The Grace of Community.

Billman, Kathleen

Whether through face-to-face pericope studies in company with colleagues in a particular geographical area or through reading unknown colleagues' perspectives on texts, the knowledge that we stand always within a world-wide community of study and interpretation is a gift of grace. We do not have to do this work alone. We are invited to see a text through the eyes of another's struggles to understand; another's bold assertions and convictions in response to the scriptures.

This month, readers of Currents are offered the grace of community and collegiality both through several essays submitted in deep appreciation for the life and ministry of Duane Priebe and through the collaboration that has borne fruit in Preaching Helps. For this edition of Preaching Helps, Pastor Paul Hoffman of Seattle assembled a group of colleagues to reflect upon the powerful bridge texts that move us from the final days of Lent through Holy Week and into the beginning of the Great Fifty Days.

Paul E. Hoffman is the recently retired pastor of Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church in Seattle and is currently serving the larger church as a pastor, writer, and teacher. He is the author of Faith Forming Faith (Cascade Books, 2012) and Faith Shaping Ministry (Cascade Books, 2013)--two books that have deeply enriched my understanding of faith formation in a local congregation as the work of the people. Wesley C. Telyea is Associate Pastor of St. Andrew's Lutheran Church in Bellevue, Wash. He is also the author of the recently released Your Theological Last Will and Testament (Resource Publications, 2013). Nathan Baker-Trinity serves as pastor of Beaver Lutheran Church in Beaver Springs, Pa. Annette Andrews-Lux is pastor of Bethany Lutheran Church in Seattle. Nancy L. Winder serves as Assistant to the Bishop for Candidacy in the Northwest Washington Synod of the ELCA and also as pastoral assistant at Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church in Seattle. Debbie Boyce is pastor of Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church in Issaquah, Wash.

The editorial staff of Currents in Theology and Mission is delighted to announce that after her retirement this spring as Joe R. Engle Professor of Preaching at Union Theological Seminary in New York, Barbara K. Lundblad will join the editorial staff of Currents in Theology and Mission as the editor of Preaching Helps. A distinguished professor, nationally known preacher, and ELCA pastor, she is the author of numerous sermons and articles as well as the books Transforming the Stone: Preaching through Resistance to Change and Marking Time: Preaching Biblical Stories in Present Tense.

Until then, thanks to the grace of community, we will "hold the fort" with Preaching Helps--grateful to our writers and our readers as we enter a new year.

Kathleen Billman (for the Currents team)

Temporary Editor, Preaching Helps