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Meet Me at the Corner
A former newspaper reporter who has lived in Franklin for nearly 40 years, Marjorie is active in several Franklin and Hales Corners organizations.
Stephen Boehrer - Hales Corners Novelist
By Marjorie Pagel
Tuesday, Oct 14 2008, 11:02 AM
Today in my blog I’d like to introduce you to a Hales Corners man, Stephen Boehrer. He’s an active member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church, and I keep running into him and his wife Rita at various functions in Hales Corners and Franklin. Last month, for instance, we were all at the Franklin Library to hear from local author Larry Watson discuss his published novels. Rita, a retired history professor, regularly gives free public lectures at the Hales Corners Library, and I often run into the two of them there as well.
Originally, though, I got to know Steve when he and I were both part of a Writers Round Table at Redbird Studio, Bay View. Recently retired, Steve was working on his first novel – and when I say work, I mean just that. Steve wasn’t the type of writer who would dash off a draft and assume it was finished. His first novel, Unless a Grain of Wheat, went through many drafts before it was published in 1997. Steve didn’t get discouraged as many first-time novelists would, and he freely credits Judy Bridges, director of Redbird, the Round Table writers, and Rita, a perceptive reader and excellent editor, with helping him through the long process.
A former priest who loves his church, Steve drew inspiration for his first novel is from the Bible verse, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (quoted from New American Standard Bible, 1995.) This was written before the widespread publishing of sexual abuses by the clergy, along with all the lawsuits and public disgrace of many respected priests.
When Steve set out to write his first novel, he knew that it was the first of a trilogy. The other two were subsequently published: Dead Men’s Bones (2000) and Called to Freedom (2003) and were the subject of several book discussion groups at the Hales Corners and Franklin Libraries. All three books are available at the Hales Corners Library and from the publisher, Windborne Publications, P.O. box 7333, Hales Corners, WI 53130.
His next book, The Purple Culture, will be published by Oceanview Publishing and available at bookstores in May 2009. While the trilogy focuses on the same major characters, including Father Charles Mueller and Sister Maggie McDonough, The Purple Culture is a mystery that is ultimately solved in a courtroom where three bishops accused of pedophilia are on trial.
Quoting from Steve’s website: “The mystery surrounding the clerical abuse scandal is not that a priest could be a pedophile. The mystery lies with the bishops. What motivated politically adept, often outgoing and personable men who claim moral leadership to knowingly place predatory, pedophile priests among innocent children? What moved them to present deaf ears to victims and parents of victims, and then engage in stone-walling and cover-up activities?”
To learn more about Steve and his books, be sure to visit his new website, http://www.stephenboehrer.com Although I’m not a Roman Catholic, I responded to Steve’s invitation to join the dialogue on his web log, so be sure to check that out too. (Just go to the website referenced above and click on “Blog”.)
Steve has issued an open invitation for people concerned about the church to enter into this discussion. Here’s what he has to say that might encourage you to enter that dialogue:
The harm that self-absorbed and self-serving religious leaders can bring to their own people, and to others, has perhaps never been more evident.
History records how violence and terror tactics have been used, not just by small cults, but by all mainstream religions.
This blog is intended to display, discuss, and hopefully provide solutions to the threat of harm coming from Christian leadership.
I speak from my own affiliation and tradition, that of Roman Catholicism, but I believe the topic has universal application.
The attempts to cover-up the sexual abuse scandal with its protection of pedophiles, and the increasing numbers of thefts by ecclesiastics are warning signals to the laity that their judgments must enter the fray - or the scandals will continue.
In the priest/bishop pedophile scandal the conclusion is obvious that the leadership's moral compass is off-point.
Church embezzlements on today's scale bring the leadership's management abilities into question.
"The Purple Culture," speaks to components of a culture that are causal in episcopal behavior. It presents a foundation for and gives focus to action by the laity. I hope you will read it. Whether you agree with it or not, if you are interested in joining the discussion, let's begin.
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