Archive of Care for Creation Lectionary Reflections

Archive of Care for Creation Commentary on the Lectionary Lessons (see below)
Let All Creation Praise is pleased to offer substantive care-for-creation reflections by on the lessons for each Sunday in the Revised Common Lectionary. These commentaries are exegetically-based, theologically sound, creative in their ecological exploration of the text’s potential, and effective in articulation. The care for creation commentary is not an add-on, but an integral part of the exposition of the text itself. The purpose of this commentary is to provide a foundational resource for preachers and congregations seeking to incorporate care for creation into their worship and congregational life.

Our Commentators
Dennis Ormseth served from 1991 to 2005 as pastor of Lutheran Church of the Reformation in St. Louis Park, a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America that emphasizes care of the earth as part of its mission. In retirement, he has served on the executive committee of Congregations Caring for Creation, an interfaith network promoting care of the earth as integral to spirituality and social justice in Minnesota congregations of faith. Holding a Ph. D. from the Divinity School of the University of Chicago, Dr. Ormseth is also a graduate of St. Olaf College and Luther Seminary in St. Paul. He taught religious history and the history of Christian thought at Luther Seminary and Holy Cross College in Worcester, Massachusetts, and was campus pastor for Lutheran students at Purdue University in Indiana. dennisormseth@gmail.com
 
Tom Mundahl has served as pastor of Lutheran Church of the Reformation, St. Louis Park, MN since 2007 (the home of Sen. Al Franken and the Coen brothers). During more than a decade in Dubuque, IA, he helped to develop statewide, ecumenical 'care of the earth' seminars, chaired the NE Iowa Synod Care of Creation Work Group, and sat on the Iowa Environmental Council. A graduate of St. Olaf College and Luther Seminary, he holds graduate degrees from the Universities of Iowa and Michigan, and has taught political theory at the University of Iowa and Luther College. He also has served as Director of the Christus Community, Lutheran Campus Ministry, at the University of Iowa. tmundahl@gmail.com.
 
Robert Saler is Research Fellow, Christian Theological Seminary at Indianapolis and Director of the Lilly Endowment Clergy Renewal Programs. He has served as pastor of Bethel Lutheran Church in Gary, IN and visiting lecturer in theology at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. He received his BA from Valparaiso University, his MA from the University of Chicago Divinity School, and his M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. He is the author of numerous articles in the areas of biblical hermeneutics, ecological theology, patristic thought, and contemporary ecclesiology. He is currently writing an intellectual biography of the 20th-century theologian Joseph Sittler. rsaler@hotmail.com.

Leah D. Schade is a minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) with an MDiv (2000) and a PhD (2013) from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP). She has served congregations in suburban, urban and rural settings and is currently the pastor of United in Christ Lutheran Church in West Milton, PA. Rev. Schade is completing her dissertation on homiletics and ecological theology at LTSP. She is a trained workshop leader for Lutherans Restoring Creation, and a member of her synod’s Creation Care team. She also serves on the synodical task force for addressing justice issues surrounding fracking in Pennsylvania. Leah is founder of the Interfaith Sacred Earth Coalition of the Susquehanna Valley (ISEC) committed to addressing threats to water, land, air, eco-systems, and public health. Her blog, http://ecopreacher.blogspot.com/, features sermons, essays, creative writing, and movie and book reviews on ecological and social justice issues. jimleah@aol.com
 
YEAR A (2016-2017)

PENTECOST IN YEAR A (FROM 2014)

Trinity Sunday in Year A (by Dennis Ormseth)


EASTER SEASON IN YEAR A

Easter Sunday in Year A (by Leah Schade)

LENT IN YEAR A
THE TRANSFIGURATION
EPIPHANY IN YEAR A (2016-2017)
CHRISTMAS SEASON IN YEAR A (2016-2017)

 
YEAR C (2015-2016)
Easter in Year C (2016)
 
Lent in Year C (2016)
Passion Sunday in Year C (by Dennis Ormseth)
 
Epiphany in Year C (2016)
 
Christmas in Year C (2015-2016)
Advent Year C (2015)
 
 YEAR B (2014-2015)
 

Advent: (Four Sundays from November 30 to December 21) [Tom Mundahl]

Christmas: (Two Sundays after Christmas, December 28 and January 4) [Tom Mundahl]

Epiphany: (Six Sundays from January 11 to February 15) [Dennis Ormseth]

Lent: (Six Sundays from February 22 to March 29) [Rob Saler]

Easter: (Seven Sundays from Easter Day April 5 to May 17) [Dennis Ormseth]

Pentecost: (Sunday  from Pentecost on May 24 to June 28) [Leah Schade]

 
Pentecost Sunday in Year B (2015)
Christ the King Sunday in Year B (From 2012 by Dennis Ormseth)
Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost in Year B (From 2012 by Dennis Ormseth).
Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost in Year B (From 2012 by Dennis Ormseth)
OR Reformation Sunday in Year B (From 2012 by Dennis Ormseth)
Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost in Year B (From 2012 by Dennis Ormseth)

The Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost in Year B (From 2012, by Dennis Ormseth)

The Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost in Year B (From 2012, by Dennis Ormseth)

The Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost in Year B ((From 2012, by Dennis Ormseth)

The Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost in Year B (From 2012, by Tom Mundahl)

2015 Special series honoring Saint Francis for Pentecost 18, 19, and 20 (scroll down for all Sundays) by Paul Santmire.

The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost in Year B (From 2012, by Tom Mundahl)

The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost in Year B (From 2012, by Tom Mundahl)

The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost in Year B (From 2012, by Tom Mundahl)

 

The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost in Year B (From 2012, by Tom Mundahl) 

Easter Season in Year B (2015)
The Seventh Sunday of Easter in Year B (2015) (by Dennis Ormseth)
The Sixth Sunday of Easter in Year B (2015) (by Dennis Ormseth)
The Fifth Sunday of Easter in Year B (2015) (by Dennis Ormseth)
The Fourth Sunday after Easter in Year B (2015) (by Dennis Ormseth)
The Third Sunday of Easter in Year B (2015) (by Dennis Ormseth)
The Second Sunday of Easter in Year B (2015) (by Dennis Ormseth)
Easter Sunday in year B (by Dennis Ormseth)
 
The Season of Lent in Year B (2015)
 
The Season of Epiphany in Year B
The Baptism of Our Lord in Year B (by Dennis Ormseth, 2015)
 
Advent and Christmas Seasons in Year B
The First Sunday in Advent in Year B (by Tom Mundahl)

Year A (2013-2014)

 
Pentecost in Year A
All Saints Sunday in Year A (by Dennis Ormseth)
 
Reformation Sunday (by Dennis Ormseth)
Trinity Sunday in Year A (by Dennis Ormseth)
Pentecost Sunday in Year A (by Dennis Ormseth)

Easter Sunday in Year A (by Leah Schade)
 
YEAR C (2012-2013)

Overall Care for Creation Reflections on the Gospel of Luke in Year C: by David Rhoads.
Plan your preaching and devotional life for Year C by noting key ecological themes and passages in the Gospel of Luke.
 
 
No commentary for the twenty-Firth Sunday after Pentecost in Year C
Holy Trinity Sunday in Year C (by Dennis Ormseth)
The Day of Pentecost in Year C (by Dennis Ormseth) 
Epiphany Sunday in Year C (by Dennis Ormseth)
 
YEAR B 2011-2012

OR Reformation Sunday in Year B (by Dennis Ormseth)