Word & Service Ministry

ELCA Life Long Learning Partners (Continuing Education)

Going Public: Prayer and Sanctuary in a Time of Tragedy    by Stephen Paul Bouman
	On the day the World Trade Center towers collapsed, and in the weeks following, the church took to the streets of New York City for communal consolation, lamentation, and acts of hope. continue►

When Saturday Night and Sunday Morning Embrace    by Michael Cobbler
	A pastor who is also a jazz trombonist tells the story of how living out who he is brings people together in serendipitous ways. continue►

Above All the Noise: Using Media for the Sake of the Gospel    by Richard Webb
	Using the latest technology — whether to communicate your congregation's message to the public or in weekly worship — doesn't have to be costly or elaborate to be effective. Most important are knowing your congregation's mission and the people you are aiming to reach. continue►

Online Exclusive The World through My Father’s Eyes    by Joel Smith
	A son of a pastor honors his father’s legacy, shortly after his father’s death. He focuses especially on the spiritual guidance he believed his father epitomized when testifying in a public courtroom trial that stunned both his son and their community. continue►

Online Exclusive Christ and ELCA Cultures: Engaging the Religious Marketplace    by Leslie Weber, Jr.
	How and where do the results of a 2006 ELCA survey and H. Richard Niebuhr’s 1951 text Christ and Culture intersect? Using Niebuhr’s typology, author Weber analyzes the varied and sometimes contradictory ways ELCA congregations understand their activity in the public arena. continue►

Next Issue:
Real People Read, Hear, and Speak the Bible
The Bible is the place where Christians believe the voice of God can be heard through the words of its many human authors. Our ordained and lay leaders will reveal how they study, read, and use these life-giving words. We will explore the five-year-long Book of Faith Initiative, a “Four Questions” Bible study methodology that the author believes connects text and heart, examples of how we can hear Scripture through the discipline of oral interpretation, and the use of the Bible among Asian diaspora Christians in the U.S.

Remember our regular features, both print and online: “Written on the Heart,” book, video, and Web leadership resources reviews, Some Words About..., Book End (a photographic feature from the ELCA Archives), and letters to the editor, cartoons, poetry, and an editorial comment.

Coming September 2008