I just started a new blog site over at luthermergence.posterous.com. I’ll leave this one up for the time being, but everything new will be posted over there.

Thanks! See ya soon!

+Sean

Happy Easter, everyone.

I have a hard time believing that a natural disaster can ever come to be understood as an act of divine justice or retribution. What do y’all think?

Thanks to Matthew Paul Turner at jesusneedsnewpr.net for posting this.

Blessed Lent
+Sean

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/phil-zuckerman/why-evangelicals-hate-jes_b_830237.html

So, read the article and tell me what you think. Do you agree with him? Or not? Why?

Just a little food for thought, friends. Have a blessed Lent.

-Sean

All the music they used originally came from an experimental Christian community from Glasgow, Scotland called ‘The Late, Late Service’. Of course they put their own twist on everything. Unfortunately, there’s no place to listen to stuff online just yet, but their album is available at the Abbey at worship services. I will post as soon as this stuff is available online.

I’m really proud of these guys and the music they make. The album sounds fantastic.

If you’re interested, I strongly encourage anybody to check out the service that meets on Sunday evenings at the Abbey. Info can be found at www.apostleschurch.org.

Peace,

Sean

P.S. Happy Epiphany!

To: undisclosed recipients
Subject: CD Release Show in Seattle!!

Dear Seattle area friends and family,

I’m thrilled to announce that in less than two months, I’ll be celebrating
the release of my fourth CD, “100 Reasons.”

This album is the result of almost a year’s worth of hard work, planning,
artistic and creative talent, and a weeklong recording session at the
Oregon beach followed by another week in the studio in the New York City
area.

To celebrate the culmination of this wonderful project, I’m pleased to
announce that I’ll be playing two CD release shows during the first
weekend of March—one in Portland and one in Seattle.

The Seattle show and party will be held on Saturday evening, March 5 at
The Loft in Pioneer Square (208 S. Washington Street, Suite 200, Seattle),
a festive and intimate venue. The show will start around 8pm and the doors
open at 7:30. Tickets are $10 presale and $15 at the door. Tickets can be
purchased through Brown Paper Tickets at this website:
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/141898.

There is a wine sponsor for this show, so wine and non-alcoholic drinks
will be served—we’ll be asking for a donation for the drinks, and a
portion of the proceeds from the donation will be given to the Center of
Contemporary Art (COCA) in Seattle, who is partially helping to host the
event.

I’m pleased to share that almost ALL the musicians featured on “100
Reasons” will be joining me for BOTH the Seattle and the Portland show:
Nathan Eklund, Jeremy Varo-Haub, Douglas Haub, Arcellus Sykes and
Demetrius Keller will share the stage with me.

Please consider coming to support this CD release and hear the new music.
You can email me if you have questions, or get the details on my website:
www.annemarierussell.com

And please do pass this email along to anyone else who might be interested
in attending. I hope we PACK the Loft for this show (it comfortably holds
around 100 people).

Thanks to all of you for supporting my musical journey this far. I hope
you come join us for this wonderful show and party! I can’t wait for you
to hear the new album.

Annemarie

I drive to Everett from Seattle about 5 times a week. It’s a lot of ‘me’ time. Unlike most commuters, I actually love it. I know, I’m weird. And sometimes I spend it with some good tunes cranked up as I sing along at the top of my lungs. More often, though, I have lately found myself tuning into some interesting and thought-provoking programs on National Public Radio. This American Life, RadioLab, Car Talk, Fresh Air, Studio 360, The Splendid Table… It’s quite a list. (I’m open to recommendations, too.)

But lately I have stumbled across a program called “To The Best Of Our Knowledge”. It’s basically a show about ‘things that make ya go hmmm’. And lately they’re doing a 5-part series on the very grandiose topic of ‘Science and the Search for Meaning!” I’ve been tuning in. And one that really made me think of posting here was part 3: “Does the Soul Still Matter?”

Well does it? Does the ‘soul’ even exist? How do we know? Listen, and decide for yourself. It really gets at some of the new ideas emerging in the conversation about science, church, heaven and humanity. I was particularly interested in what Nancey Murphy, professor of Christian Philosophy, says about the soul. (It’s about 2/3 of the way through the program.) But the whole thing is very good.

Listen here:

http://www.wpr.org/book/101205a.cfm

And check out the rest of their website at ttbook.org

Happy Advent, everybody.

Happy New Year!!!

I know, I know. It’s not even Thanksgiving yet. But starting this Sunday we turn the page of the church calendar to begin a new year with the season of Advent. I, for one, am enchanted by the changes that happen in our community and church this time of year. The scarves and gloves come out of the closet. The familiar melodies of christmas songs I’ve sung since my childhood begin to be heard all over the place. Windows, houses and trees are suddenly illuminated with lights and decorations to offset the darkness of the coldest time of year. Christmas parties, trees, carols, cookies, cards, presents, lights… lefse. It’s a lot to look forward to.

That’s not to say that winter isn’t difficult to get through. It is difficult. It’s hard not to struggle as we are surrounded by the pressures to buy more, save more, travel more, work more, pay more bills and nurture healthy relationships all while the weather is getting colder and the nights are getting longer. Sometimes I feel like taking Advent off, thinking I could just skip straight to Christmas, or even past that, to avoid the waiting, the working, the darkness and the cold. It’s a lot of work. We all have stories of hardship. Someone who lost a job over this past year. A sick family member. An unhealthy relationship. Someone struggling with addiction. A son or daughter who is serving overseas. The feeling of a crushing depression that only intensifies as the holidays approach. Too many years we have pretended like these hardships don’t exist. It is unbearable to consider going through another season this way.

So what do we do? How can we help ourselves? How can we help each other? I’ll tell you what I think. It may seem simple. Perhaps trite. Even too good to be true:

We gather together. Once a week. We bring lots of candles so we can scatter the darkness. We meet each other face to face. We sing together. We share meals. We read scripture. We pray. We pray for ourselves. We pray for our families. We pray for the world. We pray for healing. We pray for peace. We pray for hope. We pray for light. We pray for love that might end hate. We pray for understanding and we pray for strength. And we pray for the promised coming of God’s new Kingdom. We are the church and we owe it to ourselves to support ourselves and to support one another in community, in love, in worship and in prayer.

You are invited to join us in worship.

Grace and Peace,

Sean Bendickson

Music & Worship Leader

Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, 215 Mukilteo Blvd. Everett, WA

Sunday November 28, 6pm Holden Evening Prayer & Holy Communionwith guest Pastor Elizabeth Felt
Sunday December 5, 6pm Holden Evening Prayer & Holy Communion
Sunday December 12, 6pm Holden Evening Prayer & Holy Communion
Sunday December 19, 6pm “Christmas in a Minor Key” Prayer & Healing Service
with guest musician Annemarie Eklund Russel
Friday December 24, 5pm & 11pm Christmas Eve Candlelight Service

I love those occasions when religion and spirituality shows up in the secular world. I am all about bridging that gap as much as possible. I encountered one such occasion a few weeks ago while driving from Everett to Seattle. The NPR radio show “To the Point” did a segment on “Who Knows What About Religion”. Here’s the link to stream the show and the writeup from their website, kcrw.com. (You’ll have to sit through a bit of political news at the top of the program):

Who Knows What about Religion? (12:07PM) [listen]

The Pew Research Center prides itself on nonpartisan disinterest in the outcomes of its work. This week, its Forum on Religion and Public Life released a survey on religious knowledge in the United States. Some findings about one of the most religious of the developed countries are surprising. Atheists and agnostics are the best informed, along with Mormons and Jews. Evangelicals, Mainline Protestants and Catholics did not do so well when it came to the core teachings, history and leading figures of the major world religions — sometimes even their own. What does this mean in one of the most religious of the developed nations — and one of the most diverse? What are the implications for policy and politics? When a proposed Muslim center near Ground Zero has created so much dispute what are the prospects for interfaith dialogue?

Guests:

• Alan Cooperman: Associate Director of Research, Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life
• Ed Buckner: Retired President, American Atheists
• Richard Land: President of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, Southern Baptist Convention
• Susan Ross: Vice President, Catholic Theological Society
• J.J. Goldberg: Editor of Forward
• Ebrahim Moosa: Associate Professor of Islamic Studies, Duke University

Links:

• Take the Forum’s quiz to find out how much you know about religion!