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The Gospels of the New Testament witness all present Jesus via His historicity, and the facts of His life as they unfolded in particular frames of reference. John the evangelist ended his Gospel with the quip, “And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.” Clearly, Jesus was a historical personage, but this is not how the Christian has come to know Him at a first order; nor is it the way that the Evangelists…

This blog is an invitation into learning more about the farm bill, farm bill advocacy and ways to get involved. It expands on information in the ELCA World Hunger’s Global Farm Challenge Youth Action Guide’s advocacy page.   The farm bill is legislation passed every five years that has a tremendous impact on hunger in the United States and globally. The current farm bill expires in 2023, so the process is ramping up – where the programs covered in the bill are debated, refreshed and ultimately passed by Congress toward being signed into law. Now is the time for our…

  On May 18, ELCA Presiding Bishop Eaton and 44 ELCA synod bishops wrote to Congress about their concerns related to the funding of Augusta Victoria Hospital. Read the full letter here: ELCA Bishops’ letter to Congress concerning US funding for Augusta Victoria Hospital. In the letter they ask for the Members of Congress to “support the transfer of $ 120 million to USAID to meet the urgent humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people in 2022. These allocations are needed to cover the PA’s debt to AVH and the other East Jerusalem hospitals.” Ask your Members of Congress to restore…

What is the relationship between politics and Christian theology, is there any? Understandably, many Christians want to simply shy away, and have nothing to do with the political order in the world. But the fact of being human entails that we are “political animals,” that we are necessarily social beings, and as such, we cannot escape the reality of being political in some way. Indeed, the kerygma, the Gospel reality Hisself, which of course is God become flesh in the vicarious humanity of Jesus Christ, is the greatest political act of all time. This was not absent from the early…

by Sandra Roper, 2021-22 Hunger Advocacy Fellow [about the author] Sometimes it feels like my whole life revolves around the question “what’s next?” There’s this notion that “next” is a jump, one thing to another, and that the next thing must be substantially different from the thing before in order to be “new.” I’m starting to think that’s not the case. “I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:19). What strikes me the most about the…

Sara Galyon, Decatur, GA Warm-up Question Do you feel like God is active in your life? Why, or why not? What’s Next? We are in the  season of graduations.  Some high schools in the country are already prepping for their graduations, and many colleges have already had their ceremonies. Rollins College celebrated its graduation on May 8th. Located in Winter Park, Florida, Rollins had five valedictorians, all obtaining a perfect 4.0 GPA. Of those four, one is a non-speaking autistic woman named Elizabeth, who was chosen by the other valedictorians to give the graduation address.  By typing with one finger…

There is a lot of talk about ‘substance theology’ these days, and in the past days. Indeed, substance language marks classical theism as the way to talk God at least since the days of Thomas [of Aquino], if not further back since the Greeks started using the language of ousia or ‘being’ for talking God (but that was a little different from the Thomist heritage in the sense that they often used ousia as synonymous with hypostases or ‘persons’ and vice versa). No matter what period past to think and talk God in terms of substance has become considered the…

Issue 82 of Administration Matters ELCA Churchwide Assembly The 2022 ELCA Churchwide Assembly will take place Aug. 8-12 in Columbus, Ohio. Under the theme “Embody the Word,” the assembly will meet around word and water, wine and bread, to carry on its work on behalf of the entire church. A key action during the assembly will be electing a vice president. Live video of worship and plenary sessions will be accessible at Churchwide Assembly — Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (elca.org). 4 things you can do to keep your organization cyber-safe Cybercriminals don’t just focus on “the big guys.” Whether…

by Rachel Wyffels, 2021-22 Hunger Advocacy Fellow [about the author] It can be hard to feel God’s restorative presence in these times. In the midst of violence towards each other and the Earth, I often wonder how the Holy Spirit is realizing God’s promise of resurrection in our lives and in our world. For me, one answer is with the people and relationships in my life. “I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:19). An opportunity…

So what? What’s all this high falutin theologically jargony theology have to do with anything? I get to this point more times than not. Even though I often engage high theological notions, and attempt to reflect therein, at the end of it I often walk away with the “so what!” feeling. Many Christians take one look at the themes I write on, others write on, that the dead theologians have written on, and simply shake their heads figuring, at best, this is all for the eggheads among us. But I really don’t think that that is the case, or that…