Posts in ELCA
Jill Fabricius Keith: Building relationships in Indigenous communities
Jill Fabricius Keith: Building relationships in Indigenous communities

It’s a sunny day in the Wind River Range of Wyoming. A group of Indigenous people and I form a circle to burn tobacco and offer a prayer of thanks to the Creator for the plants we’re gathering today. Once we pray and provide an offering to Mother Earth, we scatter across the wide-open space to dig up roots and collect berries.

For five years I’ve been listening, learning, collecting plants and building relationships with the Restoring Shoshone Ancestral Food Gathering (RSAFG) group from the Wind River Indian Reservation.

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ELCA, LettersBrian FlatgardLiving Lutheran, American Indian and Alaska NativeComment
The way of the Spirit: Get to know Bishop Kevin Jones
The way of the Spirit: Get to know Bishop Kevin Jones

When Kevin T. Jones of Mason City, Iowa, was elected bishop of the Northeastern Iowa Synod on June 12, the thought that everything had just changed hit him with a thud as the results of the fifth ballot were announced.

“It was a relief to know that my sound was muted and my camera off at that moment,” said Jones. “It was stunning and humbling and overwhelming, and my brain didn’t turn off for more than two months. It still is all that, but my brain takes the occasional break now and again.”

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Stories of Hope, ELCABrian FlatgardLiving LutheranComment
Churches Beyond Borders releases devotional inspired by United Nations anti-violence efforts
Churches Beyond Borders releases devotional inspired by United Nations anti-violence efforts

Working alongside the United Nations' "16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence" campaign, the four member churches of Churches Beyond Borders have compiled a 16-day devotional focusing on the campaign's theme opposing intersectional violence against women. View/download the devotional in PDF format here.

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ELCA, News, ResourcesBrian FlatgardEcumenical and Inter-Religious Relations, Churches Beyond Borders, American Indian and Alaska Native, The Episcopal Church, Anglican Church of Canada, Evangelical Lutheran Church in CanadaComment
Rev. Aaron Fuller: Our Collective Healing on this Veterans Day
Rev. Aaron Fuller: Our Collective Healing on this Veterans Day

On November 11, 2021, the nation will observe Veterans Day. It is a day set aside to recognize veterans’ service in the Armed Forces, past and present.

Congregations across the ELCA have chosen to recognize veterans in worship. Others have chosen not to. Both choices are faithful expressions of people’s deepest convictions. I want to offer why all congregations should consider acknowledging veterans in their worship services around Veterans Day this year.

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ELCA, LettersBrian FlatgardMilitaryComment
Prompts for Prayers of Intercession: November 14, 2021
Prompts for Prayers of Intercession: November 14, 2021

  • For equitable access to healthcare and medical resources…

  • For attendees of the Astroworld festival and the families of those who died there…

  • For those suffering severe flooding in the states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh in India…

  • For all victims of senseless acts of violence and destruction…

  • For all in search of warm places of shelter as the weather turns…

  • For justice-seekers working in healthcare, housing, food and nutrition, and education…

  • In thanksgiving for the harvest that has been gathered and for the hands that worked the fields…

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ELCA, PrayersBrian FlatgardELCA Worship, For What Shall We PrayComment
Welcome of Afghan newcomers
Welcome of Afghan newcomers

Support from ELCA members and congregations has swelled with an outpouring of concern, prayers and offers of assistance to our Afghan neighbors. As ELCA and through Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS), we can continue to offer our support.

Read an overview at ELCA.org of what’s been happening, how Lutherans are stepping up to provide accompaniment, and where you can engage further by advocating for legal protections for new arrivals.

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ELCA, NewsBrian FlatgardImmigration and Refugees, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS)Comment
Workshop on Anger Issues in our Faith Community
Workshop on Anger Issues in our Faith Community

Many bishops and rostered ministers have reported an increase in anger in our faith communities. Covid issues over the past two years have made ministry more complicated.

Barbara Keller, with ELCA’s Misconduct Prevention, presents a 1-hour zoom workshop for rostered ministers. It focuses on understanding the origin of anger and ways to help rostered ministers and congregations deal more effectively with anger. Tuesday, 11/30/2021, 9 am MST, 8 am PST. Register here.

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ELCA, News, ResourcesBrian FlatgardComment
Rev. Lisa Heffernan: Disability Ministries update
Rev. Lisa Heffernan: Disability Ministries update

Greetings! My name is Rev. Lisa Heffernan, and on June 1st I began serving as coordinator for ELCA Disability Ministries. I work remotely out of South Dakota, where I am also serving as a part-time interim pastor with a congregation.

As a person with a disability (spina bifida), this ministry is especially close to my heart and I’m excited for where God is leading us in 2022 and beyond.

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ELCA, LettersBrian FlatgardDisability MinistriesComment
Hidden Evangelists get-together
Hidden Evangelists get-together

Do you come home from a trip with a new best friend? Have you ever prayed with someone in line at the grocery store? Do you know the life stories of all of your Lyft drivers? Do you talk to your neighbors about Jesus? If these scenarios ring true for you, you might be a hidden evangelist!

Join ELCA’s Phil Hirsch and Louise Johnson on Zoom Tuesday, 11/9/2021 at 6 pm MST, 7 pm PST, for a lively conversation with people who have a similar passion for sharing Christ’s love. Register today.

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ELCA, NewsBrian FlatgardELCA Christian Community and Leadership Congregational Vitality TeamComment
A People of Hope: Until All Are Fed | An online benefit for ELCA World Hunger
A People of Hope: Until All Are Fed | An online benefit for ELCA World Hunger

In this post we share a vide of the online benefit for ELCA World Hunger, where Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton and guidebook author and travel TV host Rick Steves celebrate World Food Day! Steves interviews people on the ground who do the dynamic work of fighting hunger around the world. If you'd like to give a gift, visit ELCA.org/EndHunger.

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Bishop Eaton, ELCA, Stories of HopeBrian FlatgardHunger, ELCA World HungerComment
Generations of faith: How intergenerational ministry can sustain the church
Generations of faith: How intergenerational ministry can sustain the church

The October 2021 issue of Living Lutheran focuses on Intergenerational Ministry, with several articles and perspectives on the topic. The primary article shares many resources, including an interview with Linda Staats of the Generosity Project, as well as photos from the Grand Canyon Synod.

View the article online or in its magazine format, and find the study guide here.

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ELCA, Resources, Stories of HopeBrian FlatgardThe Generosity Project, Living Lutheran, StewardshipComment
ELCA opposes designation of Palestinian human rights groups as terrorist organizations
ELCA opposes designation of Palestinian human rights groups as terrorist organizations

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America joins 14 other Churches and church-based organizations in a letter to Secretary of State Blinken to express concerns about the recent Israeli decision to label key Palestinian human rights and civil society organizations as “terrorist organizations.” Read the letter as PDF or in this post.

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ELCA, News, LettersBrian FlatgardEcumenical and Inter-Religious Relations, SumudComment
Prompts for Prayers of Intercession: October 31, 2021
Prompts for Prayers of Intercession: October 31, 2021

  • For candidates and voters in local elections…

  • For political unrest in Sudan and Tunisia…

  • For victims of gun violence…

  • For those recovering from recent severe weather…

  • For ecumenical and full communion partners, especially the Reformed Church in America…

  • For continued and increased access to Covid vaccines and treatments, and in memory of those who have died in the pandemic…

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ELCA, PrayersBrian FlatgardELCA Worship, For What Shall We PrayComment