Education

Lectionary Blog

Lectionary blog: God means now!

Lectionary blog for Jan. 21 The Third Sunday after the Epiphany Jonah 3:1-5; Psalm 62:5-12; 1 Corinthians 7:29-31; Mark 1:14-20 When I was about 12 years old, I found an…

Spiritual Resources

Study guide: Past experience not necessary

“Give a man a fish,” the old saying goes, “and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” Congregations that…

Mission & Ministry

20 years of funding leaders

Twenty years ago, voting members of the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Philadelphia faced a hard truth. Training pastors had become prohibitively expensive and the cost of theological education continued to…

Mission & Ministry

Joy to the world

“There’s no place like home for the holidays,” claims the popular Christmas song. For many ELCA missionaries, however, celebrating Christmas away from home is an opportunity to bear witness to…

Lectionary Blog

Lectionary blog: Chosen and perplexed

Lectionary blog for Dec. 24 Fourth Sunday of Advent 2 Samuel 7:1-11; Luke 1:46-55 or Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26; Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38 A few years ago, I saw a little…

Spiritual Resources

Study guide: Stepping up to stop stigma

In the three-and-a-half decades that our nation has been grappling with HIV and AIDS, we have much to celebrate. Health education and prevention have reduced the incidence of infection dramatically…

Voices of Faith

Uniting seminaries, a life of service and retirement

Editor’s note: President Emeritus Michael Cooper-White served the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg for 17 years, one of the longest seminary presidential tenures in the past 50 years. In 2017,…

Lectionary Blog

Lectionary blog: Called to act

Lectionary blog for Nov. 19 Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18; Psalm 90:1-12; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11; Matthew 25:14-30 Jesus calls us to leave our fear behind and give ourselves…

Lectionary Blog

Lectionary blog: Good news or bad?

Lectionary blog for Nov. 12 Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost Amos 5:18-24; Psalm 70; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 25:1-13 The Christian life burns brightest when one comes to an awareness of…

Lectionary Blog

Lectionary blog: The past is in the present

Lectionary blog for Nov. 5 All Saints Sunday Revelation 7:9-17; Psalm 34:1-10, 22; 1 John 3:1-13; Matthew 5:1-12 All Saints is a reminder that, as important as the future is,…

Spiritual Resources

Study guide: Ministry of presence

Federal chaplains who serve with our active-duty service personnel and in our nation’s military hospitals and federal prisons see a side of human life that few outsiders do. The ELCA…

Mission & Ministry

California Lutheran water market garnering global attention

An innovative groundwater market in Ventura County, Calif., that was initiated by California Lutheran University (Thousand Oaks) has captured the attention of some of the most prestigious universities in the…