At 08:46 PM 10/30/2003, Phonopsia wrote:
----- Original Message -----
From: "Cyclone Wehner" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "313 Detroit" <313@hyperreal.org>
Sent: Friday, October 31, 2003 2:10 AM
Subject: Re: (313) Does the Surgeon..
> Since I am on off topics but on topic, I read Carl Craig is a Lutheran, he
> was talking about not having been exposed to gospel when younger. Is there
a
> Black Lutheran church?
> I looked at 'Detroit Lutheran Church' on the Web and couldn't find much.
Or
> is it a mixed congregation in the Detroit Lutheran Church (es)?
> Does anyone know much about the US Lutheran church at all?
The Lutheran church in the US is actually quite large and divided into
different synods (Missouri, Wisconsin, Evangelical, Ministerium, etc.)
which all have their various takes on core Christian doctrine; they have
divided especially over how they view the Bible. Additionally, the question
is more like "..US Lutheran ChurcheS" as each individual congregation is
going to embody their faith and practice differently. And even when you
look at the doctrinal distinctives and differing sects, urban churches tend
to break many of the rules which one might expect when one generalizes what
kind of congregation might be found in one type of Lutheranism vs. another.
What I mean by this is that those distinctives may not be as
important/emphasized in some congregations as in others.
Of course I cannot speak authoritatively about some sort of
"universal/general" experience, but my black friends have told me that it
is often the case in their experience that the church often has had a
broader, more social function in their lives when growing up (and that is
not to say it's "less spiritual", but rather that it has had a wider
community function in their lives ) than in what they have observed in
suburban and "whiter" settings. Of course, it should be mentioned that
these are people more or less around my age (late 40s) and that probably
makes some difference. Not sure if this sheds any light, but there you
have...well, something. :-)
jeff
