Bioethics: A Primer for Christians by Gilbert Meilaender, Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1996. Reviewed by Nicholas J. Zook In 1966, Max Scheler published “Der Formalismus in der Ethik und die materiale Wertethik,” later translated into English under the title, “Formalism in Ethics and Non-Formal Ethics of Values,” in which he applied the phenomenological […]
A Statement that Leaves Us Wanting More
This August, the ELCA Assembly in Philadelphia will consider adopting the latest document on worship in the ELCA, The Use of the Means of Grace: a Proposed Statement on the Practice of Word and Sacrament. The Preamble states the purpose of the document: This statement seeks to root common sacramental practice in the Lutheran Confessions […]
The Lifting of Condemnations
The Ecumenical proposal receiving the least debate and attention leading up to the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in 1997 is the lifting of the 16th century condemnations exchanged by Lutherans and Catholics on the article of Justification. There are several reasons for this: The implications of this proposal will not involve any significant changes in either […]
Witness and Unity in Lutheran-Reformed Relationships
Far be it from us to raise barriers to the unity of churches for our greater common witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. After all, it is our Lord’s prayer “that they may be one” precisely for the sake of witness to the truth of the gospel. Just so, it is necessary that we […]
Concordia Avondale Campus: A Community Ministry of Concordia Lutheran Church
Our History, Mission and Objectives Concordia Lutheran Church, a small, urban congregation of some 60 families, enacts its faith in Jesus Christ through vital ministries directed not only to our members, but also to the community around us. Concordia Lutheran Church created the ministry of Concordia Avondale Campus out of its belief that the vitality […]
Economic Downturn and the Church’s Mission to Serve
Imagine if you will, a double pendulum suspended from a great height. At the end of a long wire is a large spherical mass. From the bottom of that sphere another wire of some length, shorter than the first, extends to another smaller sphere. The first mass is moved a distance away from the center […]
Let’s Talk Survey on Worship Attendance
The pastor stands up at the annual meeting to give the demographic and statistics report on the state of the congregation. “I’ve got bad news and good news”, she tells the members as she begins her report “our membership is down by 12% this past year. But the good news is that the Methodists across […]