Simplifying the Soul: Lenten Practices to Renew Your Spirit by Paula Huston (Ave Maria Press:2101) Paula Huston suggests that humility is the key to Lenten practices and the grime hidden behind my otherwise clean refrigerator might, just might, be a metaphor for what is deep and hidden in my own spiritual life.  My first reaction to this? “how dare her!” My second reaction to this? “ok.  She’s right.” Huston is right.  The experience of keeping a holy Lent is... Read more

This week a video went viral on the Internet. Not some cloyingly cute thing with kittens and not the Why I Hate Religion but Love Jesus video.  It was much more disturbing than that.  No, this video was of American soldiers urinating on the dead bodies of supposed Taliban soldiers. Mohsin Naquvi, a director of the Islamic Information Center in Washington was quoted saying that “A dead body … is the property of God, and the property of God is... Read more

This video went viral this week and I’ve been asked by the ELCA office for my response (to be posted on their website.) Here it is: I totally get it.  I hate the way in which the church is more of a behavior modification program and a purity system than a place where we hear the truth of who God is and the truth of who we are because of who God is. I also resent the way in which... Read more

Tuesday morning as we walked out of a meeting at Augustana Lutheran Church, I turned to Pastor Justin Nickel (who is basically the little brother I never had) and said “Hey Justin, your girlfriend is in my confirmation class that starts tonight” Looking over his shoulder he said loudly “ADULT confirmation for anyone who might be listening.  ADULT confirmation” Sometime people ask me questions I have absolutely no authority to answer, which, of course, doesn’t keep me from doing it... Read more

For the first 1,300 + years of the church there was no seating in churches.  (with the exception of stone benches along the back wall for the elderly or infirmed) The Protestant Reformation saw to it that the sermon would now be the primary focus of Christian worship and, well, folks are gonna need to sit for that kind of thing.  So starting in the 16th century and really reving up in the 17th and 18th we saw fixed pews... Read more

This last week I briefly visited a mainline church in the neighborhood House for All Sinners and Saints would like to move back into.  They have an urban historic building which seats 350-400 people.  There were 18 people at worship. 18.  This is not an unusual situation. Much has been written about the decline of the Mainline so I’ll not repeat it here.  I suggest you familiarize yourself with the work of Diana Butler Bass if you want to learn... Read more

Recently I was helping a synod in the ELCA (my denomination) undergo an evaluation of one of their church plants.  Anyhow, there I learned about an event the synod had put on to try and get local “resourced” (read: those with money) churches to start building relationships with local church plants (read: those without much money).  The thing with starting a church in the ELCA is that there is, rightly so, an expectation that local established churches will give financial... Read more