In this episode, Rachel leads Sarah, Erin, and Bri in a recap discussion of the latest Lutheran Ladies’ Book Club selection: Jane Austen’s Persuasion.

What’s the deal with rank and social status in Regency England? What makes Anne Elliot such a likeable heroine? Is Lutheran-lady-lookalike Lady Russell more of a hero or a villain? Which big ideas, life lessons, and insights into the human condition are lurking beneath the surface of this deceptively simple “romance novel”?

At the end of the episode, the Ladies announce their next book club read—shamelessly cherry picked from a recent interview with fellow Lutheran lady Katie Schuermann. What will it be? Listen to the end to find out!

Click to learn more about Jane Austen’s Persuasion, to see a complete list of Lutheran Ladies’ Book Club picks and runners up, or to revisit past online book club events in the Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge Facebook group.

Connect with the Lutheran Ladies on social media in The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge Facebook discussion group (facebook.com/groups/LutheranLadiesLounge) and on Instagram @lutheranladieslounge. Follow Sarah (@hymnnerd), Rachel (@rachbomberger), Erin (@erinaltered), and Bri (@grrrzevske) on Instagram!

Sign up for the Lutheran Ladies' Lounge monthly e-newsletter here, and email the Ladies at [email protected].

You’ve seen it in the news: January 21, 2021, is the 39th annual March for Life, held both in our nation’s capital and in cities and towns around the country. This afternoon, thousands upon thousands of people are marching nationwide to support the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death.

But what does it look, feel, and sound like to be physically present for the national March for Life in Washington, D.C.? In this “Adventures in Lutheranism” episode, Sarah and the Ladies welcome Steph Neugebauer, host of the “Friends for Life” podcast from KFUO, as they share their personal experiences marching for life.

Learn more …

• LCMS Life Ministry
• Friends for Life podcast
• March for Life

Connect with other Lutherans marching for life here.

Connect with the Lutheran Ladies on social media in The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge Facebook discussion group (facebook.com/groups/LutheranLadiesLounge) and on Instagram @lutheranladieslounge. Follow Sarah (@hymnnerd), Rachel (@rachbomberger), Erin (@erinaltered), and Bri (@grrrzevske) on Instagram!

Sign up for the Lutheran Ladies' Lounge monthly e-newsletter here, and email the Ladies at [email protected].

For better or for worse, the 90s were an era rich in alternative, “family-friendly” Christian cultural touchstones, from Bibleman to McGee and Me!, from WOW music compilation CDs to VeggieTales cartoons. In this Adventure in [quasi]Lutheranism, Bri looks back on what was for her the most iconic of 90s Christian publications: Focus on the Family’s Brio magazine.

Not content to base her reflections on memory alone, Bri takes a deep dive into a recent issue of Brio, a monthly print publication for Christian teen and tween girls that initially ran from 1990-2009 and was revived in 2017.

What exactly does Bri find in the pages of the magazine she once loved to mock? Listen and find out …

Click to learn more about Brio magazine or about LCMS RSO Higher Things (also referenced in this episode).

Connect with the Lutheran Ladies on social media in The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge Facebook discussion group (facebook.com/groups/LutheranLadiesLounge). Follow us on Instagram @lutheranladieslounge, and also follow Sarah (@hymnnerd), Rachel (@rachbomberger), Erin (@erinaltered), and Bri (@grrrzevske). Sign up for the Lutheran Ladies' Lounge e-newsletter here!

Katie Schuermann is a household name in many LCMS circles, beloved for her cozy Anthems of Zion trilogy of novels and for nonfiction books including He Remembers the Barren and Pew Sisters.

Joining Sarah, Erin, Bri, and Rachel in the Lounge for an uplifting “Conversations with Creatives” episode, Katie shares a wealth of insights on how to stay refreshed creatively, why discipline is an important aspect of creative work, and how her Lutheran faith gives a deeper meaning to each of her artistic ventures.

Click to learn more about Katie Schuermann’s exciting new collaboration with The Lutheran Witness, browse her books from Concordia Publishing House and Emmanuel Press, visit her website, or listen to previous “Conversations with Creatives” featuring singer/songwriter Erin Bode, microfarmer Beth Riztman, and writer/editor Lisa Clark.

Connect with the Lutheran Ladies on social media in The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge Facebook discussion group (facebook.com/groups/LutheranLadiesLounge). Follow us on Instagram @lutheranladieslounge, and also follow Sarah (@hymnnerd), Rachel (@rachbomberger), Erin (@erinaltered), and Bri (@grrrzevske).

One year ago, on New Year’s Eve 2020, Sarah, Erin, Bri, and Rachel each offered five blessings and one bold prognostication for 2021—forecasting everything from a kombucha apocalypse to a pandemic of hugging. But did any of their predictions come true?

Listen in as the Ladies look back on their New Year’s blessings and prognostications from 2020 and offer a new round of predictions and good wishes for 2022.

Click to revisit the Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge 2020 New Year’s special.

Connect with the Lutheran Ladies on social media in The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge Facebook discussion group (facebook.com/groups/LutheranLadiesLounge). Follow us on Instagram @lutheranladieslounge, and also follow Sarah (@hymnnerd), Rachel (@rachbomberger), Erin (@erinaltered), and Bri (@grrrzevske).

Once again indulging in a little holiday nostalgia, Sarah, Erin, Bri, and Rachel here revisit their 2019 “poetry slam” holiday special as each (re)shares an original Christmas poem.

From a Dr. Seuss-themed power ballad to a nativity “limerichard,” from a rhapsodic ode on Christmas hymns to a Hamilton-inspired angelic rap verse, these now-familiar homespun lyrics are newly enriched by a fresh poem for 2021 from a surprise celebrity guest.

Connect with the Lutheran Ladies on social media in The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge Facebook discussion group (facebook.com/groups/LutheranLadiesLounge). Follow us on Instagram @lutheranladieslounge, and also follow Sarah (@hymnnerd), Rachel (@rachbomberger), Erin (@erinaltered), and Bri (@grrrzevske).

By day, Lisa M. Clark is an editor at Concordia Publishing House, where she helps produce a variety of resources for the church.

By night (and on weekends, and sometimes on coffee breaks), Lisa Clark writes—devotions, picture books, Bible curricula, Christmas programs, young adult novels, and hundreds of original hymn texts.

In this “Conversations with Creatives” episode, Lisa joins Sarah, Erin, Bri, and Rachel to share how faith and creativity go hand in hand in every aspect of our varied vocations.

Click to browse Lisa Clark’s books at Concordia Publishing House, or to listen to previous “Conversations with Creatives” episodes featuring singer/songwriter Erin Bode and microfarmer Beth Ritzman.

Connect with the Lutheran Ladies on social media in The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge Facebook discussion group (facebook.com/groups/LutheranLadiesLounge). Follow us on Instagram @lutheranladieslounge, and also follow Sarah (@hymnnerd), Rachel (@rachbomberger), Erin (@erinaltered), and Bri (@grrrzevske).

How well do you know your favorite holiday songs? Test yourself with the latest round of Rachel’s Trivia Challenge—all about Christmas carols!

Which beloved Christmas Eve hymn originally referenced Baby Jesus’s curly hair? Which carol writer once posed as the Virgin Mary for a famous pre-Raphaelite painting? Which faux medieval ballad is regularly sung at Boar’s Head Festivals around the country? And the trickiest question of all: which Christmas carol is Sarah’s all-time favorite (today)?

A lightning round at the end challenges listeners to identify carols based only on the title or first line of the song in its language of origin.

Click through to listen to previous Rachel’s Trivia Challenge episodes.

Connect with the Lutheran Ladies on social media in The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge Facebook discussion group (facebook.com/groups/LutheranLadiesLounge). Follow us on Instagram @lutheranladieslounge, and also follow Sarah (@hymnnerd), Rachel (@rachbomberger), Erin (@erinaltered), and Bri (@grrrzevske).

From its earliest beginnings in 1893 till its final meeting in 1968, the Walther League was a major force and rite of passage in Lutheran life. This juggernaut youth organization—named for LCMS founding President C.F.W. Walther—brought young adults together for worship, education, service, recreation and fellowship. It also forged new generations of Lutheran leaders and served as the unofficial “marriage bureau” of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, bringing untold numbers of marriage-minded young people together in holy matrimony.

In this edition of Story Time with Sarah, Sarah explores the rise and fall of the Walther League, spotlighting the many people and organizations—Walter A. Maier, the We Raise Foundation, and the National Lutheran Outdoor Ministry Association among them—who trace their roots back to this energetic (if occasionally unorthodox) association of Lutheran young people.

To learn more, check out Jon Pahl’s book Hopes and Dreams of All: The International Walther League and Lutheran Youth in American Culture, 1893-1993.

Connect with the Lutheran Ladies on social media in The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge Facebook discussion group (facebook.com/groups/LutheranLadiesLounge). Follow us on Instagram @lutheranladieslounge, and also follow Sarah (@hymnnerd), Rachel (@rachbomberger), Erin (@erinaltered), and Bri (@grrrzevske).

What on earth is a Boar’s Head Festival? And why are the Ladies so excited to talk about it?

In this “Adventures in Lutheranism” episode, Bri spearheads an enthusiastic discussion of the seasonal cultural phenomenon known as the Boar’s Head Festival—an annual choral and dramatic extravaganza that celebrates the roots of beloved Christmas songs and traditions through medieval pageantry and the timeless beauty of the Nativity story.

Joining the Ladies in studio are Rachel Hahn and Marty Heinbokel, who share their personal experiences directing the Boar’s Head Festival at Immanuel Lutheran Church and School in St. Charles, Missouri.

Click to learn more about Boar’s Head Festivals, and scroll down to browse programs past and present from Immanuel St. Charles’s Festival below.

• The Boar’s Head and Yule Log Festival (Christ Church Cathedral)
• The Story of the Boar’s Head Festival (Peace Boar’s Head)
• Boar’s Head Feast (Wikipedia)
• Boar’s Head Festival: A Festive End to Christmastide (ResourceUMC)

Click here to view the 1987 Immanuel Boar's Head Program.

Click here to view the 2017 Immanuel Boar's Head Program.

Connect with the Lutheran Ladies on social media in The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge Facebook discussion group (facebook.com/groups/LutheranLadiesLounge). Follow us on Instagram @lutheranladieslounge, and also follow Sarah (@hymnnerd), Rachel (@rachbomberger), Erin (@erinaltered), and Bri (@grrrzevske).