Reprinted from the Associate Pastor's column in the May edition of my congregation's newsletter. The calendar says May. This is true. But for many people in the church, including myself and many of our committees, our minds are not on Mother’s Day plans or Memorial Day cook-outs (OK, our minds might be there, too!). MuchContinue reading “Discerning Congregational Mission around Word & Sacrament”
Category Archives: Lutheran
Funerals: For the Living or for the Dead?
"Funerals are not for the dead, but for the living." That's a popular sentiment, and one which I've uttered many times. After all, at the funeral we speak words of comfort to those who are mourning, and words of hope to the living that death is not the end of the story but simply oneContinue reading “Funerals: For the Living or for the Dead?”
We look for the resurrection of the dead
We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.– Nicene Creed Yes, Jesus was raised from the dead. The stone was rolled away, and our risen Jesus appeared, variously, to the women, to two of his followers on the road to Emmaus, and to his disciples. ToContinue reading “We look for the resurrection of the dead”
Reverse the tone, please.
In the current issue of Christian Century Robert W. Jenson has a piece called Reversals (found on pgs 30-33, but not available online). It is part of a series that CC is running in which theologians are asked "to reflect on their own struggles, disappointments, questions and hopes as people of faith and to considerContinue reading “Reverse the tone, please.”
Martin Luther on Prayer
In a letter to his barber, Martin Luther recommends that Christians pray the Ten Commandments, Apostles’ Creed and Lord’s Prayer. Yet beyond reciting these traditional texts, he suggests that after each line or phrase of these texts we meditate upon them in a “four-fold garland” method of praying: Instruction: seek what these words have toContinue reading “Martin Luther on Prayer”
The Lutheran Zephyr 