The gift of godparents
Living Faithfully

The gift of godparents

My daughter gets a package from her godmother every June near the anniversary of her baptism. When she was little, it was usually a book. As she grew older the…
A joy-filled service just for them
Living Faithfully

A joy-filled service just for them

It starts with a parachute in the sanctuary. Children and adults of all abilities hold its edges and lift multicolored sheets up and down while singing “Jesus Loves Me.” Jayden…
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Living Faithfully

God’s heartbeat

Have you ever cried so hard, been so upset, that you couldn’t catch your breath? Have you been so overwhelmed by life—violence … inequality … death … brokenness—that you couldn’t…
Lessons in gratitude
Living Faithfully

Lessons in gratitude

Now that I’m a parent I get it. Or at least now I laugh at myself more because I think I get it—I have some semblance of how God feels…
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Living Faithfully

Axis of stability

Change is constant: seasons come and go; people are born, people die; jobs drift; cars break down. The news changes daily—some new horror to try to explain to kids. Their…
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Living Faithfully

Walking toward one another, cultivating understanding

The small village where I served with the Peace Corps had never hosted a volunteer. Nestled beside one of the two roads in the country, an eight-hour bus ride from…
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Living Faithfully

Holy trek to college

As my daughter Junie prepares to go to college this fall, I think of our journey over the last year as a sort of spiritual pilgrimage. By naming the college…
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Living Faithfully

Tablets for tots

Tech-savvy youth and the latest in tablet technology have connected Trinity Lutheran Church in Tullahoma, Tenn., and the children of the Tullahoma Day Care Center. The congregation’s “Mentoring Ministry” project …
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Living Faithfully

Reformation Lutheran Church in Orlando remembers victims of Orlando shooting

Joan Brown Williams, a member of Reformation Lutheran Church in Orlando shares her reflections in the aftermath of the June 12 shooting at the Pulse nightclub. Williams is also editor…
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Voices of Faith

A dad’s concern

Being a father is a wide-open venture. When my wife and I had each of our two children, we were filled with joy at their arrival and committed to loving…
See how children experience church through this ‘Pray-Ground’
Living Faithfully

See how children experience church through this ‘Pray-Ground’

How do we make it abundantly clear that children are welcome in worship? This is the question Andrea Roske-Metcalfe, a pastor of Grace Lutheran Church, Apple Valley, Minn., posed when…