Alleluia! Alleluia!
06/06/25 01:33
For all the saints who from their labors rest,
who to the world their steadfast faith confessed,
your name, O Jesus, be forever blessed.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Teachers enter our lives through classroom experiences. Their methods vary, but what they share in common is their physical presence. They speak, listen, share, and nurture their students in classrooms.
Some teachers enter our lives through the words they have written. Their books become texts for our understanding. Their presence is known from their ability to share wisdom through their writing. These teachers can reach beyond the limits of space and time and teach those they have not met face to face.
I have been blessed in this life with both types of teachers, and a few have touched me in both ways.
One of our time's most influential Bible teachers was first known to me through the passion and dedication of the students with whom he had shared a classroom. He taught at Eden Theological Seminary from 1961 to 1986 and at Columbia Theological Seminary from 1986 to 2003. He was William Marcellus McPheeters Professor Emeritus of Old Testament at Columbia Seminary. He was an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ. I did not attend Eden or Columbia. But my colleagues who did study in the classroom under him were unfailingly passionate about his wisdom, insight, and faithfulness to biblical scholarship.
I also knew Walter through his writing. He is the author of more than 100 books. “The Prophetic Imagination” is among the most influential books on my biblical scholarship and preaching. Beyond his scholarly books, I have also been deeply touched by the collections of his prayers that have been published. He wrote prayers for each class he taught and kept those prayers among his papers. In retirement, several collections of those prayers have been published, and I have found them deeply meaningful for personal devotion and use in my teaching and worship leadership.
I also had the good fortune of meeting Walter at United Church of Christ events. His speeches to the General Synod are among the most impactful I have ever heard. His workshops challenged and strengthened me as a preacher and teacher. To charges, both delivered to rooms full of pastors, came to me as personal challenges to which I have tried to be faithful. The first is to go beyond the lectionary to read and preach the entire Bible. Instead of limiting worship to the small portions of scripture offered by the lectionary, dare to read extended portions of scripture both personally and out loud. The second challenge was to write a prayer for each class I taught. He was specific. “Don’t wing a prayer. Don’t extemporize. Don’t reach for an old prayer. Write a fresh, new, and careful prayer for each class.” Both pieces of advice have been essential to my preaching and teaching.
You were their rock, their refuge, and their might:
you, Christ, the hope that put their fears to flight;
‘mid gloom and doubt, you were their one true light.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Walter was born in Tilden, Nebraska, in 1933. His father was a German Evangelical pastor serving the Evangelical and Reformed Church. He is a graduate of Elmhurst College and Eden Theological Seminary. He earned doctoral degrees from Union Theological Seminary and St. Louis University. His scholarly style has been characterized as rhetorical criticism. Words matter. He took every word of the Bible seriously and pondered its meaning and relationship to other words in the Bible and contemporary culture. His respect for language made him a powerful speaker, allowing him to appeal to liberals and conservatives alike. He was one of the few ministers of the United Church of Christ who was a sought-after preacher in fundamentalist congregations.
Walter is survived by his wife, Tia, sons James and John, and their families.
Still may your people, faithful, true, and bold,
live as the saints who nobly fought of old,
and share with them a glorious crown of gold.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
More recently, I have come to know and love Walter through the powerful biography of Conrad Kanagy, “Walter Brueggemann’s Prophetic Imagination: A Theological Biography,” published by Fortress Press. Conrad is my editor at Santos Books and the leader of a writer’s group in which I am active. The process of writing the biography transformed Conrad’s life, and he shares that transformation with grace and generosity in his teaching and leadership. He speaks of being able to “go into the basement” of Walter’s life with him to discover the teachers who most influenced him, the books that shaped his career, and the theological insights that were revealed to him over years of teaching, dozens upon dozens of books written, and a lifetime of service in classroom, church, and the world.
Ringed by this cloud of witnessed divine,
we feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
yet in you love our faithful lives entwine.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
As far as we know, Walter’s transition from this life to eternity was peaceful. After several weeks of receiving hospice care and a period of living on the edge of consciousness, he slipped from this life yesterday. News traveled quickly among the family of students, preachers, teachers, and admirers surrounding him. I received a text from a colleague, and promptly, my inbox filled with reflections and prayers of others. While there is sadness and grief, there is also deep gratitude and celebration of a well-lived life. I am grateful to have lived in the generation of his students and heard him speak. His wry wit and his gravely voice come back to me each time I reach for a collection of his prayers, which is frequent. I went to his prayers yesterday, but couldn’t choose a single one. I soon found myself in another place I had shared with him over the years, the hymnal. William How’s hymn, based on Hebrews 12, continues to minister to God’s faithful.
And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,
steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
then hearts are brave again, and faith grows strong.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thank you, Walter, for your witness and teaching. Indeed, our faith grows strong.
who to the world their steadfast faith confessed,
your name, O Jesus, be forever blessed.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Teachers enter our lives through classroom experiences. Their methods vary, but what they share in common is their physical presence. They speak, listen, share, and nurture their students in classrooms.
Some teachers enter our lives through the words they have written. Their books become texts for our understanding. Their presence is known from their ability to share wisdom through their writing. These teachers can reach beyond the limits of space and time and teach those they have not met face to face.
I have been blessed in this life with both types of teachers, and a few have touched me in both ways.
One of our time's most influential Bible teachers was first known to me through the passion and dedication of the students with whom he had shared a classroom. He taught at Eden Theological Seminary from 1961 to 1986 and at Columbia Theological Seminary from 1986 to 2003. He was William Marcellus McPheeters Professor Emeritus of Old Testament at Columbia Seminary. He was an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ. I did not attend Eden or Columbia. But my colleagues who did study in the classroom under him were unfailingly passionate about his wisdom, insight, and faithfulness to biblical scholarship.
I also knew Walter through his writing. He is the author of more than 100 books. “The Prophetic Imagination” is among the most influential books on my biblical scholarship and preaching. Beyond his scholarly books, I have also been deeply touched by the collections of his prayers that have been published. He wrote prayers for each class he taught and kept those prayers among his papers. In retirement, several collections of those prayers have been published, and I have found them deeply meaningful for personal devotion and use in my teaching and worship leadership.
I also had the good fortune of meeting Walter at United Church of Christ events. His speeches to the General Synod are among the most impactful I have ever heard. His workshops challenged and strengthened me as a preacher and teacher. To charges, both delivered to rooms full of pastors, came to me as personal challenges to which I have tried to be faithful. The first is to go beyond the lectionary to read and preach the entire Bible. Instead of limiting worship to the small portions of scripture offered by the lectionary, dare to read extended portions of scripture both personally and out loud. The second challenge was to write a prayer for each class I taught. He was specific. “Don’t wing a prayer. Don’t extemporize. Don’t reach for an old prayer. Write a fresh, new, and careful prayer for each class.” Both pieces of advice have been essential to my preaching and teaching.
You were their rock, their refuge, and their might:
you, Christ, the hope that put their fears to flight;
‘mid gloom and doubt, you were their one true light.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Walter was born in Tilden, Nebraska, in 1933. His father was a German Evangelical pastor serving the Evangelical and Reformed Church. He is a graduate of Elmhurst College and Eden Theological Seminary. He earned doctoral degrees from Union Theological Seminary and St. Louis University. His scholarly style has been characterized as rhetorical criticism. Words matter. He took every word of the Bible seriously and pondered its meaning and relationship to other words in the Bible and contemporary culture. His respect for language made him a powerful speaker, allowing him to appeal to liberals and conservatives alike. He was one of the few ministers of the United Church of Christ who was a sought-after preacher in fundamentalist congregations.
Walter is survived by his wife, Tia, sons James and John, and their families.
Still may your people, faithful, true, and bold,
live as the saints who nobly fought of old,
and share with them a glorious crown of gold.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
More recently, I have come to know and love Walter through the powerful biography of Conrad Kanagy, “Walter Brueggemann’s Prophetic Imagination: A Theological Biography,” published by Fortress Press. Conrad is my editor at Santos Books and the leader of a writer’s group in which I am active. The process of writing the biography transformed Conrad’s life, and he shares that transformation with grace and generosity in his teaching and leadership. He speaks of being able to “go into the basement” of Walter’s life with him to discover the teachers who most influenced him, the books that shaped his career, and the theological insights that were revealed to him over years of teaching, dozens upon dozens of books written, and a lifetime of service in classroom, church, and the world.
Ringed by this cloud of witnessed divine,
we feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
yet in you love our faithful lives entwine.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
As far as we know, Walter’s transition from this life to eternity was peaceful. After several weeks of receiving hospice care and a period of living on the edge of consciousness, he slipped from this life yesterday. News traveled quickly among the family of students, preachers, teachers, and admirers surrounding him. I received a text from a colleague, and promptly, my inbox filled with reflections and prayers of others. While there is sadness and grief, there is also deep gratitude and celebration of a well-lived life. I am grateful to have lived in the generation of his students and heard him speak. His wry wit and his gravely voice come back to me each time I reach for a collection of his prayers, which is frequent. I went to his prayers yesterday, but couldn’t choose a single one. I soon found myself in another place I had shared with him over the years, the hymnal. William How’s hymn, based on Hebrews 12, continues to minister to God’s faithful.
And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,
steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
then hearts are brave again, and faith grows strong.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thank you, Walter, for your witness and teaching. Indeed, our faith grows strong.
