A liturgical church is a Christian community that follows a structured, prescribed order of worship passed down through tradition, focusing on intentional, communal participation rather than spontaneous services. The ELCA is a liturgical church; the Episcopal Church is a liturgical church; Beloved Community is a liturgical church. And part of being liturgical means that we have pieces and parts of our liturgy, the texts we use in a worship gathering, that remain the same. Either every week or...

Today’s Gospel reading begins with Jesus saying: “Hey all y’all, do not let your hearts be troubled!” Really Jesus? Have you looked around? I mean I get that because of my privilege and status, I do not have to worry about not being able to pay for my groceries, but that’s not true for many of my neighbors. While I don’t have to worry about my safety and existence, that’s not true for my trans siblings whose very existence is being threatened daily. While I will probably die before climate...

Did you know that a section of the 10th chapter of the Gospel of John is read every year on the 4th Sunday of Easter? In the tenth chapter of John, Jesus talks about himself as the good shepherd, hence we have “Good Shepherd Sunday,” every 4th Sunday of the Easter season. The Shepherd is a common metaphor that the Hebrew people know well. The prophets Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Zechariah all talk about the divine shepherd versus the worthless shepherds. The worthless shepherds neglect the sheep,...