Bread for the Day is a daily-use devotional resource filled with rich treasures:

A brief scripture reading (NRSV texts) for each day following the daily lectionary developed by the Consultation on Common Texts and presented in Evangelical Lutheran Worship Dated for January 1, 2025, through December 31, 2025 A prayer and hymn for each day Brief yet helpful introductions to the seasons Table graces/meal prayers for the holidays and seasons Household blessings for special times throughout the year, including Anniversary of a Baptism, Blessing for the New Year, Blessing for a Home at Epiphany, Blessing of the Household for Thanksgiving Day, Remembering Those Who Have Died, Lighting the Advent Wreath, Blessing of the Christmas Tree Monthly pages for recording prayer requests Notes on festivals and commemorations Simplified forms for morning and evening prayer Waking prayers and bedtime prayers, including prayers with children

Use Bread for the Day for personal, household, or group devotions. This is the perfect resource for individuals, congregations, households, Bible study groups, prayer groups, pastors, church councils, outreach teams, confirmation students, and teachers.

Do you find yourself feeling emotionally bruised, upset, and confused after being in contact with your mother? Are you left doubting yourself--even feeling crazy--as she remembers some incidents totally differently than you remember them, and denies that other events even happened? Does it seem she gets frustrated, angry, or upset when good things happen in your life? Does she seem happy and energized if you have a problem or crisis?

Round and round go your feelings, emotions, and half-formed thoughts, till you think you must truly be crazy. And you still end up emotionally bruised, confused, and hurt.

If this resonates with you, it is possible that your mother has narcissistic personality disorder. You're Not Crazy--It's Your Mother explains what NPD is, and what it means for you and your self. This book will help you undertake a journey of recognition and recovery: of moving on, healing, and claiming your own self as the wonderful, vibrant woman you really are.

The award-winning Spark Story Bible opens up God's Word to kids through colorful art and rich retellings of 150 of the most popular Bible stories. The Bible uses creative language familiar to kids and features full-color, vibrant artwork.

> 150 Bible stories-an excellent foundation for a biblical education

Activity suggestions and questions help kids connect with the stories

Designed for age 2 to grade 2

How can churches do the work of becoming allies for the leaders they call? In belonging to a predominantly white denomination, ELCA members are called to listen and learn from its leaders of color to recognize the assumptions, biases, and harmful actions that result when congregations don't commit to become allies. Authors offer wisdom, storytelling, and concrete suggestions for churches preparing to call a leader of color. Call to Allyship is a must-read for call committees, church councils, social justice teams, and anyone prepared to do the work of understanding, welcoming, and celebrating these leaders.

Chapter 1 How to Read This Book by Rev. Angela T. !Khabeb

Chapter 2 Intersectionality by Dr. Kelly Sherman-Conroy

Chapter 3 The Call Process by Bp. Patricia Davenport

Chapter 4 Embodied Ministry by Rev. Jenny Sung

Chapter 5 Family Life by Rev. Priscilla Paris-Austin

Chapter 6 Compensation by Rev. Viviane Thomas-Breitfeld

Chapter 7 Nonrostered Leaders by Dr. Kelly Sherman-Conroy

Chapter 8 Allyship by Rev. Dr. Andrea Walker

Chapter 9 Gifts of Leaders by Bp. Felix Malpica

Chapter 10 What's Next by Rev. Angela T. !Khabeb

David K. Switzer presents a clear, illustrative and practical manual for pastoral caregivers that covers the entire range of pastoral care emergencies typically faced by clergy, pastoral counselors, and lay caregivers such as Stephen Ministers and Befrienders. The chapters deal with issues such as situational crises, hospital emergencies, ministry to the dying, bereavement, suicide, divorce, domestic violence, substance abuse, and psychiatric emergencies. The question of when and how to refer is discussed in the final chapter. The book is highly practical in approach, but still extremely sensitive to the theological issues at hand in ministering to those experiencing great emotional, mental, and physical distress.

In See Me, Believe Me, Rev. Dr. Yolanda Denson-Byers draws from the wisdom and experience she has gained--and the racism she has endured--as a female, Black, and queer pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Through storytelling, biblical reflection, and colleague interviews, Denson-Byers offers an honest and unflinching look at the challenges faced by leaders of color in the predominantly white ELCA. Her insights and concrete suggestions for action illustrate how seeing and believing leaders of color are essential steps in the journey of allyship. Chapters beckon readers to acknowledge ignorance, respect boundaries, join in celebration and lament, offer reparations, and continue doing their own work to dismantle racism and live into the fullness of loving God and neighbor.

See Me, Believe Me is the essential follow-up to Call to Allyship: Preparing Your Congregation for Leaders of Color, another title in the Mouth House series of books that amplify voices for change.

The essence of spirituality is loving God, says Powell. The Bible, the Talmud, and the Qu'ran all direct their followers not merely to believe in God, to trust God, to obey God, and to serve God but to love God. Can we learn to love God?

In this biblical spirituality for today, Powell's earnest plea is for Christians to revisit their faith not by blazing in religious enthusiasm but by harboring a steadier flame and deeper commitment. Living at the poetic heart of faith, he argues, entails seeing the coordinates of religious life in a new way. Powell espouses the old-fashioned idea of piety. Drawing on his wide knowledge of the Bible and Christian tradition, as well as insights from his own journey, he shows how simple religious practices move us beyond the old certitudes of a nave and youthful faith into the less certain but more bracing terrain of a second navet, a closer walk with Jesus.

In the last decades of the twentieth century, American Lutherans embarked on a journey fraught with peril and filled with promise: the formation of a new church intended to unite Lutherans throughout the country in a shared vision of ministry, service, and fellowship. Congregations, leaders, institutions, publications, programs--the whole ministerial infrastructure of three of the country's Lutheran church bodies--were reborn with the ringing in of the New Year in 1988. Yet, the birth of this new church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), was not universally celebrated.

From his front-row seat as the ELCA's first secretary, Lowell G. Almen tells the story of the ELCA's birth, life, and growing pains as it sought to promote and embody Christian unity. A Dream Eclipsed is a memoir of the ELCA's first three and a half decades told from the wealth of Almen's personal and professional experience. It offers a unique view into the triumphs, tribulations, and ongoing work of the ELCA's founding era as the church looks forward to what lies ahead. In facing that future, Almen writes, The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the whole church always must be on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35), taught by the resurrected Christ, informed by the words of Scripture, and renewed in faith through the breaking of the bread.

This definitive analysis of the theology of Martin Luther surveys its development during the crises of Luther's life, then offers a systematic survey by topics. Containing a wealth of quotations from less-known writings by Luther and written in a way that will interest both scholar and novice, Lohse's magisterial volume is the first to evaluate Luther's theology in both ways. Lohse's historical analysis takes up Luther's early exegetical works and then his debates with traditions important to him in the context of the various controversies leading up to his dispute with the Antinomians. The systematic treatment shows how the meaning of ancient Christian doctrines took their place within the central teaching of justification by faith.

A quarter-century after writing the acclaimed The Celtic Way, Ian Bradley, one of the foremost experts on the spiritual beliefs and practices of the indigenous Christian communities in the British Isles in the early Middle Ages, revisits the original sources and makes a substantial reappraisal of Celtic spirituality. Following the Celtic Way challenges many of the myths and romanticized portrayals of Celtic Christianity and shows evidence of the harder edge and demanding austerity of the lives and spirituality of believers from this time. This book sits among the most insightful and up-to-date introductions to this distinctive and evocative expression of faith and draws out its themes that are most relevant to us today. It also offers practical spiritual guidance on how to follow the Celtic Way in the contemporary world.

In Holy Communion, children are introduced to a richer relationship with Jesus who offers himself as spiritual nourishment. On Your First Holy Communion provides passages and prayers that will highlight the importance of communion. This is the perfect gift book marking an important sacremental moment in a unique and personal journey of faith.

In America, waiting presents an enormous challenge.We are impatient, fix-it kinds of people - and not allsituations can be fixed. This book presents seven spiritualgifts that waiting can teach us: Patience, Loss of Control, Live in the Present, Compassion, Gratitude, Humility, and Trust in God. An excellent resource during times of waiting within the church year including Advent and Lent, the book includes spiritual exercises and reflection questions for personal or group use as well as a retreat design.

Jrgen Moltmann's life and work have marked the history of theology after the Second World War in Europe and North America like no other. He is the most widely read, quoted, and translated theologian of our time. Now, after celebrating his eightieth birthday, he looks back on a life engaged in and forging a Christian response to the tumult and opportunities of our age. In his autobiography Moltmann tells his engaging and searching life story, from his Hamburg youth in an unconventional parental home up to the incompleteness of the present moment. Yet his narrative also sheds light on the creative arc of Moltmann's work, on the journey of his own theological development from its beginnings after World War II through the beginnings of political theology and, most phenomenally, the advent of the theology of hope.

A wide-ranging document alert to the deeper currents of his time and ours, Moltmann's work is also an engrossing reconsideration of a life full of intense experience and new beginnings.

Paul and Palestinian Judaism compares Judaism, understood on its own terms, with Paul, understood on his own terms. Sanders aims to:

Consider methodologically how to compare two (or more) related but different religions

Destroy the view of Rabbinic Judaism which is still prevalent in much, perhaps most, New Testament scholarship

Establish a different view of Rabbinic Judaism

Argue a case concerning Palestinian Judaism as a whole

Argue for a certain understanding of Paul

Carry out a comparison of Paul and Palestinian Judaism

After the world witnessed the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, a passionate uprising erupted, with the intersection of 38th and Chicago at its epicenter. One block away stood Calvary Lutheran Church, an ELCA congregation whose members had engaged in racial justice work for years.

In Ashes to Action, Shari Seifert provides her riveting first-person account of the events following May 25, 2020. Shari joined others in the Calvary community to show up, listen, and ask what was needed in the moment. As the lines between her congregation and neighborhood blurred, the way toward a faithful response because clearer. This personal narrative stays rooted in the context of community, immersing readers in the days, weeks, and months following the uprising.

In this sequel to Creating a Healthier Church, Richardson employs the same methodology to address the roots of personal issues that may hinder pastors' ability to function effectively as leaders within their congregations, and may in fact cause them deep difficulties. He especially addresses pastors' own families of origin, a major but often hidden component in how they function emotionally in their congregations. When anxiety arises, unresolved familial issues and old family patterns return, often unhelpfully. Richardson explores these patterns, how they operate in church situations, and how pastors can do their own family-of-origin assessment. His volume will become a standard tool for analysis of patterns in ministerial behavior and developing strong personal effectiveness.

In an attractive gift format, this is a book for all in need of healing, for those who pray for others, for caregivers, pastors, counselors, Stephen ministers, and compassionate visitors. It points to God's healingpower and promises that in God's time and in God's way, all will be well.

This gathering of 250 healing prayers from around the world and through the centuries includes prayers for:

physical healing

emotional healing

forgiveness

the healing of relationships

compassion

times of grief

the dying

expressing gratitude for healing

Richard Foster

Henri Nouwen

Mother Teresa

Desmond Tutu

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Teresa of Avila

Saint Augustine

Flora Slosson Wuellner

Leslie Weatherhead

Miriam Therese Winter

Herb Brokering

Julian of Norwich

Lewis Smedes

Frederick Buechner