Sometimes it's easy to slip into thinking that our generation is the first to wrestle with big questions like the connection between faith and work or the relevancy of the church to the world. It's good to be reminded that others have wrestled before.

I heard these questions, for instance, in the life of Bob Cummings, a Lutheran lay leader and co-founder of Vesper Society, a unique faith-based foundation. I had the privilege of interviewing Bob on a couple of occasions. I learned that long before the term "social entrepreneur" became popular, Bob was mixing things up in inspiring ways.

Growing up in the Lutheran church, he contemplated becoming a pastor. But it was commerce that captured his imagination. He believed that business leaders could serve the church, so he looked for opportunities where the two arenas connected. "I always felt that if there was no place for the church in my business, I had no business being in it," he said.

Bob Cummings died March 23 at the age of 87. His life is celebrated in the story here.