A colleague stirred her coffee and mused, “I wonder how the new tax law will impact how my people give to the church next year?” She is curious, because the standard deduction has roughly doubled for all filers. (Important resources are available to explain the impact of this tax change.) It’s expected that fewer people [...]
By Emilie Bouvier Okay, so I love waiting, I really do. There’s something about the practice and ritual of waiting that feeds the soul. But I’m also really anxious to dig into the reality that were all waiting for – the incarnation, God born among us. So, I’m going to skip ahead a little and [...]
By Bob Hulteen “Wait. Just wait.” The luminous blaze bouncing off the shiny red ornaments on a Christmas tree adorned with spray-can snow was too enticing. Homemade bows encircled the boxes adorned in green, red, and yellow, filling the space under the tree. I longed to "free" the treasures that awaited by a slow, methodical [...]
By Bishop Ann Svennungsen The garment I will choose for Mary will be deep blue – blue like the ocean, like the endless night sky. Enough of this pale blue – as if the only thing that matters was that she was a virgin, meek and mild, pale and fading from view. No, we will [...]
By Pastor John Hulden Aren’t we as Minnesotans blessed with the beauty of the changing of the seasons? Thursday was Thanksgiving. Friday was, well, Black. Yesterday was Christ the King Reign of Christ Sunday. That is followed by Cyber Monday. (OMGosh! I forgot to do all my Cyber Monday online shopping!) And now, Advent is [...]
By Bishop Ann Svennungsen When my father started his optometric practice, he borrowed $2,000 from a local farmer to purchase equipment. When I asked how far $2,000 went in 1952, he said, “Not far. We spent most of it on the phoropter. You know, the instrument for testing vision, the one with all the lenses. [...]
By Pastor Craig Pederson Immersed in the major existential questions and day-to-day minutia of congregational life, it is easy for church leaders to forget about some of our most valuable colleagues who are not under the same roof as us. I’m talking about chaplains – those ministers of the gospel who are called to provide spiritual care in hospitals, senior living facilities, prisons, and other [...]
By Bishop Ann Svennungsen Every Memorial Day, my mother made her way to the cemetery to place flowers on her parents’ graves. For me, All Saints’ is the day I feel a similar need. Our son, John Amos, died at the age of 30 on May 2, 2015. He is interred in the columbarium located [...]
Bishop Ann Svennungsen offered this sermon during the Reformation worship of the Ministerium gathering of the Minneapolis Area Synod and the Saint Paul Area Synod at Christ the King Lutheran Church in New Brighton, Minnesota, on October 31, 2017. I’ve been thinking about what Luther would say if he were here today. How does his [...]
By Pr. Kelly Chatman As a Black kid growing up in Detroit, I had no idea what a Lutheran was, let alone some German guy named Martin Luther. I was in 7th grade and I was on a venture to visit my new classmate Willie Wood’s church when I somehow got the directions wrong. (My [...]
