Standard-Examiner staff?jfrancis@standard.net?

OGDEN — Members of the First Church of Christ, Scientist want to share a talk by an internationally recognized speaker with the community Tuesday.?The free 7 p.m. talk will take place at the church, located at 780 24th St.?Speaking is Ginny Luedeman of Salem, Ore., a qualified Christian Science practitioner and instructor, who will share her life story of addictions and abandonment.?”I was a hard rock singer in the 1960s,” she said in an interview. “I had gone through abuse and abandonment from my alcoholic dad.”?Luedeman said her life eventually led to her overdosing on LSD.?”I went through tough stuff,” she said. “Then I went through some healing.”?It’s this sharing of her story of healing through the realization of God’s love for her that Luedeman shares in her public talks. She has lectured throughout the United States, Canada, Scotland, England, Australia, New Zealand and other locations.?She has spoken to a variety of audiences from alcoholic recovery centers, care facilities, churches, youth groups, prisons, military facilities and other public venues of all types.?Sabrina Stillwell, a Christian Science practitioner and instructor from the Ogden area, said she and others at her church are excited to be able to bring Luedeman’s lecture to the public.?”We are thrilled to give this gift to the community,” Stillwell said. “We looked at what the community needed and we found that there were a lot of issues with addictions.”?While she said addictions create major problems, Stillwell said communities may be healed through prayer.?Stillwell said she’s watched the community respond to 4-year-old Ethan Stacey’s recent death. She believes situations like that could be avoided if people would realize their spiritual identity.?”People need a spiritual sense of who they are,” she said. “That’s the only thing that’s going to heal them — a spiritual solution to these issues.”?She said all people, no matter what they’ve done, are children of God and are loved.?”The only thing that’s the answer is divine, unconditional love,” Stillwell said.?Luedeman said she’s devoted her life to try and help people.?”I offer ideas people can take back to their own congregations and their own faith traditions,” she said. “I’m not trying to convert people. I’m trying to help people help themselves.”?”My life story is what I share,” she said. “I also share the Bible and Jesus.”?Luedeman said when people are able to find healing, they also find a sense of value and worth.?Among those Luedeman has helped to heal are two girls she adopted who had been abandoned multiple times by their parents as well as foster and adoptive parents.?A 9-year-old girl had been in 14 homes by the time Luedeman and her husband, Craig, adopted her. A 6-year-old had been in 13 homes.?”I found when we hugged these children, it brought out deep feeling,” she said.?”When they hear that they are loved, it often brings tears,” Luedeman said. “I tell them those are ice cubes melting.”?According to Luedeman’s biography, she was the child of an alcoholic father who moved his family constantly. She and her family were abandoned when she was 15.?She dropped out of high school, married at 16 and became a mother at 17, states the biography.?She subsequently had to deal with her own addictive behavior and resulting life challenges.?Ginny was the lead singer of a 1960s rock band, “The Morning Glory.”?The band played in concert with The Grateful Dead, The Rolling Stones, Janice Joplin and Jimi Hendrix. The band also recorded an original record album, the biography states. This gave her firsthand experience with the hard rock lifestyle.?She survived some harrowing experiences with spiritual help, states the biography. Luedeman’s life turned around in the middle of an LSD overdose. Within two years, big changes started happening in her life, states the biography.?She began studying the book “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” written by Mary Baker Eddy, in conjunction with the Bible.?As a result of her change of lifestyle, confusion and fear transformed into an understanding of the ever-presence of God’s love and care for His children, states the biography.?Now married for more than 41 years, Luedeman and her husband have six children. Two actually are grandchildren they are raising. They also house foster children.?Luedman said she has found that understanding a relationship to God brings a sense of home that is good, loving, lasting and joyous.