Talks At The Desk Season 3 Premieres TONIGHT!
Celebrate Black History Month with season three of “Talks at the Desk,” a four-part video series by African Descent Ministries of the ELCA. This season focuses on the Reclaim Gathering and will explore its themes: reclaim, embolden, embody and liberate. A new video will premiere each Wednesday in February at 7:30 p.m. Central time beginning Feb. 7. Watch live at https://youtube.com/ELCA. The following is cross-posted from Living Lutheran. The original post can be found here. The ELCA African Descent Ministries “Reclaim” gathering was held September 14-17 in Minneapolis. Pastor Nicolette Penaranda, program director for ELCA African Descent Ministries, addressed participants…
Devotional: Leader Values
by Frances Dobbs, Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin [about the author] I believe it is important to look to Scripture for values that our leaders should inhabit. The third chapter of Ephesians explores how Christ perfectly embodies leadership, making a clear example for worldly leaders. When reading the story of salvation history, I believe we are reminded that God has a role in appointing leaders, but that leadership also comes with guidelines for how they act. Micah 6:8 states: “He has told you, O mortal, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you but to…
The Work of Christ is the Person of Christ: Against Dualistic Classical Theology
When the work of Christ is separated from the person of Christ, all you can be left with are either pure Pelagian or semi-Pelagian doctrines of salvation; as that becomes funded by some functional type of an adoptionistic christology (e.g., Ebionism etc.) This is why TFT refers to the Latin Heresy: he is referring to theologies, Western-Augustinian ones, that ultimately don’t think salvation, as both objectified and subjectivized in the Monarxia of God in the person of Jesus Christ. When this or that individual person is understood as being “elect” of God, based on an arbitrary and hidden decree of…
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. Institute of Liturgical Studies An ecumenical conference on liturgical renewal for the church today. Creation, Not Commodity: The Church’s Liturgy in a Consumer CultureApril 9-11, 2024, Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Ind. Consumer or market culture’s role in our lives is so ubiquitous that we frequently fail to recognize its presence and influence over us. Even committed church folk will talk about…
February 11, 2024–Affirmation
Rachel Larson, Blacksburg, VA Warm-up Questions When you are complimented for something you’ve done, how does that feel? Why? When you are criticized, how does that feel? Why? Affirmation A dictionary definition of “affirm”: “to offer (someone) emotional support or encouragement.” I received a letter from a member of the congregation I served. In it she thanked me for my ministry, complimented something I had done, and said she was happy that I was her pastor. Though I don’t remember exactly what she wrote, I do remember the feeling I had. I felt happy and encouraged—proud that I was a…
The Dysteological Spirit as Parody of the Holy Spirit
Telford Work in his chapter on mapping a modern view of the Holy Spirit offers a really nice index of how that gets expressed under the pressures of secularism. Let me share how he sketches that; this is under a section he calls a Dysteological Pneumatology (think something like a Dystopian doctrine of the Spirit). For Nietzsche these spirits are individual wills vying for power. For Freud they are the dark psychological forces that drives single minds and whole civilizations. Among humanity’s countless groups and subgroups they are the countless human structures that Paul calls stoicheia or “elements” of the…
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 peace among nations, especially between Israel and Palestine, Russia and Ukraine… For victims of violence in Myanmar,…
Black History Month: What It Means to Me by Guest Author Clair Minson
In honor of Black History Month, ELCA Racial Justice Ministries invited Seminarian Clair Minson to share some thoughts about this topic with our readers. What began as “Negro History Week” in 1926 — created by historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson out of his concern that young African Americans lacked an education about their own heritage and ancestors — has since expanded to what we now know and observe as “Black History Month.”[1] Woodson, a life-long educator, understood the power of knowing one’s history and one’s ancestral heritage. Knowing that you are part of a long legacy of people who…
Theological Science, au contraire to the Natural Theology of the Schoolmen
The following is a highly overlooked point, particularly with reference to Christian theology. What, or more pointedly, Who is theology’s control? The answer to this question drives what I attempt to be all about, when it comes to doing prayerful and dialogical theology. We could ask this question another way: is there an order, a taxis, to doing Christian theology; an order that takes into account a thoughtful and intentional theological ontology? These are important questions, and ones that I rarely see engaged with within the received theologies of much of evangelical Lutheran and Reformed theologies. It is just presupposed…
Devotional: Envisioning Leader Resonance with Young Generation
by William Milner, ELCA Witness in Society [about the author] As I consider candidates vying for public office, it’s crucial that their discussions align with my values and concerns. In a world inundated with political discourse, I find myself among young voters seeking leaders who address the issues that matter most to us. I envision a political landscape where leaders prioritize values that resonate with our generation’s aspirations. “In 2024, Gen Z youth alone will make up over 40 million potential voters—including 8 million youth who will have newly reached voting age since 2022—making up nearly one fifth of the…