Vicarage: Opportunities to Learn—and Share
From seminary student to vicar is a big step, but it’s a step you do not take alone. And it is an incredible learning experience.
The LCMS
Spiritual Support for Living Today
by Dr. William B. Knippa As a husband and father of three, I have been struggling to make ends meet, due to the general state of the economy. My income has remained steady, but the increase in my monthly bills, along with college on the horizon, has meant cutbacks in other areas—not the least of
Specific Ministry Pastor: To Meet a Special Need
Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP) is the newest LCMS program for preparing pastors to fill an identified need in a congregation, cultural setting, or other ministry.
Shedding Some Light
It’s All in the Name My 3-year-old daughter, Analiesa, discovered last night that God has the same name we do. I was once again teaching her the Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father, who art in heaven,” I began. We got to “hallowed be Thy name,” and Analiesa stopped me. “That’s our name,” she stated. I looked
Technology: A Dynamic Tool for Forming Pastors
As technology enables seminaries to broaden their reach, they also assure that technical advances foster the goal of training and forming pastors.
Would St. Paul Work at Starbucks? Going Where the People Are
by Dave Ficken Living with the Gospel in church is often comfortable. But in an age when people no longer come to the church, the church has to go to the people. Living with the Gospel in the secular world can be uncomfortable. What if I don’t know the answer someone’s question? What if they
Hack “The Shack?”
“The Shack” is a publishing blockbuster and a cultural phenomenon. What are we to make of this exercise in ‘Christian’ fiction? A Lutheran pastor takes a look.
What Do You Crave?
A coffeehouse offers ‘Peace, Coffee, More’ … and conversations about Jesus by Roland Lovstad At the crossroads of a university campus and a regenerating city community is a coffeehouse that may be as close to a church as some people ever encounter. “Peace, Coffee, More,” reads the business card of Donna Green. She’s the manager
For Abused and Neglected Children: ‘Validation that Someone Cares’
“Over the years, our experience has shown us, and we deeply believe, that no child can be truly healed unless he is cared for emotionally, physically, and spiritually.”
Pastors Are People, Too
by Gary J. Ellul When you picture a pastor, what do you see? My oldest daughter recently told me how surprised some of her friends were when they met me for the first time. My daughter had told her friends I was a Lutheran pastor, but somehow my size and build didn’t fit their idea
Fixed on Eternity
Because she was too tired to hold him, I held him as the water was poured over his head and he was baptized “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
The Beauty of Lutheran Hymns
Thank you for the especially fine March issue of The Lutheran Witness, with its emphasis on liturgical music and hymnody. I am personally well acquainted with the excellent Lutheran Summer Music Academy and Festival program for high-school students. I would also like to emphasize the fact that these young musicians have real fun and enjoyment