Many of our congregations are struggling with the same three interrelated difficulties: a smaller pool of members, a shrinking financial base, and fixed costs from an older building that may…
Pastors, bishops, congregations and other leaders across our country are adapting and innovating to keep up with a shifting religious landscape. Fewer people are coming to church, and a rising…
The communion bread my wife Kathy brought home from the Easter Vigil at Abiding Hope Lutheran Church in Erie, Pa., was the late Milton Sontheimer’s recipe. It was light, slightly…
Music is central to Lutheran worship. For centuries the pipe organ has been the instrument of choice to lead choirs and congregations in praising God through music. How does the…
As the ELCA prepares to spend the next year observing the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, several ELCA congregations can celebrate their individual rich histories. Ten churches, mostly on the…
Sunday school classes in Cameroon and the Central African Republic (CAR) are bursting at the seams. As many as 150 students turn up each week in the 500 congregations of…
Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, Duluth, Minn., suffered a fire Feb. 18 that destroyed much of its furnishings, including the organ, piano, altar and stained-glass windows. The 110-year-old Gothic-style building and…
In the 1990s, I served a sprawling congregation in the suburbs. In those days, in that place, we didn’t do much to attract new members. It was true that everyone…
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 …
Everyday, Living Lutheran offers a prayer for the day from the ELCA resource Prayer Ventures, which can be downloaded here. These petitions are offered as a guide for your own…
As the summer wraps up and the youngsters prepare to head off to school, 980 voting members will be departing for New Orleans Aug. 8-13 for the 2016 Churchwide Assembly…
Eva Creydt Schulte, a diaconal minister, shares her story on being called to ministry and commentary on an upcoming vote at the 2016 Churchwide Assembly to unify the three existing…
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