2006 — Series XVI

Living Together in the 21st Century: As Lutherans in the ELCA

George Anderson, Herbert Chilstrom, and Mark Hanson, lecturers

Instant communications and global travel make being together in the 21st century easier than ever. But living together in genuine community remains a complex and even elusive task. We remain a United States, but we also seem fractured into red states and blue, with both scholars and pundits debating whether we are in fact one nation. Our Christian communities are as vibrant as ever, yet we also long for a deeper embrace of life together as the beloved community.

Lutherans in the United States are not exempt from these realities, and challenges to our life together seem to abound. At the same time, Lutheranism in the United States remains vital, with a deep well of resources. The 2006 Hein-Fry Lectures addressed the challenges to “living together in the 21st century as Lutherans in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America” and explored the resources within our tradition for tackling those challenges. Lecturers were the Rev. Dr. Herbert W. Chilstrom and the Rev. Dr. H. George Anderson, former presiding bishops of the ELCA. The ELCA’s current presiding bishop, the Rev. Mark S. Hanson served as respondent. All three speakers were present at each of the 2006 Hein-Fry Lectures.