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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…

A life laid down
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…

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Mission & Ministry

Curiousity

Pick up any modern convenience that you consider useful — a cellphone, zippered sweater, electric toothbrush — and you can be sure that object, in its original form, started out…

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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),…

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Mission & Ministry

Class on the current

On Sept. 1, 12 students, one teaching assistant, two professors and two guides boarded 24-foot voyageur canoes to embark on an adventure down the Mississippi River. No, this isn’t a…

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Mission & Ministry

Attorney carves career in being a foodie

It didn’t make much sense that Alli Condra developed an interest in food- and agriculture-related issues. The daughter of a retired ELCA pastor, she grew up in the Los Angeles…

Grace
Mission & Ministry

Grace

When Pope Francis convened a meeting of Roman Catholic bishops last October, it was for the sake of discussing the church’s historical tendency to place more importance on doctrine and…

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Mission & Ministry

Two Noahs with a common cause

The name Noah brings to mind pairs of animals boarding the ark. At Central Lutheran Church, Portland, Ore., the name Noah also conjures images of pairs — though in this…

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Mission & Ministry

Blessing

Thirty minutes before our son and his fiancee walked down the aisle to exchange vows for a lifetime, the rabbi steered them into the large dining room of the house…

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Mission & Ministry

Food for body and soul

Hometown bakery builds community, one loaf at a time