How long can you spend in silence? Did you know that God appears as “sheer silence” in the Bible? Learn why Bishop Eaton’s spiritual director recommends 20 minutes of silence each day as a faith practice.
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Like many of you, I have been praying for the Reformed Church in America (RCA) as it met in General Synod, Oct. 14-19, in Tucson, Ariz. For nearly a quarter century, we have grown in full communion with the RCA, sharing in mutual ministry and mission. We have come to know each other through our common witness to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
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As you observe All Saints Sunday on November 7, 2021 or at another time near November 1 (All Saints Day), you may desire a rite that acknowledges those who have died from COVID-19 during this past year or since the beginning of this pandemic.
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ELCA Advocacy shares their October, 2021 updates. The first is from the ELCA Advocacy office in Washington, D.C., and the second is the UN and state edition, updates shared from submissions of the Lutheran Office for World Community and state public policy offices (sppos) in the ELCA Advocacy Network this month. We excerpt our synod’s Lutheran Advocacy Ministry Arizona (LAMA) update in this post.
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Bishop Eaton reminds us that spending time in silence is a spiritual discipline, a way of being in God’s presence. Read her October column for Living Lutheran in English at https://bit.ly/3jfr8dL and in Spanish at https://bit.ly/3n5x8ab.
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In late September the MacArthur Foundation announced that Joshua Miele is a genius grant recipient. Miele designs adaptive technologies that allow blind and visually impaired (BVI) people to use the technologies that permeate society. For instance, Miele developed YouDescribe, which allows sighted volunteers to create audio descriptions of any video on YouTube.
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For the newly elected leadership of the National Council of Churches…
For the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malawi and the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland, newly celebrating the ordination of women as pastors in the church…
For congregations and ministries discerning their futures…
For recovery efforts in India after record rainfall and flooding…
For children who have lost parents and grandparents to the Covid-19 virus…
For those who are excluded, overlooked, or unwelcome as a result of disability…
Most of you have heard of the ELCA’s goal to engage 1 million new, young, diverse members by the end of the decade. But what about the rest of us, the ones already engaged? Bishop Eaton has your answer.
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Many congregations are just now getting things ready to attend the 2022 Gathering, so if you haven’t started yet– you aren’t behind! Here are 10 things to know as you prepare to bring a congregational group to the 2022 ELCA Youth Gathering.
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Supported in part by ELCA World Hunger, the Asian Rural Institute (ARI) in Japan is a nine-month service leadership training program that draws people from around the world, allowing them to live and work together as they learn agricultural skills they can take back to their home communities.
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Oregonians are waiting for “The Big One.” Every few hundred years, the Cascadia Subduction Zone causes huge earthquakes. The Cascadia earthquake was the impetus for the Oregon Synod Disaster Response Initiative, launched last year.
Recognizing that many people aren’t prepared for this earthquake or other disasters, a team proposed forming the Oregon Synod Disaster Response Network to guide congregations through preparedness and to raise awareness about different aspects of disasters.
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How did 260 goats end up being blessed at St. Paul Lutheran Family in Carson City, Nevada?
“It was a pretty big ordeal,” said Chad Adamik, pastor of St. Paul. “We were in a really bad drought … and the goats were [doing] fire mitigation.” No kid-ding—the goats were working on St. Paul’s 4 acres, which were overrun with cheatgrass this past August.
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It’s harvest season in various parts of the United States. I’m mindful of a parable Jesus shares about a harvest where the crops were infiltrated by weeds. Jesus compares the kindom of God to a farmer who sows good seed in his field. While everyone is sleeping, the enemy creeps in and sows weeds in this farmer’s field.
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This week’s Story of Faith in Action features Abide, a small-group ministry for ELCA members between 18 and 35. The program started in early 2020, shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic began, with leadership funding from Mission Support.
Read the story in this post, view as a PDF resource, or visit our SOFIA 2021-2022 page for all resources.
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Each year, ELCA congregations pledge to send a portion of their offerings to fund ELCA ministries in their synods and beyond. We call these funds Mission Support.
Mission Support enables the ELCA’s more than 8,900 congregations and 65 synods to pool resources to love and serve our neighbors in ways that no individual or congregation can do alone.
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Lutheran World Relief has created FREE, easy-to-use resources based on the RCL Advent texts from the Gospel of Luke, all available at lwr.org/advent.
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In the past few years there has been a movement within the US American Catholic Church to recognize Dorothy Day as a saint within their tradition. While Lutherans and Catholics have different understandings of saints and sainthood, we too, can look to these people as exemplars of the faith.
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A worship resource for Veterans Day includes prayers, hymn suggestions, and other ideas. Both PDF and Word versions are available at elca.org/Resources/Worship#Liturgy.
The resources may be used and adapted as needed for Veterans Day observances or in weekly worship on the Sunday closest to November 11. To learn more about caring for returning veterans, resources are available from the ELCA Federal Chaplaincy Ministries.
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Intercession prompts:
For those who are afraid in their relationships or have suffered abuse or violence…
For Afghan refugees seeking resettlement and the agencies that accompany them…
For ongoing wildfires and risk of wildfires in the western United States…
For those facing hunger and food insecurity and for farmers and all food production workers…
For the work of feeding and food advocacy organizations such as ELCA World Hunger…
For those whose vocations honor St. Luke, the physician: medical personnel, caregivers, clinical support staff, and all who work in healthcare…
For those who live in fear because of homophobia, sexism, and racism…
For congregations in the midst of stewardship campaigns and ministry visioning for the coming year…
This Gathering webinar provides information from the Safety & Security team as they prepare for next summer’s event. Topics include Minneapolis safety, COVID-19, and spiritual wellness. For information about the 2022 Gathering, “boundless: God beyond measure,” visit elca.org/Gathering.
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