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Voices of Faith

Perspective: 5 reasons to ditch that church newsletter

It’s on your calendar if you’re a church worker or a ministry chair, staring you down weeks ahead of schedule: “Write newsletter article.” Newsletters have long been the vehicle of…

Grounded in grace
Voices of Faith

Grounded in grace

Stanley Hauerwas, a theologian and ethicist for many years at Duke University, once served as a weekend financial stewardship consultant for a Baptist congregation in Texas. He explored the unusual…

I’m a Lutheran: Kelly “Glow” Williams
Voices of Faith

I’m a Lutheran: Kelly “Glow” Williams

“I’m a Lutheran” is a monthly profile featuring ELCA members around the country. The profiles showcase ELCA members in all their diversity, connecting one another through individual faith stories as…

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Voices of Faith

Perspective: On prayers for Las Vegas—and for the U.S.

Our neighbors’ blood cries to us from the ground once again. The recurring nightmare is all too familiar: a man filled with hatred perpetrates a mass shooting. Like Columbine, Virginia…

Grounded in grace
Voices of Faith

Grounded in grace

At night in my tent during a weeklong bicycle tour on the Blue Ridge Parkway with old friends, I re-read (with a headlamp) parts of Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Annie…

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Voices of Faith

The continuing Reformation

Martin Luther was concerned about sin, death and the power of the devil. These forces mani­fested themselves in ways unique to his time and place. Luther’s genius was in recognizing…

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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…

Sabbath nourishment
Voices of Faith

Sabbath nourishment

It was approaching midnight when we arrived at the Milk’s Camp community in Gregory County, S.D. We had pulled out of the church parking lot 17 hours earlier, and I…

I’m a Lutheran: Christopher Koetke
Voices of Faith

I’m a Lutheran: Christopher Koetke

“I’m a Lutheran” is a monthly profile featuring ELCA members around the country. The profiles showcase ELCA members in all their diversity, connecting one another through individual faith stories as…

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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…

<em>The Big Sick</em>: Family, culture and complexity
Voices of Faith

The Big Sick: Family, culture and complexity

I went to see The Big Sick knowing very little about it except that it wasn’t a “normal” romantic comedy. At least, that was what everyone said: my friends posting…

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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…