This past year has been incredibly difficult for Sylvia Havlish. Shortly after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, her husband of 49 years died. On top of that unimaginable loss, she received a cancer diagnosis shortly thereafter. Havlish—a decadeslong grief counselor who facilitates group sessions at Grace Lutheran Church in
The following first appeared in Public Square Magazine. Over the years, we’ve seen members of the Church try to delineate between what is morally problematic versus what is merely culturally discouraged—with an attempt to “shave off” those cultural prohibitions. Sometimes this is good and useful. Other times, the assumption seems
In Pirkei Avot, a talmudic sage by the name of Ben Heh Heh taught: “According to the labor is the reward.” (5:23) You might think of this as the Jewish version of the well-known adage, “No pain, no gain.” But is Ben Heh Heh’s version of the teaching true? If
Eugene McCarraher writes in his The Enchantments of Mammon as if he has our harried last-minute Christmas shopping in mind: The grotesque ontology of scarcity and money, the tawdry humanism of acquisitiveness and conflict, the reduction of rationality to the mercenary principles of pecuniary reason—this ensemble of falsehoods that compromise the foundation
Just 63% of Americans self-identified as Christian this year, a marked drop from 75% a decade ago. Christmas is just 10 days away, and most Americans will celebrate the birth of Jesus. But a new poll from Pew shows the share of U.S. adults who consider themselves Christian is falling.
10 Great Ways to Give People Hope Among the things that the people whose lives were affected by the tornadoes and severe thunder storms that hit Kentucky and other states this past Friday need is hope. Ten (Very Different) Church Trends for 2022Being “laser-focused on ministering to a specific geographical
Advent week 3 “In reply [John the Baptist] said to them, ‘Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.’” -Luke 3:11 This Advent reflection is part of ELCA World Hunger’s 2021 Advent Study and ELCA World Hunger’s weekly Sermon
Image: Iowa Annual Conference By Thomas Lambrecht In the sport of track, races are often set off by the firing of a starter’s gun. Racers who cross the starting line and begin the race before the gun fires are said to have “jumped the gun.” That is exactly what the