A blog of the Evangelical Lutheran Liturgy
Today marks the great feast of St. Lawrence, a deacon in Rome in the third century, and likely the most famous deacon after St. Stephen the protomartyr. St. Lawrence and his fellow deacons, like St. Stephen before them, were tasked with the material wealth of the Church and the care of the poor.
Read MoreAbolish all vicars. Restore the diaconate.
Three years of seminary. Three years as a deacon.
Note: Gottesblog began in 2009. There are a lot of gems hidden under fifteen years of the sands of time. It was suggested that we do a Throwback Thursday feature every week. This is Fr. David Petersen’s advice from fifteen years ago, especially appropriate for younger pastors and recent ordinands looking for practical liturgical advice in bringing the treasure of the liturgy to their parishes, where what is old and authentic may seem new and out of place. This calls for pastoral wisdom. Pastor Petersen offers that here. ~ Ed.
Read MoreFootnote #2 in Walther’s Lutheran Pastoral Theology on page 96…
Read MoreCan you abide the willful disposal of the Blood of Christ in the trash? Brother, if this pricks your conscience, it should. Get busy about this already.
Read MoreWhat I’ve been thinking about more and more is this. How do we as pastors help or hinder that process? Are we to see ourselves primarily as agents of alleviating pain or of administering it? Are we called to make other people’s lives easier and more comfortable? Or are we called to call them to a life of embracing difficulty, of endurance and fortitude, of daring and risk, of zeal for what is good despite the pain?
Read MoreWhile looking into the confrontation between Emperor Valens and Basil the Great, Bishop of Caesarea, I came across this beautifully-written summary. I’m gratified by the example of St. Basil…
Read MoreAugust 19-20, 2024 in Madison Tennessee. Register now!
Read MoreTo be sure, we Lutherans do not walk with the archbishop, nor he with us. But we do stand sympathetically with him on a principle found in Article 28 of the Augsburg Confession.
Read MoreOf course, this is not normally language we consider pastoral or biblical - but there are times for bluntness, sarcasm, and for raising eyebrows. Dealing with false teachers in the congregation is not a time to be nice or to worry about hurt feelings.
Read MoreEarly life experience taught me that spirits are most definitely not to be trifled with.
Read MoreThe 2024 St. Michael Liturgical Conference - Zion Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Detroit - Monday, September 30, 2024.
Read MoreAccording to Scripture, a change in style can have sufficient force as to change a blessing into its very opposite, a curse. This is not just mission drift; it is mission reversal.
Read MoreHappy Independence Day to our American readers!
Read MoreA number of people have asked about the hymn of the day that was sung at my retirement mass on June 9th. It is my own composition, composed and written for the celebration of the cornerstone centennial celebration of St. Paul’s in Kewanee in 2003.
Read MoreI found these remarks by the notable writer Shelby Foote (1916-2005) to be somewhat analogous and applicable to preaching. After all, preaching is a form of writing, insofar as it requires preparation and thought, and is done by means of words woven together into a larger work of narrative - whether one preaches with a manuscript or not.
Read MoreThe Executive Committee of the CUWAA Board of Regents has prepared a letter in response to last week's letter from the Michigan District and asked that it be shared with the South Wisconsin District and other stakeholders.
Read MoreA Communication from the Michigan District BOD and President to Michigan District Congregations, their Members, and Other Supporters of Concordia University Ann Arbor, June 21, 2024
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