{The Lutheran Ladies' Lounge} Story Time with Sarah: Portals of Prayer, Since 1935

Few Lutherans have never laid eyes on a Portals of Prayer devotional booklet, yet how much do you know about its 87-year history?

In this “Story Time with Sarah” episode, Sarah presents original primary source research on these timeless devotional booklets commissioned in 1935 by the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States to provide members of the Synod with short daily devotions, interestingly written, at an affordable price. Stroll through the timeline of these ubiquitous volumes published by Concordia Publishing House to hear tidbits of history, including the first set of authors, partnership with KFUO Radio for audio recordings, the first Lutheran Lady to write for Portals of Prayer, and formatting successes (and otherwise) throughout the years.

At the end, Sarah shares stories from Lutheran Ladies about their own poignant, nostalgic, practical, or otherwise hilarious adventures with Portals of Prayer booklets.

The resources in this episode include:

CPH.org/Portals – your one-stop-shop for Portals of Prayer
75 Years of Portals of Prayer available from CPH
Portals of Prayer Devotional Bible available from CPH
Lutheran Braille Workers – to request Braille Portals of Prayer and other Lutheran Braille materials.
Walter Loeber’s story of his time with KFUO Radio’s Extension Service
The story of Alma Kern from LWML
And, if you’re in the Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge Facebook group, read ALL of the stories from the Ladies here!

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The order of worship that is still found in Portals today!

The original formatting of the devotions.

The first edition of devotions covering a season of the Church Year

All the volumes of Tagliche Andachten in the CPH Editorial Library

All the volumes of Portals of Prayer in the CPH Editorial Library

First book, written by Rev. Alfred Doerffler

Inside the original Portals of Prayer booklets

First edition of Portals of Prayer, in English and German: “Standing in His Grace”

Connect with the Lutheran Ladies on social media in The Lutheran Ladies’ Lounge Facebook discussion group (facebook.com/groups/LutheranLadiesLounge) and on Instagram @lutheranladieslounge. Follow Sarah (@hymnnerd), Rachel (@rachbomberger), Erin (@erinaltered), and Bri (@grrrzevske) on Instagram!

The Lutheran Ladies Lounge is the podcast produced by KFUO Radio and hosted by Sarah Gulseth, Erin Alter, Rachel Bomberger, and Bri Gerzevske. Created for Lutheran ladies to have a place to escape to with inviting conversations, laughter, and fellowship with Lutheran sisters, we invite all of you Lutheran ladies to join Sarah, Erin, Rachel, and Bri on the sofa in the Lutheran Ladies Lounge to sit, rest your feet, and stay a while. If you’re a Lutheran lady, join us in our Facebook group: facebook.com/groups/LutheranLadiesLounge.

Sarah Gulseth

A proud Michigan native and fan of anything with the Mitten State on it, Digital Media Manager Sarah Gulseth is also a lover of historical war movies and anything with the label PBS Masterpiece. An avid bicyclist and women’s biking advocate, she rides her bike to work year-round and has the massive bike clothing and accessory collection to prove it. If it’s the weekend, she and her husband Luther are probably out riding bikes, or finding the next awesome coffee shop to frequent, or rehearsing for the next choir concert. You may also find her down a new rabbit hole on Google, researching the latest random fact she found on social media, while eating an unhealthy amount of apples (Macintosh from Michigan, of course) and raw almond butter.