For about four years now I’ve had a recurring dream. It’s a dream where I’m sitting in the dentist’s chair. The lights are bright; I can’t see very much. But I can see the mirror that the dentist is holding up in front of me. And in that mirror I see the reflection of what […]
Welcome to Let’s Talk
We invite submission of papers and talks from members of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod of the ELCA, talks given to members of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod, or articles from other pastors and theologians, not limited to ELCA. Send submissions in Word docx. to fcsenn70@gmail.com.
Living Grace in the City
For Jesus the city was a place not of grace but of conflict. According to the Gospels, during his ministry in Galilee, Jesus avoided the cities in the region entirely. While they mention the names of numerous towns and villages that Jesus visited, the Gospels never speak of him going to either of the main […]
Same As It Ever Was
I remember reading Kant’s Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics in college. Today I pulled it out, blew off the dust (I ceremoniously sprinkle dust on all my books just in case I get the opportunity to pull one out in front of someone and impressively blow it off) and read until I landed on the […]
Are They Members? Welcoming the Ambivalent
Many churches intentionally welcome all people, citing especially persons of color, gays and lesbians, and those of differing socio-economic classes. Knowing that many people today struggle with the institutional church, our congregational welcome also singles out people who are ambivalent toward organized religion. It is surprising how often people name the significance of that brief […]
To Be Read Out-LOUD or Good Things Come in Three’s
Question: How do you talk about Jesus’ crucifixion at an open mic show with spiritual- but-not-religious types, many of whom have been badly burned by Christians and the church? Answer: It’s a trick question. You don’t talk about it – you embody it. The idea first occurred to me during the winter of 2008 after […]
When Language Fails
What’s the difference between “communion” and “community”? The two words come from the same root and suggest the connections we so quickly draw. But there are important differences that we easily overlook. Communities are all around us, formed by various boundaries—racial, geographic, ideological, etc. One community is those people whom the Holy Spirit gathers to […]
On the Way: Aggressive Hospitality
How do we let people say “No”? In tandem with many churches, Lutheran and otherwise, my own parish has moved toward a wider, more explicit, and less qualified invitation to Holy Communion. This development has been more pragmatic than principled, at least as far as my own role is concerned. I am generally persuaded by […]
Listening for the Accents: Noticing Patterns in the Conversation about Table and Font
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has recently launched a significant churchwide discussion: Table and Font: Who is Welcome? An Invitation to join the conversation about Baptism and Communion. A number of resources and perspective papers have been published to seed and orient the conversation.[1]Some themes of this conversation have become familiar to many of […]
As I See It: Radical Intimacy at the Lord’s Table
The ELCA is having a conversation about “radical hospitality” in the practice of Holy Communion. This means that the Table is open not only to all baptized Christians, but to all worshipers, even if they are not baptized. I can only assume that we are having this conversation because some pastors and congregations are issuing […]
This Bread Represents WHAT?
“This bread we have baked represents each one of us in this family,” says the prayer we recite after baking the prosphora, or communion bread. Every time, this sort of shocks me. Fascinates me. Mildly appalls me. How can it be that altar bread represents us–how can something so sacred and central to our faith and […]
As I See It: Food Fight at the Lord’s Supper
At synod and churchwide assemblies and in many parishes the communicant is presented a menu with a variety of options: broken loaf or wheat wafers or gluten-free wafers, wine drunk from a common cup, a cup for intinction, or wine in individual containers, or a non-alcoholic beverage. The institution narratives of the Lord’s Supper in […]
Beyond Loaves and Fishes: the Church’s Role in Food Policy Discussions
Food justice is a bit of a touchy subject for me. By day, I am a mild-mannered PhD student studying Agricultural & Resource Economics. By night Sunday morning, I don a mask and cape choir robe and masquerade around as a Lutheran. Around my economist colleagues, I generally avoid discussing where I go on Sunday […]
On Being Vegan
“So, why are you vegan?” I am asked this question frequently and I dodge it almost every time. “It’s a long story,” I’ll say, or “It’s complicated,” or “Do you really want to know?” They almost never really want to know. For the persistent acquaintance, there’s a second buffer of deflecting responses. “For the same […]
Taking Food For Granted
As one about to go on a final ministry internship and then on to ordained ministry, I see the topic of food justice with kind of a grim awe. The words, when they stand next to each other, food and justice, force me to realize that the food I enjoy each day comes at more […]
An Unbroken Stream: Connecting Theology and Practice in the Fight Against Hunger
What resources can we, as Christians (and specifically Lutherans), access to help us address hunger or food justice issues? By resources I mean models or tools that inform a response. It may help to first recognize that people respond to need from various motivations. We may do so out of charity or humanitarian response. We […]