Synod President Dr. Gerald B. Kieschnick has launched an “e-journal” titled Perspectives to share his thoughts on a wide range of topics, including family, life matters, church issues, current news, and national and world events.
“My goal is to provide Perspectives readers with my thoughts on various subjects as I view them from my personal life and my life as president of The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod,” he wrote when introducing the journal in October.
To date, more than 850 people have subscribed to the weekly journal, which is sent out via e-mail on Thursday mornings.
In the first 14 issues, some of the topics Kieschnick has written about are the death of his father in 1983, his own surgery in 2001, the sacred vows of marriage in light of the Tiger Woods scandal, the sacrifices made by men and women in military service, the crossing of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., and the significance of the longhorn cattle depicted on the journal’s letterhead.
Previous issues are archived on the Perspectives Web site at http://community.icontact.com/users/kieschnickperspectives.
The journal, he said, gives people the opportunity “to see a bit more about what my life is like and what makes me tick than is sometimes able to be communicated via my more formal and official communications vehicles.”
Kieschnick said reactions to the journal have been very positive. “Responses have come via e-mail, phone calls, and personal conversations,” he told Reporter. “I find that many people can relate to experiences in my life, thus creating a unique and special bond between author and readers.”
Kieschnick said he encourages pastors to share the e-journal with friends and members of their congregations. Perspectives is intentionally brief to make it a quicker read, he added.
To subscribe to the journal, go to www.lcms.org/president and click on the “Subscribe to Perspectives” link. After subscribing, you’ll be asked to confirm the subscription by following the instructions in a confirmation e-mail.
Posted Jan. 20, 2010
