The Lutheran Ladies' Lounge from KFUO Radio

Inspired by the LCMS Youth Gathering, the Ladies round the homestretch with part three of their summer series celebrating young Lutheran ladies.    In this eye-opening multicultural International Mission 101 conversation, Sarah, Erin, and Rachel welcome to the Lounge missionary teens Bella (daughter of the Rev. Dr. J.P. and Aimee Cima, serving in Cambodia) and Lydia (daughter of the Rev. Dr. Carl...

Inspired by the LCMS Youth Gathering, the Ladies embark on part two of a three-part summer series celebrating young Lutheran ladies.   In this inspiring conversation, the Leading Ladies series gets aged way down, as Sarah, Erin, and Rachel welcome LCMS YouthLead executive team and participants Reagan, Ava, and Lucy to the Lounge to share their stories and perspectives on leadership.   How did thes...

Inspired by the LCMS Youth Gathering, the Ladies embark on a three-part summer series celebrating young Lutheran ladies. It’s “bring a teen to Book Club” day in the Lounge!  Lutheran lady teenagers Lorraine, Janice, and Eva stop by for a book club recap episode, joining Sarah, Erin, and Rachel as they talk through questions raised by E. Jane Mall’s cozy Lutheran classic Kitty, My Rib.  What did ou...

The Ladies are celebrating our nation's birthday on July 4 by revisiting a favorite episode from 2022 all about hymns for the nation. Hymns for the Nation, or Patriotic Songs? Or both? As Americans are celebrating Independence Day, Lutherans once again consider the worth of hymns and songs that focus on God’s gift of land and government. Within the context of our Two Realms (or Two Kingdoms) theol...

[Enter Sarah]: “All right! Here we go! Time to record our 300th episode. Open up the studio. Turn on the mics... Wait a sec. Where’s Rachel? For that matter, where’s Erin? Where are my fellow Lutheran Ladies? My sisters in Christ? Something is definitely fishy here.”  What happens when Erin and Rachel are late to a podcast recording session and Katharine Von Bora shows up instead — in her very own...

The word “heretic” gets bandied about online so much these days that it has become almost meaningless, but it remains an important theological concept with serious implications for the life of the church.   In this unexpectedly sobering Trivia Challenge, Rachel quizzes Erin and Sarah on the meanings and history of major heresies in the church, from Gnosticism to modernism and beyond.  What even is...

The sun is out, boats are on the water, fish are jumping, and the beach is calling. It’s the perfect time to revisit one of the Bible’s most memorable water-based narratives: the story of Jonah.   Welcoming former co-host Bri Gerzevske back once again for another hilarious installment of Bri’s Radio Theatre, Sarah, Erin, and Rachel are jumping feet-first with her into the briny deep.   How will Ca...

A blessed Pentecost to all! To mark the feasts of Pentecost and Trinity Sunday, Sarah’s digging into a dozen hymns associated with these holy days in a brand-new Hymn Sing episode.  Hymns featured include fan favorites “Holy, Holy, Holy” (LSB 507), “Holy Spirit, Light Divine” (LSB 496), and “Glory Be to God the Father” (LSB 506), together with lesser-known classics like “Come, Holy Ghost, Creator...

As the weather warms up and the sun grows brighter and hotter, Rachel’s taking the opportunity to ask a big question that turns out to be just a little more controversial than one might expect:  Should I line dry my clothes?   Beginning with a quick survey of the history of laundry drying techniques and traditions, Rachel then looks how and why American housewives made the transition from “drying...

In honor of the Feast of the Ascension, the Ladies are once again welcoming listener submissions for a Write This challenge — this time based around the Venerable Bede’s eighth-century lyric “A Hymn of Glory Let Us Sing.”    Featuring 25 original hymn verses— covering Easter, the Ascension, the Sacraments, and more — from 15 creative contributors, this episode will inspire and deepen devotion as C...

What have you always wanted to know about LCMS International Missions (but were maybe afraid to ask)?   In this second International Missions 101 conversation, Erin draws on insights from her day job as Director of Short-term Mission for The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod to answer common questions about how the LCMS equips and sends missionaries and engages in missions throughout the world.   How...

Do infants have saving faith? Can they be counted as full members of the Body of Christ? These are some of the thorniest questions Christian parents and grandparents face, especially since they tend to arise at some of life's most painful moments: after miscarriage, in cases of extreme disability, or when a child has tragically died before Baptism. In this Kitchen Table Talk conversation, Chaplain...

“Hello, judges, my name is Rachel Bomberger, and I’ll be your next podcast speaker today. My timer is set for 0:00, counting. If all my judges are ready ...? Great. Then let’s begin ...”  In this Adventures in Lutheranism (Homeschool Edition) episode, Rachel introduces Sarah and Erin to the world of competitive speech and debate and shares the story of her own family’s ongoing involvement with the...

Birgitte Katerine Boye (1742–1824) was a prolific and accomplished Lutheran poet, hymnwriter, and playwright in her native Denmark. In this episode — part Story Time, part Hymn Sing, part ode to Scandinavian Lutheranism — Sarah shares her story with a world that has largely forgotten her.   In and around rabbit trails on Mahler’s Second Symphony, single-stanza festival hymns, and the wonderfully n...

We revisit a special devotional episode from Good Friday 2024 as we meditate on Christ’s death for our sins.  As an aid to Good Friday meditation and devotion, the Ladies welcome listener contributions in a “Write This:” creative challenge, this time inviting their fellow Lutheran ladies to compose additional stanzas to the beloved Passion hymn “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded.”  Beginning with a brief...

In this book club recap conversation, Sarah, Erin, and Rachel talk through one of the most talked-about nonfiction books of the year: Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness.   How have our collective relationships with screen-based technologies and social media evolved since the early 2000s? What effects has this shift...

It’s a party within a party (within a party?) as the Lutheran Ladies welcome special guest Tori Egger during Sharathon 2025 to talk about hospitality, sharing Christ’s love — and how to host one epic Easter Feast.   Tori Egger is a fellow Lutheran lady and mother of six. She frequently welcomes guests into her home on the campus of Concordia Seminary, Saint Louis, where her husband (the Rev. Dr. T...

This year (as eggs are currently selling for $4.95 a dozen on average), the pressure’s on to sustain beloved family traditions while also ensuring that none of those precious Easter eggs go to waste.   This sounds like a challenge for the Lutheran Ladies ...  In their latest Iron Ladle Challenge, Erin, Sarah, and Rachel are cooking with eggs — both raw and hard-boiled. Rachel offers a fresh take o...

The Ladies welcome “leading lady” Eden Keefe to the Lounge, as they continue to celebrate and learn from Lutheran women in notable positions of influence in the church and around the world. Eden Keefe serves as president of Lutheran Women in Mission (LWML). Previously, she was mission editor for Lutheran Woman’s Quarterly and vice-president of Gospel Outreach for LWML.    Learn more about LWML at...

It’s a savory smorgasbord of circular fun as the Lutheran Ladies convene the Party Planning Committee to celebrate Pi(e) Day in style.   Is March 14 actually a liturgical holiday? No. Do we at the Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge just love pie (and also irrational, transcendental numbers)? You betcha.   Sarah gets the party started in dramatic fashion with a Big Question: What kind of oven is the best kind...

In this episode, Erin’s launching an exciting NEW series of episodes entitled “International Mission 101.” Beginning with the startling revelation that she is not, in fact, a full-time professional podcast host but rather a 25-year veteran of the LCMS Office of International Mission, Erin here shares her own mission origin story.   How did an unemployed physical therapist end up first as a mission...

Put your thinking caps on, ladies! It’s time for another round of Rachel’s Trivia Challenge!  This time, Rachel’s spotlighting "Great Moments in the History of Lutherans in America.” Beginning with the age of exploration and going through the Colonial Era up to the formation of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod in 1847, she's quizzing Erin and Sarah on some of the lesser-known and more unexpected...

Class is back in session, ladies!    Once again, Sarah’s sharing study notes from her graduate courses at Concordia University Irvine’s Townsend Institute for Counseling and Leadership. In this episode on focus and productivity, drawn largely from Michael Hyatt’s Free to Focus: A Total Productivity System to Achieve More by Doing Less, she covers how to:    STOP. This is where we Formulate, Evalua...

The Rev. Dr. Scott Stiegemeyer is associate professor of theology and bioethics at Concordia University Irvine; previously, he served as parish pastor of congregations near Pittsburgh, Pa., and Chicago, Ill. In this Kitchen Table Talk conversation, Dr. Stiegemeyer answers pressing questions on AI (artificial intelligence) from an ethical and theological perspective. How does God’s Word inform our...

"Personal foul: lack of exciting Super Bowl snacks, on the party host. Fifteen-yard penalty. Repeat snack production." Don’t want this party foul scenario to happen to you? Sarah, Erin, and Rachel are on your team, and they’ve got your back! In this week’s Iron Ladle Challenge, they’re offering a range of fun and tasty snacks that go way beyond pizza rolls and potato chips. From Rachel’s keto-frie...