Month: February 2013

Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries celebrates the life and mourns the loss of the Rev. Paul Brenner, who passed away on February 24, 2013.    We remember Paul as a joyful member of Historic ELM Roster and Proclaim.  We think on his warm hugs and megawatt smile; and we remember all who grieve his death.

The following is re-posted from the Sierra Pacific Synod of the ELCA:

In Memoriam: The Reverend Paul Brenner
November 2, 1939 – February 22, 2013
The Rev. Paul Brenner was born November 2, 1939 and died February 22, 2013. He was 74 years old.

Pastor Brenner received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Church Music from Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, and his Master of Divinity degree from Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, IN. He was ordained on June 12, 1966, in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod and later approved for Word and Sacrament ministry by the Extraordinary Candidacy Project.

He was approved for transfer to the ordained ministry roster of the ELCA in May, 2010. He served as Interim Pastor at St. Francis Lutheran Church, San Francisco, CA from 2005 to 2006 and was called by the Sierra Pacific Synod Council to Interim Ministry in June, 2011.

His first parish call in the LCMS was to Grace Lutheran Church, Jacksonville, Florida, where he served as pastor from 1966 to 1976. He went on to serve as Interim Pastor of Guardian Lutheran Church, Mandarin, FL, from 1976-1978.

Feeling called to specialized hospice ministry, Pastor Brenner left the parish, and eventually the roster of the LCMS, to go on to serve as CEO of Hospice Northeast, Jacksonville, FL; CEO, Hospice of Palm Beach County, West Palm Beach, FL; CEO, Montgomery Hospice Society, Rockville, MD, CEO of Jacob Perlow Hospice, Beth Israel Medical Center, New York City, NY; and Program Consultant, Children’s Hospice International, Alexandria, VA. During those years he continued in Word and Sacrament ministry in the Episcopal Church.

In his hospice work, he developed the first hospice inpatient facility in Florida and a residential facility for persons without caregivers in Maryland, the first program of care for Alzheimer’s patients, the innovative national Program of All Inclusive Care for Children and Families, the first hospice program for the deaf, the first hospice program to be licensed as a CPE training site, and led in the development of the first Department of Palliative Medicine, integrating hospice care and palliative care. He was active nationally and internationally and was published.

Pastor Brenner is survived by two adult sons, Paul Martin Brenner and Matthew Jason Brenner.

He died peacefully at his home under hospice care.

A Memorial Service will be held at:
11:00am
Monday, March 4, 2013
St. Mark Lutheran Church
1111 O’Farrell Street
San Francisco, California

Lunch reception will follow

Blessed be the memory of this servant of God!

One of the six ministry grant programs Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries is supporting this year is EcoFaith Recovery.  EcoFaith Recovery nurtures faith-based recovery groups and relational leadership networks to help individuals, communities and institutions emerge from our intoxication with consumerism to recover our relatedness to God, ourselves, one another, and the entire Earth community.

What is EcoFaith Recovery up to these days?

– Lenten devotions:

EcoFaith Recovery leaders are writing Lenten devotions on diverse areas related to faith-based recovery to a more sustainable way of life on their blog.  Pastors, community organizers, rank and file lay members, and interns will be offering their perspectives.  You can directly subscribe to the blog here.

A sample of Rev. Robyn Hartwig’s devotion-

As I shared in my sermon at St. Andrew Lutheran (Beaverton, OR) this morning, this Sunday’s Gospel reading reminded me of an experience I had on a week-long retreat of all of the fifth graders at my elementary school. Students were divided into groups that were each assigned to a different teacher for an exercise in orienteering. We were given compasses and told to use a map to find various checkpoints attached to trees or rocks in an unfamiliar landscape on the edge of the camp. Full story here.

– Hosting a workshop and lecture:

On Friday April 12 EcoFaith Recovery is hosting a full day workshop with Ched Myers and Matt Guynn, at St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Beaverton, OR.

The workshop is called:  Is Jesus for the Birds? A Workshop on Economics, Ecology and Discipleship.  Ched will activate imaginations with his biblical and theological work on economics and ecology, while Matt will activate  imaginations about what discipleship might look like in light of Ched’s insights and our local context.

– Internship Projects:

EcoFaith Recovery has a team of interns working on a number of special projects ranging from leading a youth camp to developing a community cafe.  The five interns are pictured to the right sharing a meal.

Turtle Farahat’s project had her spending the summer interviewing healthcare practitioners who are using alternative economic models in their practices.  Turtle recently wrote about her project here.

For more on ELM’s Ministry Grant program go to: https://www.elm.org/elm-grants/

There are many resources available to LGBTQ Lutheran seminarians through Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries.  Check them out – for you or someone you know.

INTERNSHIP GRANTS:  Congregations hosting a Proclaim intern in 2013-2014 can apply for up to $5,000 in funding from ELM.  We have limited funds available.  The application deadline is February 28, 2013.  The process is very simple.  Access the application by clicking here. 

WORKIN SCHOLAR:  Each year, ELM names at least one Workin Scholar.  This is a seminarian who embodies the legacy of Joel Workin, one of the first openly gay Lutheran seminarians.  The application is due in May.  We will be posting details and an application form soon. You can learn more here. 

PROCLAIM RETREAT:  The annual Proclaim retreat is a vital gathering for all LGBTQ rostered leaders, but especially for seminarians.  About 30 attended last year.  Scholarships are available to cover registration for the retreat.  ELM supporters can help by donating to the scholarship fund.  Access the scholarship application here.

PROCLAIM:  Proclaim is a program of ELM.  It is a professional community for Lutheran rostered leaders and candidates for ministry.  It is a very beneficial community for those who are in seminary. Proclaim provides crucial support and networking at this time of ministry exploration and discernment.  Learn more about Proclaim and how to join here.

ACCOMPANIMENT:  This is another program of ELM.  A national network of resource leaders provide a wide range of accompaniment to LGBTQ people in Lutheran candidacy.  We provide this support to those in Proclaim and those still in the process of coming out.  Learn more about Accompaniment here. 

Please use and share these resources.  If you want to support this work, please consider making a secure and tax-free contribution to ELM.  LGBTQ candidates need our support and we need yours to give it.  Contact ELM Executive Director Amalia Vagts at director(at)elm.org if you have questions about using or supporting this part of ELM’s mission.