heatherdean

[1] Lutherans are reborn talkers.  The children of God are chips off the old block, and like our Creator, who started everything by speaking in Genesis 1: they cannot stop talking.  Aristotle thought of the human being as an animal rationale.   Luther thought of the human creature as an animal dicens (speaking animal) and the […]

[1] The Journal of Lutheran Ethics hopes to provide reading material to stimulate thinking and conversation among academics, clergy, and laity.  To this end, this section of JLE is designed to encourage constructive discussion within congregations about the topics discussed in JLE.  Consider using this section in formal adult education classes or in informal small […]

[1] The news cycle continues to bewilder.  Listening to the news demands we think seriously about the central questions of ethics.  Philosophically and theologically we ask, “What ought we do?” Pragmatically, we ask, “What can we do?” As we think about our call to serve the common good, one important action is to build partnerships […]

[1] In this issue of JLE, which is dedicated to the discussion of the vocation of ELCA colleges and seminaries, it is fitting to review Kirsi Stjerna’s new handbook on Lutheran theology, a textbook dedicated to her students. This book is, itself, a connection for the Lutheran college with the church and laity.  It provides […]

Bouquet of Humanity [1] Just minutes after Derek Chauvin was convicted of murdering George Floyd, I logged on to Zoom with a small group of St. Olaf staff and faculty convened by Dr. María Pabón, Vice President for Equity and Inclusion. The purpose of the meeting—scheduled before anyone knew when the verdict would be announced—was […]

[1] Over 10,000 youth from 22 countries surveyed by Amnesty International ranked climate change as the most important issue of our time.[1] Teenagers in the United States make the same case.[2] Increasing average temperatures, rising sea levels, extreme weather, ecosystem degradation, biodiversity loss, and mass extinction associated with climate change threaten public health, water supply, […]

With temperature and humidity pushing into the nineties, the football team broke early for lunch. As players headed over to the cafeteria for lunch, a few hung back. The coach approached, offering to walk with them. “Thanks,” one replied.” “But it’s Ramadan, and we’re fasting.”  When the non-Muslim teammates heard the reason for their absence […]

[1] Rooted and Open: The Common Calling of the Network of ELCA Colleges and Universities was adopted on January 4, 2018, as a collective statement about the vocation of Lutheran higher education for ELCA colleges and universities. It is the first statement that frames a Lutheran mission in higher education derived from the ideals of […]

[1] In Spring 2021, I taught a course on Lutheranism for the first time in a few years. As with probably every single other institution of higher education, Midland University, where I have taught since 2008, was responding to the COVID-19 epidemic and to the challenges it presented to our students, staff, and faculty.  We […]

[1] When I was first asked to consider contributing an essay to this issue of the Journal of Lutheran Ethics, I wondered whether—as a fairly new president of an ELCA seminary—I really had much to say that would be new or different from my many colleagues in this work. But then I realized that I […]