by Elizabeth Hood It is difficult to even put into words the emotions and experiences of this past year, as we survived this pandemic and our rapidly changing world. As we emerge out of this time it is hard to even know what the long-term effects will be, but life certainly changed and gave us time to shift our perspective. I think this time has … Continue reading You Are Enough: Reentering Ministry After a Pandemic
An Interview with Rev. Priscilla Paris-Austin: Connect Journal: We’ve been living in a pandemic for over a year, accompanied by uprisings, protests, and heightened awareness of and actions against systemic racism. How do you think ministry leaders can be tuned into the ways COVID-19 is intertwined with the lives of BIPOC people? Rev. Priscilla Paris-Austin: The first thing about this question is to reframe our … Continue reading Hearing BIPOC Young People During Times of Crisis
by Joe Davis As a newlywed, one of my most joyful experiences is learning new ways to be a great husband and friend to my spouse. This has made me increasingly aware of behavioral patterns I’ve picked up throughout my life as a male-bodied person that are not only annoying to my partner, but contribute to larger cultural patterns that are hurting us all. I … Continue reading Letters from the Male Box
by Marc Olson Take a deep breath. First, relax. You don’t need to be an expert to read the Bible, or even to lead a discussion, so don’t hold yourself to some arbitrary standard—and certainly don’t try to fake it. Let your own interest in finding stuff out, your gratitude for God’s grace and your love of the people you’re sitting with set the table … Continue reading 12 Tips for Bible Studies that Don’t Suck
by Dr. Nathan Frambach I’m sitting on a simple wooden stool in a small, spartan room in the Taize community in France. I am here with a group of students from Wartburg Theological Seminary for a J-term pilgrimage, and it seems a fitting place to write about an open and inductive approach to reading the Bible in community. Though I have been teaching in a … Continue reading Sitting with God: Reading and Hearing Scripture in Community
Connect Journal 