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 Rev. Dr Chad Rimmer, Rector and Dean of Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary of Lenoir-Rhyne University Theological Keynote Address to the ELCA 2025 Churchwide Assembly, July 30, 2025   [1] Greetings from the faculty and staff of your Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, of Lenoir-Rhyne University, one of your seven ELCA Seminaries and one of three embedded […]

[1] This special edition of Journal of Lutheran Ethics contains the theological reflection given by Rev. Dr Chad Rimmer at the 2025 Churchwide Assembly in Phoenix.  This reflection brings together theology and action.  Immediately after the address, there were calls by listeners for the text.  JLE is grateful to Rev. Dr. Rimmer for providing the […]

Note: From the Editor It is the practice of the Journal of Lutheran Ethics to consider for publication letters written to the Journal about current or past issues or in regard to current events. Letters to the editor should be sent to the email address linked here for consideration by the editor. Authors will be contacted by the editor if the letter […]

What is polarization?   [1] As befits a preacher, I begin today with a quote from a great theological authority in these matters, Rabbi Leonard of Montreal, who wrote:   I’m sentimental if you know what I mean I love the country but I can’t stand the scene And I’m neither left or right, I’m […]

[1] In the aftermath of the 2024 United States Presidential Election, Christians are wrestling with more constructive ways of living out their faith-life and civic duties. Unfortunately, political discourse of late has created a gulf within the church catholic in the United States as Christians are drawn into the culture wars and hyper-partisan politics. There […]

[1] Amidst a society wrenched apart by forces hell-bent on splintering the body politic as well as the Body of Christ, Amy Carr and Christine Helmer have co-written Ordinary Faith in Polarized Times which offers a theological framework for helping Christians engage in moral discernment and “justice-seeking.” For the authors, the concept of Christian identity […]

[1] In Ordinary Faith in Polarized Times: Justification and the Pursuit of Justice, Amy Carr and Christine Helmer are concerned with the polarization that runs through our country and congregations.[1] Though this polarization’s content is most often political—think of the red-blue state divide, or our siloing mediated by social media and cable news—Carr and Helmer […]

[1] Our book Ordinary Faith in Polarized Times offers conversation as the intersubjective mode we have as persons and Christians for exchanging our respective positions on difficult topics. We thank our interlocutors in this issue of the Journal of Lutheran Ethics for engaging with themes in our book that resonated with them. We began writing […]

[1] In the section above we situated the responses to our book in a historical framework of Lutheran thought. We now lean into thinking with some of the questions, concerns, and alternatives offered by our reviewers. [2] Both Justin Nickel and Leah Schade commented that we had not clarified the precise notion of justice presupposed […]

[1] As the ELCA finalizes its discussion on civic life and faith and Americans go to the polls for the presidential election, many people are afraid to discuss their stance about politics at church while others proudly proclaim that their views are the only right ones.  Rather than this flight or fight response, we at […]