Who are you investing in? This question hangs directly above my computer screen in my office at Faith Lutheran Church. My call is not to the programming of Family Ministry but to the people. It reminds me not to let the relationships get lost amid all the curricula, details, e-mail reminders, and newsletter articles. I […]
Leading in a New Call
My second call process was very different from my first call process. I was a little less naïve, but I hope not too cynical. There was the tension of being present to the congregation who doesn’t know you’re leaving and the unknown of a new congregation. And then there’s the pressure of living up to […]
Embracing Relationship-Driven Ministry: A Seminary Student Reflects on Intentional Impact
At the beginning of my junior year of high school, a friend and I decided to join our high school’s swim team. Nothing unusual there, but what was unusual for new swim team members was that neither one of us knew how to swim. Sure, we could move in the water and around the pool […]
Taking Leadership to the Next Level
You then, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus; and what you have heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others as well. —2 Timothy 2:2 St. Paul was a “church planter.” He was aware of what it took to plant […]
Imagining Leadership
[Samuel] sent and brought [David] in…. The Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; for this the one.” I Samuel 16:12 As a kid, I always had a particular fondness for the story of David’s anointing as the once and future king. Perhaps this was at least partly because, since I was the one who was […]
Book Review: Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner and Saint
I read a lot of theology. This is not unusual for most of you reading this review. However, I have made an observation, in these years of reading, that books on theology usually make one of two impacts. Either a book is readily accessible and impacts a wider audience, or a book makes a powerful […]
On the Way: Called on Film
In a critical scene of Elia Kazan’s On the Waterfront, Father Barry (Karl Malden) confronts boxer-turned-longshoreman Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) in a tavern. Malloy is holding a gun and seeking revenge for the death of his brother at the hands of the gangsters who dominate the local union. The priest pleads with him to give […]
As I See It: Clothed in Righteousness
I once received this email from a Lutheran pastor, who wrote: “In my present call I have inherited a ‘contemporary’ service. In the negotiations that are always necessary in these scenarios, I insisted on vestments (alb and stole) for eucharistic celebrations. A member expressed concern over the ‘pomp’ behind such vestments. My response revolved around […]
Masks for J.B.
The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from.”–Job 1:7a. (NIV) I was teaching a Bible study on the Book of Job. This was to be part of a longer series on Wisdom Literature. A readers’ theater version of chapters 1, 2, and 42 was presented in the second class. Various roles were assigned […]
A Lutheran Learns to Read and Write Icons
In 1988, for the thousandth anniversary of Christianity in Russia, I had the joy of leading a tour to Scandinavia and the Soviet Union, entitled “From Trolls to Icons.” I didn’t know then that the encounter with icons would so fascinate me and that after an almost mystical experience I would become a student of […]
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