Dear Pastor Benke
Recent Correspondence to St. Peter's and Its Pastor

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Dear Pastor Benke,
I have been praying for an end to this madness.

I hope and pray, that by the time you receive this, you will have been exonerated.

The world would benefit from more Christians like yourself.

God Bless You !!

In Christ,
Elaine Lehe
St.James Lutheran Church

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Good afternoon Rev. Dr. David H. Benke:
This will be brief, I am sure you are busy. I am a new member of St. John's Lutheran Church on Staten Island.

My children attend the school as well.

I was present at Pastor Lohmeyer's installation on Sunday, May 4. I did not know anything about you.

Your sermon was wonderful. I was curious about what you were referring to when you lightly mentioned

there were those who were not so happy with your actions. I went on the internet and read a lot about you during my lunch break at work. I agree with you and your actions and I will pray for you. I certainly hope the outcome is a good one for you.

I lost a dear friend at the WTC and thank you for praying for her.

I work for the Sandy Hook Pilots (the harbor pilots) on the waterfront near the VN Bridge and see Brooklyn from my window each day.

I am happy to have Pastor Lohmeyer at my new parish. Thank you for being there.

Best regards,
Elizabeth Johanesson
Staten Island, New York

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Dear Reverend Benke:
I have followed with great interest the flack caused by your participation at Yankee Stadium. You have my utmost respect. You owe no apology, not to God nor to LCMS. You stood with a greater class of religious leaders at Yankee Stadium then those codemming you. I can not beleive in this educated country, we have such small minded people who interpret the Bible in their fashion to force their convictions on others. It is interesting to note that there are some 2600 denominations in the world and everyone of them beleives their interpretation of God's plan is the only one. You hit the nail on the head when you mentioned " ecumenical ". Jesus walked and prayed among all types of people not just the ones who thought like Him. I have sent a few E- Mails to the LCMS stating my dissatisfaction. As a Catholic I was very proud of everyone who participated at Yankee Stadium. You are in my prayers.

Sincerely,
David A. Bauer

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Dear Rev. Benke,
I'm sure you've received many messages to this effect, but I felt the need to write to you and let you know how proud of you I am. I was a student at Concordia Bronxville and although I did not know you personally I knew of your reputation as a compassionate keeper of the faith. I am not a member of the Atlantic District, but I am a member of the LCMS and will continue to offer my prayers and support to you for truly demonstrating what it means to be Christian.

Mark Habedank

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Dear Pastor Benke,
I don't know that you need to hear this from me --by my two cents worth.

A name is a name. It's something in human language which enables us to order our lives (an sometimes chaos and confusion, too). It seems to me that names have their beginning for humanity in Genesis 2 when Adam began to structure the world he knew into some order which would enable him to "dress, till, and keep it -- and eventually be fruitful and multiply" (Genesis 1), too.

God's name is a term which helps us in our understanding, communication, and management of things around us as these matters relate to our Author. It seems to me that "God", "Gott", "El", "Elohim", and "Allah", are all speaking of the same Being. Our understanding of this Being may be very different, surely. That understanding is based on our learning and our experiences in our relationships with Him and others. But to me, He's still my Author and God, and the other person's Author and God, also.

The Name that the LORD (capitalization deliberate) gave to Moses, "Yahweh" (or "Jehovah", or "I AM WHO I AM" in the imperfect tense, implying continuing [or everlasting, or eternal] existence) defines his nature in my thinking. His actions with the oppressor and oppressed (i.e., Egypt and Israel, and beyond that, the whole history of the human race [cf. many of the Psalms, and Mary's Magnificat, and others), give me more of a sense of his character and more of the attributes (catechism term) which we connect with Him.

Part of my thinking, here is connecting "YaHWeH" with YeHoSHuaH, Joshua, Jesus, etc.

To know "YaHWeh", is to have a relationship with a LORD we cannot see, but who nevertheless has by His Spirit given to us qualities and dimensions to meaning and existence which are beyond our ability to define. We cannot completely explain it rationally, but we believe it.

When Jesus talks with the disciples about "knowing Him" (and knowing the Father) and "living in Him", and doing greater works, He's talking about the relationship which his followers have with Him. In the Sermon on the Mount, He suggests that there are some may who have his Name on their lips but who never knew Him. (Paul writes in one of his letters about those who have the "form of godliness but lacking the power thereof). Could He be talking about us sometimes when it seems like we've got Him theologized and defined, but we've distilled the warmth of knowing the LORD right out of our thinking and conversation. In other places, he speaks about doing works (usually mercy and compassion) in His Name, and it seems to me that He's willing to own us as His brothers and sisters and children of His Father, when we do something as simple of giving a drink of water to a thirsty child. If it's hard to connect "Jesus" with deliverance, redemption, liberty, and freedom, can we really say that we "KNOW HIM"?

NOW, when it comes to relating to Jews, Muslims, and a multitude of others, it behooves us to seek to understand something of their understanding and to share with them insofar as they're willing to participate in the dialog, something of what we understand. In that process, do you think that the Spirit is able to bring us to a place of mutual understanding and respect? Maybe I'm crazy, but such is my faith in God's Spirit.

It seems to me that the work and ministry of the folks at St Peter's in New York is in step with this kind of thinking.

Enough of my thinking for now.

Fraternally, in Christ,
Norm Porath
Spfld 65
Schuyler, NE

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