Dear Friends,
A Homeland Security bus pulled up and out walked 30 people, most from Guatemala and a few from Honduras. Volunteers met them outside and welcomed them. As you can imagine, they were quiet but some offered big smiles. Once all were assembled, an orientation was given. Shortly after orientation, phone calls were made to sponsors so travel arrangements could be made for the last leg of their journey.
Read MoreImagine yourself suddenly, unexpectedly arrested and put in jail. You find yourself locked in a cell, perhaps with multiple strangers or perhaps all alone, staring at cracks in the concrete block, wondering what has just happened and what’s going to happen next.
The church wants to stand beside you and to pray with you and for you in that dark night, whatever it may be. Hear My Voice: A Prison Prayer Book (Augsburg Fortress, to be released July 2019) has been written for anyone who is incarcerated or imprisoned in any form.
Read MoreConnie Phillips of LSS-SW was interviewed by Jeff Pegues in a CBS News story headlined “Trump tweets about removing migrants. President Trump tweeted that ‘millions’ of undocumented immigrants will be removed. But he offered no specifics about mass arrests or deportations.”
Read MoreA letter from Elizabeth A. Eaton, Presiding Bishop of the ELCA and Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, President & CEO of LIRS. Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
The gospels recount the story of Jesus as a migrant, in need of welcome and reception. And Jesus identifies with every wanderer, every displaced person, every refugee, asylum seeker and migrant, when he tells the crowd, “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” (Matthew 25:35). Since 1939, LIRS (Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service) has led the Lutheran movement to welcome vulnerable migrants and refugees in America. Meanwhile, as part of the AMMPARO strategy, the ELCA has committed to offering accompaniment to migrants in their communities.
Read MoreOn January 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation freed 3.1 million of the nation’s 4 million enslaved people. On June 19, 1865 enslaved Africans in the state of Texas and parts of Louisiana received word of their emancipation 2.5 years later. The celebratory date is known as Juneteenth (June plus nineteenth). The date is honored by remembering the legacy of enslaved African ancestors, worship services, family gatherings and speaking out against racial injustices.
Read MoreIn this video, see how Iglesia Luterana Agustina de Guatemala (ILAG) opened Casa Milagro in 2018 to provide education to young women from rural communities. This program is supported in part by your gifts to ELCA World Hunger. To learn more about how ELCA World Hunger is at work in more than 60 countries around the globe, visit ELCA.org/hunger.
Read MorePresident Trump signed a $19.1 billion aid package for disaster impacted communities, approving funding for many states and territories in critical need of recovery.
Many ELCA leaders, including Bishop Deborah Hutterer, discussed these themes with lawmakers during their visit to Washington, DC.
Read MoreThe Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), has convened ELCA ecumenical and inter-religious partners in a statement addressing concerns over the well-being of children who cross the U.S. border seeking safety from danger and threats in their home countries.
“Children coming to our nation for safety and protection are dying at our southern border while in U.S. detention. As U.S. religious leaders representing diverse faith perspectives, we are united in our concern for the well-being of vulnerable migrants who cross our borders fleeing from danger and threats to their lives.” Read the full statement »
Read MoreLutheran Social Services of the Southwest is urgently asking for churches to host groups of 30-100 migrants on a regularly scheduled basis, or to support churches that are doing this work through volunteers, in-kind, or financial support. With temperatures over 100, migrant families released by ICE and the Border Patrol are often left at "transportation hubs" that are sometimes nothing more than a barren, gravel pit next to the Greyhound bus station with no water, no restrooms, and little shade.
Read more about this humanitarian crisis or view this flier with contact info if you'd like to help.
Read MoreELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton has released a letter addressing states recently passing or considering legislation to restrict access to legal abortion. “Talking about abortion has never been easy in this country, and the same holds true in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The members of this church have divergent beliefs and opinions about whether or not abortion should be legal,” the letter read in part.
“I commend you to study and discuss the ELCA social statement ‘Abortion.’ Through this social teaching and policy statement, this church seeks to travel a moderating path by supporting abortion as a last resort.”
Read MoreThe ELCA is saddened by the all-too-frequent occurrences of gun violence in the U.S. We invite you on a journey of prayer, scripture, stories and church teachings with this resource, "A 60-Day Journey Toward Justice in a Culture of Gun Violence."
Together through daily observances, it calls us to work toward the prevention of gun violence as people of God who strive for justice and peace in all the world. It may be used for individual reflection, group Bible study, adult education sessions, and congregational daily devotions. Your journey is intended to start on June 16th, but this resource can be used at any time.
Read MoreWatch this ELCA video to see what the ELCA and LWF are doing to accompany and assist migrants deported from Mexico and the US. More info at: elca.org/ammparo
Read MoreELCA Advocacy has provided their June 2019 update, with advocacy action updates from: U.N. | California | Colorado | Kansas | Minnesota | Nevada (news from LEAN!) | New Mexico | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Washington| Wisconsin
William Ledford, Lutheran Engagement and Advocacy in Nevada (LEAN) writes in part: “LEAN has been very active this month given that our legislature only meets for a few months every two years and that we are currently at the end of the last month of the session.”
Read MoreOur advocacy in light of disasters intensified by climate change brought together a group of faith and community leaders for an event hosted in Washington, D.C. by ELCA Advocacy in the spring of 2019. The challenge may be seismic, but the Rev. Amy E. Reumann offered insight and guidance on contemporary issues and scriptural and church resources, preparing us to care in this storm.
Read MoreOn May 15, ELCA members and the Racine (Wis.) Interfaith Coalition called for just immigration reform at an evening prayer vigil held outside the Kenosha County Detention Center. Read the full story in Living Lutheran and see the video on ELCA’s YouTube channel.
Read MoreChildren coming to our nation for safety and protection are still dying at our southern border while in U.S. detention.
I am deeply dismayed by the deaths of these children, made in the image of God, who came to our southern border as refugees and asylum seekers to ask us for protection. As a nation we denied them that safety, instead placing them in detention facilities, sometimes for months.
Read MoreNew resources for observing Migrant and Refugee Sunday are now available. The all-new resources for Migrant and Refugee Sunday include commentaries written by former refugees for preaching on the lessons for Pentecost, a Pentecost/World Refugee Day Litany, Prayer Petitions for June, and other worship and education materials that will be updated each month. Check out the website www.lirs.org/migrant-refugee-sunday
Read MoreLutheran Engagement And Advocacy in Nevada (LEAN) is providing monthly updates to synod offices. Welcome to their first newsletter, from Sheila Freed, LEAN Board Member & Publicist.
By the time you read this, the 2019 Nevada Legislature may well be over. When it ends, the presiding officer in each chamber adjourns the meeting “sine die.” This is a Latin phrase, universally mispronounced, that translates literally as “without a day.” It makes it sound terribly final, as if no one is ever coming back again. We all know that two years from now many of the same people will be back, often confronting the same issues.
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