What's with the red doors?

St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Columbia SC It's Reformation again .. which means we'll get a lot of questions about red doors on Lutheran churches. Well, not on THIS Lutheran church, but most. Where does the red door tradition come from? Several ideas: The most common response is that Christians have entered into worship, into the presence of God, through the blood of Christ. In the earlier history of the church, it was common for wooden church doors to have the whole life of Christ carved into them. Tradition holds that Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the red doors of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. From that time onward, red doors symbolized the churches of the Reformation. During the Middle Ages in England, churches with red doors represented places of sanctuary. If someone was being pursued by a town mob, they'd find safe rest on the other side of the red door, where s/he could plead their case for justice without threat of violence. Our Jewish brothers and sisters would immediately recognize the connection between red doors and the Passover, where the angel of death was to "pass over" all the homes of those who smeared the (red) blood of a lamb over their doors. So there you have it. It's interesting to note that the red door tradition isn't limited to Lutherans. Most churches embrace the idea, although churches of the Reformation have been particularly proud of their red door heritage. What about St. John's? Well, take a look at our front doors and you'll see displayed the earlier tradition that uses a church's front door to tell the story of Christ, "the Word made flesh." And that, my friends, is the rest of the story.

The valley of the shadow of death

Over the next few days, we'll be celebrating the lives of two beloved folks in our community: Bee Soderberg and Barbara Benton. Among all the things we do as a faith community and as pastors, presiding at one's funeral is always the most humbling and profound, as we commend loved ones into the arms of Jesus.

Bee's life was defined by a remarkable sense of faithfulness to God, family, friends, and church. She and Rich were married for 70 years, always remaining each other's best friends. She was smart, witty, a world traveler and perhaps the best dog owner ever. She will be missed.

Barbara was a long-time middle school teacher in our community, 24 of her 30 years at Knox. So many former students have told me this week that Mrs. Benton was "the best teacher I ever had." Barbara had many other interests and passions, but what a beautiful way to be remembered, as such a fine teacher and mentor.

I normally don't write about folks who have passed along, but as we prepare for these two memorial services, we've been given the chance to press "pause" on the busyness of our week and give thanks for the chance to walk with folks through the valley of the shadow of death ... into the waiting arms of our Lord and Savior.