A “lifeline” to the community
Living Faithfully

A “lifeline” to the community

When William Siong came to the United States in the late 1980s as a 15-year-old Hmong refugee, he was seeking a better life, having lost both his parents during the…

A necessary book during a tumultuous time for the LGBTQIA+ community
Living Faithfully

A necessary book during a tumultuous time for the LGBTQIA+ community

Editor’s note: Embracing Queer Family uses the term “Queer” to mean “anyone who does not identify as heterosexual and cisgender.” The authors acknowledge that not everyone in the LGBTQIA+ community…

“Have you been fed?”
Living Faithfully

“Have you been fed?”

As she took the podium, Jill Rode, a pastor of St. Anthony Park Lutheran Church in St. Paul, Minn., looked out at a roomful of Asian Lutheran leaders of a…

A gathering table built to last
Living Faithfully

A gathering table built to last

A 134-year-old college and a similarly venerable nearby congregation learned through an ELCA initiative that their neighbors were thirsting for them to partner in fostering togetherness. That’s how Pacific Lutheran…

How a congregation became “cool”
Mission & Ministry

How a congregation became “cool”

In 1958, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church was erected on pastureland in Decorah, Iowa. Like most buildings from that era, it was heated with fuel oil. During the 1960s, the congregation…