January 8, 2008

Dear Resurrection Family,

I'm looking for a bit of help for this weekend's sermon. I'd like to hear from those of you who were in your mid-teens through your forties during the 1960's. This weekend I'll retrace the cultural revolution of the 1960’s and early 1970’s that played a key role in shaping the culture wars of the 1980's to the present. I don't believe it’s possible to fully understand the culture wars and the current state of affairs both in the church and in the political arena without understanding the sixties. Here's how you can help, drop me a brief e-mail at sue.thompson@cor.org and tell me about how old you were in the sixties, where you lived, what you thought were the most important events and changes that happened in American culture and society during that period and how you personally experienced these times. Examples are the advent of the birth control pill, changing sexual mores, the civil rights act, the assassinations of important national leaders, the drug movement, the women's liberation movement, Vietnam, and student protests.

For some these were exciting times filled with idealism, for others they were times in which the moral foundations of the world seemed to be collapsing and where our society was lost. I'd like to hear from those of you who lived through that period - what did it feel like to you at the time? What were the one or two most important events to you personally? Were you afraid, excited, confused, angry, or filled with idealism and a desire to become involved?

Please keep your answers brief - I'll be looking for two-paragraph answers just to get a sense of your thoughts and experiences. I have plenty of contemporary analysis, sociological and theological reflections, etc. What I'm really looking for is to hear of your personal experience at the time.

The sermon will briefly retrace the changes both in the church and in society in the last century before examining how these movements might find parallels in the New Testament, and finally, we'll look at how Christians might move beyond the culture wars by following the words and example of Jesus. This message is a very important one that will have a personal application for each of us and, with your help, will also be interesting, but also inspiring.

Thanks for your help.

Adam