Editor’s note: Martin Luther famously said, “Next to the Word of God, music deserves the highest praise” (Luther’s Works, Vol. 53). The ELCA still holds tightly to Luther’s understanding. In…
With the arrival of autumn, many ELCA congregations enter a new season of stewardship. But finding new ways to foster giving can be a challenge for congregants and pastors. In…
Editor’s note: Martin Luther famously said, “Next to the Word of God, music deserves the highest praise” (Luther’s Works, Vol. 53). The ELCA still holds tightly to Luther’s understanding. In…
Tucked in our Evangelical Lutheran Worship is a list of commemorations (page 15). Though such observances aren’t as prominent as feast days and lesser festivals, they do have a role…
On a Tuesday night at the end of summer, I participated in an ordination. Ordination, the act of consecrating someone as a member of the religious clergy, is sort of…
Jen Jensen’s life changed forever late one night in 2012. She awoke to find her husband Mike—then a worship and music director at Nazareth Lutheran Church, Cedar Falls, Iowa—having a…
A young woman came to my church, Messiah Lutheran in Wauconda, Ill., seeking to be confirmed before her wedding to a Roman Catholic man. Ours was not the first parish…
When people arrived for worship March 4 at Preston Meadow Lutheran Church, Plano, Texas, they knew something was up, but only the congregation council and staff knew that every family…
The word of God washes like waves over worshipers at Bethesda Lutheran Church in Moorhead, Minn. Sound waves, to be exact—and not just the kind you can hear. Thanks to…
Bartolomé de las Casas (1484-1566) is a good example of what Lutherans call a “saint and sinner.” As an immigrant from Spain who came to Hispañola in 1502, Las Casas…
During LGBT Pride Month (June), many ELCA congregations pay special attention to issues around sexual orientation and gender identity. Because the LGBTQ community has often been ignored or even condemned…
A couple of years ago, transgender students at Black Hills State University in South Dakota were threatened on social media. “They were friends of some of our students and we…
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