By Bishop Ann Svennungsen Most every year, my extended family has Sunday worship together during our late July reunion by our parents’ cabin on Montana’s Whitefish Lake. I have a precious photo from 20 years ago when our son, John, directed the closing hymn, “Go Tell it on the Mountain,” with the lake and the [...]
By Manny Lewis In a world that often feels divided and disconnected, many people find solace and a sense of belonging in their faith and in the power of community work. But where exactly do these two intersect? Where can we find God in our efforts to build stronger communities? For some, the answer may [...]
By Emilie Bouvier Two weeks ago I found myself in front of a beautiful art piece on the banks of the Wenatchee River in Washington state. I arrived at the Grunewald Guild just hours earlier for a week of teaching an art workshop on photography and spirituality. Finesterre I’ve heard pastors comment before [...]
By Jack Hurbanis This summer, on the way to visit family in Slovakia for the first time since before the pandemic, I got to spend two and a half glorious days in Iceland. My traveling partners and I landed about a week after the summer solstice – meaning for the entire time, we never saw [...]
By Nicholas Tangen July 11 is the feast day of Saint Benedict of Nursia, the father of western monasticism and the writer of the Rule of St. Benedict (RB), a text that has served as a guide and ground for monastic communities over the centuries. Not many Lutherans pay attention to Benedict’s feast day and [...]
By Bob Hulteen Social location makes such a difference, … even in the church, it seems. Having grown up from fifth grade on in a North Dakota ALC congregation, I had never heard the names of Richard Allen or Absalom Jones. Neither school nor church provided information about these two faith leaders from the Revolutionary [...]
By Pastor John Hulden It’s the middle of summer. Have you been to a lake yet? Looking back on my just completed two weeks of vacation, water played an important role in my time away. At an Airbnb in Detroit Lakes, there was swimming and a pontoon ride, as well as a bike ride around [...]
By Bishop Ann Svennungsen A congregation in the Minneapolis Area Synod, ELCA is hurting. As a result of several media posts, including those from the Daily Caller and Fox News, Edina Community Lutheran Church (ECLC) has received threats to both property and person. The FBI and local police are involved and taking the threats seriously. [...]
By Jack Hurbanis After years of dreaming about it, earlier this year in March I made the decision to accept an offer from Mitchell Hamline Law School and begin my time as a law student this fall. This idea started during my senior year of high school when, as a part of my government class, [...]
By Maya Bryant Yesterday, while deep cleaning my car to get ready to sell it, I heard high-pitched chirping coming from nearby. I chose to ignore it until it got so irritable that I dropped my towel and Windex bottle to find the source. Near my right front wheel was a baby robin, barely old [...]
