Cooking with Elsa

Ingredients for Worship

  • Pandemic Prayers for Proper 8B

    I love the healing stories in the Gospel of Mark. There are two in this pericope and the first part is my very favorite. It seems all the more poignant this year when we are reaching for possibility and trying… Continue reading

    Pandemic Prayers for Proper 8B

  • Last Minute Pandemic Prayers for Proper 7B

    Though I am struggling to find a new normal, our world continues to turn. It has been announced that there is hope that the EU will open to American tourists leaving me to wonder if this is good news. Is… Continue reading

    Last Minute Pandemic Prayers for Proper 7B

  • Pandemic Prayers for Proper 6B

    We have been in Germany a whole week. In fact, it has been a week and a day now. I’m still not sleeping well as my tiny children adjust their bodies to a time zone a whole ocean away. These… Continue reading

    Pandemic Prayers for Proper 6B

  • Pandemic Pentecost Affirmations

    I read this morning that there are more churches closing in the wake of the pandemic. I have seen the reports about attendance and listened to how hard it is to wait in that Zoom room for anyone to join… Continue reading

    Pandemic Pentecost Affirmations

  • Pandemic Prayers for the Sixth Sunday of Easter

    I adore the repetition that the beloved community offers in trying to embody the call to love. It’s why my prayers these past few weeks have been drawn to the epistle first but it doesn’t quite reverberate with the way… Continue reading

    Pandemic Prayers for the Sixth Sunday of Easter

  • Pandemic Prayers for the Fifth Sunday of Easter

    I have seen pictures appear in my feed of pastors taking that much needed break after Easter. Some didn’t go much further than their backyard but they have their feet up and they are relaxing. Others — having been fully… Continue reading

    Pandemic Prayers for the Fifth Sunday of Easter

  • Pandemic Prayers for the Fourth Sunday of Easter

    Is it cheating to just share last year’s post on these familiar images of shepherds? Is it? Because I really like the prayers I wrote last year especially the one I wrote riffing on Rebecca Solnit’s essay. Have you read… Continue reading

    Pandemic Prayers for the Fourth Sunday of Easter

  • Pandemic Prayers for the Third Sunday of Easter

    It’s hard not to hear that last line in the Gospel Lesson and not instantly think of the trial surrounding George Floyd’s life. Or to recall the witnesses that stood there documenting the injustice that they had no control to… Continue reading

    Pandemic Prayers for the Third Sunday of Easter

  • Pandemic Prayers for the Second Sunday of Easter

    I hope and pray that you have this Sunday off. I hope that you are enjoying rest and renewal after proclaiming the good news with such love and joy. I hope that you have found some way to curate worship… Continue reading

    Pandemic Prayers for the Second Sunday of Easter

  • Pandemic Prayers for the Resurrection

    Hope comes again despite all that has happened. The worst thing is not the last thing. There is still more that God will do. There is still more that God is doing and I pray that is especially true for… Continue reading

    Pandemic Prayers for the Resurrection