ELCA NEWS SERVICE
June 5, 2008
New Orleans ELCA Pastor to Preach on 'Day 1' on June 15 and 22
08-079-LT*
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Patrick Keen, Bethlehem
Lutheran Church, New Orleans, will deliver sermons on June
15 and 22 for the radio program "Day 1." He will preach
on the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA)
response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, as well as on
violent crime in the United States.
Each "Day 1" program will include one of Keen's
sermons, as well as an interview with the Rev. Peter
Wallace, the show's executive producer and host. Keen
will draw from his experiences with the hurricanes and
his church's involvement in serving as a hospitality
center for relief workers.
Keen's first sermon, "A Great Time to Be the Church,"
deals with hurricane response. "The church continues to
manifest itself as the body of Christ, almost three years
after that ravaging flood turned the lives of hundreds of
thousands of people upside down," he said. "The church is
at last manifesting itself as 'the church triumphant.'"
The second message, "A Bad Case of the I-Can't-Help-It,"
will focus on violent crime in the United States. "I, like
the prophet Jeremiah, am living in a generation where there
is destruction and violence all around, and it seems that
those who could do something about it, and should do something
and are empowered to do something, seem to want to do
nothing," Keen said.
Keen was the first director of Chicago's Habitat for
Humanity program. He currently works as an ELCA
pastor/developer, and also serves as a community developer
and grassroots organizer.
"Day 1" is produced by the Alliance for Christian Media
in association with the ELCA, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship,
the Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the
United Church of Christ and the United Methodist Church.
Wallace has worked as executive producer of the program
since 2001 and as on-air host since 2005.
*Luke Tatge is a senior journalism major at Augustana College,
Sioux Falls, S.D. This summer he is an intern with the ELCA
News Service.
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"Day 1" is available as a podcast at http://www.Day1.net on the Web.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog
