An Apology for Reading Deep Theology, Beyond Nerdom
This is no secret: I read lots of what would be considered “academic theology.” The thing is, I don’t read it to be an academic, per se. The thought occurs to me that there are many out there who read and do theology for purely academic reasons. But you don’t have to. You can read academic theology simply to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ; to be active in the sanctification process, as the Holy Spirit blows and kindles the fire of Christ’s love upon our new hearts of ‘flesh.’ It is true, some might mistake you…
November/December Update: Advocacy Connections
from the ELCA advocacy office in Washington, D.C. – the Rev. Amy E. Reumann, Senior Director Partial expanded content from Advocacy Connections: November/December 2024 CHILD HUNGER | COP29 | ACT ALLIANCE | UNITED STATES – ISRAEL RELATIONS | CHALLENGES TO DACA CHILD HUNGER: The Food Research & Action Center (FRAC), of which the ELCA is a supporter, released a new report last month highlighting modest increases to participation in after-school meal programs, but the anti-hunger programs are still widely under-utilized by eligible children in need. According to the FRAC report, 1.23 million children received an afterschool supper on an…
For what shall we pray?
“For what shall we pray?” is a weekly post inviting individuals, groups, and congregations to lift up our world in prayer. This resource is prepared by a variety of leaders in the ELCA and includes prayer prompts, upcoming events and observances, and prayer suggestions from existing denominational worship materials. You are encouraged to use these resources as a starting point, and to adapt and add other concerns from your local context. More information about this resource can be found here. Prayer prompts: For elected officials in the United States during the transition of power… For an end to violence…
Who Is a True Christian? And AAR
Dr. David Congdon has written a new book. Published by Cambridge University Press (2024), it is titled: Who Is a True Christian?: Contesting Religious Identity in American Culture. I have some history with ole’ Congdon, particularly from back in the good old days of the blogosphere. Anyway, his new book might sound provocative; but I don’t think it does, really. Congdon, these days, rejects the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ; the bodily return of Jesus Christ; a conscious afterlife (eschatological life), so on and so forth. With these identifiable positions, what in God’s green earth qualifies someone like Congdon to…
Faith through the Storm: Rebuilding Together in Christ’s Strength
By Pastor Rob Rose, Assistant to the Bishop, Florida-Bahamas Synod Republished from the Florida-Bahamas Synod E-Spirit Weekly Newsletter The past week took me on a journey across our synod, from the west coast to the east, meeting with congregations that had been battered by both Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, along with the tornados that tore through communities in their wake. Each stop was a poignant reminder of the resilience of God’s people in the face of unimaginable loss, and yet a call to remember that none of us faces these struggles alone. We are part of something…
Partner Organization Resources and Events
Each month ELCA Worship highlights resources and events from other organizations and institutions. These Lutheran and ecumenical partner organizations work alongside the ELCA to support worship leaders, worship planners, musicians, and all who care about the worship of the church. Lutheran Summer Music Academy & Festival Transforming and connecting lives through faith and music since 1981. 2024 LSM Musical Advent Calendar Join Lutheran Summer Music, December 1-24, for their fourth-annual Musical Advent Calendar–a daily moment of music and reflection on their Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube pages as well as archived on their website at LSMacademy.org/acal Association of Lutheran Church Musicians…
On Being the Listening Church: How Dialectical Theology, Properly Understood, is Dialogical Theology
What is dialectical theology? Barth is often referred to as a dialectical theologian; especially the earlier Barth. Some want to implicitly criticize Barth by asserting that because Barth was a dialectical theologian, he, eo ipso was a Hegelianizing theologian (i.e., putting Hegel’s dialectic to work for his theologizing). And yet, Barth is much more original than that. He was clearly a modern theologian, as is anyone who currently does theology in the 21st century. Even so, his methodology was to allow Holy Scripture and its reality in Jesus Christ to regulate his deployment of any other mechanisms he might have…
November 17, 2024–The Impact of Loss
Warm-up Question What is your favorite building? Do you like it because of the architecture? Because of a memory that occurred there? Because of the feelings inspired by the space? Something else? Who Is Displaced? This summer, there was a fire in the electrical room at Christ Lutheran Church in Baltimore, MD. Fortunately, no one was injured. Smoke damage occurred from classrooms to worship spaces to fellowship halls. Major renovations and utility upgrades are underway that cost millions of dollars. There are still major utility wires running through every floor and most spaces. From the bathrooms to the sanctuary, it’s…
For what shall we pray?
“For what shall we pray?” is a weekly post inviting individuals, groups, and congregations to lift up our world in prayer. This resource is prepared by a variety of leaders in the ELCA and includes prayer prompts, upcoming events and observances, and prayer suggestions from existing denominational worship materials. You are encouraged to use these resources as a starting point, and to adapt and add other concerns from your local context. More information about this resource can be found here. Prayer prompts: For ongoing wars in Gaza, Ukraine, Lebanon, and an end to the violence… For elections in the…
Bad Perceptions versus God’s Perceptions in a Culture Awash in Self-worship
Perceptions don’t dictate the truth, per se. The truth is the truth without contingence upon our relative perceptions. Perceptions might dictate a variety of things in society writ large, but never the truth, per se. Perceptions are really and only self-projections of our dispositions and their forming pressures, as those have developed in our personal circumstances and experiences in the world. Nevertheless, we aren’t slavishly trapped within our perceptions, per se. But our only hope is to come to participate in the extra life of God; and begin to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. This way…