The Lutheran Ladies' Lounge from KFUO Radio

Smack dab in the middle of Mental Health Awareness Month, the Lutheran Ladies turn their attention toward a crucial aspect of personal health and wellness: “Stewardship of the Mind and the Emotions.”

Bri, who has lived with and successfully managed a mental health diagnosis throughout her adult life, leads this discussion, building on the “Stewardship of the Physical Body” conversation she first started last May. From regularly attending worship, to practicing self-care, to knowing when and how to seek professional help, this episode offers friendly, honest, hard-won wisdom on a range of topics relating to emotional wellness.

Click to learn more about the resources referenced in this episode:

• Archive of “Mental Health Monday” episodes on The Coffee Hour
• “Mental Health Monday” Coffee Hour episode about asking for help
• Faith and Family episode (featuring Pastor David Fleming and Deaconess Heidi Goehmann) on different kinds of counseling and when to talk to a pastor or psychologist
• Two-part Coffee Hour episode with Dr. Rick Marrs about the differences between professional counseling and pastoral care: Part 1 and Part 2
• Making Christian Counseling More Christ-Centered by Rick W. Marrs
• You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit by James K. A. Smith

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).

In this Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge short, the Ladies discuss their options and announce the next book club read: John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley: In Search of America.

Click to learn more about or order Travels with Charley, 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). Follow us on Instagram @lutheranladieslounge, and also follow Sarah (@hymnnerd), Rachel (@rachbomberger), Erin (@erinaltered), and Bri (@grrrzevske).

In this episode, Rachel leads Sarah, Erin, and Bri in a recap discussion of the latest Lutheran Ladies’ Book Club selection: C.S. Lewis’s Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold.

Why would a Christian author at the height of his career choose a pagan setting (replete with false idols and human sacrifice) for his most mature novel? Why would a man known for both his historical erudition and his devotion to traditional gender roles retell Greek mythology’s greatest love story from the perspective of a single woman who is also a reigning queen? What’s with all the veils and mirrors (actual and metaphorical) in this book? And what does “till we have faces” mean, anyway?

At the end of the episode, in honor of the summer travel season, the Ladies choose their next book club pick from a list of first-person travel narratives:

• A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle
• Charles Kuralt’s America by Charles Kuralt
• Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck
• Sundays in America: A Yearlong Road Trip in Search of Christian Faith by Suzanne Strempek Shea
• The Brendan Voyage: Sailing to America in a Leather Boat to Prove the Legend of the Irish Sailor Saints by Tim Severin

Which book will the Lutheran Ladies read next? Listen to the end of the episode and find out!

Click to learn more about C.S. Lewis’s Till We Have Faces, 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). Follow us on Instagram @lutheranladieslounge, and also follow Sarah (@hymnnerd), Rachel (@rachbomberger), Erin (@erinaltered), and Bri (@grrrzevske).

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to participate in a Call Day service at an LCMS seminary, this episode is for you.

In this latest “Adventure in Lutheranism,” Sarah, Erin, Bri, and Rachel share their perspectives on the annual seminary services at which pastoral candidates, vicars, deaconesses, and deaconess interns receive their first divine calls and vicarage/internship assignments. A meaningful rite of passage—and a rollercoaster of emotions—for students and their families, Call Day is a time of prayer and celebration, faith, hope, and nervous excitement.

Bri, whose husband Matt just received his vicarage assignment to Immanuel Lutheran Church in St. Charles, Missouri, at Call Day 2021, leads this heartfelt discussion, with topics ranging from the practical (“wear comfortable shoes”) to the sublime (“remember that God is in control”).

To get an even better feel for what Call Day is all about, visit the Call Day webpages for both Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, and Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind.

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 does a return to normal (or a turn towards a brand new kind of normal) look like in a post-COVID world?

In this special Sharathon episode, Sarah, Erin, Bri, and Rachel continue their impromptu series on what it means to survive and thrive in a global pandemic. Following on the heels of their earlier conversations (referenced in this episode as “the descent” and “the enduring”), they share the hopes, heartaches, and uncertainties they feel as they begin to resume daily in-person activities and leave social distancing behind.

The Lutheran Ladies' Lounge podcast is produced by KFUO Radio, the listener-supported broadcast voice of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. To support the work of KFUO Radio during Sharathon (or anytime) visit kfuo.org/give or text “KFUO” to 41444.

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).

It’s an Iron Ladle Challenge! In honor of the 500th Anniversary of Martin Luther’s defiant confession of faith at the Diet of Worms, Sarah, Erin, Bri, and Rachel are each cooking up a tasty recipe inspired by a single key ingredient: worms.

Beginning with a brief history of Luther’s legendary 1521 trial appearance at the city of Worms, the Ladies then launch into a four-course smorgasbord of wormy dishes, from Erin’s savory udon noodles to Sarah’s zoodle skillet, from Rachel’s quadruple layer dirt cake with gummy worm surprise to Bri’s sour gummy worm monstrosity.

Lutheran history has never tasted so good (or, in Bri’s case, so very, very bad).

To learn more about the Diet of Worms, check out Dr. Jack Kilcrease’s explanatory article on LutheranReformation.org or the Rev. Hans Fiene’s animate comedy musical on the Lutheran Satire channel.

Join Lutherans across the nation in celebrating “Here I Stand” Sunday on April 18, 2021, and support the ongoing confession of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod with a "Here I Stand" Thank Offering at lcms.org/givenow.

Erin's Udon Soup

Use these ingredients or others you'd enjoy together:

• Udon noodles
• Broth of choice
• Baby Bok Choy (Pour boiling water over bok choy in steamer. That's all the cooking it needs!)
• 6 1/2 minute egg
• Shitake mushroom

Sarah's Ground Beef, Butternut, and Zoodles Un-recipe

• Brown butternut squash chunks (Sarah uses pre-packaged fresh chopped) in olive oil, salt, and pepper over medium heat. If cooking from frozen, leave the lid off the pan to allow the steam to escape.
• Prepare zoodles according to package directions, if using pre-packaged. Otherwise, spiralize your zucchini and cook until al dente.
• Add ground beef to butternut squash and brown. Spice to taste.
• Add Zoodles to butternut and beef, and mix well. Cover pan and turn heat off to let the flavors combine. Let simmer for a few minutes.
• Enjoy!

Rachel’s Dirt Pudding Piñata Cake

1. Using 8 or 9 inch round cake pans lined with wax paper or parchment, bake a chocolate fudge cake and fudge brownies according to the instructions on the packages. (For brownies, shorten baking time to about twenty minutes and remove when toothpick comes out clean.) Set aside on wire racks to cool.
2. Make dirt pudding dessert (leaving aside crushed Oreos for now) according to your favorite recipe. (Here’s mine. If you use this one, be sure to cut it at least in half for the cake.)
3. Cut circles about the size of a large cereal bowl from the centers of one cake round and one brownie round. (To see how a piñata cake of this sort would look like in a perfect world, check out this idiosyncratic YouTube tutorial.)
4. Begin building your cake with an uncut brownie round spread with chocolate fudge frosting.
5. Add the next two layers (cut cake round and cut brownie round), with frosting between and atop each layer.
6. Pause to add the filling in the cavity of the cake. Put down a layer of crushed Oreo cookie, then a layer of dirt pudding, then a layer of gummy worms. Repeat until the filling is even with the top of the hole.
7. Add the top (uncut) layer and frost the entire outside of the cake. Optional: dust with powdered sugar. If you have a talented teenage artist in the house, ask her to freehand draw you a Luther Rose in red frosting on the top of your cake. If you don’t, you may decorate the cake in whatever way seems best.
8. Enjoy!

Bri's Sour Gummy Worm Rice Crispy Treats

It's better if you don't try this one.

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).

Digging back into the early days of Lutheranism in the American Midwest, this “Story Time with Sarah” episode focuses on the life and times of Dorothea Craemer, one of the “founding mothers” of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.

Leaving Germany as an unwed mother 1845, Dorothea met her future husband on the ship to America and, after their marriage in New York, traveled with him to serve as missionaries to the Chippewa (Ojibwe) people near Saginaw, Michigan. The series of moves that came after that first call—to Fort Wayne, Ind., Saint Louis, Mo., and Springfield, Ill.—reveals the Craemers growing significance to the Synod they helped found.

Click to read more from the Concordia History Institute about the Craemer family and their mission to Michigan, to learn about the history of St. Lorenz Lutheran Church in Frankenmuth, Mich., to view an archival photo of the Craemers’ marriage certificate, or to order CPH’s biography Dorothea Craemer in the Hero of Faith series for young readers.

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).

Emmy Woock (Director of Music Ministries at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Elmhurst, Illinois) joins Sarah, Erin, Bri, and Rachel for the first episode in a new segment—Adventures in Lutheranism—which introduces Ladies and listeners alike to some aspect of Lutheran faith and culture that may have been previously unfamiliar to them.

In this joy-filled conversation, Woock (together with fellow enthusiast Sarah) describes the Holy Saturday Easter Vigil service she helped establish at her church, explains why this uncommon but nonetheless traditional liturgy is so special to her, and offers practical advice for church leaders and musicians interesting in holding their own Easter Vigils.

Click to read a short description of the Easter Vigil from the Rev. Michael Schuermann, or to view a sample bulletin for the service assembled by the Rev. Thomas Messer in Alma, Mich.

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).

Martin Franzmann (1907–1976) was a Lutheran pastor, theologian, college professor, and poet who wrote numerous books and hymns. In this “Hymn Sing with Sarah” episode, Sarah introduces her fellow hymn nerds to the life and work of the skilled hymn writer whose ministerial calling took him from Lake City, Minnesota, through Concordia Seminary, Saint Louis, Mo., and all the way to Cambridge, England.

Along the way, Sarah also tells the stories behind several of Franzmann’s hymns, including the beloved lyric that is arguably his most well-known today: “Thy Strong Word.”

Click to check out the Rev. Matthew E. Borasso’s book The Art of Exegesis: An Analysis of the Life and Work of Martin Hans Franzmann or to read a short profile of Franzmann in the Composer of the Month series on the CPH blog.

Hear "Wearing of all trumpeting" on Youtube at https://youtu.be/7p75wmZn7So.

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).

Following up on her uproarious “Ode to Vitality Points” in January, Bri offers a new set of “Radio Theatre” comedy sketches, this time inspired by the Lenten soup suppers and Wednesday night services familiar in so many Lutheran churches.

Meet Trent, “the overly eager, accidentally irreverent, bordering-on-heretical praise band leader.” Get to know Dana, the “overworked, underpaid DCE intern.” Shake your head at young Billy, too addicted to fictional cell-phone game “Cootie Crunch” to socialize at the soup supper, and commiserate with Gladys and Annette, whose polite humility is the only thing standing between them and the last slice of Millie Baker’s famous homemade apple pie.

To hear more from Bri on midweek suppers, check out her early “How to Lutheran” episode: “The Midweek Supper.”

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).