Study guide: Ministry of presence
Study Guides

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…

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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…

Education for vocation: A look at the Network of ELCA Colleges and Universities
Mission & Ministry

Education for vocation: A look at the Network of ELCA Colleges and Universities

In 2015 the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) established the Network of ELCA Colleges and Universities to reinforce the church’s commitment to the 500-year-old Lutheran intellectual tradition. It was…

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Lectionary Blog

Lectionary blog: The ultimate, not the penultimate

Lectionary blog for Oct. 22 Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost Isaiah 45:1-7; Psalm 96:1-9 (10-13); 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10; Matthew 22:15-22 Although we often use it as a launching pad for discussions…

Lectionary blog: Are we bearing ‘good fruit’?
Lectionary Blog

Lectionary blog: Are we bearing ‘good fruit’?

Lectionary blog for Oct. 8 Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost Isaiah 5:1-7; Psalm 80:7-15; Philippians 3:4b-14; Matthew 21:33-46 In Isaiah, God says, “I cleared the land, I planted the grapes, I…

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Voices of Faith

Matthew lectionary series: Crumbs from the table

In part three, we noted three of the five women listed in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus—Tamar, Rahab and Ruth. We’ll now consider Jesus’ interaction with the Canaanite woman in Matthew…

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Lectionary Blog

Lectionary blog: Saying ‘yes’ and living ‘no’

Lectionary blog for Oct. 1 Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32; Psalm 25:1-9; Philippians 25:19; Matthew 21:23-32 Sometimes, some people, particularly some people on some finance committees or congregation…

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Voices of Faith

Matthew lectionary series: Three faithful foreign women

As is often noted, there are five women mentioned (if not all by name—sorry, Bathsheba) in the Matthew genealogy of Jesus: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba and Mary. I want to…

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Voices of Faith

Matthew lectionary series: Soil swept up in movement

In part one, we explored how the four kinds of earth mentioned in the parable of the sower—rocky soil, thorny soil, the path and good soil—are created as a response…

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Lectionary Blog

Lectionary blog: ‘As we forgive those …’

Lectionary blog for Sept. 17 Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost Genesis 50:15-21; Psalm 103:(1-7), 8-13; Romans 14:1-12; Matthew 18:21-35 A few years ago, I heard about an article in the Oakland…

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Voices of Faith

Matthew lectionary series: What is good soil?

We all come from different places. When we read the Bible, we use our own contexts to imagine the scenes in our heads. This can be helpful for personalizing the…

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Lectionary Blog

Lectionary blog: Love all; don’t shun some

Lectionary blog for Sept. 10 Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost Ezekiel 33:7-11; Psalm 119:33-40; Romans 13:8-14; Matthew 18:15-20 This text is about learning to love people, even when they don’t particularly…