Russell E. Saltzman

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America today took action, in the words of Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson, to position “the churchwide organization to make a vital and vibrant contribution to the ministries of this [ELCA] church and the work of partners throughout the world . . . .” . . . . Continue Reading »

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has a number of ethnic associations. There is one for African Americans, for Asians and Pacific Islanders, for Latino Ministries, and even an Arab and Middle Eastern heritage group. The associations were created when the ELCA came into being in . . . . Continue Reading »

No doubt college students have sex, though probably never as much as they would prefer, but this will likely get some parents—especially parents of students at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota—to think seriously about the “home colleging” option for their kids. . . . . Continue Reading »

Here is a fun adventure  romp , a first novel by former  Newsday columnist Ray Keating.  Stephen Grant is an ex-CIA agent with notches on his pistol who, with a little bit of angst, turns his back on his secret life and becomes, get this, a pastor of the Lutheran Church-Missouri . . . . Continue Reading »

Some of our readers probably like gold—with an ounce of gold above $1,300 what’s not to like—and talk of reviving the gold standard is going around. The U.S. has been off the gold standard since 1933. David C. Harper, editor of Numismatic News , reports sobering figures for people . . . . Continue Reading »

I have been dipping into esoteric religious stuff, by accident. Normally it isn’t anything I mess with, beyond the dismal fancies of liberal Protestants in general and Lutherans in particular. I blame UFO Magazine . A recent cover caught my eye at the library. There is a connection, I learned, . . . . Continue Reading »

It is very hard to swallow yet another Lutheran church body in America but that, following a two-day August 26-27 convocation in Columbus, Ohio, is what America has: the North American Lutheran Church (NALC). “North America” sounds rather expansive and that is only because some few . . . . Continue Reading »

I grew up with public school prayer and my fourth grade tyrant, Mrs. Earing, not only made us pray daily but also made us sing Faith of Our Fathers every Friday morning (though we never included the original verse praising the Virgin). A choir we were not. I really dislike that hymn. Best I can . . . . Continue Reading »

The Constant Fire: Beyond the Science & Religion Debate by Adam Frank University of California Press, 304 pages, $24.95 Frank finds his spirituality in science, spirituality being the human longing for narratives and mythic explanations of who we are, why we are, where we are, and how long we . . . . Continue Reading »

Jesus: A Story of Enlightenment by Deepak Chopra HarperOne, 288 pages, $24.95 The problem with the gospels, says Chopra, is that they give us a “static” Jesus”a Jesus who “didn’t have problems” and who “didn’t evolve.” “Jesus,” Chopra . . . . Continue Reading »