Stories, reflections and perspectives from diverse range of voices across the ELCA.
At times, the Pixar movie Onward plays like an animated adaptation of a lost story by J.R.R. Tolkien or C.S. Lewis. It follows elf brothers Ian (voiced by Tom Holland) and Barley…
Sheryl Anderson isn’t a religious leader or a missionary, but in less than a year she has built a new ELCA congregation, supplying it with an attentive pastor and room…
Where is God in this crisis? Is this punishment? Why does God allow this to happen? Seventy-five summers ago, locked in his prison cell, German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer lamented: “They…
In 2017, the New York Times published a story highlighting the struggles of Korean American adoptees who were recently deported back to Korea after living in the United States. Before…
Grief drives us to ask for the impossible: for the world to stop for time to stop for answers to every single question for healing without pain for our loved…
Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Mesa, Ariz. Master Gardener After retiring, I decided to pursue my passion for gardening now that I had more free time. I began by signing up for…
Editor’s note: COVID-19 has uniquely impacted communities of color and their lives and ministries. In this series, we will feature ELCA Racial Justice reflections from each of the ELCA Ethnic…
Editor’s note: This year the ELCA celebrates 50 years of Lutheran women’s ordination in the United States, 40 years of the ordination of Lutheran women of color and 10 years…
The texts for the fourth Sunday of Easter include Psalm 23, which brings many of us feelings of nostalgia and comfort. It’s tempting to focus only on the desirable images…
By nature, I’m not a still person. My brain clicks on moments before I’m fully awake, making plans, forming judgments and coming up with ideas. It continues to do so…
Series editor’s note: Throughout 2020, “Deeper understandings” will engage the ELCA’s commitment to authentic diversity. Leila Ortiz will continue on this theme in the next issue. —Kathryn A. Kleinhans, dean of Trinity…
I think of a man walking slowly out of town with his head down. It’s night. His whole body heaves with emotion—inconsolable, completely alone. In a crumpled ball on his…
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