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 uses the term; the ELCA standard is “LGBTQIA+.” However, for the sake of consistency, this article uses “Queer.” Celebrating Pride or talking about sexuality and […]
ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton has issued a statement in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 15 ruling that employment discrimination on the basis of a worker’s sexual orientation or gender identity is illegal under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. “The court’s decision is an important recognition of equal protection under […]
Russell Meyer, intentional interim pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Jacksonville, Fla., considers his vocation to be creating welcome for all people. St. John, a historically African American congregation located in Jacksonville’s Springfield Historic District, was pastored by Victoria and William Hamilton for 20 years before they retired and Meyer was installed. Its designation […]
Kwame Pitts (she/her) serves as a mission developer for Community of Good Neighbors (CGN) Buffalo, a mobile food pantry combating food disparity and inequity on the east side of Buffalo, N.Y. Living Lutheran spoke with her on what it means to hold space for both joy and grief during a month that includes Juneteenth, Pride […]
For Albie Nicol (he/they), what began as a childhood visit to a Lutheran church has since grown into a calling. Now in his/their fourth year of seminary and first year serving an internship in Ohio, Nicol spoke with Living Lutheran about what it means to live faithfully as a queer Lutheran. How are you connected […]
Erik Nelson’s hope for the church comes from his work as the St. Paul outreach intern at Lutheran Campus Ministry-Twin Cities. During his three years there while attending seminary, Nelson (he/him) witnessed young adults being drawn to a community where they could study Scripture, receive the sacraments and experience God’s unconditional love. Nelson spoke with […]
Three years ago, when Sue. J. Briner, bishop of the Southwestern Texas Synod, tasked Keats Miles-Wallace to build a grassroots community for those who identify as LGBTQIA+, the pastor had a definite, immediate thought: “I was like, ‘That’s insane,’ I don’t know how to do that … but I’ll figure it out.” So, Technicolor Ministries […]
Every day, Living Lutheran offers a prayer for the day from the ELCA resource “Prayer ventures,” which can be downloaded here. These daily petitions are offered as a guide for your own prayer life as together we pray for the needs of the world and give thanks for the ministries of our church. Monday, June […]
I don’t quite know how I, the program director for African Descent Ministries, ended up at the Asian Lutheran International Conference (ALIC), but nothing could have prepared me for the blessing it was to witness it. Along with me on this journey were Aja, a multiethnic woman of African descent; Mau, a queer nonbinary multiethnic […]
Series editor’s note: In 2025, “Deeper understandings” is focusing on the ELCA social statements. We hope to reintroduce them to readers as a means of provoking fruitful, enriching conversation between Christians with different understandings and convictions, and as a springboard for active discipleship in the world. Each article will introduce a particular statement and its Lutheran theological underpinnings, […]
