Tim Frakes Productions

Seminex: Memories of a Church Divided, A Documentary by Tim Frakes

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timfrakes
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Hey all you Lutherans out there. I’ve finally finished Seminex: Memories of a Church Divided, A Documentary by Tim Frakes. It’s a project I’ve been working on for more than a decade. I had no budget for this production. Nothing. It’s all a labor of love, because this is story that needs to be told. Here is a preview. Special thanks go out to the Concordia Historical Institute in St. Louis and the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago for their help in collecting materials and making folks available for interviews.

 

Order a DVD of the full, 42 minute documentary today for $19. Send your check to:
Tim Frakes Productions Inc.
2 South Park Ave
Suite 2C
Lombard, Illinois 60148

and I will personally ship you a DVD.  Include your shipping address.

On February 19, 1974, students and faculty at the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod’s St. Louis Concordia Seminary marched through the campus – out the doors of an institution, church body and well established educational system – and into self-described exile. This story begins in the 19th Century when a new method of Biblical interpretation known as the “historical-critical method”, tore many Protestant churches apart. Were Adam and Eve real people? Was Jonah actually swallowed by a fish? Or, did ancient authors reflect their own historical situation when addressing the people of their time and place?

For Missouri Synod Lutherans, the full impact of these theological debates and culturally conservative verses more modern world views came to a head decades after other church bodies had divided and drifted apart. The debate ruptured the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod at a time of vast American cultural and social upheaval: Viet Nam, the Civil Rights movement and Watergate.

For many students, faculty, administrators and Lutherans throughout North America, the events in St. Louis took a personal toll. The walkout would divide families, split congregations and have a lasting impact on the future of the church.

Interviews include John H. Tietjen, Herman Otten, Gerhard Bode, the grandson of Jacob Preus, author and historian Jim Burkee, and dozens of Seminex faculty and students.

Comments

8 responses to “Seminex: Memories of a Church Divided, A Documentary by Tim Frakes”

  1. Charley Lopez Avatar
    Charley Lopez

    Good summary…thanks Tim!!

    Reply
  2. /Rev. David John Meyers Avatar
    /Rev. David John Meyers

    And some labor of love your video is! I saw it all at a Bible Study at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Seaford, Long Island. My friend, Pr. Ron Klose told me about the video. He started seminary at Christ Seminary-Seminex the following year. I graduated in 1974 and was among those who left campus and went into exile. You have done a most powerful and moving telling of our story, which, as my classmate Dave Krause said so well, has changed his perception, mine, and the church at large forever.
    I’ll be sending my check soon to pick up my own copy.
    Give my best to Glen Ellyn, Illinois. I grew up there from 1956-63, and was confirmed at Grace Lutheran in 1962. Peace and good.
    David+

    Reply
  3. Walter Rice Avatar
    Walter Rice

    I just discovered your documentary and would like a copy. Since the date listed here is 2015 I want to first make sure you are still selling this documnetary.
    I was a first year student at the time of the walkout. It is impossible to explain the extent of the impact that event had upon my life. In your trailer you mention it was about the Historical-Critical method, but it was more than that; at its core it was about the nature of the Gospel.
    The Seminex experience forced the students to be more theologically astute than we might otherwise have been since wherever we went we needed to able to defend our position. I value the experience for that reason, although it took me a few years following graduation to find a congregation willing to take an ecclesiastical nomad.
    Please let me know about the video’s availability.

    Reply
    1. timfrakes Avatar
      timfrakes

      Thanks Walter. I sent you an email. Just need your address to ship the DVD. Tim

      Reply
  4. Edgar Schambach Avatar
    Edgar Schambach

    Is the video still available?

    Reply
    1. timfrakes Avatar
      timfrakes

      Yes! Just need an address. Send check for $19.95 to Box 2004
      Glen Ellyn, IL 60148

      Reply
  5. Roy Wilson Avatar
    Roy Wilson

    I’d love to get a copy of that if it’s still possible.

    Reply
    1. timfrakes Avatar
      timfrakes

      Shoot me an address and I’ll ship you a DVD. tim@frakesproductions.com

      Reply

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