To serve and love the neighbor
Living Faithfully

To serve and love the neighbor

You know them if you’ve seen them—the bright yellow shirts emblazoned with the message “God’s work. Our hands.” They first appeared in 2013 when “God’s work. Our hands.” Sunday, a…

Opening doors and overcoming hate
Living Faithfully

Opening doors and overcoming hate

Less than a week before Dan Roschke started his call as pastor of Bethlehem Lutheran in Fairfax, Va., the church was vandalized in a June 26 hate crime. He arrived…

Pastors of transition
Living Faithfully

Pastors of transition

“Interims want to help people through the transition period, understanding clearly their accountability to their baptismal covenant and whatever future their congregation may have.” Your pastor has retired after 25…

Mission Support: The lifeblood of the ELCA
Living Faithfully

Mission Support: The lifeblood of the ELCA

After a string of financially challenging years, Mission Support giving at Elvira Zion Lutheran Church in Clinton, Iowa, dropped to 10 percent of its budget. That’s higher than the ELCA…

An ancient journey, rediscovered
Living Faithfully

An ancient journey, rediscovered

A young woman came to my church, Messiah Lutheran in Wauconda, Ill., seeking to be confirmed before her wedding to a Roman Catholic man. Ours was not the first parish…

A new beginning: Un nuevo comienzo
Living Faithfully

A new beginning: Un nuevo comienzo

Starting something new is never easy. Starting outreach to a community that’s been neglected or ignored is even harder. I’m learning these lessons in my new call as associate pastor…

Rules of attraction
Living Faithfully

Rules of attraction

Congregations are always trying to find out the rules of attraction. I don’t use the word “attractive” to indicate “hip,” “trendy” or even aesthetically pretty, but a cluttered building does…

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Living Faithfully

Blessed to be a blessing

When people arrived for worship March 4 at Preston Meadow Lutheran Church, Plano, Texas, they knew something was up, but only the congregation council and staff knew that every family…

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Living Faithfully

Christ’s love served one bowl at a time

Not sisters by birth or blood, but sisters united through faith and service describes the Soup Sisters ministry of Christ by the Lake Lutheran Church in Bull Shoals, Ark.   With…