Title: Lutheran Vespers Airs 'A Quiet Chamber Kept For Thee' ELCA NEWS SERVICE December 15, 1998 LUTHERAN VESPERS AIRS 'A QUIET CHAMBER KEPT FOR THEE' 98-246-MR CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "A Quiet Chamber Kept for Thee," a dramatic Christmas story by the Rev. Walter M. Wangerin, Jr., is being featured throughout December as a special Christmas broadcast of "Lutheran = Vespers," the radio ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).=20= Wangerin, master storyteller and popular author, "talks about his first 'grown-up'Christmas when he was 10 years old -- old enough to know that anticipation and excitement don't always yield to complete joy," said Brenda J. Engelby, Lutheran Vespers' associate director for promotion and placement.=20 "Young Walt, the oldest of seven children, decided not to let any of his feelings show. But a father who believed in following traditions and = a special Christmas hymn led Walt to the true meaning of Christmas," Engelby said. More than 250 stations are airing "A Quiet Chamber Kept for Thee" through Dec. 27. Lutheran Vespers features sacred music, both traditional and contemporary, complementing scripture readings and homilies. The program is housed in the ELCA's Department for Communication. The program began in 1947 as an evening radio broadcast in South Dakota. Lutheran Vespers is now heard weekly on 212 stations in the = United States, Africa, Australia, Denmark and Guam. For information contact: Frank Imhoff, Assoc. Director (773) 380-2955 or [log in to unmask] http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html