“We will get through this together.” Over the past month, we’ve heard these words spoken countless times by health officials, governors, mayors, presidents, prime ministers, and journalists – but also doctors, nurses, grocery clerks, and other essential workers.
As a Christian, these words took on new meaning for me last week as my family navigated Holy Week while sheltering in place.
Read MoreWhether born of fear, ignorance, or bigotry, the calumny and actual harm that the Chinese American community has suffered is morally reprehensible. The same is true for those of other communities who are assumed to be Chinese. Any sense of isolation that might be compounded by our silence only adds to the pain and offense.
Read MoreThe Arizona Faith Network offers an online prayer room.
“As people of faith we invite you to gather together during this anxious and uncertain time. Take a moment to read the prayers of our community below and submit your own. We stand together, rooted in our own faiths, praying for healing and direction.“
Read MoreThe leaders of the Union for Reform Judaism, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the Islamic Society of North America come together at the outset of their respective holy days in solidarity and in hope.
Read MoreChristians are joining in specific acts of worship as ecumenical organizations unite during pandemic. View the actions in this post or read at nationalcouncilofchurches.us/holyweek.
Read MoreThe National Council of Churches (NCC) joins with Christians Uniting in Christ (CUIC) and Christian Churches Together (CCT) sends a letter to congregations across the United States. View the letter in this post or read at nationalcouncilofchurches.us/holyweek.
The letter states, “Holy Week is April 6-12 for Western Christians and April 13-19 for Orthodox Christians.” Christians are then asked to join in specific acts of worship as they celebrate this unprecedented Holy Week and Easter.
Read MoreAs three ecumenical organizations unite in an unprecedented way, Bishop Eaton invites us to visit nationalcouncilofchurches.us/holyweek, and join in specific acts of worship with other Christians as we celebrate this Holy Week and Easter in time of pandemic.
View Bishop Eaton’s video, visit the Holy Week page, and read the letter and share.
Read MoreAt every ecumenical and inter-religious meeting or event I attend, the conversation invariably turns to the rapidly changing ecumenical and inter-religious landscape. At times it is raised as a caution: we cannot continue down the same path because it will no longer lead us to where we thought we were going.
At other times, the conversation itself feeds circular thinking: we cannot effectively engage in new ways until we have a clear view of our new context.
Read MoreBrad Munroe of the Phoenix presbytery would like to invite pastors and lay leaders to a Leading Emotional Systems Training (LEST) to be held at the presbytery office in Phoenix the week after Easter, April 13-17. See brochure.
The LEST training covers communication and family system dynamics the first three days and then divides into separate tracks for interim training and conflict reconciliation the final two days.
Read MoreBishop Deborah K. Hutterer and Pastor Jacqui Pagel took part in vespers during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Bishop Hutterer gave the meditation at the opening service at Desert Cross on Sunday, 1/19/20, while Pastor Pagel helped preside at the main worship on Thursday, 1/23/20.
View photos and more info in this article from the Catholic Sun, or view photos from the Episcopal Diocese further in this article.
Read MoreThe Arizona Faith Network (AFN) is looking for people between the ages of 14 to 22 to serve on the Interfaith Youth and Young Adult Council (IYC). The council designed to help prepare Arizona’s next generation to be key leaders in interfaith communities.
Read MoreThe current crisis between the United States and Iran is worrisome for many of us in our church, in our nation and in the world. Our country and Iran need urgently to find ways to resolve our differences through a de-escalation of the current crisis, using diplomacy and other peaceful means. Our social statement, "For Peace in God's World," offers guidance.
Read MoreLast week, in a flurry of misleading headlines, many of us read that the United Methodist Church had split. This is not, in fact, what happened.
Many of you may be pondering the good Lutheran question: What does this mean? For the UMC? For our full communion partnership? It is simply too soon to have clarity on those questions. I assure you that there are leaders, both ELCA and UMC, who are carefully and faithfully tending to these questions.
Read MoreBegin the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity with our Lutheran Holden Evening prayer at Desert Cross Lutheran Church on Sunday, 1/19/20, with Bishop Hutterer giving the meditation.
Throughout Arizona, there are ecumenical vespers every evening through 1/25/20, with the main worship on Thursday, 1/23/20. Full info and schedule is on the GCS site and the the Shepherd of the Hills site.
Read MoreTragically, several acts of anti-Semitic hatred, bigotry and violence in New York during these days have marred the joyful festivities in Jewish communities across this country and around the world. Within the last year, we have witnessed the broader surge of anti-Semitism from Pittsburgh to Poway in which these most recent incidents have occurred. Our Jewish neighbors are living in pain, grief and fear.
Read MoreThe 2nd Annual Border Ministries Summit provides an opportunity to share information, build partnerships and increase awareness of the important ministries taking place on both sides of the border.
November 21- 23, 2019, St. Philip’s In The Hills, 4440 N. Campbell Ave., Tucson, AZ 85718.
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Miguel A. De La Torre, Professor of Social Ethics and Latinx Studies at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, CO. Learn more »
Read MoreAdopted at the 2019 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, A Declaration of Inter-Religious Commitment will serve as church policy for inter-religious relations. The policy statement was adopted with the witness of 39 ecumenical and inter-religious guests in attendance.
"I hope that you will experience renewed joy and fresh insights as you read this document,” says Bishop Elizabeth Eaton.
Read MoreAnother blog post from ELCA World Hunger Education Intern Aml Mohamed. In this blog, she continues to seek answers to the three questions posed in her first blog. This blog is a response to her second question: “Why would I care as a practicing Muslim to work at a Lutheran faith-based institution?”
Read her full blog post: God Created Abundantly.
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