A Brief Rant on "Inclusive" Language and Church Etiquette

Yesterday I was blessed to be able to administer the sacrament of Holy Baptism to an infant. This is probably the most exciting thing I do…I derive more joy from celebrating that mystery than I can explain. And yet, I found the joy being sucked out yesterday. A family member – a female Lutheran pastor [...]

Pimpin’ for Jesus

So the United States may be the land of Rick Warren, Andy Stanley and the Willow Creek movement, but check out this church growth strategy!
Hat tip to the Pontificator!

In Heavy Rotation

What does the LutherPunk need?

I’ve seen this one around, and finally decided to join in. Hat tip to Lutheranchik.
Basically, you put your name into Google followed by the word needs. I put in my real name, and replaced it with my online moniker. List your top 10 results. Here you go:
1. The LutherPunk Needs to Go. (sorry if I [...]

St. Margaret, Queen of Scotland

Margaret of Scotland was a truly liberated woman in the sense that she was free to be herself. For her, that meant freedom to love God and serve others. Margaret was not Scottish by birth. She was the daughter of Princess Agatha of Hungary and the Anglo-Saxon Prince Edward Atheling. She spent much of her [...]

Why the Dialogue between Lutherans and Roman Catholics Will Not Lead to Unity

1. The Inability to Agree on Women’s Ordination.
When the predecessor bodies of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America decided to ordain women, they decided to prevent any future reunion with Rome. The ELCA would undoubtedly have to rescind women’s ordination before this could happen, or there would have be a split within Lutheranism prior to [...]

Lutheran - Roman Catholic Dialogue

Lutherans, Roman Catholics Begin Planning for 201705-224-FI
VATICAN CITY (ELCA) — Lutherans and Roman Catholics began planning for 2017 with recognition of their movement toward reconciliation during the past 500 years and with a renewed commitment to continue in that direction. 2017 will be the 500th anniversary of the Protestant [...]

Hell

It occurred to me…that hell was not, as Sartre had proclaimed, other people. Hell was being obliged to be someone quite other than one’s true self.” - Charles Ashworth in Susan Howatch’s novel, Absolute Truths

Confirmation

I have been sitting here all afternoon looking at confirmation work. There are 40 students in catechesis right now. This is a lot. I do a three year system, complete with homework, tests and the like. One year is Old Testament, followed by New Testament in year 2, and catechism/church history in year 3. This [...]

More School Thoughts

I am thinking of getting an STM. I have 2 classes down and need 6 more, 2 of which can be indy study. Then a thesis. Herein lies the problem: the sem is 4 hours from here, so I am looking at driving 8 hours (there and back) one day a week until I get [...]