Articles

A Problem with “Bound Conscience” [1] In August of 2009 the Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, its highest legislative body, approved the social statement Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust by exactly the required two-thirds majority. The task force producing the policy document identified the “bound conscience” as a key concept in […]

[1] What is striking about the ELCA’s August 2009 decisions about sexuality is that they changed policy without giving a scriptural account for the change. The policy change allows persons in publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships to be ordained, yet the change is not supported in any official church document on the basis of […]

[1] Today’s reading from Jeremiah casts a lovely and hopeful vision for a future when God’s law is “written on the hearts” of the people, and when friendship with God is so obvious that no one needs any convincing. Imagine the profound reformation required for us humans to reach that point! Although we trust that […]

Preaching on Social Issues Articles The Silence of Easter by Clint Schnekloth Active Repentance: Getting beyond Guilt by Clint Schnekloth Getting Your Meta On by Clint Schnekloth Advent, Virtue Ethics, and the Telological Suspension of the Ethical by Clint Schnekloth Blessed are the Undocumented? A Reflection on Matthew 5:1-12 by Brian A.F. Beckstrom The Return […]

[1] One of the central debates facing Christianity from its onset surrounded essential requirements for acceptance into the community of believers. More specifically, some wondered whether or not particular ethnic heritage or cultural traditions were mandatory, whereas others considered various beliefs and behaviors surrounding food and other existing customs. As the small number of Jesus’ […]

[1] The Journal of Lutheran Ethics invites us again this month to think about the relationship between Sunday worship and ethics, giving us an opportunity to question our assumptions about worship and God’s mission. Many scholars working on liturgical renewal have contended that to worship is, in fact, to engage in our fundamental identity as […]

[1] On Cantata Sunday of this year (May 2, 2010), my husband and I gave our farewell sermon to the congregation at St. Michael’s Lutheran Church in Fürth, Germany, based on Isaiah 12:21 and the hymn by Robert Lowry (1826–1899) “My Life Flows on in Endless Song.”2 The last line of the refrain asks, “Since […]

[1] Last month Melinda Quivik posed the question to readers in her essay: “How do we know what to do?” This month she seeks to “help foster a conversation about both worship and the missio Dei by asking: How does worship form our own identity and our view of others?” [2] Parish pastor Mitchell Jones […]

[1] Liturgy provides experiences that form our spiritual identity. The liturgical rhythm of the common lectionary helps us wrestle with parts of scripture we might be wary of because they are uncomfortable or challenging to us. This is a positive force in a believer’s ethical formation. But there can be a down side as well. […]

[1] Historically, as the splendid Thrivent production 500 Years of Lutheran Music demonstrates, Lutherans have been eclectic and creative in our choices of music for liturgy. Recently, however, the choices have seemed to narrow to either “traditional” or “contemporary” music. The former features the organ, a baroque instrument rarely experienced outside of church. The latter […]