“Hermeneutics” is one of those words that you might have heard your pastor use. The English word comes from the Greek ermēneuein, meaning simply to translate or interpret. In short,…
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…
When Thomas Batterman retired from full-time parish ministry, he began serving as a supply pastor in the Dayton, Ohio, area. The call often takes him to serve small congregations in…
The smiley teen, dressed in a stark white collared shirt embossed with Talitha Kumi Evangelical Lutheran School’s emblem, corrects me when I ask him and the director of the Lutheran…
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…
If you were to Google the references to infant baptism in the New Testament, you would perhaps be disappointed, maybe even a little shocked. Though Jesus took children in his…
“I’m a Lutheran” is a monthly profile featuring ELCA members around the world. The profiles showcase ELCA members in all their diversity, connecting one another through individual faith stories as…
Celebrating the global church in 2017 Adama Faye, pastor and vice president of the Lutheran Church of Senegal, delivers communion to worshipers in Dakar, Senegal. The church in Senegal receives…
We in the church often depict Epiphany as the season of light—a thunderous congratulations to the divine revelation of the Son (or Sun) of Righteousness. The entire journey of Christmastide,…
Remember the last time you lost your way? Writer Natalie Angier told this story in an article she wrote for The New York Times, perhaps one we can all relate…
It had been a rugged December day at church. We were writing the 2016 budget. A charter member had died unexpectedly. And, in the span of 15 minutes, two of…
In a world full of problems, it can be difficult to know how to reach out. Yet every day devoted individuals, like the volunteers at the English Learning Center (ELC)…
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