Mud on my Boots on Ash Wednesday
Cleaning the mud off my boots after a recent flood response, I noticed the grittiness of it. It reminded me of preparing the ashes for Ash Wednesday. Burning last year’s celebratory palms, sieving them fine, mixing them with oil. I see the impermanence of things, of even life itself, in the mud and ashes. Ash Wednesday, a day when we acknowledge our mortality and our own return to dust. Mucking out after a flood, removing what was once treasure that has now become trash. Too often we overlook the physicality of the Christian faith in our anticipation of Heaven. We…
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 areas of the world impacted by ongoing war, conflict, and violence, especially Ukraine, Palestine, Myanmar, and South…
The Early Aristotelianization of Reformed and Lutheran Theology
Barth on the stillbirth of the Protestant Reformation. He underscores a reality that I have been, we have been writing about for years, in regard to the scholasticism Reformed and Lutheran. That is to note, the reception of the Aristotelian mantle that had, ironically, brought to formation the very Church, and her doctrina, that Luther was seeking to reform. Unfortunately, very early on in the second and third generation reformers (on both the Reformed and Lutheran sides) imbibed the theological categories that had originally led to the status of the Roman Church that Luther and others believed needed to be…
Available NOW: DISMANTLE: An Anti-White Supremacy Lenten Devotional
Dismantle: An Anti-White Supremacy Lenten Devotional This devotional was created in response to the call of the 2019 Churchwide Assembly to condemn white supremacy and racist rhetoric. As you journey through Lent, this resource will challenge you and bring you closer to the radical neighbor-love that Christ demands in the Gospels. DOWNLOAD | DESCARGAR ELCA Blogs
SPPO Spotlight: Inspired by Intersectionality
By Solveig Muus, Director, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry Arizona Lately I’ve been thinking about the many ways our Church intersects across so many different channels, and about how that intentional intersectionality benefits the whole. ELCA-affiliated state public policy offices (sppos), like Lutheran Advocacy Ministry Arizona (LAMA), are one of those channels. I’m privileged to serve on the planning teams for this year’s sppo retreat as well as the ELCA World Hunger Leaders Gathering. In these settings and others, I’ve heard Christians in the ELCA passionate about the ways in which we, as Lutherans, connect people to create possibilities. Below is just…
God’s Freedom, Goodness and Necessity in Philosophical and Theological Convivium
More thoughts on the properties of God for my philosophy of religion class. As I have been responding, this week, surrounding God’s omniscience, eternality freedom, goodness, and necessity. These are my last three responses. What is freedom? Does it make sense to talk about maximal or perfect freedom? If yes, how should this be defined? If not, why not? Do you agree that the ability to do what is morally wrong is a power for human beings but a liability for God? Answer the question by laying out the argument for this as you understand it, or asking any questions…
February 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: February 2025 DOMESTIC SERVICES AND GRANT ACCESS | PRESIDENT TRUMP WITHDRAWS FROM THE PARIS AGREEMENT | FOREIGN ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS | USAID IMPACTS | IMMIGRATION IMPERATIVES This month has seen rapidly developing impact of executive actions from President Trump, jolting a vast array of government agencies and the people who intersect with related vital supports. All Witness in Society staff have been active with ELCA colleagues and partners to discern and advocate in the rapidly evolving, complex political climate,…
March 2, 2025–A God We Can’t Control
Catalyst Question Describe a time when something out of your control was happening in your life. What did it feel like? A God We Can’t Control People often like to feel in control. Sometimes that’s for their own sinful reasons, like wanting unfair influence over others’ lives. At other times, people try to take charge because they’ve been hurt by someone they trusted. And surely, there are things in our lives that we should control. How we treat other people, how we choose to use money, and how we spend our time are all appropriately within our control. This week,…
On the Monad with Attributes
More from the philo class. On the potential problem for classical theism and its doctrine of divine simplicity. How can God be Simple and yet still have attributes? That’s the question I’m responding to w/ ref to our reading of Maimonides. I overlooked responding to the question: “Can this claim be held together with the claim that God has attributes?” I think this can portend of a weakness for the pure being view of Maimonides et al. I think it is important to say that God is non-composite. But on the other hand, God comes to us by way of…
February 23, 2025–Mercy Meant for Today
Catalyst Question How do you define the word “mercy”? Mercy Meant for Today This devotion is based on The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL). A lectionary is a set of scripture readings assigned to different days throughout the year. Right now, we’re in the third year (known as Year C) of the RCL’s three-year cycle, which was assembled in 1983 by leaders of many denominations. That’s important background because, today, many congregational leaders are being accused of manipulating the biblical selections for worship to fit their own political or social agendas. If the congregation is using the Revised Common Lectionary, that’s…