For some reason, churchgoing in America seems inevitably to be tied to the school year. Maybe it’s because we have a “summer schedule” for worship that is lighter than our regular one. Maybe it’s because we launch our new programming season on what we call “Rally Day” each year in early fall, around the time that school goes back into session. I’m…

Back on May 4 (yes – the Fourth was with us!), the subject of our final confirmation class of the year was Jesus’ Resurrection. Mostly I talked at the students, as it is a difficult subject to have a dialogue about and whose truth we must accept as a matter of faith. But one thing I hope that they heard is that…

“Have faith.” It’s what we say when we are not sure of an outcome. “Have faith, it will all work out.” “Have faith, the doctors are really good at what they do.” “Have faith, your daughter will come around eventually.” Easter gives us a whole different take on this. We have faith because we cannot see the outcome. Faith begins and ends…

I am an advocate of the mainstream media, but boy, do they like to tell us what is wrong with the church and with religion. Last month it was an opinion piece in the New York Times on why churches should stop their online services. This month it was an opinion piece in the Washington Post on why church attendance will never…

A reminder that, while material goods are desperately needed in Ukraine, the most effective gifts at present are financial. Follow this link to make a difference through the ELCA’s Lutheran Disaster Response: https://community.elca.org/eastern-Europe-crisis-response.

Recently, a young man on a clergy Facebook group I am part of wanted to know what the purpose of traditional liturgical worship could possibly be. He told us that he grew up with knowledge of the ELCA but didn’t feel that worship the way most congregations do it had anything for him or his early-30-something peers. He didn’t see the point…

I am a big fan of the mainstream media because those outlets demand accountability. Opinion pieces are another matter. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but sometimes those can really stir things up when they are placed by zealous editors in mainstream publications. The slow rolling earthquake that has kept the terrain of churchgoing unsettled for nearly two years now was ramped…

Singing together! Remember when we used to do this heartily, lustily, putting our entire bodies into the act as the Spirit would flow through us in soul-stirring praise of God? Remember how the risen Christ became vividly present among us through this very human act? How singing knit us together, all those in the room, in a way that was beyond human…

One of the most heartening stories in all scripture is that of the Magi and King Herod from Matthew 2:1-12, the appointed text for the Epiphany of Our Lord on January 6. On this day and the Sundays following, through Transfiguration, we celebrate the in-breaking of God’s light into the world in the person of Jesus Christ as a message of radical…

December 10, 2021 We are coming off what I consider to be a banner stretch in our worship life: Holy Communion on five of the last six Sundays. This was good exercise for what I’d like to see become our pattern of sharing the Lord’s Supper on a weekly basis. The custom at Grace for years had been communion twice a month,…