, receiving a certificate of admission into the teaching ministry. Those parochial instructors are hired on an open-ended basis and cannot be summarily dismissed without proper justification. Perich began as a contract teacher, but fulfilled the requirements to be a called teacher, becoming a "commissioned minister" in the Lutheran Church.
The Redford, Michigan, school is affiliated with the Lutheran-Missouri Synod, but does not require its teachers to be called, or even Lutheran.
Federal courts have upheld a exception in the ADA blocking government intrusion in the employment decisions between religious institutions and ministerial workers.
A federal appeals court in Cincinnati eventually ruled for Perich, saying her primary duties as a teacher were not religious in nature.
"Given the undisputed evidence that all teachers at Hosanna-Tabor were assigned the same duties, a finding that Perich is a 'ministerial' employee would compel the conclusion that all teachers at the school - called, contract, Lutheran and non-Lutheran - are similarly excluded from coverage under the ADA and other federal fair employment laws," wrote the three-judge panel.
"However, the intent of the ministerial exception is to allow religious organizations to prefer members of their own religion and adhere to their own religious interpretations. Thus, applying the exception to non-members of the religion and those whose primary function is not religious in nature would be both illogical and contrary to the intention behind the exception."
The justices will now step into the debate. The Constitution's First Amendment bars any government from passing laws "respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting free exercise thereof."
The high court in the past has typically dealt with such church-state disputes as allowing Ten Commandment displays in public buildings; the mention of "God" on currency and in the Pledge of Allegiance; manger and menorah displays in public parks; and school and legislature prayer.
Legal experts say federal courts have been split on the current issue, and it gives the justices a rare opportunity to explore a religious freedom dispute from an employment context.
The case is Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC (10-553).
In a twist on the hotly contested national debate on church-state matters, the Supreme Court will decide whether a teacher at a religious school can sue under a federal law against workplace discrimination. The justices accepted review Monday of an appeal from a Lutheran church in Michigan, and will hear oral arguments this fall.
At issue is whether the Americans with Disabilities Act applies to hiring and firing decisions involving "ministerial employees" like teachers who may have primarily secular job duties.
Court records show Cheryl Perich went on medical leave for narcolepsy in 2004. When she tried to return several months later to the Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School, officials refused to accept her, saying a substitute had been hired to complete the school year.
After weeks of often acrimonious discussions between herself and the school, Perich was fired for insubordination and "regrettable" conduct toward church leaders. She then complained to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which then sued the church on her behalf.
Perich had been hired five years earlier, and eventually became a "called" teacher, meaning she could not be fired without cause.
Assigned to third and fourth grades, she led instruction in math, language arts, social studies, gym and music, with much of the curriculum identical to the local public schools. Perich also taught a religion class four days a week, and engaged in daily prayers and devotionals with her students. The religion-based activities typically took up about 45 minutes of the seven-hour school day.
She also led chapel services with her class twice a year, on a rotation basis with other instructors.
The faculty has two types of teachers - "lay" employees who are on one-year contracts; and called teachers like Perich who have completed a formal colloquy, receiving a certificate of admission into the teaching ministry. Those parochial instructors are hired on an open-ended basis and cannot be summarily dismissed without proper justification. Perich began as a contract teacher, but fulfilled the requirements to be a called teacher, becoming a "commissioned minister" in the Lutheran Church.
The Redford, Michigan, school is affiliated with the Lutheran-Missouri Synod, but does not require its teachers to be called, or even Lutheran.
Federal courts have upheld a exception in the ADA blocking government intrusion in the employment decisions between religious institutions and ministerial workers.
A federal appeals court in Cincinnati eventually ruled for Perich, saying her primary duties as a teacher were not religious in nature.
"Given the undisputed evidence that all teachers at Hosanna-Tabor were assigned the same duties, a finding that Perich is a 'ministerial' employee would compel the conclusion that all teachers at the school - called, contract, Lutheran and non-Lutheran - are similarly excluded from coverage under the ADA and other federal fair employment laws," wrote the three-judge panel.
"However, the intent of the ministerial exception is to allow religious organizations to prefer members of their own religion and adhere to their own religious interpretations. Thus, applying the exception to non-members of the religion and those whose primary function is not religious in nature would be both illogical and contrary to the intention behind the exception."
The justices will now step into the debate. The Constitution's First Amendment bars any government from passing laws "respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting free exercise thereof."
The high court in the past has typically dealt with such church-state disputes as allowing Ten Commandment displays in public buildings; the mention of "God" on currency and in the Pledge of Allegiance; manger and menorah displays in public parks; and school and legislature prayer.
Legal experts say federal courts have been split on the current issue, and it gives the justices a rare opportunity to explore a religious freedom dispute from an employment context.
The case is Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC (10-553).
Saturday, March 26, 2011
New Testament text far more reliable than other ancient histories
From Behind the Zion Curtain,a Presbyterian pastor's blog:
Herodotus wrote his histories around 488-428 BC. The oldest existing copies date around 900 AD. That’s a gap of 1,300 years. And there’s 8 copies.
Thucydides wrote his histories around 460-400 BC. The oldest existing copies date around 900 AD. That’s a gap of 1,300 years. And there’s 8 copies.
Tacitus wrote his histories around AD 100. The oldest existing copies date around 1100AD. That’s a gap of 1,000 years. And there’s 20 copies
Caesar’s Gaelic War was written in 58-50 BC. The oldest existing copies date at 900AD. That’s a gap of 950 years. And there’s 10 copies.
Livy’s Roman History was written somewhere between 59 BC-17 AD. The oldest existing copies date around 900AD. That’s a gap of 900 years. There’s 20 copies.
The New Testament was written from AD 40-100. The earliest partial manuscripts date at 130AD. So the time gap between the composition of New Testament writings and the earliest manuscripts is from 30-310 years. There’s over 5000 copies in Greek, another 10,000 in Latin.
The fact of the matter is, the New Testament is a far more reliable report of what early Christians did and believed than what we think ancient Greeks and Romans believed and did.
Friday, March 25, 2011
I think that would hurt
Captain in North Korean special forces gives interview to South Korean newspaper, describes training methods. "You open a tin can. You keep punching the sharp part. When your hand turns into mush, you start punching a pile of salt"
From here.
From here.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
If God be your partner ...
If God be your partner, make your plans large. -- Dwight L. Moody
Only in America would someone say this. The New Testament truth is more like "If God be your partner, make a cross and get ready to wear it."
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Bob Dylan at 70: Immigrants, Wanderers, Exiles and Hard Travelers in the Poems, Songs and Culture of Ancient Greece and Modern America
"Bob Dylan at 70: Immigrants, Wanderers, Exiles and Hard Travelers in the Poems, Songs and Culture of Ancient Greece and Modern America," : A University of Missouri-St. Louis conference exploring connections between Bob Dylan and ancient Greece.
Bizarre. Academics sucking the fun out of rock and roll.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
I know why people play the lottery
I know why people play the lottery. It isn't so much the wanting to be rich. They just want something to happen. Something big. They want their lives to change. It is a waiting for the parousia. Waiting for the great event.
It is the same reason why I love getting the mail at the post office or compulsively checking gmail. Maybe it is today. Maybe everything will change and the news will arrive. My number will come in. I will hit the jackpot. My ship will come in.
It is the lonely woman waiting for the long lost lover. It is the thief in the night. The fact that the post office box is always jammed only with silly come ons to improve my ministry and my email is filled with fluff I don't remember signing up to receive does not matter. There is always tomorrow. One more day. Soon something is going happen. I just know it.
It is the same reason why I love getting the mail at the post office or compulsively checking gmail. Maybe it is today. Maybe everything will change and the news will arrive. My number will come in. I will hit the jackpot. My ship will come in.
It is the lonely woman waiting for the long lost lover. It is the thief in the night. The fact that the post office box is always jammed only with silly come ons to improve my ministry and my email is filled with fluff I don't remember signing up to receive does not matter. There is always tomorrow. One more day. Soon something is going happen. I just know it.
My favorite meeting ...
My favorite meeting is the absence of meetings.
--Larry Page, co-founder of Google, quoted in this profile piece on Wired.com
I agree.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Hey what are you giving up for Lent
One of the biggest contrasts between general contemporary Lenten observance and that of the ancient church is that the ideal in the ancient church was a corporate fast, one common denial in which all partook equally and in common. Today we all "give up something" for Lent, and it is a variety of things : candy, meat, coffee, soda, Facebook and an almost infinite list of various items. Lent has become a cacophony of individual pursuits rather than a symphony of united purpose.
There are some benefits to a more personal, voluntary, private observance. It is less of a burden, less of a problem pastorally. Lent does not become an opportunity to keep rules and somehow in our minds score points with God, which it can easily devolve into if a set of rules and common goals are imposed.
Yet, something is lost. Lent becomes a mirror in which we see our extremely indidivualized religion rather than a piety which is centered in the worship and sacraments and salvation we receive and praise God for in common.
Another way in which Lent has changed is that the early church always connected fasting with almsgiving, charity. Fasting was not supposed to be a test of one's will power but rather a denial of self which benefited the neighbor. As such it was a short season which exemplified every season. Holiness itself in all times and places is just that: denying self for the sake of others. That is fair summary of the Ten Commandments.
There are some benefits to a more personal, voluntary, private observance. It is less of a burden, less of a problem pastorally. Lent does not become an opportunity to keep rules and somehow in our minds score points with God, which it can easily devolve into if a set of rules and common goals are imposed.
Yet, something is lost. Lent becomes a mirror in which we see our extremely indidivualized religion rather than a piety which is centered in the worship and sacraments and salvation we receive and praise God for in common.
Another way in which Lent has changed is that the early church always connected fasting with almsgiving, charity. Fasting was not supposed to be a test of one's will power but rather a denial of self which benefited the neighbor. As such it was a short season which exemplified every season. Holiness itself in all times and places is just that: denying self for the sake of others. That is fair summary of the Ten Commandments.
Sacramental time
Hans Boersma in the Feb 8, 2011 Christian Century:
If the various historical moments of the church's tradition sacramentally participate in each other in and through the Christ event, theological or doctrinal convictions of the Christian past are much more than interesting ways that Christians throughout history have dealt with the biblical text. If the church today shares, by means of a real participation, in the church's earlier tradition, that earlier tradition genuinely lives on in us, and we have a sacred responsibility to it. Earlier periods of the Christian tradition and our present time are connected via a common sacramental participation in the eternal Word of God.
A desacramentalized view of time tends to place the entire burden of doctrinal decision on the present moment: I, in the small moment of time allotted to me, am responsible to make the right theological (and moral) choice before God. The imposition of such a burden is so huge as to be pastorally disastrous.
Furthermore, to the extent that we are captive to our secular Western culture, it is likely that this culture will get to set the church's agenda. If we do not see ourselves sacramentally connected to the tradition (and thus to Christ), we sense no accountability to the tradition, and we are likely to accommodate whatever demands our culture places on us and capitulate to them. By contrast, when we are faced with a theological and moral conundrum, a participatory approach to tradition will always ask how the catholic, or universal, church throughout time and place has dealt with the issue. The widespread assumption that Christian beliefs and morals are to a significant degree malleable has its roots in a modern, desacralized view of time.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Ah, mortification, self denial and fasting ...
Man Vows to Fast on Beer During Lent
It's for real. Not an Onion article.
An American blogger has pledged to live only off beer during Lent.
Following the ancient tradition of Bavarian monks who brewed stronger beer during the Lenten fast in order to subsist on an almost entirely liquid diet, J Wilson will spend the 46 days of the Lenten period drinking only beer. The young man, who writes about beer on the internet and claims never to have done a Lenten fast in his life, will drink bockbier, which was originally brewed by the Paulaner monks in Munich.
The beer is a strong, dark, malty lager and is known as liquid bread. Traditionally, it was brewed by the monks for the periods of fasting in Lent and Advent. Mr Wilson has brewed his own bock-bier for the project.
He wrote: “I have a genuine love for beer, and am very drawn to the rich history it carries. Forty-six days is a long time without food. But if the the Paulaner brothers could do it under the guidance of God, I should be able to as well. A spiritual journey of this nature is no laughing matter, and I very much look forward to sharing it with you.”
Monday, March 07, 2011
There is one Physician
There is one Physician,
both fleshly ... and spiritual
born ... and yet eternal
in flesh ... God
in death ... true life
both from Mary ... and from God
first passible ... and then impassible
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Ignatius of Antioch, To the Ephesians, 7.2
both fleshly ... and spiritual
born ... and yet eternal
in flesh ... God
in death ... true life
both from Mary ... and from God
first passible ... and then impassible
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Ignatius of Antioch, To the Ephesians, 7.2
Sunday, March 06, 2011
We need intimate knowledge of the past
We need intimate knowledge of the past. Not that the past has any magic about it, but because we cannot study the future and yet need something to set against the present ... A man who has lived in many places is not likely to be deceived by the local errors of his village: The scholar has lived in many times and is therefore in some degree immune from the great cataract of nonsense that pours from the press and the microphone of his own age.
C.S. Lewis, quoted by Timothy George, "Reading the Bible with the Reformers", First Things, March 2011.
C.S. Lewis, quoted by Timothy George, "Reading the Bible with the Reformers", First Things, March 2011.
Saturday, March 05, 2011
Why Bruce stinks lately
Here is a very interesting take on Bruce Springsteen and why his recent albums are so disappointing and yet his live shows are still so good.
Bruce Springsteen's new album, Working on a Dream (Columbia), is the weakest he's ever released--weaker even than the twin disappointments of 1992, Human Touch and Lucky Town. And yet his show at Washington's Verizon Center last week was an utter triumph--and not, as you might think, just because of the older songs sprinkled throughout the set list. Even his recent compositions sparkled on stage.
...
It's almost as if Springsteen has made the mistake of reading his own press clippings too closely. So many critics--and I'm as guilty as anyone--have pointed out the grand themes lying beneath his stories of his blue-collar New Jersey pals that he has started writing about the themes instead of the pals.
Here is the rest.
Thursday, March 03, 2011
Leo the Great on fasting
Leo the Great on fasting:
Let us spend on virtue what we withhold from pleasure. Let abstinence on the part of someone fasting become nourishment for the poor. Let us put our efforts to the defense of widows, the advantage of orphans, the consolation of mourners, the reconciliation of rivals.
Sermon 13, 2. Fathers of the Church Series, Vol 93, p. 54.
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
The Disappointed Generation
I have an essay published in the current issue of The Cresset (a journal put out by Valparaiso University). It is entitled "The Disappointed Generation" and it concerns my father and his generation and how his generation differs from mine in terms of attachments to country and company and church. If you don't subscribe, you can also read the essay online here.
You can read the rest here.
Here is how it begins:
My father believed in his country, his company, and his church. Born in 1940, he was just the right age to revel in American strength. He missed the Great Depression but rode the wave of American economic vitality. Nourished on stories of the Second World War, he saw his country as powerful and good. As he reached adulthood, Protestant denominations, such as his own Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, were growing quickly and easily. His was a generation of faith in the rightness of the causes that filled their life.
Within a year of graduating from high school, my father went to work for the BF Goodrich tire company. He spent almost the rest of his life working there. He was a “company man,” embodying a belief in the rightness of American business. He did not just work for BF Goodrich; he believed in BF Goodrich, and he had good reason for his trust. At BF Goodrich, he had parlayed a high school education into a lifelong career. More than that, the company had given him a purpose. It gave him a mission: to work hard, to succeed, and to be a part of an important common enterprise.
Click here to read the rest.
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