by the Rev. Emily Heitzman It is really hard to be a preteen or teenager today. I unfortunately know this because as a pastor who works with youth, I have seen this firsthand. I’m not saying that it wasn’t difficult to be that age. I received my fair share of unrealistic and unhealthy messages about […]
by the Rev. Dr. Ralen M. Robinson I recently received some harsh feedback that stuck with me. It stuck with me longer than I hate to admit. It came after worship, flippantly, casually, like it didn’t matter, but it stayed. It weighed on me; it made me reevaluate who I am. This isn’t the first […]
by the Rev. Kristen Glass Perez “May today be your peaceful day.” These words have stayed with me since this past winter, when I had the extraordinary opportunity to journey alongside the Walk for Peace. Nearly two dozen Buddhist monks from the Huong Dao Vipassana Bhavana Center in Fort Worth, Texas, set out last October […]
by Saint Browder These are scary times for the United States. The language of division grows louder, institutions are tested in ways they haven’t been in generations, and the public sphere feels increasingly tense and uncertain. In moments like this, it is tempting to focus only on the loudest expressions of political extremism — the […]
by Lee Ann Pomrenke We know when we have it, and we know when we don’t. And we know it’s not something we can muster up when it just isn’t there. During the cold, long nights of winter, after the excitement of Christmas and Epiphany has passed, our lack of passion can be all too […]
by Angela T. !Khabeb At some point in our lives, we encounter a hobby, an interest, a cause that intrigues, inspires, or provokes us. Some passions are sparked from within, while others swirl around us, inviting and enticing us to come closer and closer until we are riveted. According to the dictionary, passion is “a […]
by Nola Smith It all started when I read an article in the April 2025 Bold Connections e-newsletter from Women of the ELCA regarding a trip to Arusha and Meru, Tanzania, through their Global Education Travel program. In my retirement from nursing, I was looking for new ways to serve my faith community. I […]
What Scripture tells us about God’s love. Listen to the September 2019 Podcast issue. http://traffic.libsyn.com/boldcafelife/Cafe-09-2019.mp3
by Sarah Carson We have long known that conversation doesn’t just happen with language. So if prayer is a way to enter into conversation with God, doesn’t it follow that God might be open to communicating in the vast and varied ways humans are able to listen, understand, and respond? Just as two friends might […]
by Sarah Carson When I was a freshman in college, my roommate asked me to go with her to a popular new church in town. It was the mid-2000s, and I was used to getting dressed up for church on Sundays, singing hymns out of a hymnal, and listening to a preacher explain some five-point […]