From the presiding Bishop

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. That’s our name. At least two parts of our name, “Evangelical” and “Church,” are either misunderstood or an outright stumbling block for a significant percentage of the American population. Pew Research reports that over one-fifth of the U.S. public—and a third under 30—are religiously unaffiliated. These are the “nones.” […]

Dear church, We have been living with this pandemic for nearly a year. So much has changed. Bubbles, personal protective equipment, social distancing and one-way grocery aisles are part of our lexicon and everyday experience. Who knew, a year ago, that face masks would be advertised as ideal stocking stuffers? Our homes have become offices, […]

The room was spare and dimly lit. We sat on folding chairs in a circle—young Honduran women and some of us from the ELCA. We had come to Honduras to observe the work of AMMPARO (Accompanying Migrant Minors with Protection Advocacy, Representation and Opportunities). This is the ELCA’s strategy to help youth who have been […]

Editor’s note: In keeping with this month’s theme issue, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton is sharing her favorite food and faith story, which originally appeared in her September 2017 column. Old recipes are precious things. They give instructions about how to prepare a dish, but they are so much more. They are filled with memories. They […]

A colleague of mine once pointed out that Martin Luther wrote far more about freedom than he did about reform or reformation. Liberation in Christ through faith was the freedom that transformed Luther. This freedom is what he wrote about most frequently and most passionately. In The Freedom of a Christian, Luther makes the case […]

Between 1527 and 1529, Martin Luther wrote and composed his famous hymn “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” He based the text of this hymn on Psalm 46: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (verse 1). Luther knew about trouble. He had been excommunicated by the church and declared […]

Perhaps one of the best-known verses in the New Testament is John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” It comes toward the end of a deep conversation between Nicodemus, a leader of his […]

An amazing thing happened in March. Churches were closed but more people came to church. Millions of us were complying with shelter-in-place and physical distancing recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and state and local officials to stop the spread of the coronavirus. In a matter of days our lives were […]

There is an Irish saying: “It is in the shelter of each other that the people live.” I am writing this at the end of March. I don’t know what the world will look like when you read this at the beginning of May. COVID-19 has the world sheltering-in-place. We’ve learned new concepts such as […]

Lutherans have an appreciation for the complexity of life. It’s a certain willingness to meet the world and then go deeper into what is immediately present. It is the ability to understand that reality has room for being two things at once. Paradox. We know that we are saint and sinner. We know the word […]