Jacob J. Erickson

Inspired by Catholic nuns, Kenyan Lutheran pastor becomes church's first female presiding bishop The Rev. Catherine Ngina Musau, a 55-year-old mother of two, was elected in November and will be installed in June.

The Rev. Catherine Ngina Musau, a 55-year-old mother of two, was elected in November and will be installed in June.

I would be very curious what Emerald Fennell would do with Mechthild of Magdeburg’s Flowing Light of the Godhead.

One thing some of my old colleagues used to do (those who trusted each other!) would be to charge each other to write each others’ bios. People ended up more proud of their bios and they usually were more creative.

The 2026 Call for Papers for the Martin Luther and Global Lutheran Traditions Unit is live! Do propose… papers.aarweb.org/aar-login

Hundreds of clergy descend on Minneapolis and go on lookout for ICE MINNEAPOLIS (RNS) — The faith leaders, who hail from across the country and represent a range of religious traditions, deployed to neighborhoods with significant immigrant populations, where DHS agent...

Hundreds of clergy descend on Minneapolis and go on lookout for ICE
religionnews.com/2026/01/22/h...

The 2026 Call for Papers for the Martin Luther and Global Lutheran Traditions Unit is live! Do propose… papers.aarweb.org/aar-login

One of the best things I’ve read in a while:

Mourning in Minnesota (RNS) — America is witnessing more than an immigration enforcement surge — we are witnessing an escalation of unchecked federal force that is deadly.

"It’s unlike anything that I’ve ever seen, and I think it’s what we expect from authoritarian regimes, you know, outside of the United States of America, and yet it is happening right here in our own backyards," Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan said.
religionnews.com/2026/01/15/m...

The Minneapolis Faith Community Is Showing How to Fight ICE Interfaith organizers have played a substantial role in rallying Minneapolitans and aiding their most vulnerable neighbors.

The Minneapolis Faith Community Is Showing How to Fight ICE newrepublic.com/article/2054...

Climate ecologist-turned-pastor reflects on return to campus In a sit-down with The Dartmouth, Rev. Andi Lloyd ’89, who returned to campus this winter as co-pastor of the Church of Christ at Dartmouth College, discussed her careers in science and theology.

Climate ecologist-turned-pastor reflects on return to campus www.thedartmouth.com/article/2026...

Canada, Denmark, U.S. Lutheran bishops issue joint statement supporting Greenlandic people

Canada, Denmark, U.S. Lutheran bishops issue joint statement supporting Greenlandic people www.elca.org/news-and-eve...

Greenland is ‘not for sale’ warns Lutheran Bishop ‘We do not want to become part of the United States,’ she says

Greenland is ‘not for sale’ warns Lutheran Bishop www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/202...

How Minnesota faith communities are resisting aggressive immigration operations As immigration enforcement actions have ramped up in Minnesota, people of faith have been at the forefront of the response to ICE detentions and the killing of Renee Macklin Good by a federal agent.

How Minnesota faith communities are resisting aggressive immigration operations

www.npr.org/2026/01/13/n...

Under Trump, U.S. Adds Fuel to a Heating Planet

Under Trump, U.S. Adds Fuel to a Heating Planet www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/c...

Editorial: We are in moral exile. We must resist. Authoritarianism thrives on resignation. This is why the most urgent task before us is not simply political opposition, but moral recovery. We must relearn what it means to be a people capable of nonv...

“The tradition we claim does not begin with the management of fear, but with the protection of human dignity. It does not teach that order justifies violence, or that power is vindicated by its ability to dominate.”

www.ncronline.org/opinion/edit...

I Am a Minneapolis Mother and Pastor, and I Know Where I Stand We are being sold a brutish view of the world. But another world is possible.

“I Am a Minneapolis Mother and Pastor, and I Know Where I Stand
We are being sold a brutish view of the world. But another world is possible.”

newrepublic.com/article/2051...

Live: Mother identifies woman shot and killed by ICE agent in Minneapolis Video of the shooting shows an agent firing at a vehicle as it drives toward him. The governor and Minneapolis mayor called for calm after the incident. ICE said the agent acted defensively.

The victim of today's ICE shooting in Minneapolis has been identified by her mother as Renee Nicole Good, 37.

www.startribune.com/ice-raids-mi...

Perspective: Is a religious revival under way in America? There are anecdotal reports of new Great Awakening, but a granular look at the data reveals something else.

I'm all for complicating secularization, but I think we need to complicate the complication, too. This excellent piece from @ryanburge.bsky.social I thought was on point this week.

www.deseret.com/opinion/2026...

“Approaching Sundown” “There is suddenness / to all surfaces.”

“There is suddenness / to all surfaces.” A poem by Jorie Graham. newyorkermag.visitlink.me/fK9igR

How the right uses "gender ideology" to blame trans people for everything MAGA learned from global autocrats the language needed to push fear.

How the Right Uses “Gender Ideology” to Blame Trans People for Everything www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Cecilia Giménez, famed for ‘Monkey Christ’ mural mishap, dies at 94 Spanish woman’s attempted restoration of church artwork was widely mocked but became lucrative tourist attraction Cecilia Giménez, the woman who achieved unwanted international fame for her botched “Monkey Christ” restoration of a 19th-century mural in Borja, north-east Spain, has died aged 94. In 2012, Giménez, an amateur artist, decided to restore Ecce Homo, a mural by a local artist, Elías García Martínez, that hung in the Santuario de Misericordia church in Borja. However, her talent as an artist was not equal to her good intentions and she produced what was described as the worst restoration in history. Continue reading...

Cecilia Giménez, famed for ‘Monkey Christ’ mural mishap, dies at 94

Not sure exactly what’s up with my mom’s Christmas village display this year, but I suspect the ecumenical implications are staggering.

Joy Is Resistance: Kelly Brown Douglas on Storytelling as Sacred Work A word from Theology Beer Camp that I'm still carrying

Required viewing. Don’t miss out on this talk by Kelly Brown Douglas. So important. open.substack.com/pub/processt...

Delighted. “Congratulations to Dr. Jacob J. Erickson, who has been elected to the Program Committee of the American Academy of Religion (AAR)—the world's largest scholarly organization dedicated to the academic study of religion.” www.tcd.ie/religion/new...

If you're into podcasts, or gay history, this from @thislynne.bsky.social is perfect and beautifully done.

Using an archive of 1,200 audio tapes recorded at the Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco @mccdenomination.bsky.social at the height of the AIDS epidemic,...

Relatedly: y’all gotta read @fiona-murphy.bsky.social’s fantastic interview with Rian Johnson, the director of Wale Up Dead Man, in which he discusses his own experience growing up evangelical (and then leaving it, albeit not necessarily *theism* altogether). religionnews.com/2025/11/25/t...

At AAR/SBL, Religion Scholars Address Issues Ancient and Modern The American Academy of Religion and the Society of Biblical Literature’s annual joint meeting mixed scholars’ research in Biblical and religious studies with sessions on such hot-button issues as imm...

At AAR/SBL, Religion Scholars Address Issues Ancient and Modern www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

‘Trump is inconsistent with Christian principles’: why the Democratic party is seeing a rise of white clergy candidates From Texas and Iowa to Arkansas, faith leaders are wading into politics to counter the rise of Christian nationalism

‘Trump is inconsistent with Christian principles’: why the Democratic party is seeing a rise of white clergy candidates www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Join the Martin Luther and Global Lutheran Traditions Unit tomorrow morning as we celebrate the ecotheological legacy of H. Paul Santmire. Saturday 22nd Nov, 9am, Hynes Convention Center 209 @aarweb.bsky.social #AARSBL25