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Advent Reflection
by Anna Wilson It’s fitting that we should be reflecting on the Magnificat in this first week of Advent. For me, this time of year seems to bring with it a sharpening of the shadows, longing, and grief that is entwined in our stories, and I have found it comforting to spend time pondering the themes of hope, love, and justice found in Mary’s song. And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my…
Ash Wednesday
“For we to die are ready, Who, living, cling to thee.” – From the German hymn Bei dir, Jesu, will ich bleiben by Karl Johann Philipp Spitta By Deacon Dawn Lundgren Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of our remembrance of Jesus’ 40 days of prayer and fasting in the wilderness. We think of this time as Jesus’ enduring and overcoming temptation and indeed it was—but equally so, it was Jesus’ time of preparation and strengthening for the years of ministry ahead…
Testimony of the Resurrection
By Molly Riley This winter’s narrative Bible study taught me to listen to scripture and attend to its details in a new way. Each week we listened to a different story from the Gospels about Jesus’ encounters with women. We learned to paint the setting in our minds as we listened, discussed the details of each story together, and then in pairs practiced telling the stories ourselves. On our second-to-last meeting we retold all the stories we’d studied, each person…
Shrove Tuesday: Why Pancakes?
By Heather Walker Peterson Before my family’s fast begins in Lent, we follow the Anglican tradition of feasting on pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. But why pancakes? Unless my husband is making his rich Swedish pancakes, really crepes with spoons of sugar added, pancakes don’t seem like the kind of food many would refrain from. I grew up thinking of them as an occasional easy supper with eggs. Nothing fancy. It wasn’t until I read Frederica Mathewes Green’s Facing East about…
Advent Practices – Part 3
By Haley Scharf If you are unfamiliar with the Advent tradition of O Antiphons prayers, you’re in for a treat. They are an ancient monastic tradition (dating to at least the 8th century A.D.) that I knew nothing about a few years ago. But once I learned about them, they quickly became one of my very favorite Advent practices. The O Antiphons are short prayers traditionally used during evening prayer on December 17 to 23, the last seven days of…
Advent Practices – Part 2
By Haley Scharf Advent is a time to remember that we are a people of hope because we have a God who keeps his promises! Long ago he promised a Messiah, and his word was fulfilled when Jesus came the first time. Now we have a promise that Jesus will come back again to fully establish his kingdom and set things right, and we wait with hope because we know God is faithful and will fulfill that promise as well.…
Advent Practices
Advent: Awaiting the Light By E.R. I was asked to share about my Advent practices at our church’s soup supper on Nov. 12, as we all begin preparing the way for the Advent season. The content I shared during that time follows below, along with a list of resources that Haley and I drew together. We hope these ideas might inspire you as you prepare your own homes and families for the season. One of the things that I particularly…
Faithful Presence: Together For Good
By Sonia Keillor The past few months brought our family an opportunity to step out in faith, trusting that where we were lacking, God would provide. Last May, we began the process of becoming a host family for an organization called Safe Families, which provides care for vulnerable children whose mothers often have no safe person to turn to in a crisis. Our process of deciding to host children took a few months, starting in January. By mid-spring we had…
Children’s Books for Lent
by Haley Scharf Today’s post on Redeemer Journal is by Haley Scharf, who in the past has blogged about theological literature for children at aslanslibrary.wordpress.com. Individual reviews of most of the books she mentions below can be found there. One of the ways my children have become familiar with the rhythms of the church year is by reading books that line up thematically and biblically with each season. Reading seasonally is something that’s easy to do during Advent; there are…
Ancient Faith Transforming Modern Lives: The Laity in the Liturgy
By Joshua Ford Throughout our worship services, we encounter many exclamations uttered by the laity. “Kyrie elëison,” “Alleluia,” “Hosanna in the highest,” “Hear our prayer,” “Thanks be to God,” and the all-important “Amen” are peppered throughout the liturgical practices of the Church across time. But what do they mean? What function or role do they play in the past and in the modern day? What relevance do they have for us as 21st-century Minnesotans when we gather in prayer and…