“The Freedom of a Christian”
Voices of Faith

“The Freedom of a Christian”

Series editor’s note: Throughout 2020, “Deeper understandings” will engage the ELCA’s commitment to authentic diversity. —Kathryn A. Kleinhans, dean of Trinity Lutheran Seminary at Capital University, Columbus, Ohio The Freedom…

Freed to serve others
Voices of Faith

Freed to serve others

“What type of person do you want to be?” I was taken aback when asked this question during a college service-learning trip. Rather than focusing on what I should be…

A pilgrimage at home
Voices of Faith

A pilgrimage at home

“What I have to do is to honor this pilgrimage through life. And so I am this pilgrim who’s constantly amazed by this journey” —Paulo Coehlo I’ve long loved the…

Jesus and the election
Voices of Faith

Jesus and the election

I think this is almost invariably (note the tiny escape clause) an accurate statement: Lutheran pastors do not tell parishioners how to vote. Not only is this technically illegal but…

I’m a Lutheran: Sherri Rinker
Voices of Faith

I’m a Lutheran: Sherri Rinker

Bethlehem Lutheran Church, St. Charles, Ill. Children’s book author I started exploring church in college. I remember feeling incredibly awkward—not knowing the routine, having no sense of what was happening when…

Delayed judgment
Voices of Faith

Delayed judgment

In the early 1980s, beginning at Mount Katahdin, I backpacked the length of the Appalachian Trail (2,100 miles) south from Maine to Georgia. Sometimes I’d go three days without seeing…