By Brenda Blackhawk Every year, on the last weekend of July, my family travels down to Winnebago, Nebraska, for the annual Homecoming Pow Wow. I’ve recently returned from this 153-year-old Pow Wow, which is a celebration of the return of Chief Little Priest, the last great war chief of the Winnebago (or Ho-Chunk). Pow Wows [...]
By Eric Howard Last week, 200 national faith leaders descended upon Minneapolis and Central Lutheran Church for the 2019 ELCA World Hunger Leadership Gathering. It was a rare sight to see so many Lutherans gathered under a shared conviction that faith in action could end hunger. At the heart of the event was its theme: [...]
By Bob Hulteen Do you remember the first piece of art that so moved you that you couldn’t stop thinking about it for days? Do you know why you were so affected? I remember my first encounter with “The Census at Bethlehem” by Flemish Renaissance artist Pieter Brueghel the Elder in my art history class [...]
By Bob Hulteen His name was Hailu Degaga. A black, snaking bicycle cable secures a ghost bike to a stop sign kitty corner from my house. It’s where the 73-year-old Mr. Degaga was the casualty of a car-bicycle accident a year ago on July 7, only blocks from his apartment. A young woman, perhaps his [...]
By Pastor Craig Pederson Two months ago the first of our two children was confirmed in the Lutheran faith. Our son Evan had successfully navigated three years of large-group classes, small-group gatherings, service projects, and the obligatory “faith statement” to complete the requirements for his confirmation program. On a lovely May Sunday morning, Evan then [...]
By Bishop Ann Svennungsen The year our son was born, a friend asked if I would co-lead what we came to call a “Shalom Group.” Using the 12 Steps of Alcoholic Anonymous (AA) and Al-Anon as our guide, we gathered weekly for prayer and support – trusting that our work together would help us live [...]
By Pastor John Hulden It seemed like a great idea at the time. We’d have the Railroad Safety Guy (I don’t remember his name or his organization) visit our summer program for kids. This was more than 30 years ago at my first call congregation on the lower EastSide of Saint Paul — where active [...]
By Bishop Ann Svennungsen Did you feel the winds shift this month? Maybe it was the same wind that inspired Peter’s Pentecost sermon, “I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.” We’ve heard a few more daughters prophesying in synod assemblies around the ELCA this spring. Seven [...]
By Meghan Olsen Biebighauser Here we are! This is the week when we transition from our school year schedules and routines to our summer lives. For families like mine, with two kids in school and daycare and a spouse who teaches high school, this is a big change in routine and structure for all of [...]
By Bishop Ann Svennungsen “I need more family.” These are the words of Jira, an adopted African-American teenager, spoken after her father is killed. “I need more family,” she says, to support her newfound desire to find her birth mother. Her story is told in the mini-series The Red Line, a profound glimpse into the [...]
