This past weekend I had a chance to reconnect with several former students while teaching in Minot, ND. One reminded me of a distinction I’d made some years earlier and, more importantly, shared with me the impact it was having on some of the young families in his congregation. The distinction was simple (and one no doubt I’d borrowed from others!): Is “faith” a noun or verb? The answer, of course, is both. But the distinction matters when it comes to how we understand our faith in our daily lives; do we, that is, on a day to day basis think of faith primarily as functioning as a noun in our lives or as a verb. If...

We had two rather remarkable worship services at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia over the last few weeks that I wanted to share with you. Two weeks ago, for our community All Saints service, we remembered a different set of saints. Actually, the community prayed for the usual group of saints, those we have known and loved and have lost in the last year. But we also prayed for all those who have been killed by gun violence in the city of Philadelphia over the previous year as well. As part of that remembrance, a memorial to those victims was set up outside of our chapel. Sponsored by the interfaith coalition Neighborhood...