On Sunday, April 27th, Popes John XXIII and John Paul II will be canonized, and the Vatican has just posted the program for the grand event. There’s lots to chew on here for those of a liturgical bent . . .
Read moreAuthor: Peter Rehwaldt
Peter is a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, with a PhD in Worship, the Arts, and Proclamation from the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley CA, where his work focused on a multigenerational understanding of rite, hymnody, and preaching. He served for six years as the Director for Research of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada, was on the Hymn Editorial Panel for the ELCA's 2006 hymnal, Evangelical Lutheran Worship, and currently resides in Lee's Summit, MO (part of metro Kansas City). He has taught and spoken in various settings on preaching, liturgy, hymnody, and the multigenerational nature of the church.
Faithfully Listening to the Assembly of the Faithful
Last March, I wrote that I’d like to see the conclave elect a pope who loves being part of great conversations. With the call from Pope Francis to the church to talk about how the Church relates to families, I think I got what I prayed for — and his questionnaire is filled with liturgical issues for us to wrestle with.
Read moreThe Baptism of Prince George, Senator Paul Simon, and Me
Britain’s Prince George, third in line to the throne, was baptized in a small private service at St. James Palace. But a conversation I had years ago with the late Senator Paul Simon makes me wonder what his baptism might have been like, had it happened elsewhere . . .
Read moreGood Friday, the Child Abuse Scandal, and The Long Dark Winter’s Night
In his book The Long Dark Winter’s Night: Reflections of a Priest in a Time of Pain and Privilege, Father Philip Bergquist, formerly of St. Raphael Catholic Church in Fairbanks, Alaska, uses the metaphor of living through the long Alaskan winter to describe his own struggles with the crisis gripping the Roman Catholic church over the sexual abuse committed by priests and the reactions of bishops to that abuse. Theologically, it is a liturgical treatise on Good Friday, filled with stories and reflections about how a Church Grieving meets its suffering Savior at the foot of the cross, “where heaven’s hope and humanity’s wounds meet.”
Read moreHow a Lutheran Cardinal-Elector Might Vote
I received an email recently that rocked me to the core, first with laughter, and then with much more seriousness. It came from a Roman Catholic friend, inviting me to share “what a ‘Lutheran elector’ would be looking for in the next pope.” Is there some cardinal, anxious to hear a word from faithful voices beyond the boundaries of the Roman Catholic church? I can’t imagine a Lutheran being invited personally inside the conclave as an elector, or even as a delegate-observer. But perhaps it is not too much to dream that insights from a Lutheran might be taken into consideration, even if spoken in the quiet pre-conclave conversations in which the real electors are engaged and not during the conclave itself. So I replied to my friend, and thought I might share those reflections more publicly here as well, as they touch on much of what PrayTellBlog readers regularly discuss.
Read moreA Gift from the Danish West Indies to New Jersey and New York
What do you say — how do you pray — in the aftermath of a hurricane?
Read moreA Reformation Meditation for Those Who Shape Worship
In a time of liturgical questions, changes, challenges, reforms, and reforms of reforms, filled with arguments, disputes, power plays, and power players, perhaps a bit of psalmist-inspired Reformation perspective is in order. If it worked for 16th century Martin Luther and 20th century Roman Catholic hymnal editors, perhaps we 21st century folk can profit from it as well.
Read moreThe Preaching of the Sisters
“When you look around,” Sister Hiltrudis told the youth, “you are seeing the preaching that my sisters and I do. Your pastor preaches in his way, and we preach in ours.”
Read moreHoly Week Is for Children
What the church does together in its liturgical assembly during Holy Week is almost by definition much more accessible to children than what the church does on, say, the umpteenth Sunday in ordinary time. What the church does during Holy Week, when one boils it down, is simple. In our words and our actions, our songs and our prayers, we tell the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
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