In an article for Let’s Talk, Volume 6, Issue 1, Pastor Paul Buettner offered a thoughtful challenge to the wholesale appropriation of our cultural “success ethic” as a valid measurement of faithfulness. As one who has had the privilege of serving congregations that are “thriving” as well as those that are “declining,” I share a […]

Refreshing the Hearts of the Saints Saturday, March 24, 2001 Marva J. Dawn Theologian, Author, Educator with “Christians Equipped for Ministry” Adjunct Professor of Spiritual Theology, Regent College Reported by Andrew Leahy This was the second time I had heard Marva Dawn speak.  My reaction was the same as the first time. Based on the […]

I had thought about writing this article before the Synod Assembly because of the interest generated in the process of electing a new bishop.  Because I was designated in the Pre-Assembly Canvas as a “potential nominee” for that office, I deferred writing this article.  I did have an opportunity to state my views on the […]

The moratorium on executions in Illinois imposed by Governor George Ryan has had a ripple effect throughout the nation. States are examining their usage of the death penalty.  Some have acted to exclude from eligibility for the death penalty juveniles and the mentally retarded.  Some have attempted, so far unsuccessfully, to impose their own moratoria […]

Comparing our two moral traditions is probably a dangerous undertaking for a Roman Catholic (or for a Lutheran, for that matter). I shall therefore begin with words from a mentor, James Gustafson. In his important work, Protestant and Roman Catholic Ethics: Prospects for Roman Rapprochement, he suggests that both traditions share a common question, “namely, […]

For a sermon on abortion, a minister decided to rework an antiwar slogan of the 1960’s. Instead of asking “What if they gave a war and nobody came?” he asked, “What if there were abortion clinics and nobody made use of them? What if abortion were a legal choice and nobody took it?” (Richard Hays […]