I want to begin my introductory editorial comments with the expression of much gratitude to all my predecessors, especially the most immediate, Rev. Dr. Jin Hee Han whose calm yet compelling call to me to …

Dear Friends,

Many of our religious traditions have become silent or subdued regarding the once-robust theme of divine justice. Some of us might recall the days of the Great Awakening, which gave us the passionate preacher …

Dear Friends,

In the midst of many challenges that threaten to overwhelm us, the publishing team of The Living Pulpit is filled with thanksgiving as we bring online this issue on dreams and visions. We are reminded yet …

Dear Friends,

Year 2019 presented many challenges to our ministry at The Living Pulpit. In the middle of the year, our website crashed, and it took a team of professionals and volunteers to have the site …

Dear Friends,

Throughout the centuries, feasting has served God’s creatures in many ways including the redistribution of wealth and the nurturance of solidarity among the feasters. The topic of the current issue is meant to be …

Dear Friends,
Migration has been a frequent headline in recent days, and our writers shed light on the particular configurations of contemporary situations while reminding us of the large-scale nature of migration as a human condition …

by Efrain Agosto
 
On September 20, 2017, a devastating hurricane, known as Hurricane Maria, made landfall on the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico, leaving behind unimaginable destruction. This just two weeks to the day after a …

Dear Friends,
The authors in this combined issue of summer and fall remind us that it is a good time to dream. I draw this conclusion not because they declare that the contemporary era is ridden …

by Jin Han

We will find the spiritual quest of the faithful bearing fruit through the shared ministry that promotes the pursuit of honoring God. A cloud of companions is featured under the cover of this issue, ranging from the biblical psalmist to medieval and modern theologians. I trust that in receiving this collection of wisdom on spirituality, our readers are in for a treat thanks to our authors who have spread the blessings of heaven broken into down-to-earth morsels.

by Jin H. Han

A young but meaningful landmark is celebrated in the Reconciliation issue and opens a discussion that goes hand in hand with the seasonal theme of Rejoicing. The troubles that The Confession of 1967 attempted to reconcile are still being addressed, and the waiting often obstructs our view of God’s invitation to rejoice as new creation. The contributions gathered in this combined issue challenge us to continue any and all labors that spread peace and reconciliation for all.

by Jin H. Han

The most important detail about a robed man nailing the Ninety-Five Theses on a church door is that the Reformation was not about starting a new church but about reclaiming what God had in mind for the world. Luther’s notion of liberty is grippingly captured in his treatise on Christian liberty (1520), in which a Christian is declared to be “subject to none.” It reiterates a call of the gospel for all believers so that we may all work together to battle injustice in our society in the name of the reign of God.

Subject to none but God, we are here only to serve God, and clearly the theme, liberty, binds us together.

by Jin Hee Han

In our current issue, our authors underscore that a hope-filled vision of peace dots the pages of the Old and New Testaments and the history of the church. The believing communities have dreamed a dream of accord from early church people and medieval women and men to the immigrants in the modern metropolitan municipalities. With bountiful insights, our authors shield us from decadent despair and challenge us to build a new world actively.

As if it is our daily bread, we hear a common greeting that strikes up the yearning for peace. We hold dear the Hebrew greeting of shalom and the Arabic ’as-salam ‘alaykum that always finds its echo with wa-‘alaykum ’as-salam. We pray these prayers of peace bear their fruit every day, everywhere, and very soon.