“Hear my prayer, O Lord; let my cry come to you!” —Psalm 102:1 Hurts and brokenness among the chosen people of God is nothing new. While there is much more attention given to church worker health, the anguish of God’s servants fills the Psalms. Psalm 102 begins with a preface that notes,...

In May of 2018 Bethlehem Lutheran Church held an upbeat street ministry event, Taking Jesus to the Streets, in Ferguson. They met more than 100 people a block from the Canfield Apartment complex, the epicenter of the unrest that made the St. Louis suburb infamous. The residents asked them a...

When Todd Barnes, an active member and former president of Zion Lutheran Church, needed a new model for his work with the homeless, he looked at the success of many areas in the country. Lancaster, PA in particular had a model he thought would work in the areas he serves....

“O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old.” ⁠—Psalm 44:1What is one thing that congregations can do to strengthen both the church and our communities today? The answer is simple, but not easy....