Call for Papers 2026
Topics are intentionally broad in order to encourage writers to consider new questions, new concerns, and new solutions in their essays. Submissions should follow the guidelines at Submit an Article. Submissions will be reviewed and accepted at the editor and advisory board’s discretion based on content, relevance, and style. Proposals should be 500 words. Reflective essays should be 1500 words. Articles should be 3000–3,500 words in length, unless permission is given otherwise.
If you are interested in contributing a book review, please email us here with a description of your background and what kinds of books you’d like to review. To see a list of what books we’re currently looking for reviewers for, please see below.
February/March 2026:
Ecumenical Conversation and Christian Unity
Having just celebrated the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, this issue invites reports from the World Council of Churches’ Nicaea 2025 Ecumenical Council AND reflections on the possibility and challenge of Christian unity today.
Proposal Deadline: December 1, 2025. Final Submission of Papers: January 1, 2026.
Papers and proposals should be sent to Jennifer Hockenbery, JLE editor, here.
June/July 2026 Issue:
Summer Reading Issue
Have a new book that touches on a topic important to ethics and Lutheran theology? Send books that you would like to have reviewed and offers to review books to William Rodriguez, book review editor, here.
August/September 2026:
Economics and Corporate Responsibility
This issue examines Lutheran approaches to business ethics and corporate responsibility. Questions to consider include those of worker and consumer rights, environmental impact, the responsibilities of shareholders, and the role of government regulation.
Proposal Deadline: June 1, 2026. Final Submission of Papers: July 1, 2026.
Papers and proposals should be sent here.
October/November 2026 Issue:
Incarceration
Papers are invited on the ethical issues involved with the U.S. criminal justice system’s current use of incarceration and the ethics involved in detention centers for immigrants.
Proposal Deadline: August 1, 2026. Final Submission of Papers: September 1, 2026.
Papers and proposals should be sent here.
December/January 2026 Issue:
Homelessness
Thinking of the birth of Christ in a stable and the flight to Egypt of the Holy Family, this call asks contributors to consider the people who find themselves in similar situations. How might we best offer care to those who do not have the means to afford a home or who are escaping violence, poverty or natural disaster in their home country. Papers are invited to consider the effects of home-lessness in either or both contexts.
Proposal Deadline: October 1, 2026. Final Submission of Papers: November 1, 2026.
Papers and proposals should be sent here.
Books Which Need Reviewers:
A History of Nihilism in the Nineteenth Century: Confrontations with Nothingness by Jon
Stewart (physical copy available for mailing)
A Guidebook to Progressive Church by Clint Schnekloth (pdf available)
Body and Identity: A History of the Empty Self by Angela Franks (physical copy available for
mailing)
Dialoguing with Critical Race Theory by Mark Ellingson (pdf available)
Freedom & Imagination by S.D. Giere (physical copy available for mailing)
How Would We Know What God is Up To by Ernst Conradie & Cynthia Moe-Lobeda
(physical copy available for mailing)
Human Perfection, Transfiguration and Christian Ethics by Robin Gill (publisher request)
Reengaging ELCA Social Teaching on Abortion by Caryn Riswold (pdf available)
Reengaging ELCA Social Teaching on Faith Sexism and Justice by Mary J. Streufert & Mary Elise
Lowe (physical copy available)
Reengaging ELCA Social Teaching on Health and Health Care by Kathie Bender Schwich (physical
copy available)
The Digital Public Square: Christian Ethics in a Technological Society (physical copy
available for mailing)
The End of Theological Education by Ted Smith (physical copy available for mailing)
Articles published in the journal reflect the perspectives and thoughts of their authors and not necessarily the theological, ethical, or social stances of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.