ELCA NEWS SERVICE
June 8, 2009
ELCA Pastor Brings Words of Promise to Wichita Congregations
09-129-FI
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "Attitude is everything" was a phrase
that Dr. George Tiller had made into buttons. Many mourners
wore those buttons to his funeral June 6 at College Hill
United Methodist Church, Wichita, Kan. Tiller was shot and
killed the previous Sunday morning before worship at nearby
Reformation Lutheran Church, where he was a member.
"Attitude is everything ... but not our attitude," said
the Rev. Lowell R. Michelson, Tiller's pastor, during the
funeral sermon. "God's attitude ... an attitude of love."
"God does not turn away from our lives when things go
bad. In fact, God leans in all the more and tilts with
unconditional love in our favor. It is bold to stare death
in the face with such an attitude," he said.
"The life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ
changes us and the world. We know that death doesn't have
the last word. It isn't the end of the story. It is only
the beginning."
Reformation is a congregation of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America. Tiller, 67, was serving as an
usher the morning he was slain in the foyer of the church.
He was one of a few doctors in the United States who
provided abortions after the 21st week of pregnancy. A
suspect has been charged with Tiller's murder.
At the funeral Michelson spoke after Tiller's four
children and a longtime friend shared personal stories
about the doctor.
"Years from now," Michelson told Tiller's family,
"people will remember less the details of the crime
committed, and the flurry of attention this week has
received, and much more the steady way with which you
have handled that lump of sorrow that sticks in your
heart and your throat -- a pain none of us can imagine."
Michelson had similar words of promise when the
congregation of Reformation returned to worship June 7.
"Our sanctuary has been violated. A place of safety
and trust became something other. As we face this hour
and the days and weeks ahead, we ask God to grant us
courage," he said.
"It is only through the power of God that we can
begin to heal," Michelson said. "Like a Kansas sunflower
tilting toward the sun, like a parent leaning over to hug
a weeping child, God bends in love toward us. The love
of Jesus is stronger than the darkness of this time."
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The home page for Reformation Lutheran Church is at
http://www.reformation-lutheran.org/ 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
