I’ve long thought that if we don’t reclaim a vibrant sense that all Christians are called to serve God by making a difference in the world wherever they are – theologians call this the doctrine of “vocation” – the Church doesn’t have much of a future. One of the great challenges...

Recently I was at a pastor’s conference that fell shortly after annual parochial reports were due. If you don’t know what “parochial reports” are, take a moment to give thanks. In short, they’re the tally sheets by which my denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America,...