First Lutheran Church Worship in Leif Erikson Park

LutheranLady Jun 30, 2011 17 Comments

Starting Sunday July 3, First Lutheran Church in Duluth celebrates 10 a.m. Sunday Worship in Leif Erikson Park. All are welcome! Park worship will be held during the months of July and August.

Leif Erikson Park is located on London Road across the church which is at 1100 E. Superior St. Bring a lawn chair or blanket. In case of inclement weather, the service will be held in the church sanctuary.  Worship will also be held at 8:30 in the church sanctuary.

First Lutheran Church is a large congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America located in Duluth.


Events

17 Comments

Olaf Benjaminsen

about 13 years ago 

Somehow, I don't think Leif would be tapping his toes to this...........

I know my forefathers from Luroy, Norway wouldn't.

Damn Swede's probably.

Mark

about 13 years ago 

Actually, First Lutheran is a church of Norwegian heritage...but you're right, as Leif wasn't a Christian, let alone a Lutheran ...he probably wouldn't be tapping his foot to this.

Chris

about 13 years ago 

Luther completely rejected the idea that we had any free will.  For Luther, God controlled everything, including whether or not we sin.  Do Lutherans still believe this?

"For if man has lost his freedom, and is forced to serve sin, and cannot will good, what conclusion can more justly be drawn concerning him, than that he sins and wills evil necessarily?" (149) 

"Omnipotence and foreknowledge of God, I repeat, utterly destroy the doctrine of 'free-will'." (217)
-Martin Luther, Bondage of the Will

http://www.amazon.com/Bondage-Will-R-Johnston/dp/0800753429

vicarious

about 13 years ago 

Good Lord. Jesus, what sort of pants is the lady playing bass wearing?

Did her lack of free will condemn her to such a wardrobe choice? Is God that cruel?

Chris

about 13 years ago 

If Luther is right, God totally controls everything that happens, including her pants.  Are you saying that her pants are proof that Luther is right and there is no free will, since no human would freely choose those pants?

Les Nelson

about 13 years ago 

I thought that the only place there were rock n' roll churches was in the south?

Matilda

about 13 years ago 

Hey Mark, actually, when I was young I questioned the cross hanging around the statue of Leif Ericcson... as seen here

http://www.scenicphoto.com/photo-gallery/gallery/Y9V195.jpg

Christian vikings, I said - what a bunch of ninnies! Of course they weren't Christian, they worshipped Odin and other Norse gods.

If you read the history, though...

http://www.viking.no/e/people/leif/e-leiv.htm

"One of his first trips was eastward, to Norway, the homeland of his family. [...] Leif and his men stayed there for the winter, and were taught the foundations of Christianity. Before they left Norway, Leif, along with all of his men, accepted the faith and were baptised Christians."

c-freak

about 13 years ago 

They'll let anyone play "Freebird" these days.

wildgoose

about 13 years ago 

Thanks for the historical insight, Matilda. I had no idea.  I love Viking stories. I love to think about Vikings exploring the East Coast and trading, partying and portaging their way from Hudson Bay or the St. Lawrence River through the Great Lakes and down here to Duluth ... even if it never really happened.  I'm convinced it's possible, I just hope that it's also true.    

--


I've been down in the park for these services with Speedy Wienie.  These Lutherans are a heckuva crowd.  And the music is pretty good, setting aside the outfit controversy for a moment.  One time they brought in an African Children's Choir, that was a treat to see and hear there on the stone stage, surrounded by that ring of majestic pines, the peninsula, the people, and all of it framed by the Great Blue Lake.

ironic1

about 13 years ago 

Oddly, I'm doing a sermon this week comparing Calvinist and Wesleyan soteriologies.  Calvin, of course, did not believe in free will whereas Wesley did.  The difference?  About 200 years.  

Our preoccupation with the concept of free will is a thoroughly modern one.  We in the post-enlightenment era put a high value on human free will, where as previous eras did not.  It just didn't matter to them as much as it does us.

Claire

about 13 years ago 

Wow, this sounds like it might be almost as fun as the Polka Mass St. Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church puts on upon occasion, or did the year I went to services there. 

Wildgoose, do you actually sell hot dogs to the Lutherans during services? I guess they're a captive audience, so you'd do well...

Chris

about 13 years ago 

I cannot agree that our preoccupation with the concept of free will is a thoroughly modern one.  It is an ancient and medieval one as well.

Since the 4th Century, Christians, Jews, and Muslims were very preoccupied with questions of free will.  St Augustine argued for the central importance of having free will in his soteriology in De Libero Arbitrio.  St John Cassian in 425 argued that free will is in the power of the individual, is the first step to salvation, and does not itself require divine grace (divine grace completes the journey to salvation, but free will starts it).  Since then, the eastern and western Christian churches have largely held firm to the belief in the centrality of free will to salvation, as is expressed by Erasmus over 1000 years later in his debate with Luther in 1524.

Early in Islamic history, the Qadarites argued that God imparted a special faculty of free will in humans, and rabbinic scholars took up positions in the Qadarite/Jabarite debate as well.  The centrality of having free will to the notions of moral responsibility and salvation has been central in religious thought throughout the ages.

wildgoose

about 13 years ago 

Wienies Claire, wienies.  Speedy Wienie has, to date, never sold dog of any kind, hot or otherwise, to our customers.  

As for the Lutherans, they usually want coffee first and maybe some "bars" before they are ready for a wienie.  Unfortunately I have not been down there on a summer Sunday morning for a few years.

ironic1

about 13 years ago 

You are right, Chris.  I chose my words poorly.  What I meant to say is that the Modernist worldview enshrines the concept of free will to a degree beyond other periods.  Of course free will was debated and discussed for centuries, but I would argue that it is bedrock to modernism.

ironic1

about 13 years ago 

At any rate, Chris, it would have been fun to have you at the Q&A portion of my sermon this morning.  :)

Chris

about 13 years ago 

I'm sorry I missed it!  Where is the next one?

Yes, you are right about the modern obsession with freedom, choice, and free will.  Much of what makes our lives meaningful is how we are bound to each other, like a brother to a sister.  It would be silly to say that my personal freedom is more important than the relationships that limit my choices but make my life good.

Mark

about 13 years ago 

Thanks Matilda, you learn something new everyday!

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