Lectionary blog: Being radically inclusive
Lectionary Blog

Lectionary blog: Being radically inclusive

Lectionary blog for Aug. 28 Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost Proverbs 25:6-7; Psalm 112; Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16; Luke 14:1, 7-14 When you’re pastor of the Lutheran church in Athens, Ga., where…

Lectionary blog: Love can trump the rules
Lectionary Blog

Lectionary blog: Love can trump the rules

Lectionary blog for Aug. 21 Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost Isaiah 58:9b-14; Psalm 103:1-8; Hebrews 12:18-29; Luke 13:10-17 As a graduate of a non-Lutheran seminary, I spent a year at the…

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Lectionary Blog

Lectionary blog: Good, not pleasant, news

Lectionary blog for Aug. 14 Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost Jeremiah 23:23-29; Psalm 82; Hebrews 11:29-12:2; Luke 12:49-56 Some years ago a man I knew in one of my congregations had…

Taking on issues that matter
Faith in Action

Taking on issues that matter

Every time it rains in Riverdale, Ill., the basements of homes, churches and schools are filled with sewage, overflowing into the streets and alleys. The sewer systems on the city’s…

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Faith in Action

Cincinnati churches gather to improve race relations

At the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in New Orleans, Aug. 8-13, voting members will consider several proposals, known as memorials. One memorial under consideration calls upon the ELCA to deepen relationships…

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Lectionary Blog

Lectionary blog: The kingdom is a promise

Lectionary blog for Aug. 7 Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost Genesis 15:1-6; Psalm 33:12-22; Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16; Luke 12:32-40 One Sunday morning about 20 years ago I slipped out of our…

Study guide: Bearing witness through community organizing
Spiritual Resources

Study guide: Bearing witness through community organizing

Many established Lutheran congregations face the challenge of reconnecting with their communities, which have changed dramatically since the churches were founded. And nearly all need to work harder to not…

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Lectionary Blog

Lectionary blog: ‘Your money or your life?’

Lectionary blog for July 31 Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23; Psalm 49:1-12; Colossians 3:1-11; Luke 12:13-21 A few years ago I took a youth group to Lutheridge…

Lectionary blog: ‘Lord, teach us to pray’
Lectionary Blog

Lectionary blog: ‘Lord, teach us to pray’

Lectionary blog for July 24 Tenth Sunday after Pentecost Genesis 18:20-32; Psalm 138; Colossians 2:6-19; Luke 11:1-13 The summer my younger son turned 14 he played on an AAU basketball…

Lectionary blog: Christ in your house and heart
Lectionary Blog

Lectionary blog: Christ in your house and heart

Lectionary blog for July 17 Ninth Sunday after Pentecost Genesis 18:1-10a; Psalm 15; Colossians 1:15-18; Luke 10:38-42 Whenever I hear this story, especially the part about Martha loudly complaining to…