Augustana Lutheran Church of Hyde Park

During the Easter season, these fifty days after the resurrection, Lutherans have long joined many other Christians in reading a lesson each week from the Book of Acts. It makes sense to read from Acts right after we hear the good news of Jesus raised from the dead, because Acts is a collection of the stories of the first people to hear about Jesus beyond Jerusalem, and what they did with this news.

In years past, this Acts reading has taken the place of a reading from Hebrew Scripture, or the Old Testament. This year, our national church’s Consultative Panel on Lutheran-Jewish Relations is asking congregations to consider dropping or moving the Acts reading to the summer, the season after Pentecost, and instead reading a passage from Hebrew Scripture. Lutherans take seriously not only our heritage in Judaism but our ongoing relationship with the Jewish community today, so the panel recommends that Lutherans always include a reading from Hebrew Scripture. Esther Menn, a seminary professor and a member of Augustana, is a member of the panel.

Augustana’s solution to this is to indeed include a reading from Hebrew Scripture, but to also read from Acts. That means that each Sunday of Easter, we will read four lessons instead of three. Before you !!!!!!! know that we have dropped a couple of things from the rest of the liturgy to make space and time. During Easter, enjoy these lessons from Acts, and consider looking through the book for yourself. Especially for new Christians, these stories of how other people encountered Jesus are inspiring.

Pastor Nancy Goede