Lutheran (ELCA) Ping!
Veni, Sanctae Spiritus!
Posted on 06/04/2009 2:15:06 PM PDT by lightman
ELCA Congregation Grieves after Member Shot in Church 09-127-FI
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The funeral for Dr. George Tiller will be June 6 at College Hill United Methodist Church, Wichita, Kan. Tiller was shot and killed May 31 while serving as an usher for Sunday worship at nearby Reformation Lutheran Church, where he was a member. Tiller was 67.
The funeral will begin at 10 a.m. Tiller's family requested College Hill because it offers more available seating than Reformation.
"All the different stages and symptoms of grief are happening here," said the Rev. Lowell R. Michelson, senior pastor for Reformation, a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). He said many began their "journey of healing" by gathering the evening of the shooting for a vigil with the Rev. Gerald L. Mansholt, bishop, ELCA Central States Synod, Kansas City, Kan.
This week a team of crisis intervention specialists is meeting with members of Reformation in groups and individually, Michelson said. The specialists "helped us name some of those things that we haven't been able to put a name to in our anger, sadness, confusion and disbelief." They will continue counseling the congregation through weekend worship services.
The Rev. Kristin M. Neitzel, associate pastor, is working with parish nurses and lay ministers to care for "those folks who are noticeably absent," Michelson said. They will be mobilizing all congregation members to support each other in the days ahead.
Michelson is preparing to preach the funeral sermon. He said the family selected verses from the Gospel of John, in which Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live."
Others at the funeral will reflect on Tiller's life, and Michelson said he plans to "talk about the promises of God and the hope that we have in the one who loved us first."
Tiller was one of a few doctors in the United States who provided abortions after the 21st week of pregnancy. Scott P. Roeder, 51, was arrested and charged with murder in connection with the shooting.
According to KAKE television, Wichita, the family's lawyer, Dan Monnat issued a statement: "While the funeral of Dr. George Tiller will be open to the public, Dr. Tiller's family has requested that no video or audio recording be allowed during any portion of the funeral service Saturday. The family respectfully asks that all media honor their wish to preserve the privacy of the occasion, both inside the church and in any overflow areas."
The family's lawyers issued a statement earlier at the request of Jeanne Tiller, the Tillers' four children and 10 grandchildren:
"We would like to express the family's thanks for the many messages of sympathy from our friends and from all across the nation. We also want to thank the law enforcement officers who are investigating this crime.
"Our loss is also a loss for the city of Wichita and women across America. George dedicated his life to providing women with high-quality health care despite frequent threats and violence."
-- -- -- The full text of a statement by the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, is at http://tinyurl.com/p8y69r on the ELCA Web site.
Veni, Sanctae Spiritus!
Should have already been grieving over having an unrepentant member who made a living killing babies.
They could talk about the One who love us first, and how He created life and deemed it to be precious, far more so than this man or his killer deemed it to be.
exactly
Yeah, I'm sure. This is one "tragedy" the left won't fail to promote. They'll probably be able to get Super Bowl advertising rates.
Yeah ... right ...
Others at the funeral will reflect on Tiller's life, and Michelson said he plans to "talk about the promises of God and the hope that we have in the one who loved us first."
These people are completely disconnected from the reality of Tiller's life.
Perhaps they should read from the portion of the Acts of the Apostles where the remaining Apostles held a funeral for Judas Iscariot . . . oh yeah that didn't happen.
"All the different stages and symptoms of grief are happening here," said the Rev. Lowell R. Michelson, senior pastor for Reformation, a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
The very FIRST thing quoted from this Pastor is not a word of Scripture, nor a phrase from the liturgy, but a bunch of psychobabble from a psychologist-wannabe.
So let's throw a bit a pschobabble right back--he was definitely an enabler of his deceased parishioner's deviancy.
Wonder if he still feels this way?
http://www.mttu.com/Articles/Partial-Birth%20Abortionist%20Confesses%20He%20is%20Going%20to%20Hell.htm
I agree.
No tears will be shed for his thousands of victims.
I don’t expect you to see this funeral promoted much at all at places like DU, Kos, or Huffy.
They have been promoting this narrative that a bunch of Christians murdered a doctor in the name of Jesus from the moment the first dribbles of news came out.
If you have the uninformed find out that an usher in a church (however evil he may have been) was gunned down during Sunday morning service by a long time anarchist who held his own church at home on Saturday, it makes it hard to paint this with the hateful Christians brush that they all jumped up with right off.
They can’t admit that just because he was in a church, that doesn’t mean he was a Christian now can they? What about homosexuals in churches? They said to many embarrassing things at the beginning of this story.
They will gloss over the funeral, and refer to this obliquely, lest anyone notice the actual details.
“talk about the promises of God and the hope that we have in the one who loved us first.”
The irony of this statement is astounding.
A very perverted irony in that selection since Tiller advertised that he would "baptize" the aborted fetuses murdered children upon request.
Save a tiny bit of sympathy for the victims of the victim.
I have not seen any reports about whether Tiller is being buried or cremated, but he SHOULD NOT be buried in a consecrated cemetery.
If they weren’t people, why would this fellow offer to baptize them? If they were, why would he slice them apart?
The darkness is over the land.
Tiller made a good living by killing children and this church did nothing to stop him by preaching repentance to him. Unable to bring him to repentance, it was their Scriptural duty to exclude him from fellowship, but they chose not to.
This is an apostate church. They are certainly not following the teachings of the Bible and of the Lutheran traditions. Let them mourn Tiller. God is mourning for them and for the babies.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.