Walter is Turning 90!
Walter Brueggemann will be 90 years old on March 11, 2023! He continues to write a weekly blog here, and he has several more books out this year!
Walter would love to read your birthday wishes, so please leave a comment below. We’ll make sure he sees them all!
Also, check out Conrad Kanagy’s authorized biography of Walter coming out later this year.
77 Comments
Joel Wilson · March 5, 2023 at 5:16 pm
Dear Dr. Brueggeman,
I have never forgotten your class at Georgetown in 1992 with Father Fitzmeyer and Donahue-and focused on the Pentateuch. I also remember fondly your reading of my feeble writing on the Acts of Pilate, and your kind commentary.
Wishing you God’s blessing on this your 90th Birthday May you continue grace upon grace.
Very sincerely and respectfully,
Joel Wilson
Howard Macy · March 5, 2023 at 5:30 pm
Happy Birthday, Walter!! Thank you for thoughtfulness and faithful service! I have long admired you and give thanks for all you have done. Blessings!!
Perky Daniel · March 10, 2023 at 11:51 am
Birthday blessings on your 90th!
Hoping to hear from you,
PD
David Galloway · March 5, 2023 at 6:00 pm
Walter, so enjoyed the days we shared at the Cathedral of St. Philip in Atlanta. Your Pentecost sermon was one of the best I’ve ever heard. Prophetic Imagination and Finally Come the Poet shaped my ministry as a priest. I am grateful for your witness. Blessings on your birthday. David+
Grace Imathiu · March 5, 2023 at 6:05 pm
Happy Birthday!
Here’s to many more!
Peter White · March 6, 2023 at 3:29 am
Ad multos annos!
Carmel Doyle · March 10, 2023 at 6:34 am
Happy Birthday a d thank you for your commitment to the Good News! Your work has helped many on their life journey. Happy 90th Birthday!!!
Dan Wilson · March 5, 2023 at 6:17 pm
Dear Dr Brueggemann,
Hopeful Imagination was the antidote to a prose flattened reality I had been looking for. All these years later I remain grateful for your voice. Thank you.
Tom Warren · March 6, 2023 at 5:26 pm
Dr. Brueggemann,
Your theological insight has deeply informed my preaching and ministry for the past 27 years. I’m am grateful for all that you have done and continue to do!! Blessings of peace! Thank you. Tom Warren
Mike Rogers · March 5, 2023 at 7:08 pm
Thank you so much for your work. I haven’t always agreed with all you have shared but I always respect you and your work, especially since Christians and Jewish scholars alike quote you so often. Keep up the great work and enjoy your next journey around the sun.
Wendell Griffen · March 5, 2023 at 8:30 pm
Dr. Brueggemann, thank you for the unflinching candor you consistently provide to the interpretation of Scripture and your refusal to romanticize Biblical history. Happy 90th Birthday in advance. You are a great blessing!
Patrick Cousins · March 5, 2023 at 8:35 pm
Dr. Brueggemann, I took a summer class with you at Notre Dame in the early 2000s and my life has never been the same. Every class was thrilling, funny, and surprising. You have revolutionized the toolbox that Christians and Jews bring to the study of the Bible, and done so in an accessible, engaging, and creative way. Happy birthday and many more!
Kelly · March 5, 2023 at 8:38 pm
Happy, happy birthday to you! Dr. Brueggemann your life and work are a gift to this world. I thank God for you, and am so grateful for your perseverance in the faith. May you feel love and joy and hope as you celebrate your birthday!
Thank you for sharing your gifts with us all!
Melanie Akin · March 5, 2023 at 9:44 pm
Happy birthday, Walter! I am so thankful that I discovered your work in the last year. I am from GA and the granddaughter of a Baptist minister. I have felt so discouraged as of late seeing the dark turn the church has taken in recent years as it has become so politicized and polarized. I have listened to many of the podcasts you have been on, and your words have been such an encouragement to me at a time when I have felt so disillusioned. I am so thankful for your wisdom and insights – they have been a light in the darkness that has reminded me to keep an eye on the big picture of what God wants for and from us. I was never a huge fan of the Old Testament (lol- except for Psalms), so your words have also peaked my interest in books of the Bible that I was not very interested in previously. Wishing you much health and happiness, and I hope you will continue to share your wise words with us.
Marcus Brecheen · March 5, 2023 at 10:16 pm
Dr. Brueggemann,
Thank you so much for the work you’ve done. Many times I’ve wanted to sit and talk with you. In seminary, I read “Finally Comes the Poet” and I have referred it to hundreds over the years. It shaped my ministry and preaching. I always watch for your latest book, and am deeply grateful for the depth of insight you’ve offered through the decades. Every time I preach I consider what you’ve said about the craft and text before me. I would be less effective without your influence.
MaryAnn Eikermann Van Dine · March 5, 2023 at 10:21 pm
Happy Birthday to my wonderful cousin Walter Brueggemann!!! May you be richly blessed on your birthday with many greetings of love and laughter! Bedazzled! by our Lord Jesus!!! We are all grateful that you have listened and worked for God’s purpose in your life so that His Light shines thru you and your writings/ blogs/ speeches, etc. Much Love from Kansas City Eikermann/ Brueggemann Family MaryAnn
Kevin Bodam · March 5, 2023 at 11:14 pm
I wish I have the opportunity to speak to you one on one, I wish I could be tuture nder you, but not withstanding, I wish you many more blessed years ahead, as you turn 90 on 11- 3, God will turn your night to day, you shall be celebrated all over the world and your reputation will procced you sir.
HBD sir. With lot of love. Thanks sir.
David Charles Smith · March 5, 2023 at 11:15 pm
Happy Birthday from a UCC Pastor who has been often guided by your biblical critiques of our Pharaoh-dominated economic system. You were the speaker at my Princeton Theological Seminary graduation in 1987; a presenter at General Synod and other events I attended across the years; and were honored by Eden Theological Seminary in 1997, when I received my D.Min. Thank you for inspiring me in so many ways with your words, your commitments, and your faithfulness to the Gospel of Christ.
Dr. Mary Langer Thompson · March 6, 2023 at 12:40 am
Happy 90th Birthday, Walter Brueggemann! I have been reading your work since 1999 when I attended a NEH Psalms seminar at the University of Wisconsin-Oskgosh with Dr. Urbrock. I think my favorite book of yours is From Whom No Secrets Are Hid: Introducing the Psalms, so I will re-read it in honor of your birthday. Keep writing, please!
Sue Richardson · March 6, 2023 at 2:49 am
Dear Dr Brueggemann, I am so pleased to be able to offer you birthday greetings as you begin your tenth decade. There are simply not enough words to contain my gratitude for the instruction and inspiration your work has given me over forty years. You are my go-to theologian and Old Testament guru. I am also amazed by your personal grace and generosity having had the opportunity to meet you and having written to you once or twice over that time and received such prompt, and encouraging replies from you. I am so thankful for the blessing you are and will be.
Don Love · March 6, 2023 at 6:29 am
Greetings from Shannondale, German Evangelical Church, Salem, Missouri.
Rosie Benjamin · March 6, 2023 at 7:24 am
Dear Walter, I first came across you in a dark dank theological library. I was idly flicking through books and stumbled upon your startling and vigorous words. You are a man of many words, steeped in the Word and a man of your word. Your ‘Journey to the Common Good’ is the closest I’ve come to a spiritual manifesto. I am profoundly grateful for your scholarship and the heart you put into all of it. Happy Birthday. We are blessed.
Rich Simpson · March 6, 2023 at 7:57 am
Happy Birthday, Walter! I’ll turn sixty a few days after you turn 90. My own milestone gives me renewed respect for four faithfulness decade after decade. I remain grateful to have a DMin from CTS and in that work to have learned so much about the “earthy spirituality” of the Psalms and the prophetic voice of Jeremiah. Thank you for your wisdom.
Craig Sundberg · March 6, 2023 at 8:39 am
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Walter. I think of you often. Miss seeing you. Sending my Love for you and Tia, and withing you the best. Love you. Craig. Sending you a note and surprise soon.
Craig Sundberg · March 6, 2023 at 8:41 am
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Walter. I think of you often. Miss seeing you. Sending my Love for you and Tia, and wishing you the best. Love you. Craig. Sending you a note and surprise soon.
Guðbjörg Björnsdóttir -Larsson · March 6, 2023 at 11:12 am
Dear Walter Brueggemann!
Happy Birthday and a wonderful new year!
Thank you for all your precious writings, books and articles
that I have enjoyed so much and learned so much from.
Looking forward to reading and learning more from you.
God bless you always,
Guðbjörg Björnsdóttir-Larsson.
Karen Fretheim Fredrickson · March 7, 2023 at 10:59 am
Happy Birthday from the Michigan Fretheims who live down the road from you.
Vanessa Guerin · March 7, 2023 at 7:54 pm
Happy Birthday, Dr. Brueggemann!
What an honor it’s been to publish your work in Oneing, CAC’s literary journal!
The world is forever blessed by your brilliant gifts!
Vanessa Guerin
Director of Publications
Center for Action and Contemplation
Rev. Lawrence Hargrave · March 7, 2023 at 11:24 pm
Dr. Brueggan, I met you 8 years ago in Rochester. I was familiar with your work before that and really appreciate your contribution to theological scholarship and discourse.
Peace, Blessings and Good Journey
Don Love · March 9, 2023 at 8:17 am
My father attended an adult Sunday School class taught by Walt in the early Sixties. The first day, Walt threw his Bible to the floor.
Don Love · March 9, 2023 at 8:23 am
Thanks for keeping study of the Hebrew Bible lively all these years!
Peter Wallace · March 10, 2023 at 5:23 am
Happy birthday, Walter! May blessings abound!
Tameka Philips · March 10, 2023 at 5:30 am
Happy Birthday!
Marjorie Keiter · March 10, 2023 at 6:04 am
Blessings on your birthday and thank you for your entire body of work–and all that is to come. I have read many of your books and articles and learned much!
Brother Love · March 10, 2023 at 6:16 am
Happy Birthday to someone who has been experiencing the presence of God for many years. Thanks for not just living in it but sharing it so faithfully these years. “He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how shall He not, with Him, freely give us all things?” Romans 8:32
Pastor Cheryl Davis · March 10, 2023 at 6:55 am
Happy Birthday! Your deep discernment of biblical and spiritual truth has been food for my soul for the past 13 years (since seminary) and I love sharing what I learn from you with my congregation. Thank you for your faithfulness to the Lord and the rest of us.
Janice Sevre-Duszynska · March 10, 2023 at 7:03 am
You are a memorable teacher: I remember being in your Old Testament class on The Prophetic Imagination at Notre Dame years ago. You strode into the classroom each morning with a copy of the New York Times next to your Bible. You taught us how to view what was happening in our world from a Biblical perspective. You gave us the tools to critique the present from a Biblical perspective.
I am grateful to have experienced your insight and
wisdom.
Mick Saunders · March 10, 2023 at 7:14 am
Birthday blessings, Walter. I first met you at the National Pastors’ Sabbath at Snow Bird, Utah. You continue to inspire me to search and study. We had breakfast together, since we must have been the first ones up! Thank you for your continued work.
Mick-Retired Comm. Lay Pastor PCUSA
Dan DeBevoise · March 10, 2023 at 7:18 am
Happy Birthday, Walter. Your work has been a font of imagination and honesty throughout my ministry, and brief in-person encounters with you have been highlights. Wishing you continued good health, work, and rest.
Wayne Shipman · March 10, 2023 at 8:06 am
Blessings on your birthday and May God grant you more. I so appreciate your work in so many ways. Thank you for inspiring so many people in their vocation and spiritual walks.
Anjeanette Perkins · March 10, 2023 at 8:14 am
Dr. Brueggemann,
Happy birthday! I first encountered your writing through articles in The Other Side magazine. Those articles led me next to your book “The Covenanted Self.” As a church member who hadn’t yet contemplated seminary education, those writings were the first time the Hebrew Bible came to life for me. The positive ripple effects continue in my life. Thank you.
Lisa Hart · March 10, 2023 at 8:14 am
Happy 90th Birthday, Dr. Brueggemann! I have enjoyed appreciated your writing for many years. One of my favorite memories is picking you up at the airport in Madison and being your driver when you came to preach for David Moyer’s retirement celebration. I was so nervous, but you put me at ease immediately. I also enjoyed our periodic email exchanges after that trip.
May this new year of life be filled with blessings!
Calvin Coon · March 10, 2023 at 8:51 am
Happy 90th birthday Dr. Brueggemann! Your work has been massively influential on me, both in my exodus from conservative evangelicalism and towards a more vibrant, open, humane faith. God bless you in your 90th year.
Deborah Bartelt · March 10, 2023 at 9:06 am
Happy Birthday, Walt! 40 years ago we had a birthday cake for you at Eden! Fond memories! Deborah
Deborah Bartelt · March 10, 2023 at 9:45 am
Happy Birthday, Walt. Fond regards. All those years ago at Eden turned into meaningful ministry for me with the church. Thank you! Deborah
Patricia Johnson · March 10, 2023 at 9:49 am
Wishing you God’s continued blessings as you inspire so many who need your wisdom. I remember the evening talks and lunch I shared with you & staff at Boston Ave. UMC around 2012. You are and will continue to be a great influence in my ministry. Thank you for sharing your blessings with so many! We are blessed by you!
Donna Nichols · March 10, 2023 at 9:50 am
Dr. Brueggemann, happy 90th birthday! May you have a a highly blessed birthday celebration. May your day be chock full of people you love…
Jeff Kersten · March 10, 2023 at 10:17 am
Happy birthday, Dr. Brueggemann! I am so very glad you were born. Your Spirit-led insight has deeply inspired me and I regularly reflect on it along my journey. Thank you for being a devoted and faithful guide. May God richly bless you on this day, your 90th trip around the sun, and every day. Be well!
Ann Henderson · March 10, 2023 at 10:32 am
Dear Dr. Brueggemann,
Happy Birthday! Over 20 years ago, when I was in my thirties, I was heading to a Montreat Music and Worship conference and my pastor, Rev. George Gracey, encouraged me to attend your sessions. You presented two sessions that year, one on Jeremiah and one on Psalms. Wow! You woke me up and I have never been the same. I have heard you speak several times since and reference you often. Thank you for sharing your life’s work with us. I hope you are surrounded with much love and laughter.
Thomas Golding · March 10, 2023 at 10:35 am
Thank you Dr Brueggemann for all the years of lessons about how to get closer to our spiritual goals by becoming more human(e)
Thomas Harp · March 10, 2023 at 10:58 am
Happy Birthday, Dr. Brueggemann. Your work is and has been a great inspiration to me. Most recently, I used your On Going Imagination as a study resource in a Sunday morning class. I believe you would have greatly enjoyed the faith enriching conversations that arose as a result. Thank you!
Ray Tetz · March 10, 2023 at 11:26 am
Years of traveling before digital tools meant that space for books was always at a premium. Nonetheless, in my carry-on was always at least one book that would provide what I needed for “my daily Brueggemann.” It is still a hard and fast rule for me every day. These days I am most drawn to your poems and prayers.
I’m so grateful! Happy Birthday!
Kevin Andrews · March 10, 2023 at 11:33 am
Happy Birthday, Dr Brueggemann. Thank you for you energy, dedication and love: for God and the church. I was fortunate to sit in your classes at Eden. Life and faith were never the same.
Mooydeen Frees · March 10, 2023 at 12:19 pm
Happy Birthday, Walter! We certainly miss you at St. Timothy’s. I am forever grateful for how your thinking contributed immensely to my faith formation. What a gift you have been to the world! Give Tia a hug from me.
Daniel Lundberg · March 10, 2023 at 1:03 pm
Happy Birthday! Thank you for handing on so much to the next generations. God bless you.
Abraham Ndūng'ū · March 10, 2023 at 1:22 pm
Happy Birthday Walter. You are a great gift to humanity. I enjoy reading your books.
John Norquist · March 10, 2023 at 1:40 pm
Your scholarship and faithful witness to Jesus have been a blessing to me throughout my ministry. Thank you, and Happy Birthday!
Peter Uhlmann · March 10, 2023 at 2:23 pm
Walter you are a tower of strength in a world of hurricanes. Happy Birthday Walter.
Bob Anderson · March 10, 2023 at 3:45 pm
Happy Birthday, Prophet, Poet, and Peacemaker. Two wishes:
(1) that you may know and absorb how beloved you are, yes by God and also by all those whose prophetic imaginations you have helped shaped, and
(2) that I may summon my inner Walter to be a prophet, poet, and peacemaker too,
Daniel J Belgum · March 10, 2023 at 4:15 pm
Dear Dr. Brueggemann,
Your commentary on Genesis (Interpretation, 1982) was formative for me, as a seminarian and young pastor. My Old Testament teacher was Dr. Terence Fretheim, at Luther Seminary. Your commentary and his Exodus Commentary were core books for our Penteteuch course. I am grateful for your writings over the years, as I’ve devoured many of your articles, and a book or two, and had the pleasure of hearing you speak and preach many times, first at CHARIS Center, at Concordia College in the mid-1990s. Your work has inspired and challenged me — and thousands of others — in the adventure and challenge of ministry… Thank you and God continue to bless you…. Happy 90th Birthday, and many returns!
Beverly Christine Brazier · March 10, 2023 at 5:42 pm
Thank you, Dr Brueggemann, for everything. Your poetry, your prophesy, your pastoral care for the church, have been and continue to be a blessing in the ministry to which I have been called. May God bless you always. .
Randie Clawson · March 10, 2023 at 6:29 pm
Dear Dr. Brueggemann,
God has used your writings to transform my thinking and doing. Your books and blog bring joy. Thanks for introducing me to an Unsettling God.
Happy 90th.
Alvin Dungan · March 10, 2023 at 9:45 pm
I have so appreciated your articles Dr. Brueggemann. They have blessed my life and given me great ideas for articles that I write for our weekly church newsletter. I especially appreciate your focus on the Hebrew scriptures being myself one who focused on Hebrew while at seminary.
My entire scriptural concept was turned upside down when I took Hebrew and what a great impact it had on my ministry. Your articles have only reaffirmed my delight that I took Hebrew.
May your 90th birthday be a special blessing to you.
Lindsey Smith · March 11, 2023 at 7:20 am
Happy birthday, Dr. Brueggemann! I’m so grateful for your writing and your presence at Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church in Denver. God bless you now and always.
Leon Alirangues · March 11, 2023 at 9:39 am
Happy Continuation Day, Dr.Brueggemann. Thank you for broadening and deepening the meaning of the scriptures for me. Your metaphors are wonderful. Blessings.
Floyd M. Schoenhals · March 11, 2023 at 10:04 am
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Dr. Brueggemann! I was hooked on your scholarship when I read The Prophetic Imagination not long after it was first published. I was also privileged to hear your presentations to the ELCA Conference of Bishops and more recently in Ann Arbor during one of our visits to our son and his family. I was delighted to learn of your weekly blog on the Church Anew website. Thank you for continuing to share your biblical and theological reflections as they relate to the many issues we face in striving to be faithful children of God in the world in which we live! May God’s grace continue to strengthen, support, sustain and bless you!
Rev. Linda Farmer-Lewis and Bill Lewis · March 11, 2023 at 12:34 pm
Happy Birthday! Thank you for being a bright light in a dark time. Your scholarship and faithfulness have radiated hope to millions of people and will continue to do so! Keep writing we are eager for your words!
Gene Lassiter · March 11, 2023 at 1:42 pm
Damn, Walter, I thought 81 was a great milestone. But 90! Good skills, as they say in New Zealand. I haven’t read everything you’ve written, but what I have read changed my life n so many ways. Your kind letter in my first year of ministry when I had read a piece in JforP and thanked you was a heart lift in a very dismal pastorate. One memory: you were doing the Bible study at Worship and Music, Montreat. I brought a group from West Virginia which included a college prof who had read your books and wanted to met you. One the first day, we made our way to the front of the room. You turned and caught sight of us and said, “Gene, good to see you.” The prof said to me after we were seated, “He knows you! I am impressed.” You did great wonders for my reputation in Wild and Wonderful WV.
I look forward to many more words from you. Blessings. Gene
Bob Kittendorf · March 11, 2023 at 2:55 pm
Happy Birthday, Walt! Your teaching and writing influenced my ministry since the day I first stepped into Core I at Eden Seminary. I continue to read your blog regularly and greatly appreciate the insights you offer. Sandy and I have retired to Grand Rapids. She joins me in wishing you a joy filled celebration. Have a great day!
Bob Kittendorf
brueggemann · March 16, 2023 at 8:09 am
Thanks Bob: We are neighbors since I am in Traverse City. I hope all is well for you and Sandy in retirement. Happy memories!
Walte3r
Ken Palisin · March 11, 2023 at 9:30 pm
Happy 90.
Memorable was your presentation on Pharoah’s Economy and the important reality of God’s abundance, at St. John’s UCC, Newport, KY. 2011??
Also, remember shortly after, during the founding years of Economics of Compassion in Cincinnati and related events at Christ Church Cathedral and Xavier University. Thank you.
I carry those messages with me here now in Great Falls, MT and Disciple”s Central
Christian Church
Enjoy the abundant sand, water and blueberries of Michigan.
Robin Biffle · March 11, 2023 at 10:11 pm
Happy birthday! It is not hyperbole to say your books have changed my life and deeply influenced my ministry. My daughter is “requiring” me to re-home most of my library because she doesn’t want to deal with so many books when I die—your books are exempt. I’m keeping them all because they are essential; I go back to them again and again. So … thank you and I hope you have had a most lovely day.
Tim and Kerry Dearborn · March 12, 2023 at 1:18 pm
Walter, Kerry and I pray for you with deep gratitude and ask for God’s continued blessings on your life. We remember with joy your ministry for us with the leadership of World Vision International, and you’re speaking to a pastors’ conference at Fuller Seminary. Our lives are inspired, challenged and strengthened through you. Thank you. Grace and peace, Tim and Kerry Dearborn
Sandi · March 12, 2023 at 8:58 pm
Wishing you a very happy birthday as you celebrate and thanking you for your many contributions to ministry in your teaching and reflections on scripture. Thanks for all that you have done and continue to do to in sharing your insights and faith with many who then share it with their congregations or other groups. I appreciate how you make something from the Hebrew scriptures come alive as you related it to a present situation in the world and church. Continued prayers for your ministry and wellbeing
Gregory Michael Hernandez · March 13, 2023 at 11:16 am
Happy 90th Birthday Dr. Brueggemann! I am so thankful for your continued work. I still periodically listen to the audio of our week together for Vacation Bible School with Tripp Fuller. Since 1999 when I was at Biola, your work has been the #1 theological influence on my work as a visual artist. Thank you!
Vicki Kemper · March 15, 2023 at 3:05 pm
Thank you, Dr. Brueggemann, for a lifetime of prophetic imagination, scholarship, and writing. Your books, especially *The Prophetic Imagination,* have shaped me and my ministry significantly, and I return to them again and again. Blessings on you as you celebrate this milestone birthday. May you always know that you are a blessing to the church and to the world.
Bill Brueggemann · May 22, 2023 at 12:34 am
Dr. Brueggemann, Your books have educated and inspired me. May I wish you a belated happy BD from “a fellow kinsman” as you autographed your book for me in Seattle.