How are Christians to honor God’s gift of life in a world of constantly-changing medical technology, physician-assisted suicide laws, and health insurance and financial constraints? Some 40 people gathered from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 4, 2017, at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Palestine to attempt to offer some answers to that question at the annual Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) Texas District Circuit #14 Retreat, themed “Aging and Dying Well IN Christ Jesus: End-of-Earthly-Life Issues and Ministry”.
Rev. Dr. Robert W. Weise
The main speaker was The Rev. Dr. Robert W. Weise, of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri. Professor Emeritus at Concordia Seminary, the Rev. Dr. Weise has degrees in education, zoology, and theology and holds the only position of its kind among Lutheran seminaries in North America, focusing on the relationship between theology and the life sciences.
The Rev. Dr. Weise used case studies and addressed practical questions that clergy and laity alike face as they deal with family-members’ and their own aging and deaths. The day’s four sessions were titled as follows (the bullets link to audio files, and the PowerPoint slides with videos are viewable here):
- “Aging IN Christ: A Life of Fruitful Labor and Service”
- “Dying Well IN Christ Jesus: The Tension”
- “Physician-Assisted Suicide: Not A Picking and Choosing”
- “Always to Care and Take Care: Bearing the Burden”
Registration was $20 per person and included abundant refreshments and a delightful and hearty lunch served by Bethlehem’s LWML Society.
Circuit #14 of the Texas District of the LCMS is comprised of twelve East Texas LCMS congregations, with worship sites as far north as Hawkins-Holly Lake, as far East as Nacogdoches, as far south as Lufkin, and as far west as Corsicana.
The retreat’s banner graphics were adapted from an uncredited image found online here.
Thanks go to Carla Adsit for composing the graphics.
