[1] In January, the Lutheran Ethicists Network held its annual conference in Washington D.C. before the meeting of the Society for Christian Ethics. The topic of the conference, “Ethics and Democracy,” was chosen because of the location and the times. Two of the three plenary papers are published here in this issue of JLE. The Lutheran Ethicists Network conference was well-attended and also included time for discussion and a panel of three practitioners who gave their accounts of how faithful coalitions of people advocated for democratic and caring public policies.
[2] The first essay, by Sivin Kit director of the Lutheran World Federation, invites readers to consider lessons from global Lutheran churches. Kit presents stories from countries where the church has central authority in government and culture and from countries where the church has marginalized authority. He speaks of places where members of the church are the majority of citizens and where they are in the minority. From the accounts he gives, he creates a list of lessons and invitations—ending with an invitation to all readers to consider the power and importance of hope.
[4] The second essay, by Mindy Makant of Lenoir-Rhyne University, presents a liturgical framework for faith formation. She explains the how worship nourishes and provides practice for God’s beloved children to act on that love. Using examples from her classroom and her family, Makant makes a strong case for the possibility of formation and gives examples of liturgical practice that take formation seriously.
[5] After the conference, other essays were submitted on the topic of faith and democracy to the journal. Two of these are published in this issue. The first comes from Sidney W. A. Dekker, a professor and chaplain at Griffith University, in Brisbane, Australia. This essay focuses on the concept of cheap grace as a tool of authoritarianism and Bonhoeffer’s admonition to Christians to consider the cost of grace in discipleship. The second essay come from Paul Hinlicky, professor emeritus at Roanoke University. Hinlicky’s short essay speaks specifically about the recently constructed Faithful Resistance Declaration that is modeled after Bonhoeffer’s Barmen Declaration.
[6] All of these essays challenge readers to consider how their faith influences their political life and how it ought to do so. Indeed, the question of how faith becomes active in love is the primary question of the Journal of Lutheran Ethics. For many years, the publisher of the Journal has been Roger Willer, who retired in February. All of us at the Journal of Lutheran Ethics thank Roger for his years of service to the Journal, his careful eye, and his advocacy the importance of a space for the academic study of ethics to meet pastors and laypeople.
[7] In March, we welcomed Rev. Dr. Laurie Jungling as the new Program Director in the Office of Theological Discernment and as our new Publisher. Her letter of introduction is included in this issue. Her areas of expertise will be an asset to her work in this role. We are grateful that she will be working with us at JLE.
[8] In conclusion, in reading all of these essays and thinking about our work in Lutheran ethics, a thematic point emerges. As Christians, we must not consider evil to be a demonic and monstrous force that requires authoritarian solutions and blindness to nuance. We, also, must not take a Stoic position that all is as at must be. Instead, we must recognize the danger of laziness and faithlessness when we fail to think through our options, consider the commands of Christ to love the neighbor, or courageously stand up for love trusting in Christ’s promise. Such a recognition requires faithful Christians to continue to engage in dialogue, to advocate for democratic processes, and to resist hate in every time and place. This issue highlights what such faith might look like in action.
