April 2021 Cover & Highlights

Highlights for April 2021 Issue

Many of you already have some publication where you can find “The Word,” but I start this issue with it  because Phil Hefner, a former professor at Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago,  references it in his “Letter to Axel Kldegaard” that was the basis for the sermon at Axel’s memorial service eighteen years ago this month. The lyrics by S. D. Rodholm express the heart of what Grundtvig was trying to bring to the church. The hymn deserves wide appreciation but, unfortunately, isn’t found in today’s Lutheran hymnals.

On the topic of singing, Hanna Broadbridge introduces us to a unique Danish choir, comprised of prisoners and former prisoners. She describes how the choir project came to be, how it has evolved, and the positive impact it has had on both the lives of prisoners and on society’s view of people serving time.

We may feel as if all of society has been serving time over the past year and more with pandemic-induced lockdowns. Erik Hansen takes us back to his experience of the pandemic last spring in Part 2 of “Slow Spring of the Rearranged Rest of Our Lives.”
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Finally, a report about the beginning of the 150th anniversary celebration of Fredsville Lutheran Church leads into the first of hopefully more articles about people who lived in Fredsville for a time before moving on to settle elsewhere. If you know of any other such stories, please submit them.