Native American Heritage Month
This month we are commemorating Native American or Indigenous Heritage Month. Every community owes its existence and vitality to generations from around the world who contributed their hopes, dreams, and energy to making the history that led to this moment. Some were brought here against their will, some were drawn to leave their distant homes in hope of a better life, and some have lived on this land for more generations than can be counted. Truth and acknowledgment are critical…
Spoke in the Wheel: Dietrich Bonhoeffer & Kingdom Allegiance
On October 11th, Roots will kick off a new and timely teaching series called “Spoke in the Wheel: Dietrich Bonhoeffer & Kingdom Allegiance.” In 1933, Dietrich Bonhoeffer delivered a lecture to a group of pastors who were uneasy about the way the German state was exercising its power, but were “good Lutherans” and so did not speak out. “Dietrich mentioned three possibilities of church action towards the state: ‘In the first place it can ask the state whether its actions…
Lament for COVID-19, Immigrant Detainees, and Breonna Taylor
Unless you’ve managed to complete tune out of what’s going on in the world today, you are probably experiencing some level of stress right now. To many of us, it feels like the world’s violence, injustice, brokenness, and division has been on full display lately and it’s honestly scary. Just for starters, the world is very close to 1 million deaths due to the COVID-19 virus, and the United States has more than 20% of those deaths, surpassing 200,000 deaths.…
Loyal-love: Exploring God’s Character & Mighty Deeds
This fall, the teaching team at Roots will join with other pastors, teachers, and bishops from the wider body of Christ in listening for what the Spirit is saying to the whole Church through the holy Scriptures. Specifically, we will be using the Revised Common Lectionary to structure our teaching. For those who aren’t familiar, a “lectionary” is a calendar of biblical texts that guide the worship of churches. The Revised Common Lectionary is a calendar of biblical texts shared…
Finding God on Your iPod
In the beginning, God blessed humanity to create cultures. This has been part of our calling to steward creation on God’s behalf, to reflect God’s loving reign into the creation, and gather up the praises of creation and give them to God. This is what it means to bear God’s image. Therefore, recognizing the way God is at work in art and culture is an important part of seeing the goodness of God in human beings and creation. One easy…