G-S is for Gracious Scribes

The first person who offered assistance was Susan Montgomery, a great friend, theologian, and fellow classmate at Lutheran School of Theology in St. Louis and Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago. She is among the many hundreds of people who consider Bob a mentor, and, partly with his encouragement, has now graduated with an M. Div. and is awaiting a call. Susan must have retyped at least twenty articles on cold winter nights up in Wisconsin during her internship. She almost completed the first binderful of works.

Don Tanner: Editing Scribe

I too was typing articles (often with a borrowed laptop from Sherman Lee, a Crossings board member), but quickly learned that everything that was typed needed careful editing. Don Tanner, a Crossings friend here in St. Louis, helped with much of that. But still, the work was going at a snail's pace. I realized that it would take years and years at this rate. What to do? Well, as some of you know, I put an ad in the Lent 2004 newsletter, hoping that maybe one or two people would respond.

Boy did I get a response! Not just one or two, but twelve! I couldn't believe it. I call them my gracious scribes, saints. And guess what? They all act as though I'm doing them a favor! I have been overwhelmed by the generosity of spirit and the enthusiasm they have shown for this task. Because of their work, the library is quickly filling up. Please check out our Crossings website at <www.crossings.org>, click "Library" and notice that there are already some forty-five articles by Bob Bertram posted, plus a Festschrift in honor of Ed Schroeder. Some works are very long and academic, others are short and easily accessible. There is still much left to be done (such as cataloging), but I'm not too worried about it anymore. I've learned it's not up to me alone, I've got an entire community to fall back on.

In case you're wondering why there are no articles by Ed Schroeder posted yet, well, the main reason is that the primary articles we want to post were originally published by Concordia Publishing House. Regretfully, CPH is the only publishing company that has denied us permission. If anyone can help me appeal this, I would be extremely grateful.

I want to tell you who the gracious scribes in our community are. They have not just been helpers, but have become, during the give-and-take of corresponding, friends. They are: Paul Jaster, a pastor in Elyria, Ohio, who says he commonly uses the Crossings matrix when preparing sermons (or he uses ours!); David Gunderlach, a Navy chaplain in Portsmouth, Rhode Island; Katherine Shaw, a computer programmer at Cal Berkeley living in the San Fransisco Bay Area (she explains she's "spoiled with the weather here"); Archdeacon Michael Averyt, an Episcopal priest in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada, a Seminex graduate.

Michael Hoy: Book Scribe

In addition, there is Gail Zackrison, a pastor in Edinboro, Pennsylvania; Don Klingsick, a long-time Crossings supporter from Edwardsville, Illinois; Patricia Schroeder, a chemistry professor living in Shawnee, Kansas; and Arlo Cairo, a retired science and career education teacher from Antigo, Wisconsin, who is just now changing careers by attending Wartburg Seminary in order to become an Associate in Ministry. He intends to work with at-risk youth in an educational setting, explaining that "now my work can 'cross' that invisible boundary between church and state to meet the needs of a whole child, the academic and the spiritual."

Other gracious volunteers standing by are Timothy Hoyer, a pastor in Jamestown, New York, also a regular Sabbatheology writer; Kathy Endorf, a Crossings supporter in St. Louis; and Lee LaPointe, a lay minister in Washington, Missouri. My guess, and I'm pretty sure that I'm accurate, is that all these saints are not just scribes, but spend their time sharing the great good news that they write about. I treasure them all.

Finally, there is another saintly scribe I'd like to mention: Michael Hoy. Mike is toiling diligently to get the four books that Bob Bertram left unpublished compiled, edited, and ultimately, published. In fact, Mike has completed the first book, (Post-) Modernity's Crux: A Theology of the Cross for the Postmodern World. It has been sent to press. (We will inform you when it becomes available.) The three other books will take longer. Already Mike is working on the second book and, in fact, some of our gracious scribes have helped type those manuscripts too.

Well, community, now that I know you exist, how about getting in touch? Of course I can always put you to work (not just typing, but also writing, and the many other projects we could accomplish), but frankly, it would just be good to hear from you!

cathy lessmann