Every so often, I receive a lovely surprised in my email inbox. A note from a congregational leader that affirms the constantly improving quality of the faith formation and worship resources that my colleagues create. As you might imagine, these notes make my day! (sometimes my entire month!)

This one came in last week from Pastor Scot Sorenson, Senior Pastor at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Sacramento, CA.:

“Again, thank you for everything that Augsburg is providing in terms of resources. I cannot begin to estimate how many hits AF websites receive from our congregation every week between Akaloo, Sundays and Seasons, Here we Stand…you are an integral resources that helps our imaginations soar.” And, then in a second email when I asked his permission to post the statement above on my blog, “please pass on to all of your great staff that their work is deeply appreciated ‘out here in the field.’”

Thanks, Scot! Your words and your constant support for our ministry of publishing mean more than you can imagine! And, you and others throughout this church will be delighted to learn that we will launch major new versions of Herewestandconfirmation.org and Sundaysandseasons.com later this year! HWS in May and S&S in July.

Blessings,
Beth

http://twitter.com/bethalewis

Beth A. Lewis, President & CEO
Augsburg Fortress

For the past 3 years, our Vacation Bible School curriculum has featured two very popular characters on the accompanying video, Jonah & Molly.

Last night, I came across this blog post on the Mad Preacher Liberation Front blog that told me something I didn’t know! “Our” Jonah (more commonly known as Mike Rylander) starred in one of the Doritos® ads that appeared on Sunday night’s Super Bowl!

Quite a leap from Jonah to Doritos®.

Now, back to Baobab Blast!

Blessings,
Beth

http://twitter.com/bethalewis

Beth A. Lewis, President & CEO
Augsburg Fortress

I received an email earlier today from my colleague, Josh Messner, sharing information re: some of the recent updates he and another colleague, Tieg Herman, have made to Fortress Forum our free social networking site for people interested in religion and theology scholarship. Here is what Josh said:

“First, we want to mention the interviews we’ve been conducting with key authors, which are by far the most visited pages on the site. We started with a solid clutch of some very big names: Sallie McFague, Walter Brueggemann, N. T. Wright, Martin Marty, Philip Clayton, Richard Grigg, Shawn Copeland, and Joerg Rieger. Most recently, we featured a great conversation about theology, food, and ethics with Shannon Jung.

We have also interviewed and expect responses soon from William Anderson, Athalya Brenner, Hugh Page, Christine Helmer, Jonathan Linman, and Dan Maguire….

…We also have some great new video content from several top authors, including Jerry Sumney, Greg Higgins, Russ Pregeant, and Curtiss DeYoung….

All of the above-mentioned items can be found most easily by going to fortressforum.com and clicking on the ‘blogs’ tab at the top. Scroll down through the history of posts to find what you want. We encourage you to check out the site, especially the interviews, which offer some great insights into the intellectual imaginations of our best authors.”

Join us! It’s free and informative! We’d love to hear from you re: what would make Fortress Forum more valuable for you!

Blessings,
Beth
http://twitter.com/bethalewis

Beth A. Lewis, President & CEO
Augsburg Fortress