Your Words

A Line in Time
Editor’s Note: We received many letters regarding “A Foundation of Faith & Grace,” Summer/Fall 2007. Many of you were complimentary and requested reprints. You’ll be happy to hear the timeline is now available as a poster. For more information, please visit www.thrivent.com/magazine/timeline.

Several others wrote in with dates they thought should have been included. Others asked that we note the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod was founded in 1847 under the name the German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio and Other States. Read on for more of your thoughts on the timeline.

It was interesting that the only reference to the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod was its name change in 1947. No mention was made of the Saxon immigration in 1839 or the organization of the Synod in 1847. Perhaps saddest was the omission of Dr. C.F.W. Walther, the founder and greatest theologian in American Lutheranism.

Melvin Weseloh
Decatur, Illinois

I was pleased with “A Foundation of Faith & Grace.” It was very well done.

As a former missionary in Guyana, South America, I thought it well to let you know that what is now known as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana was founded in what is now Guyana, South America, in 1743, making it the oldest Lutheran church in the western hemisphere.

Rev. Paul A. Tidemann
St. Paul, Minnesota

I enjoyed reading “A Foundation of Faith & Grace.” I was disappointed when it mentioned in 1748 that Henry Melchior Muhlenberg formed the Pennsylvania Ministerium, the first Lutheran church body in the American colonies.

Augustus Lutheran Church, Trappe, Pennsylvania, was founded in 1730 and built in 1743. The church, which the Rev. Dr. Henry Melchior Muhlenberg built, is considered the shrine of American Lutheranism. The church is still used in the summer months and at the Christmas Eve service.

Helen L. Clark
New River, Arizona

“A Foundation of Faith & Grace” was very interesting and great information for use by history buffs. I would like to ask why you never give any space to the Salzburgers who were expulsed from their homeland in the 1730s? We are a large group here in Georgia and all across the world. Our first ancestors arrived in Savannah, Georgia, on March 12, 1734, and many others followed. Pastor Muhlenberg visited our area to help Pastor Bolzious and other leaders with the group of Lutherans.

Jerusalem Lutheran Church was organized before they set sail for America, and it is still a very active group today helping to spread Lutheranism all across the world. All this took place in the early 1700s. Could you please recognize us as a large part of the Lutherans in the U.S.?

Julia Exley Rahn
Rincon, Georgia

“A Foundation of Faith & Grace” was well done. It provided important information on Martin Luther/Lutheranism against a backdrop of other fascinating early 16th-century happenings.

When Luther defied the Church and Emperor at the Diet of Worms in 1521, it was an event that changed the world. Luther’s statement of faith is one of the bravest acts on record, comparable to any heroic battlefield act of courage.

Dick Kemp
Phoenix, Arizona

Correction: In “A Foundation of Faith & Grace,” the Wright flyer made its first flight on Dec. 17, 1903, not Dec. 12.

Bandage Babes
I read an article in Thrivent magazine about a group in Kansas who were knitting bandages (“A Common Thread,” Spring 2007), to be distributed by Global Ministries. I shared the information with the women at Signal Hill Lutheran Church in Belleville, Illinois. Within the first two months, our small group of a dozen ladies, who dubbed themselves the “Bandage Babes,” had knitted and crocheted 70 bandages. Our current total is 110.

Global Ministries now reports that for the first time in four years, the supply exceeds the demand for these bandages. Your article served to ignite a fire and the flame is growing.

Patty Wiesner
O’Fallon, Illinois

Peaceful Words
I enjoy Thrivent magazine with its combination of financial advice, personal hints and spiritual reminders. However, I saw an item in the article about getting enough sleep (“Are You Sleeping?” Summer/Fall 2007) that bothered me enough to write about it.

In “9 Tips for a Good Night’s Sleep,” I thought it odd that prayer was No. 9, while exercise, specifically yoga, was No. 6. How is it that we, as believers in Christ, can suggest that it is helpful to use yoga, an ancient Hindu discipline? It seems to me that too many Christians accept yoga without discerning the spirits behind it. Feeling restless? The apostle Paul offers a great sleep solution in Phillippians 4:6-7.

Holly Mulvey
Tucson, Arizona

Easy Access
Your article on computer security (“Don’t Feed the Hackers,” Summer/Fall 2007) suggested that financial transactions be reserved for the home computer, where the connection to the Internet would be more secure. Not necessarily. If the home user has a WiFi system and is still using the default passwords that were installed by the manufacturer, the system is easily accessed by someone in a car parked nearby. Many people don’t bother changing the passwords because “it’s too much trouble.” That attitude produces news items daily of those who have become victims of crime because they did not bother to lock the door to their house even after others in the same neighborhood already have been victimized.

J.W. Moorhouse
Maineville, Ohio

Seeking Balance
I was dismayed by the cover of your current issue (Summer/Fall 2007). Not only are there no minorities on the cover, but there are no minorities pictured within the magazine. Certainly in this diversified country of ours there are non-white Lutherans, and they must have feelings, thoughts, opinions and stories to tell.

Kent Peterman
Vallejo, California

Editor’s Note: The cover photo on the Summer/Fall 2007 issue pictured a Thrivent Financial member family from Texas that was featured in the cover article, “From Pennies to Plastic.” We share your concern for diversity. Our stories feature real members and real experiences. We try to find the best stories to tell in the magazine, and we do not use ethnicity as a filter for those stories. Please send us your story ideas.