New Blog from PLTS (Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary)

An invitation from PLTS:

 

PLTS  - Out of the Fog, Into God's World blog

  

Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, California has launched a blog that engages theological perspectives with pressing, urgent public issues of our day. This blog involve a wide range of contributors from the PLTS faculty, other faculties at California Lutheran University, students and alums, as well as others committed to the purpose of this blog. A link to our blog can be found here: http://outofthefogplts.wordpress.com/ 

In faith communities and the wider society, there increasingly is moral outrage about what is occurring, such as entrenched violence and inequalities. However, critical biblical and theological perspectives are seldom brought to bear on what is at stake. Ordinary people of faith are either left "in the fog" about how their faith engages such, or certain "religious" voices are featured in the media that tend to be judgmental or polarizing. The public voice of, especially Lutherans, tends to remain muted or confined within churches, as it was not for someone like Martin Luther. Our audience is those preparing sermons or discussions that better equip people to think and act on timely issues in the news in light of their faith.  The hope is that this might contribute to reflective deliberation amid differences rather than furthering the polarization that is all too pervasive in our common life.
Check it out and let us know what you think in the comments. Thanks!

Malaria in Senegal

Annē (Hoblitt) Linn and her husband, Patrick, are serving as Peace Corps volunteers in Senegal. We pray for them every week during the prayers of intercession.
Annē has a great blog going, and this post from mid-April, "Every Child Deserves a Fifth Birthday" is all about malaria in Senegal and the work, and challenges, of international health agencies there.
If you want to read her latest post, or subscribe, check out the main page of her blog, Line over the E.

During worship yesterday, a bell was tolled every 45 seconds, to remind us that every 45 seconds a child in Africa dies from malaria (many thanks to Kristin H. for bell-duty!). I know it was a little distracting, but I think that's not necessarily a bad thing. Perhaps we should be more distracted than we are by deaths from malaria, human trafficking and the poverty that rages across so much of the world. One of the most powerful prayers I've heard in a long time: May my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God.

I've Seen That Movie, Too

In my sermon last night I mentioned a new blog all about movies being written by a couple of colleagues, called I've Seen That Movie, Too.

Here's how Steve and Bill describe their new undertaking:
We started this blog because we love movies. We love that moment when you mention a movie that you feel strongly about and you hear the reply, “I’ve seen that movie” and the conversation takes flight from there. We’ve enjoyed many of those conversations together and decided to share the experience with others.
The title of the blog reflects that sense of shared experience. You may recognize it also as the title of an Elton John song. The song isn’t really about movies. It is about a relationship and that is appropriate for our blog.
What makes a movie great? Certainly directing and acting are important, as is cinematography and (sometimes) special effects, but what truly makes a movie great is its ability to tell a story and relationships are at the heart of every good story. We’ll discuss all aspects of the movie experience, but the heart of the discussion will focus on relationships. We are both pastors in Montana, so we’ll ponder not simply the human relationships, but also what the movies reveal about our relationship with God.
Along the way, we’ll offer both Recommendations and Reflections. The Recommendations will offer our encouragement for you to see a movie that you may not have seen and will therefore not include any spoilers. The Reflections will be a fuller discussion for those who have already seen a movie and will thus include many spoilers, so take that into account before reading a Reflection if you haven’t yet seen a movie and don’t want any surprises ruined for you.
As often as possible we will both offer our reflections on a movie, so that our give and take can fuel the conversation, but there are times when our tastes in movies don’t coincide, so, in those cases only one of us will offer the reflection. We then invite you to join in the conversation.

Rooted = Blogger of the Day at Pretty Good Lutherans

I just received an email from someone I'd never heard of, who writes a blog I'd never heard of, either: Pretty Good Lutherans. It is "an independent news site of veteran religion reporter Susan Hogan."
I have no idea how she found us, but there we are on the right under "ELCA BLOGGERS." Huh. Maybe I'll check out a few of the other ELCA-types who are writing in the blogosphere...