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Faith in Action

Embracing diversity in the pews

Multicultural ELCA congregations share their successes, struggles.

Faith in Action

When hope in the future awakens

How can the church help those looking for a better tomorrow?

Faith in Action

Immersion programs build bridges

At Oaks Indian Mission in Oklahoma, Lutherans pondered what it means when a white person supports sports teams that use racial slurs as their mascots. Many miles away at Living…

Mission & Ministry

What’s in a name?

When Lutheran Social Services of the South, based in Austin, Texas, changed its name to “Upbring” last spring, they joined the ranks of other long-standing Lutheran institutions around the country…

Faith in Action

The garden that grows reconciliation

Botswana, with one of the highest rates of HIV and AIDS in the world, is known for its progressive approach to addressing community needs. One of its many projects is…

Faith in Action

A force in Iowa

When the new Star Wars movie made its December debut, congregations, pastors and organists across the ELCA used it as an opportunity to tap into current culture. First Lutheran Church…

Mission & Ministry

‘Our Father’ binds his/the world together

The Japanese had been the enemy. That was the general thinking in 1948 while Luther Kistler and other soldiers occupied Tokyo. So it seemed unusual for Kistler when his father…

Mission & Ministry

A life laid down

We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us — and we ought to lay down our lives for one another  (1 John 3:16). Francis Spufford, a…

Faith in Action

Truly inclusive membership requires intention, support

In 1990 people of color comprised 2 percent of the ELCA’s total membership. Since then a perennial goal has been to increase members of color to at least 10 percent….

Faith in Action

We are the magi and light

As we journey, may we not weary as we wander through our nights.

Faith in Action

Starting fresh

Photos by Kathryn Brewer These are just a few of the things readers found when cleaning out church cupboards and closets, basements and attics: Mimeograph supplies. A poker table. A…

Mission & Ministry

Faith, fellowship and dialogue

On a map, the three obscure countries nestled on the Caribbean coast of South America seem closely connected. In reality, “the three Guianas” — French Guiana (a province of France),…