The Lutheran Ladies' Lounge from KFUO Radio

It’s commonly believed that Lutheran churches are made up mostly of “dyed-in-the-wool” cradle Lutherans — those who were baptized into the faith in infancy and never left. But is that really so?

In this special “Story Time with Sarah” episode, the Lutheran Ladies read and celebrate the inspiring personal stories of first-generation Lutheran women, gathered through the Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge Facebook discussion group. Whether you’re a first-generation Lutheran yourself or come from a long line of pious Lutheran forebears, you’re sure to find much to ponder and give thanks for in this episode.

The podcast opens with a hilarious birthday Mad Lib in honor of co-host Bri.

Members of the Lounge discussion group may click here to see related threads on this topic.

Connect with the Lutheran ladies on social media in The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge Facebook discussion group (facebook.com/groups/LutheranLadiesLounge) and follow Sarah (@mrsbaseballpants), Rachel (@rachbomberger), Erin (@erin.alter), and Bri (@grrrzevske) on Instagram.

You probably have the Apostles’ Creed and Nicene Creed memorized, but what about the Athanasian Creed? We want to help you learn it! Our memorization guide will help you memorize this Creed in time for Trinity Sunday.

Download the PDF guide at kfuo.org/lutheranladieslounge, graciously provided by Deaconess Mary Moerbe and Concordia Publishing House.

Join the Facebook event in the Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge group here: facebook.com/events/183406652940671. Not a member of the group yet? Join in for community of Lutheran women!

For quick reference, here are the checkpoints:

February 21 – AC verses 1-4

February 28 – AC verses 5-6

March 6 – AC verses 7-12

March 13 – | CHECKPOINT | AC verses 1-12

March 20 – AC verses 13-19

March 27 – AC verses 20-23

April 3 – | CHECKPOINT | AC verses 1-23

April 10 – AC verses 24-26

April 17 – AC verses 27-28

April 24 – | CHECKPOINT | AC verses 1-28

May 1 – AC verses 29-31

May 8 – AC verses 32-34

May 15 – | CHECKPOINT | AC verses 1-34

May 22 – AC verses 35-37

May 29 – AC verses 38-40

June 5 – | CHECKPOINT | Athanasian Creed in its entirety

June 7: Trinity Sunday!

Connect with the Lutheran ladies on social media in The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge Facebook discussion group (facebook.com/groups/LutheranLadiesLounge) and follow Sarah (@mrsbaseballpants), Rachel (@rachbomberger), Erin (@erin.alter), and Bri (@grrrzevske) on Instagram.

How much do you (think you) know about the cultural and theological underpinnings of Mardi Gras? Test your knowledge in the latest edition of Rachel’s Trivia Challenge!

Learn more about the meanings of some of Mardi Gras’s many names, what Luther said (or maybe didn’t say) about the festival, how to spell the name of a popular Polish pastry, and the real reason Christians celebrate at this time of year. (Hint: it’s not pancakes.)

To dig deeper into a few of the sources mentioned in the show, check out Pr. Bryan Wolfmueller’s blog post on Luther and fasting, the Oma Way blog on German fastnacht traditions, and Bob Scribner’s article “Reformation, carnival, and the world turned upside down.”

Correction note: While the Ladies did spell “pączki” right on the first try, they ultimately put the “swooshy thing” under the wrong letter. It goes under the a, not the c.

Mardi Gras Pug Photo credit: DaPuglet on Visualhunt / CC BY-SA

Connect with the Lutheran ladies on social media in The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge Facebook discussion group (facebook.com/groups/LutheranLadiesLounge) and follow Sarah (@mrsbaseballpants), Rachel (@rachbomberger), Erin (@erin.alter), and Bri (@grrrzevske) on Instagram.

As couples everywhere prepare to celebrate romantic love this Valentine’s Day, Sarah, Erin, Bri, and Rachel are going against the flow — with a Valentine’s Day celebration of singleness.

Inviting Deaconess Ellie Corrow (Missionary Care Coordinator for the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and bona fide single person) into the Lounge for “Erin’s One-Question Interview,” the Ladies explore singleness as a biblical Christian vocation and look at how the Church can do a better job of welcoming and ministering to single people.

“St. Paul talks about singles in really very glowing terms,” says Corrow. “We tend to forget that. Marriage gets elevated, and singleness becomes this thing that you need to fix in your life. … What we fail to do is to support singleness as a valid vocation — and a joyful vocation.”

Connect with the Lutheran ladies on social media in The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge Facebook discussion group (facebook.com/groups/LutheranLadiesLounge) and follow Sarah (@mrsbaseballpants), Rachel (@rachbomberger), Erin (@erin.alter), and Bri (@grrrzevske) on Instagram.

Dr. Rosa J. Young was an “amazing woman of God who did great things” for Lutheran education and evangelism in the South, helping to found 30 Lutheran schools for underserved black students and establish 35 Lutheran churches in the region.

In this edition of “Storytime with Sarah,” Sarah leads Erin, Bri, and Rachel through key moments in Rosa Young’s inspirational biography as together they celebrate and reflect on Young’s life, faith, and ongoing legacy.

To learn more about Dr. Rosa J. Young and view a documentary about her produced by LCMS Black Ministry, visit lcms.org/thefirstrosa.

Connect with the Lutheran ladies on social media in The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge Facebook discussion group (facebook.com/groups/LutheranLadiesLounge) and follow Sarah (@mrsbaseballpants), Rachel (@rachbomberger), Erin (@erin.alter), and Bri (@grrrzevske) on Instagram.

In this episode, Bri leads the ladies in a celebratory discussion of “the one painting of Jesus in every church ever”: Warner Sallman’s “Head of Christ.” Delving into the origin story of Sallman and his famous painting, Bri uses this familiar work of art to open a larger discussion of artistic representations of Christ throughout history and around the world, from early Christian iconography to contemporary artists like Yongsung Kim and Ed Riojas.

Follow these links to dig more deeply into some of the many artists and topics covered in this far-ranging episode: Warner Sallman, “Head of Christ,” the Evangelical Covenant Church, Covenant Companion, He Qi, Sadao Watanabe, Yongsung Kim, “Christ Pantocrator,” Lucas Cranach, Ed Riojas, Kelly Schumacher (Agnus Dei Liturgical Arts), Jonathan Mayer (Scapegoat Studios).

Connect with the Lutheran ladies on social media in The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge Facebook discussion group (facebook.com/groups/LutheranLadiesLounge) and follow Sarah (@mrsbaseballpants), Rachel (@rachbomberger), Erin (@erin.alter), and Bri (@grrrzevske) on Instagram.

It’s time to finalize the next pick for the Lutheran Ladies’ Book Club! Will Sarah, Erin, and Bri choose “historical fiction from the perspective of a sadder-but-wiser older character”? Or will they go for “nonfiction guaranteed to make you the smarty-pants at your next church event”?

Listen in to this Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge short to hear which book they (and hopefully you!) will be reading next, as well as to learn about changes to the online book club format that will make the conversation easier and more accessible to all.

Connect with the Lutheran ladies on social media in The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge Facebook discussion group (facebook.com/groups/LutheranLadiesLounge) and follow Sarah (@mrsbaseballpants), Rachel (@rachbomberger), Erin (@erin.alter), and Bri (@grrrzevske) on Instagram.

Literature, history, fashion, community, trigger-happy grandmothers … This episode has it all.

Wrapping up discussion of the first Lutheran Ladies’ Book Club pick, A Year Down Yonder, Rachel leads Sarah, Erin, and Bri through a lively discussion of key themes in Richard Peck’s Newbery Award-winning young adult novel. Drawing upon listener insights shared through book club conversations in the show’s Facebook group, the ladies consider what makes the Depression such a fascinating era in American history, how fashion can be used more intentionally, and which relationship is ultimately stronger: friend, or neighbor?

At the end of the episode, Sarah, Erin, and Bri help Rachel choose and announce the Lutheran Ladies’ Book Club’s next pick: Adam Minter’s Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale.

Connect with the Lutheran ladies on social media in The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge Facebook discussion group (facebook.com/groups/LutheranLadiesLounge) and follow Sarah (@mrsbaseballpants), Rachel (@rachbomberger), Erin (@erin.alter), and Bri (@grrrzevske) on Instagram.

“What should Lutheran ladies be talking about that we’re not?”

In yet another first for the program, Sarah, Erin, Bri, and Rachel welcome special guest Heather Ruesch into the lounge for “Erin’s One-Question Interview.”

(Who’d have thought that one question could lead to so much constructive conversation?)

Heather Ruesch is a pro-life speaker, advocate, and educator who is currently traveling the country with the You Matter Tour, which “empowers adolescents to create a new, healthy perspective” on human sexuality. An LCMS pastor’s wife and mother of four, Heather is also the author of Sexuality Mentality: Creating a Culture of Biblical Integrity (CPH). Learn more about Heather and find out where she’ll be next at heatherruesch.com.

Connect with the Lutheran ladies on social media in The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge Facebook discussion group (facebook.com/groups/LutheranLadiesLounge) and follow Sarah (@mrsbaseballpants), Rachel (@rachbomberger), Erin (@erin.alter), and Bri (@grrrzevske) on Instagram.

Twenty-two orphaned babies and toddlers. Daily Japanese bombing runs. Two hundred miles (by foot, through the mountains) stand between the children and relative safety. What’s an intrepid Lutheran woman missionary to do?

In the first installment of her new “Storytime” segment, Sarah takes Rachel, Erin, and Bri back in time to China in 1943 as she tells the life story of Gertrude Simon, a Lutheran missionary nurse and educator who not only served in China and Hong Kong for forty of the most tumultuous years of the twentieth century but also orchestrated the dramatic wartime evacuation of nearly two dozen infant girls under her care.

Program notes:

The city mentioned four minutes into the episode (which Sarah and Rachel aren’t sure how to pronounce) is Hankou, formerly spelled Hankow/Hanchow, one of three neighboring cities (together with Wuchang and Hanyang) that have since merged to form modern-day Wuhan city, the capital of Hubei Province in China.

The book that formed the basis for Sarah’s story is One Cup of Water: Five True Stories of Missionary Women in China, a collection edited by Janice Kerper Brauer. Published in 1997 by the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League, the book is now out of print but can still be found in small quantities through used book sellers including Amazon.

Connect with the Lutheran ladies on social media in The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge Facebook discussion group (facebook.com/groups/LutheranLadiesLounge) and follow Sarah (@mrsbaseballpants), Rachel (@rachbomberger), Erin (@erin.alter), and Bri (@grrrzevske) on Instagram.