Writings

Sermons, Blogs and More

Sermons

Fishers of People, Troublers of Empire

This sermon was originally preached on January 25, 2026 at both Shepherd of the Lake Lutheran Church and Trinity Ingleside Lutheran Church. Relevant lectionary readings can be found here. โ€œThe church should stay out of politics!โ€ Thatโ€™s something I heard a lot growing up. For some people, I think, it was an opinion that wasโ€ฆ

Holy Innocents

This sermon was first preached at Trinity Lutheran Church in Evanston, Illinois on December 28, 2025. Relevant lectionary texts can be found here. Video of the service can be found here. This is a hard Sunday. It comes too close to Christmas. The lights are still glowing. The cookies are still soft. Some of usโ€ฆ

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Blog posts

Memorizing Scripture: A Progressive Case

Originally featured on the Salt Collective in 2018 Progressives have got to start memorizing scripture again. For so many of us, memorizing scripture brings up associations with church-related trauma. Especially for those of us who are LGBTQIA+, we know too well the ways that proof texted pieces of the Word were weaponized against us, hurledโ€ฆ

Faith in Public Life

This reflection was first recorded for an online service of The Church of the Good Shepherd in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Many of us have been taught that the church โ€œshouldnโ€™t be political.โ€ This stems maybe from a few places, but for me as someone who grew up in a white midwest suburb, I think it mainlyโ€ฆ

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New to Elle’s work? Here’s a few posts from her Medium account to get to know her ministry and voice.

Pastor Elle, her husband Adam and her daughter smiles at the camera. Elle and Adam are white and have brown hair. Her daughter is Black and has black hair. All three are smiling.

Biphobia and the Pulse Massacre

Being a bi woman means occupying a lot of weird liminal space. In that way we are very queerโ€ฆ.we donโ€™t fit well into boxes. But the horrible thing about โ€œpassing privilegeโ€ is the closeting, the erasure.

White Niceness is the Enemy of Black Liberation

We cannot serve our own comfort when it sacrifices the lives of our neighbors.

#decolonizeCoffeeHour

I’ve experienced too much sexual harassment within the Church, too much slut shaming, too much queer bashing. No one is entitled to another persons body. Not even the Church.

Jesus and Black Lace Lingerie

A pastor-in-training stripping down to her skivvies for a photoshoot seems like a glaring contradiction. But it shouldnโ€™t be. Christianity, at its core, is a religion about bodies.