Coffee with Mark Achtemeier

Rev. Dr. Mark Achtemeier is a minister, author and theologian of
the Presbyterian Church (USA). He is well known for his
biblical research regarding same-sex marriage and having argued
just as passionately against same-sex marriage as he argues for
it today. This son to prestigious old and new testament seminary
professors presents his case in The Bible's Yes to
Same-Sex Marriage.


Many of our listeners know that I work at Union Presbyterian
Seminary's Morton Library. More specifically, I work in the
Instructional Resource Center where I stay busy supporting
seminarians, faculty, and other patrons in the Digital Learning
Lab and filling interlibrary loan requests (ILL). It is in
the ILL capacity that the Achtemeier name  regularly crosses
my path. Requests from other schools all around the country want
to borrow books, audio cassettes (yes, audio cassettes), and CD's
by Paul, Elizabeth and Mark Achtemeier. The interesting thing to
me was paying attention to the titles of their works. If these
people were, in fact, related to each other then it seemed to me
that they might not get along very well! The audio cassette
titles often implicated conservative messages while there were
many requests for Mark's above mentioned book. Nah, they
couldn't be related. It had to be coincidence.


Then after interviewing Tony Campolo and Bart Campolo I heard
about several iconic Christian leaders who's children were doing
... dissimilar, but related ministries. Some of you have listened
to our interview with the Campolo's or Frank Schaefer. (Check out
the movie about Frank.) So I was very grateful that Mark
Achtemeier was willing to begin a relationship with me and the
Coffeepot Fellowship Podcast.


These days the United States is extremely uneasy with the
occupant of the White House. Americans, like myself, who have
taken far too much for granted, find our nation in jeopardy. The
President is undermining legitimate news agencies that cite
their sources while giving credence to farcical conspiracy groups
and tabloids. As we learn more and more about then-candidate
Trump and now President Trump's connections with the Russian
government, we wonder how to remove the cancer before it
handicaps our country and costs innumerable lives here and
abroad. We're all asking ourselves what we can do to protect
our country and our neighbors, American and otherwise, within our
borders and beyond.


As an example, January 29th on Facebook there's a picture of a
bundled up Mark in a crowd holding up a sign - the poster
board is white, the handwriting is in all caps, black marker,
except one word. It reads, "Christians oppose the ban!" The
word 'oppose' is written in red. The caption reads as follows:


"Places I never thought I'd be...


"I have till now resisted passing impulses to join Facebook. But
in the past 24 hours the news has been of the immigration ban,
and detentions of legal residents without charges or access to
lawyers, and airport protests, and Customs and Border Patrol
agents defying orders of Federal judges.


"At church today I learned about a hastily-organized protest
rally coming together in downtown Dubuque this afternoon. I
bought poster board and markers on my way home from worship and
have been out this afternoon in 15 degree wind-chills marching
along downtown streets, chanting in front of our local
congressman's office, and holding my home-made sign in the air.


"I can't afford to rely just on word-of-mouth to learn about
these things anymore, so here. I am. Hello world.


Do you understand? People are doing things they've never
done before because we're willing to do whatever it takes for
America to be its best self, for humanity to be its best self.


 Links:


The Bible's Yes to Same-Sex Marriage, New Edition with Study
Guide (2015)


Jesus' Answer to President Trump's Immigration Ban


Mark in the Huffington Post (2011-present)


First Presbyterian Church Dubuque


NY Times


Subscribe to NY Times


Elizabeth Achtemeier (Mark's mother)


Paul Achtemeier (Mark's father)


Tony Campolo Interview


Bart Campolo Interview