Pastor Foltz is Pastor Emeritus of Saint James Lutheran Church in Gettysburg, PA and author of the the Frontline Study content.
The present concern with fake news and a post-truth culture goes deeper than we usually acknowledge. I pulled out some quotes from Sissela Bok’s 1978 book, Lying, that I used when writing about trust decades ago. She wrote that “trust in some degree of veracity functions as a foundation of relations among human beings: when […]
Sister Joan ended her book with a reprise of the monastic vision found in the Benedictine Rule. She emphasized it offers a practical way to live the Gospel now by discerning God’s presence in all creation. I understand that as perceiving the design running through all creation is the love we know in Jesus Christ. […]
About half way through the chapter, Chittister wrote that being at peace gives “the courage to evaluate what is patently wrong but never open for discussion.” As soon as I read her words, a brash comment made by an executive of an arms company several decades ago came to mind. We were at a meeting […]
I was recently at a conference where a female Roman Catholic scholar who had worked in ecumenical relationships for decades revealed she was finally beginning to appreciate that the most important first step in healing our broken Church was coming to appreciate each other’s languages. Her thoughts popped into my mind as I was reading […]
This is a paper I offered to the Adams County Torch Club on December 15. It prompted a lot of discussion. I found myself reminding people several times, “Now remember I am a Christian.” I have a feeling we shall all be acknowledging that a lot in the coming few years. I wrote this paper […]
This is an article Kerry Walters, one of our participants, wrote for the Sunbury Daily Item on December 24. Kerry publishes a weekly column “Faith Matters.” His messages always speak to me. I hoped this one would do the same for you. Come to think of it, read first a quote he posted on Facebook […]
The following is a sermon I proclaimed on the Second Sunday in Advent. The lesson was Isaiah 11: 1-10. I hoped it would speak to the present situation in the Christian community. Advent is special this year. We are all looking for hope, and Advent is the season when Christians talk about hope. It is […]
I promised to share some of my friends’ understanding of modern Christian community. Kerry Walters is a retired philosophy professor whose words often appear in the Huffington Post. I think his following Facebook post speaks for itself. I’d be interested in hearing your critique of his understanding of the Church. Why I am an American […]
If my first attraction to the Benedictine Rule was its hospitality, my second was its stability. A pastor easily felt the impact of the mobile technology at first offered and then demanded. Children leaving town for college, exciting vocations, and big time salaries brought new opportunities. However, before long, opportunity became demand as there were […]
How in the world do you handle obedience in today’s world? Supposedly, freedom means we respect no person’s authority to tell us what to do. Yet we are continually forced to comply with the demands of the system. And we all suspect there are some Wizards of Oz back there manipulating the whole thing, even […]
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