The Lutheran Ladies' Lounge from KFUO Radio

Inspired by the August issue of The Lutheran Witness on education, Rachel's asking a (really) Big Question:   How should I educate my kids?   It’s a quandary that arises regularly for many families, especially at this time of year — and rightly so. We love our kids and want them to be well equipped to take our places as leaders in the church, their families, and society at large. While the law of...

Q: Why shouldn’t you tell secrets in a cornfield?   A: Because the corn has ears!  It’s a “cornival” of craziness as Erin leads Sarah and Rachel in an all-new Iron Ladle Challenge celebrating the joys of "corn culture" (or “corny culture”) in midsummer.    After discussing results from a pair of lively listener polls on how to cook and butter corn-on-the-cob (Facebook group members can find those...

Johann Sebastian Bach — whom the Lutheran church commemorates on July 28 — was not a Lutheran lady ... but his two wives sure were!  In this Story Time episode, Sarah introduces us to the two wives of J.S. Bach: Maria Barbara Bach (1684–1720) and Anna Magdalena Bach (1701–1760). Between them, these faithful, capable Lutheran women bore Bach 20 children (ten of whom lived to adulthood; four of whom...

Author and fellow Lutheran lady Katie Schuermann joins Rachel, Sarah, and Erin in a recap discussion of the latest Lutheran Ladies’ Book Club selection, The Saints of Whistle Grove. In a book full of memorable Lutheran characters, which are the most lovable? The most frustrating? How does identifying with a problematic character help us identify and own up to our own faults and frailties? What can...

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 responsible decision-making, she covers:  Why pro-con lists aren’t necessarily the be-all-and-end-all of decision-making tools  How to recognize and defeat the “Four Villains of Decision Making” —...

Happy (Belated) Independence Day! To celebrate in a very "Lutheran Lady" way, we're 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 (...

Inspired by the upcoming 2024 Institute on Liturgy, Preaching and Church Music (July 9–12), the Ladies are turning their attention to the book of Psalms. In the last episode of this five-episode series, they welcome listener submissions in a new “Write This:” creative challenge, this time showcasing original psalms.   Building on their earlier conversation with Sarah Reinsel about the poetry of th...

Inspired by the upcoming 2024 Institute on Liturgy, Preaching and Church Music (July 9–12), the Ladies are turning their attention to the book of Psalms. In the fourth of a five-episode series, Erin, Sarah, and Rachel attempt Psalm-inspired menu planning in a new twist on the Iron Ladle Challenge.   From the “apple of your eye,” to “manna from heaven,” from “wine to gladden the heart of man” to “b...

Inspired by the upcoming 2024 Institute on Liturgy, Preaching and Church Music (July 9–12), the Ladies are turning their attention to the book of Psalms. In the third of a five-episode series, Sarah turns her attention to Psalm paraphrases in a special Hymn Sing episode.   Lyrics featured in this episode include hymns by Isaac Watts (“Joy to the World,” “My Shepherd Will Supply My Need”), Martin L...

Inspired by the upcoming 2024 Institute on Liturgy, Preaching and Church Music (July 9–12), the Ladies are turning their attention to the book of Psalms. In the second of a five-episode series, Sarah, Erin, and Rachel welcome fellow Lutheran lady Sarah Reinsel (LCMS writer, editor and former English teacher) to the Lounge to talk about the literary beauty of psalmic poetry.   What makes literature...

Inspired by the upcoming 2024 Institute on Liturgy, Preaching and Church Music (July 9–12), the Ladies are turning their attention to the book of Psalms. In the first of a five-episode series, Sarah, Erin, and Rachel welcome Chaplain Sean Daenzer back to the Lounge for a Kitchen Table Talk conversation on the theology of Psalms.   How are the Psalms structured (and why is this important)? Where do...

In this episode, Sarah, Erin, and Rachel introduce a new interview series: Leading Ladies, a celebration of Lutheran women in notable positions of leadership or influence in the church or the world.   Their first guest in this series is Teresa Todd, fellow Lutheran lady and wife of Chaplain (RDM) Gregory N. Todd, who currently serves as the 28th Chief of Chaplains of the United States Navy. Chapla...

Following up on her earlier foray into liturgical calendar trivia last Advent, Rachel here offers “The Church Year, Part 2.”  Tackling Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, Ordinary Time, Michaelmas, saints’ days, the Last Sunday, and more, Rachel quizzes Erin and Sarah with 16 questions ranging from easy to expert level. Will Rachel manage to stump her smarty-pants cohosts? Will they be able to stop laughin...

Altar Guild ladies ... this one’s for you!  Following up on Rachel’s historical tribute to the Altar Guild last year, Sarah’s continuing the conversation with an all-new Adventures in Lutheranism episode spotlighting Altar Guild life hacks.   “Part of the beauty of serving on Altar Guild is passing knowledge and wisdom from one generation to the next,” says Sarah, “and I’m leaning all into that wi...

A book club reveal this epic needs its own episode ...  Lounge-alum Bri rejoins the Ladies to wrap up their book club discussion of Little Women with style, flair — and an all-new original Bri’s Radio Theatre audio play imagining Meg, Jo, and Amy March at the LCMS National Youth Gathering (chaperoned, of course, by our old friend DCE Dana, the overworked church worker).   But wait ... who’s that m...

In this Lutheran Ladies’ Book Club recap episode, Rachel leads Sarah and Erin in a highly anticipated conversation on Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women.    How does Alcott’s cast of sisters offer a range of imaginative options for understanding virtuous womanhood? What are we to make of artsy-but-annoying Amy and tomboy Jo? Despite its being filled with religious themes and moral platitudes, can we...

Following up on last year’s Baptism party episode, the Ladies are once again forming a Party-Planning Committee — and this time, they’re tackling confirmation.   In this three-segment Sharathon episode, the Ladies provide friendly advice to anyone hosting a confirmation party. Erin (recipe subcommittee) starts things off with an Apostles’ Creed-themed menu, featuring gingerbread, Braunschweiger (a...

We’re back in class, 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 insightful episode, she covers:  How great teamwork skills relate to the Body of Christ  Pat Lencioni’s Working Genius model for productivity  How a productivity model applies to everything from marriage, to churc...

It’s a HAM-ERGENCY!  Easter Sunday is over and done — but what's a Lutheran lady to do with all that leftover ham?   In this Iron Ladle Challenge, Sarah, Erin, and Rachel (together with dozens of ladies from the Lutheran Ladies Lounge Facebook group) are coming to the rescue, with a smorgasbord of recipe ideas all involving ham.   Will you use your leftover ham in savory Cuban sandwiches? Fluffy c...

As an aid to Good Friday meditation and devotion, the Ladies once again welcome listener contributions in a new “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 account of how the hymn came to be and its connection to the Lutheran worship tradition, Sarah...

Justine Siegemund (born Justine Diettrich; 26 December 1636 – 10 November 1705) was a groundbreaking midwife whose illustrated medical book The Court Midwife (1690), was the first German medical text authored by a woman.   In this episode, Sarah tells her story.  Born in Silesia as the daughter of Lutheran minister, Justine married age 19 but was unable to bear children. Her own struggles with inf...

This week, the Ladies are rolling out a brand-new interview series: Mother + Daughter. Each of these conversations will feature a different pair of Lutheran women who are joined not only by the closest bonds of kinship but also by the fellowship they share as Lutheran sisters in Christ.  In the first of these conversations, we welcome Cheryl and Caitlin Magness.   Cheryl Magness is managing editor...

This week, the Ladies are reviving an old segment from the early days of the show: “How to Lutheran,” an exploration of distinctive aspects of Lutheran life that are so familiar as to be almost unnoticed. This week, Rachel’s looking at table prayers: Why do we say them? Which ones do we pray? What’s so distinctively Lutheran about the way Lutherans say grace? And what’s so “common” about the so-ca...

Unsurprisingly, Lutheran Service Book contains a substantial collection of “Trust” hymns — and also unsurprisingly, many of those hymns are dearly loved by Lutheran ladies.   In this Hymn Sing with Sarah episode, Sarah tells the stories of over a dozen different trust-based hymns, a list informed by listener polls conducted earlier in the Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge Facebook discussion group.   Lyrics...

The Rev. Dr. John Kleinig is emeritus lecturer at Luther College, Adelaide, South Australia, and author of several books on Lutheran theology and spirituality, including Grace upon Grace, Wonderfully Made, and the volume on Prayer in the Lutheran Spirituality Series. In this warm and pastoral Kitchen Table Talk conversation, Dr. Kleinig answers vital questions on prayer from a biblical Lutheran pe...