My heart going boom boom boom…. Yesterday official word began to circulate that the search committee at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia has decided to recommend me to their Board as their candidate for the position of president at that fine school. It is my alma mater, and I have always felt a debt of gratitude to the seminary and my teachers there for the excellent education I received. I’m very excited about both the challenges and opportunities that will come with that position, and honored and humbled by the trust of the committee. As the plans now stand, I’ll be on the Philadelphia campus the 13th...

Tonight I have the distinct privilege of sharing in a conversation with Phyllis Tickle and Brian McLaren on the future of the Church. Given that these two are among the most creative and provocative voices in the church today, I’m really looking forward to our conversation tonight, which begins at 6:30 (CDT). And I’m especially delighted that we are live streaming it for free to anyone who is interested. You can go to the live stream simply by clicking this link which will take you to the YouTube page set up for the event. Both Phyllis and Brian have written many, many worthwhile volumes. Most lately, Phyllis is the author of The...

…Then maybe it’s time to start Rethinking Evangelism! There’s an old joke that, while it names Lutherans, I suspect could be applied to most “mainline” Protestants and Roman Catholics: Q: What do you get when you cross a Lutheran with a Seventh Day Adventist?   A: Someone who goes door-to-door but has no idea what to say! There’s something both funny and just a little bit painful about that joke precisely because it’s true. Lutherans…and Presbyterians and Methodists and Episcopalians and Roman Catholics, as well…often are incredibly uncomfortable when we talk about evangelism largely because we assume that evangelism...

I can’t believe I forgot to post this on April Fools’ Day earlier this week! If I had remembered, I would have described this as our latest and greatest strategy for improving the teaching at Luther Seminary through consistent classroom assessment. But I since I blew it, I’ll just tell you ahead of time that this is the video some colleagues and I put together for our annual Variety Show at Luther. Given what a mess things are here right now, it seemed like a good time to make fun of ourselves. And given my earlier note on gratitude for good friends (#6), this seems like the second best day of the week on which to post it....