u/No-Type119

I thought I’d post this for any German speakers here… the guys (?it’s mostly guys) in the other sub would lose their minds to see her. Which is pretty sad. ELCA context creators: We need more of you! https://www.facebook.com/share/r/19JGMbpmYD/?mibextid=wwXIfr

I really prefer leaf lettuce to iceberg, taste- and texture- wise. One of the vendors at my local farmers market usually has really beautiful red leaf lettuce by the head, and impulsively buy one… but then I waste half of it because it’s just too hard for me to eat by myself. My spouse has an ostomy snd can’t eat a lot of fiber; and there are only so many green salads and sandwiches with lettuce that I can consume in a week. Wilted lettuce would be okay occasionally, but I have to watch my cholesterol and avoid a lot of bacon.

Any other ideas for using a head of leaf lettuce? On my list I have lettuce wraps and… um… lettuce wraps. Am I consigned to bagged baby lettuce at the supermarket?

I just got done watching a video by some insane , bloviating white Christian nationalist preacher. While they have been around for years, and I’m used to their rhetoric … tonight I was hit by a big, ugly- tears bout of despair. I am in mourning for our country; I am rage- filled against MAGA; I don’t understand why mainline Protestants and other reasonable people have not fought harder against what is happening. I question my own generation, wonder what we/ did wrong. I also, frankly worry that Christianity has been so corrupted that it isn’t fixable.

Now. I know that I’m “ stuck in a moment” right now … but do any of the rest of you have these overwhelming feelings of sadness and despair? How do you power through it?

I have noticed a common trope in this sub: Redditors worrying about being thrown into hell for committing any sins at all; a total lack of confidence in confession and assurance of forgiveness; a basic misunderstanding of what sin is, treating it like a list of arbitrary rules that God uses as a kind of loyalty test.

But behind all these assumptions there seems to be an idea that we must be perfect, 100 percent, in order to be a Christian. Where is this coming from? It’s not a belief of the historical faith. Even the Eastern Orthodox, who believe in theosis. believe that that is completed in this lifetime. I was acquainted with pretty legalistic Evangelicals back in my school days, and even they would have been shocked by/ dubious of the idea that human beings can be sinless in this world. I’ve just heard if a couple of Pentecostal and Wesleyan fringe groups that have d sr embraced the idea of “ sinless perfection.”

So why do these posts keep happening ? Is it poor Christian education in churches , or does Reddit attract extremist believers, or are people out there trying to freelance Christianity with no guidance and getting confused?

In my rural area, we frequently see church signboards or electronic marquees or random signs along the road that feature no real text or context , just cryptic Bible citations like “ Colossians 1:15” or “ Exodus 3:1-6” or whatever. ( I know what these say, so you don’t have to quote them to me,)

My question is: If your church does this, what is the purpose of these drive- by citations? What is your goal? We are typically driving 45- 60 mph past these signs; frankly, I’m not about to pull over and look up the citations, nor am I memorizing them to find when I get home.

So is this some kind of IYKYK insider boundary marking, or just outreach people not thinking things through, or what? What’s your response when you aired by one of these random verse citations?

Not a profound question for the ages, but… what are your feelings about clerical collars?

I like to see clergy in collars. It gives them gravitas. I * don’t* agree with the idea that dressing pastors in cargo shorts and Hawaiian shirts makes them more approachable.

I have also heard from pastors that wearing a collar in public generates a lot of good conversations with random people who would never set foot in a church. And for pastors who for whatever reason might not be respected in certain places /circles while wearing their civvies, the collar conveys authority.

What say you?

( Sorry, pastors — I know they’re uncomfortable.)

Many Christian subreddits lead me to ask this question.

And by “ terrible,” I mean, first of all, how is it that so many “ good Christians ” have almost no knowledge of the main doctrines of the Christian faith, no idea about how to engage with Scripture, no understanding of their own denomination or tradition. And I see this across the board, from fundamentalists to progressives.

And… And why it so hard for churches to come up with both childhood and adult religious education that “ sticks”? Are they missing opportunities that would make it easier for people to be educated? Do some church sacred cows, like Sunday School and adult Bible studies, , need to be “killed” or dramatically reengineered?

I had the benefit of a good catechetical education. My childhood church had afterschool catechism class from 4th or 5th grade through 8 th grade. We had reading assignments, memorization, even written homework. Before 8th grade class even started, the pastor got the families together after church one Sunday and said, “ This is not a joke. If I perceive that either you or your children aren’t taking this process seriously, your child isn’t getting confirmed — and I don’t care if your parents are flying in from another state to see it, your party invitations are in the mail, or what. “ ( And one family opted out at that point.)

In school, even though adult classes were all voluntary, both churches I was part of had really interesting, rigorous classes. We generally had one adult Bible study and one “ special interest” class, plus the new members class. I don’t mean sitting at attention in a classroom… we had a fireside lounge and teen rec room where people could relax and talk. And while we didn’t attract throngs of people, we might get a dozen or so Bible study participants out of a congregation of about 100, more for the larger church, and sometimes a really lively bunch for the “special interest” discussions. We held adult classes during Sunday School hour at the one church, and the time between the two services at the other church.

On another sub an adult convert was saying that they very much wanted to be baptized, but that the church they were attending was kind of dragging its feet about scheduling the baptism, and they were getting frustrated.

Pastors out there — if someone like this came to you and asked you to baptize them , would you make them wait until you were going group baptisms/ confirmations… or would you just do it?

Not a gotcha question. In the churches I’ve been part of, there were particular thematically appropriate Sundays where we would conduct baptisms , confirmations/ affirmations, and new transfer welcomes, at the same time… but we also baptized people on other Sundays.

I said that the Lutheran pastors I know would be happy to baptize them asap, but I didn’t want to overgeneralize .