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Faith in Action
Ice cream evangelism
One Monday morning, Twila Schock, pastor of Christ Lutheran Church, Belvidere, Ill., was in for a pleasant surprise when she opened her work email. A mother wrote to thank her…
Faith in Action
‘Gifts for Jesus’
Members of St. George Lutheran Church, Edinburgh, Ind., for years celebrated the gifts of the magi every Epiphany by offering their own gifts. Called “Gifts for Jesus,” members were invited…
From The Presiding Bishop
Coming to grips with happiness
In her book Smile or Die: How Positive Thinking Fooled America and the World, Barbara Ehrenreich wrote about the relentless pressure she faced to be upbeat while undergoing treatment for…
Faith in Action
The art of tradition
Whether it be caroling with the church choir, baking Christmas cookies for neighbors or making a day of selecting the perfect blue spruce to chop down and decorate, Christmas traditions…
Faith in Action
A night out in the cold
Sleeping on the hard ground was uncomfortable and their feet were cold, but youth from Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Boonsboro, Md., are wasting no time in signing up again…
From The Presiding Bishop
If God is enough
From time to time I am invited to celebrate congregational anniversaries. It’s wonderful to see the church in action and to meet members from all across the country. It is…
Faith in Action
Annual rummage sale supports seminarians
The rummage sale at St. Mark Evangelical Lutheran Church, Davenport, Iowa, provides more than an opportunity to buy a 25-cent vase. It supports those in need, makes neighbors aware of…
From The Presiding Bishop
There is no curtain obscuring plots
At a Conference of Bishops meeting a few years after the 2009 Churchwide Assembly, bishops shared some of the most outrageous suspicions they had heard about the churchwide office. One…
From The Presiding Bishop
Unglamorous yet vital
A church in the Northeastern Ohio Synod describes itself as a “50/50” congregation. It gives away half of offerings received. A significant portion goes to mission support, but the congregation…
From The Presiding Bishop
Luther’s quote got it right
The account of the Ascension in Acts has two great questions. The disciples ask Jesus, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” (1:6). Then,…
From The Presiding Bishop
Worship is the heart of all we do
There is a Seattle-based caffeinated beverage company that goes to great lengths to provide excellent customer service. Its campaign is to make itself everyone’s “Third Place.” “First Place” is home,…
From The Presiding Bishop
Coming to terms with the times
When I’m out and about in the church, I’m often asked what I plan to do to save small congregations, reverse the decline in membership, bring young adults back to…