[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 makes a case for ceding marriage to the state and in order to reserve blessing for the church as part of his understanding of Lutheran identity. Music figures prominently in our Lutheran heritage, and it figures in our discussion of liturgy. Allison Werner Hoenig urges us to sing the liturgy, bridging the sacred and profane, and participating fully in the liturgy. Jon Pahl and collaborators find theological themes in secular music by encountering music as prayer. Two articles, one by Jennifer Phelps Ollikainen and Michael Trice, and one by Brian Konkol, pose challenges and images for understanding ecumenical worship.
[3] Finally, we continue our series on preaching the liturgy. Shauna Hannan discusses the challenges and benefits to preaching on social issues. Jonathan Rundman understands the Reformation Sunday texts to speak to an issue close to every musician’s heart.
Kaari Reierson is the founding editor of the Journal of Lutheran Ethics and is the Chair of the Journal of Lutheran Ethics Advisory Council.