By Neil Christians At the First Third Conference on “Why Can’t Church be more like Camp?” there was a lot of talk about adults needing to prepare the table. This is what happens at camp which most of us don’t do effectively in the church. So in our congregations, we need to prepare the table for…
By Neil Christians This is part 2 of this post. See Part 1 here. Reflect We are the ones who hold up a mirror to our students. We need to show them what they cannot see; themselves as a beautiful and wonderful creation in the image of God. Everyone needs to know these three things. First…
By Julie Hagen Christmas is quickly approaching and the to-do list that might otherwise stress me out, seems somewhat insignificant this year. Instead of finishing my end of year budget at work and wrapping gifts at home, I’ve been reading stories of children, teachers and administrators whose lives were all cut too short. Our lives have…
By Dr. Nancy Going, Director of the CYF Distributed Learning Program at Luther Seminary Are you ready for that? We at the Center for First Third Ministry at Luther Seminary are ready to move beyond helping you talk about what is wrong and how hard ministry is today and why the vehicles aren’t working….
By Dr. Terri Martinson Elton, Director of the Center for First Third Ministry at Luther Seminary Where were you when you heard the news on Friday? I was in California visiting my brother, sister-in-law and niece. The morning news had just ended and it was time to bring my niece to preschool. I sat with…
By Andy Sahl Continuing education types of gatherings must walk a fine line for me. If the ideas presented are purely practical, I get the sense of “been there, done that, didn’t learn much.” If the pendulum swings too fart to the theoretical or abstract ideas, I leave feeling like the presenters didn’t really speak…
By Derek Tronsgard Last Christmas my wife’s sister joined us while we opened our presents. A few weeks ago I did pre-marriage counseling for some friends. Yesterday I showed a friend a picture of my dog. Pretty unremarkable… …except when you consider the fact that I live in Minnesota. My sister-in-law lives in Denver and…
By Dr. Nancy Going, Director of the CYF Distributed Learning Program at Luther Seminary I love change. Most people don’t, but I do. Get this, I even love to move. The actual physical process of moving itself. I know, pretty crazy, right? Of course, I get overwhelmed at some point too, but I love the…
By Dr. Terri Martinson Elton, Director of the Center for First Third Ministry at Luther Seminary I have a confession to make – I’m not much for waiting. Most of my days are filled with things to do and people to see, moving from one thing to another. Truth be told, I even try to…
By Dr. Nancy Going, Director of the CYF Distributed Learning Program at Luther Seminary I just had dinner with friends last week. Â I hadn’t seen them in a couple of years. Most importantly, I hadn’t seen their son who happens to be developmentally disabled. Â And when I had seen him last, I had never spent…
By Dr. Terri Martinson Elton, Director of the Center for First Third Ministry at Luther Seminary This weekend I attended the funeral for the mother of three “former students” of our youth ministry. It was an honor to be there, and it threw me back decades to the times we’d spent traveling on buses, studying…
[Author’s preface: In my travels I have visited many churches (mainly Lutheran) and have experienced both the best and the worst in terms of how congregations welcome or do not welcome outsiders. Some well-intentioned efforts go awry and can be counter-productive. Sometimes the effort is not even made to welcome newcomers. I have the impression…
By Dr. Nancy Going, Director of the CYF Distributed Learning Program at Luther Seminary – Are your ministries with young people more interested in program participation or cultivating a faith that matters in everyday life? – Are you spending more time and energy coordinating events than fostering conversation about faith? – Are you struggling to…
By Derek Tronsgard Earlier this week Mike King led a First Third Dialogue session talking about the power of space in our ministry and it got me thinking. About a year ago a woman in my congregation cornered me on Sunday morning. “We need to talk,” she said. Crap, I thought. She went on to…
By Dr. Terri Martinson Elton, Director of the Center for First Third Ministry at Luther Seminary Thanksgiving has been celebrated, and now the Elton family has turned their attention to preparing for Christmas. There is excitement in the air, and there’s no turning back. We have entered the holiday season. This season is filled with…
