Articles

Introduction/Purpose [1] This paper addresses African American youth leadership and the role that the Lutheran church can play in their development. In giving our opinion, based on our experiences on this subject, we will define youth, citing some of their needs as it applies to leadership. We will 1) identify how the church responds to […]

[1] “As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God? My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me continually, ‘where is your God?’ These […]

[1] I serve as pastor of a wonderfully diverse, small (but growing) downtown congregation in Jersey City, New Jersey. Jersey City, for those who may be unaware of our location, is right across the river from lower Manhattan. The magnificence of the World Trade Center had been the primary view from our side of the […]

[1] Lutherans will be of various minds regarding an impending war with Iraq. If you are like I am, you are still trying to sort out the “issues.” At this point, I do not know what we should say, but I am convinced that we should be involved in the debate. Specifically, I am convinced […]

[1] On June 27, 2002 the Supreme Court of the United States issued its ruling in Zelman, et. al. v. Simmons-Harris et. al. whereby a sharply divided Court upheld as constitutional a school voucher program that allowed thousands of Cleveland, Ohio students to attend religious schools. Some commentators have called this one of the most […]

[1] We outlined and began writing this article in August 2002. In the ensuing weeks, a number of ethical and moral issues emerged in the United States in general and in the African American context in particular. These issues have implications for both church and society. These issues caused us to pause and reflect as […]

[1] “That is why what America most needs today may be prayer: prayer that God may yet help us, before it is too late, to stop our accelerating slide toward the way things used to be.” Stephen L. Carter, “Reflections on an America Transformed,” The New York Times September 8, 2002 [2] I have, in […]

[1] Here in Columbus I often see flags for Ohio State, especially on game days. There are very few flags for other teams. Football unites Columbus. People who have never attended O.S.U. talk about the O.S.U. team as “us” and the opposing team as “them.” Refereeing decisions unfavorable to O.S.U. are often condemned. Supporters usually […]

[1] In my initial article written just a few weeks following the terrorist attack on September 11, I expressed a concern that our heritage of just war thinking might help us to “grasp the underlying causes for the belligerence of the enemy” and “pursue every avenue that might contribute to understanding between the two sides.” […]

[1] Whenever mainstream Protestant religious intellectuals and church leaders-let’s call them religious professionals-reach near unanimity on questions of political policy, especially foreign policy, it is time to be suspicious. They seem to have reached near unanimity in opposing American policy toward Iraq. [2] Now, it is axiomatic that on foreign policy questions those religious professionals […]