Recently, I was down in San Antonio for the annual board meeting of the Hispanic Summer Program, which is a fantastic program that will celebrate its 35th anniversary next year. Wartburg Seminary is a proud supporter of this program. This is HSP mission statement [and you can find more about it here: https://hispanicsummerprogram.org/about/%5D Founded in…… Continue reading Memory, Identity & Storytelling
Category: Religion
Ordinary People at Auschwitz
Yesterday we visited Auschwitz-Birkenau. As many of you know, Auschwitz was the largest of the Nazi concentration camps and extermination centers. Over 1.1 million men, women and children were murdered there. Auschwitz proper was actually a whole network of sub-camps, forty in all, that exploited the prisoners as slave labor. [The website, by the way,…… Continue reading Ordinary People at Auschwitz
Report from Krakow
We are two days into the 13th Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation, and I am having a great time. It is wonderful to be meeting so many people–old friends and new–and to see Wartburg grads, too, and make those connections. Mostly, though, I am just trying to learn as much as I can: to…… Continue reading Report from Krakow
Rekindle the Gift Within You
I want to share the verses from Jeremiah that are guiding our work at Wartburg Seminary in our new strategic plan, “Rooted and Renewing.” Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream.It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall…… Continue reading Rekindle the Gift Within You
Commemorating Juneteenth
Juneteenth celebrated the proclamation issued to enslaved African Americans by Union general Gordon Granger, in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865, that they were free, and the Civil War had ended. General Granger’s announcement put into effect the Emancipation Proclamation, which had been issued nearly two and a half years earlier. From the website http://www.juneteenth.com:…… Continue reading Commemorating Juneteenth
Truth & Healing, and Indian Boarding Schools
Those in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America might be aware that the Church has just launched a new movement, the “Truth and Healing Movement,” which intends to support the work of the ELCA to explore the “true history and current realities of Indigenous people.” Find more about it here: https://elca.org/Our-Work/Congregations-and-Synods/Ethnic-Specific-and-Multicultural-Ministries/Indigenous-Ministries-and-Tribal-Relations/Truth-and-Healing-Movement Included in this movement…… Continue reading Truth & Healing, and Indian Boarding Schools
The 8 Pillars of Joy
I have written about The Book of Joy before, because I love it so much. Really, if you haven’t read it, I so strongly recommend it–for anyone, not just if you are religious. It is a book for people who love themselves, the world, and other people–and want to live more fully into a disposition…… Continue reading The 8 Pillars of Joy
God is Resurrecting the Church
I want to share a modified version of my opening devotion from the Wartburg Seminary board meeting, and the metaphor I have been thinking about for some time: “God is resurrecting the church.” I start this post with some verses from 1 Corinthians 15: 35 But someone will ask, ‘How are the dead raised? With what…… Continue reading God is Resurrecting the Church
Ceasing, Resting, Embracing, Feasting
On my way to California, I read a book that I was really hoping I would be able to recommend highly. It is called Keeping the Sabbath Wholly, by Marva Dawn. While it certainly does contain some good insights, it turns out I can’t recommend the book, for several important reasons. Let me start with…… Continue reading Ceasing, Resting, Embracing, Feasting
Why Diversity Matters, for Everyone
Bob Iuliano, the current president of Gettysburg College, a wonderful college where I used to serve as chaplain/associate dean of religious and spiritual life, wrote this fantastic piece for The Hill on race-conscious college admissions: you can read it here: https://thehill.com/opinion/congress-blog/3673515-building-diverse-campuses-requires-race-conscious-admissions/ Iuliano is uniquely qualified to write on this topic, because he previously served as…… Continue reading Why Diversity Matters, for Everyone
Happy Lutheran 