Mount of Olives Lutheran Church

We Are What We Practice — Immanuel Lutheran Church

I apologize for sometimes using many sport examples. When I was younger, sports were a big part of my life. I really feel we can learn so much from the work ethics in sports and teamwork on how to get along and work together. Many times during my high school and my coaching years, practice played a

Seven Reasons Why We Should Not Accept Millions of Years

There is an intensifying controversy in the church all over the world regarding the age of the earth.

When Is a Church Not a Church?

The tax code allows for some strange political shenanigans.

Why a Lutheran School?

When you choose a Lutheran School you can align your child’s education with a focus...

Is It Important for Me to Become a Member of My Local Church?

I think the answer is that you should be a church member. But that's not even a clear word—what does "member" mean? The local church—not just the global church, but the local church—is a body. There's global membership in the body universal, and there's local membership in the body ...

What It Means To Be Lutheran

How does one come to the Lutheran faith later in life? How did they find themselves drawn to our confession?

Where Are You Going Catholic Church?

I encourage you to listen to my church history podcast Triumphs and Tragedies. I'm not a historian by any stretch, and I'm afraid the podcast is more than rough around the edges. It was simply my attempt to give a quick roller coaster ride through twenty centuries of church history so that we can make better sense

The evangelical church has become leaner and arguably meaner

Evangelical churches have lost many moderate members and have become more virulent without losing their power.

What Makes a Church Powerful?

The church's impact in a community depends on the submission of each individual.

You won't guess how many churches are involved with this center...

Are millennials really 'not going back' to church?

I think the picture is complex, but there are signs that older millennials may in fact, contrary to the headline, be going back to religion.

Where is church in climate change talks?

If ever a time existed for the church to raise its collective voice on an issue, this is it. Shouldn’t the church stand with those who are working to reverse climate change while there may still be a little time?

“Does the Christian church need different denominations?”

They Tried to Start a Church Without God. For a While, It Worked.

Secular organizers started their own congregations. But to succeed, they need to do a better job of imitating religion.

Holy Land: ‘the mission of the Church is to build small connections, bridges’

"There is a Christian way of living in this country. There is a Christian way of living with this conflict. This is not the time for big gestures. The Church has to try to establish small connections and build small bridges."

Can a Catholic receive communion in a Protestant church?

You are at the wedding of a beloved family member or friend, which is taking place at a Lutheran church. You gladly accepted the invitation to celebrate this happy day with the bride and groom. But then there is a call to come to the table of the Lord’s Supper, to receive communion. This is the awkward moment you knew was coming. Can you, and should you, a practicing Catholic, accept the invitation?

How Do You Know if Your Church is Healthy?

There are healthy churches and unhealthy churches (so, so many unhealthy churches). How would you know the difference? I was asked that question recently and this is my attempt at an answer. Transcript Today I want to talk about the health of a local church. Are there ways we can know that a church is healthy or a way we can know it’s unhealthy? And this comes from a question I received from somebody who’s been watching these videos. Let …

9 Trends in Church Membership and Assimilation Processes

I’ve studied churches in the United States for almost twenty years. During those two decades, I’ve seen growing changes in church membership and assimilation processes – particularly among newer an…

To those who are contemplating leaving the United Methodist Church

I write this letter with an aching heart. I have heard the pain in the voices of so many of you, wondering if it is time to “shake the dust off” and leave your local church. As your bishop, I cannot ask you to stay in a place where your soul cannot be at rest. However, I will share with you why I, a