Yesterday as I waited for my audiologist appointment, I read the report on the future and pastors in the ELCA; you can read it too, if you'd like (go here for the PDF).  It seems well-researched to me, and the implications also seem well-reasoned.  I say "seemed" because I didn't do a deep dive.  I was in a waiting room, reading the document on my phone, which is not a good way to read for me.  I tried turning the phone sideways, but the document did not shift to a more readable position.   The information isn't new to me.  I know that churches have been shri ..read more

I have finally had a moment to download the video of the sermon that I preached on Sunday.  Go here to see it. It's always interesting to me to see how the sermon changes from draft to draft, and then as I actually preach it.  I posted the sermon in written form in this blog post.  As I delivered the sermon, I saw typos, but I decided to leave them alone ..read more

The readings for Sunday, March 16, 2025: First Reading: Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18 Psalm: Psalm 27 Second Reading: Philippians 3:17--4:1 Gospel: Luke 13:31-35 This Gospel is one of those that might tempt us moderns to feel superior. We're not like that wicked Jerusalem, are we? We don't stone the prophets and others who are sent to us. We're a civilized people. But think of how many ways there are to kill the messengers of God. Let's start with our individual Bibles. Do you know where yours is? Have you touched it this week? This month? This year? Of course, we might argue that the Bible ap ..read more

Well, Spring Break is over for me as a teacher.  For me as a student, Wesley Theological Seminary has reading week this week, a sort of week off.  Unlike last semester, I don't have an onground intensive at the campus this week, so I'm hoping to make use of this time off to get some work done. I am realizing that I am in the time of the semester when I will always feel like I am never going to feel caught up.  I am tired, and I am wondering what it would feel like to only have one job for pay.  I've rarely had that.  It's been hard for me to give up part-time teaching ..read more

 March 9, 2025 By Kristin Berkey-Abbott Luke 4:1-13 First, the good news about this Sunday’s reading:  while we might spend much of our lives looking to Jesus and modeling our behavior after him, this text is not offered to us as a mandate to do 40 days of fasting ourselves.  We are not necessarily called to this Lenten discipline.  The first hearers of the Gospel would have heard the reference to 40 days in the wilderness and caught that allusion to more ancient prophets. It's important to place the text in the larger context of the life of Jesus and his ministry.&n ..read more

March is the month designated to celebrate women's history; March 8 is International Women's Day. We might ask ourselves why we still need to set time apart to pay attention to women. Haven't we enacted laws so that women are equal and now we can just go on with our lives? Our current administration seems to think so--no need for equity or diversity or equality anymore.  With some in power, the picture is much more bleak, with an apparent desire to strip away some hard-won rights and liberties for women, for minorities, for everyone who is not white and male. Until recently, I'd have ..read more

When I was at my mom and dad's, my mom showed me various books that she had used as devotional texts for Lent.  One book, Forty Days with Madeleine L'Engle, had all sorts of scraps of paper in it, including some of my poems. We couldn't remember whether or not we were using the book together, but across a distance, or whether she was using it to lead a local church group.  I was happy to see that I still liked the poem.  It was first published in Chiron Review, back in 2009.  I'm almost certain that I wrote it earlier. I've now written a variety of these kinds of ..read more

The readings for Sunday, March 9, 2025: First Reading: Deuteronomy 26:1-11 Psalm: Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16 Second Reading: Romans 10:8b-13 Gospel: Luke 4:1-13 This week's text shows Satan tempting Jesus in the desert. Jesus goes to the desert to find out "what it meant to be Jesus" (in the words of Frederick Beuchner). Jesus goes to the desert, that scorched, barren land. We begin our journey with Ash Wednesday, with scorched ashes from last season's palms that we used on Palm Sunday. Richard Pervo points out that it is a journey that starts in ash and ends in flames (think Pentecost). Along t ..read more

 March 5, 2025, Ash Wednesday By Kristin Berkey-Abbott Matthew 6:1–6, 16–21 There have been some years when I have needed Ash Wednesday to remind me that I am dust and to dust I shall return.  And then there are years like this one, where Ash Wednesday keeps crashing into other seasons, where the forces of Ash Wednesday expand their reach. It’s been the kind of year so far where it seems cruel to preach a traditional Ash Wednesday sermon, the sermon with the message that reminds us that our time is limited, so we better get on with whatever it is that we thought we might be put on ..read more

Today is Mardi Gras, and it's also Shrove Tuesday. It's the day before Ash Wednesday, the day before Lent begins. The holidays of Shrove Tuesday, Carnival, and Mardi Gras have their roots in the self-denial of the Lenten season. These holidays are rooted in the fasting traditions of Lent and the need to get rid of all the ingredients that you'd be giving up during Lent: alcohol, sugar, eggs, and in some traditions, even dairy foods. Mardi Gras and Carnival, holidays that come to us out of predominantly Catholic countries, certainly have a more festive air than Shrove Tuesday, which comes to u ..read more