Articles

[1] Earlier this year, I was asked to serve as a co-investigator on a research project aimed at demonstrating the effectiveness of spiritual care in helping emergency trauma nurses cope with experiences of moral injury in their work experiences. As I am currently serving as a chaplain, I eagerly accepted the invitation to participate. However, […]

[1] We are living through a technological watershed driven by artificial intelligence. Since the arrival of early generative Large Language Models (LLMs) in 2017, billions of dollars, years of research, and instruments of state power have all been used to reshape our world to better accommodate the next generation of AI models.[1] These technologies are […]

[1] The topic of artificial intelligence has moved from science fiction to science and business. The essays in this issue raise topics for discussion that relate to spirituality and the church.  The following is a brief discussion guide to help congregations think through the issues presented in this edition of JLE. [2] The essay by […]

[1] There is a lot of talk about artificial intelligence. As there is a rush to market the uses of AI, there is a need to create guardrails and guidelines for the use of AI in order to protect intellectual property, safeguard personal data, and reign in the energy consumption of AI.  Here at Journal […]

[1] Chad Lakies’s argument in his book How the Light Shines Through: Resilient Witness in Dark Times challenges the church to take seriously the pluralistic secular age we live within and approaches theology and faith in a new way but does not encourage the church to lose its own identity in the process. This book […]

[1] On Sunday, July 20, 2025, my Lutheran congregation sang these lines from “Lord You Give the Great Commission” (ELW #579): Lord, you show us love’s true measure: “Father, what they do, forgive.” Yet we hoard as private treasure all that you so freely give. May your care and mercy lead us to a just […]

[1] In this edition we include two singular book reviews that deal with a constructive proposal for Christian Ethics and social engagement, and a guidepost for examining the church’s place and role in the world. [2] Jason Mahn’s review of Angela Carpenter’s Grace and Social Ethics: Gift as the Foundation of Our Life Together, offers […]

[1] In August, my daughter and I flew into Boston for a brief vacation in Western Massachusetts before I drove her to a university in Rhode Island. We spent one night in a town called Revere, not far from the airport. The next day, we began our journey to a vacation village in Hancock, a […]

Introduction [1] Over the past several decades, theological education has undergone significant changes due to declining enrollment and more recently a global pandemic. In response there have been seminary mergers with undergraduate institutions, widespread use of hybrid and on-line models of education, and closures. While changing winds have affected all seminaries, the ones who have […]

[1] Just days after the election, with the board of directors on campus for their fall meeting, then LSTC President, James Nieman, scraped his prepared board report.  Instead, he shared five significant potential threats he saw to in the rhetoric of the U.S. President elect. He also gave theological responses to those. Nieman clearly stated, […]