The Pastoral is Political: “Sit. Down.”

Several weeks ago, the ELCA Churchwide Assembly, the voting body, gathered in New Orleans to conduct the business of the church.  There was also a parallel assembly, The Grace Gathering.   The Grace Gathering was organized to include those who were not voting delegates, but like them, share an interest in the future of the church.… Read More

The Pastoral is Political: Words Matter

This was an overwhelming  week in the news. The Oregon shooting reminds us that gun violence is increasingly commonplace. Racism and discrimination, again breaches and rears its ugly head. In Ohio, a little Black boy and a little White girl play the staring game. She expresses fear. He is suspended. Well, Emmitt Till was killed… Read More

The Pastoral is Political: #ifIdieinpolicecustody

In 1993, I attended the Re-imagining Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  This conference  ignited controversy on so many levels.  Some women pastors returned from the conference to find they had been terminated from their positions. Some theologians and denominations even denounced the entire conference as heretical. I was a seminarian at the time.  I was glad… Read More