Heather Dean is the Editorial Assistant for the Journal of Lutheran Ethics. She also works with Theological Ethics and Gender Justice and Women’s Empowerment in the ELCA Churchwide Organization.
Millennials and Lutheran Ethics: A Doorway Back Into Connection
April 2016: Meet the Staff (Volume 16 Issue 4)
Millennials are a hot topic in churches today–how do we stop churches from hemorrhaging them. Writing as a millennial herself, Dean examines why millennials are saying they’re leaving churches, what they are looking for in a faith community, and how Lutheran ethics can provide a space for millennials to re-engage.
Marriage and Anxiety: The Effects of Patriarchy on Women’s Self-Worth
January/February 2013: Hope and Anxiety (Volume 13 Issue 1)
In 21st century America, we live in a world in which women have supposedly achieved equality with men. However, despite new emphases on women succeeding in the classroom and at work, many women still feel a lot of anxiety regarding the pressure to get married. This anxiety, coupled with the pressure to be successful in one’s career and the persistent disparities in American society, presents today’s women with a complicated knot of worries our foremothers did not face.