Lent Madness

Celebrity Blogger Week continues with…another Lutheran! We’re pleased to have digital media guru David Hansen return for another year of Lent Madness. We’re not exactly sure what’s going on in his extracurricular photo. He appears to be defending a stone fortress, or at least some environmentally friendly rain barrels, with a toy sword. We wish him luck in his Don Quixote-esque quest!

David Hansen

The Rev. David Hansen, despite growing up as a pastor’s kid, turned out okay. An ELCA pastor, he serves at Spirit of Joy! Lutheran Church in The Woodlands, Texas (outside of Houston), where he lives with his wife Megan, their daughter, and their menagerie of pets. When not preaching and teaching for the Lutheran diaspora in Texas, David is helping to drag the church into the digital age – teaching congregations and leaders to make use of online tools for ministry (You can catch David this year leading an Intensive as a part of the ELCA Youth Ministry Network Extravaganza. He is a regular contributor and moderator in the Church Social Media (#chsocm) community, and wrote the forward to Celebrity Blogger alum Meredith Gould’s The Social Media Gospel. He is an occasional contributor to The Lutheran magazine and Living Lutheran, and blogs at Pastor David L. Hansen. David has recently begun work as the Director for LEAD — an organization committed to providing resources for leaders and ministries. Connect with him on Twitter @rev_david and Facebook.

1. What is the single most inspirational place you have ever visited (besides your own church).
It’s so hard to choose just one! The Lutheran seminary on the battlefield of Gettysburg is an exceptionally inspirational space, and to attend school there was a powerful experience. Walking to class and back home up and over the same contested Seminary Ridge as that pivotal battle of the Civil War, spending time soaking in the views of the battlefield – to be in the space where so many sacrificed so much was a humbling experience.

2. Share one unusual fact about yourself with the Lent Madness public.
Despite attending an Episcopal seminary (YSR!), I come from a very Lutheran family. When I was born, the doctor smacked my posterior and I shouted, “Hier stehe ich!” Ok, maybe that one is less than factual – but it is a fact that when I was ordained I became the twelfth Lutheran pastor in four generations of our family.

3. Of the saints you’ve written about for Lent Madness 2017, what most inspires you? What most disturbs you?
The story of Philip Melanchthon really speaks to me – doing yeoman’s work for the Reformation, and watching his best friend get all the credit could not have been easy. And then to have much of that work discredited at the end of his career, because he was a politically convenient target for his opponents. In fact, perhaps Lin-Manuel Miranda’s next musical will be Melanchthon?

But nothing rolls off the tongue like “Franz Jägerstätter.” I admire – and also shudder – at what his wedding planning conversation must have been like. “So dear, I know you want a big, joyous celebration, but I’m thinking we should get married at a Maundy Thursday worship service. What do you say?”

4. If you could get just one tattoo this Lent, what would it be? (besides the Lent Madness logo and “none” is not an option).
Well, since “none” is not an option – and I have a very strong aversion to pain – I would have to go with something small. Very small. As in a dot. Well, more of a “jot” than a dot – a jot of the law, left unchanged by Jesus’ proclamation of the Gospel.