Rev. Rachel Eskesen, ELCA Area Desk Director for Europe, and Associate in Ministry Rev. Zach Courter provide updates from Budapest, Hungary. In this post, we share a video update, an expanded letter (read in this post or view as PDF), and a bulletin insert (PDF).
For those of you wishing to financially support our partner churches who are doing the work on the ground to respond to the needs of refugees, you can donate here.
Read MoreIn this sacred season, we turn inward, reflecting on our dependence on God’s grace. Marked by ashes at the start, we enter the 40 days of Lent with penitent hearts and awareness of our need for God’s mercy. Repentance and self-reflection are important practices, but it’s easy to stay here, forgetting that the season is about so much more than our own self-examination.
Martin Luther captured this well. Luther defined repentance in two ways: “contrition…and in taking hold of the promise.” Read more in this post in English and Spanish.
Read More“I am appointing a listening panel of three people to review the interactions of Bishop Megan Rohrer with Misión Latina Luterana, particularly on December 12, the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and to make recommendations to me.” Read more in English and Spanish in this post.
Read MoreWELCA celebrates Women’s History Month by telling the story of bold women of faith. A three-part series starts on Thursday, March 10, by exploring the life of Emmy Carlsson Evald (1857-1946). Advance registration is required for this free webinar.
Emmy's best known as the founder of the Women’s Missionary Society of the Augustana Synod. But did you know she was a suffragette? And a social activist?
Read MoreRuth Ivory-Moore, ELCA Program Director for Environment and Corporate Social Responsibility, writes: “A new – but deemed to be landmark – Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report was finalized on Feb. 27, “Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability” (IPCC Report). Unfortunately, the message is not new.
Yet while the report re-emphasizes the dire situation the global community faces, it also emphasizes hope: The climate we remember is gone, but we can dramatically limit the damage and reduce our risk by adapting to the new climate.
Read MoreRetirement may feel like (or even be) a long way off. Having a plan for retirement can increase confidence and peace of mind about the future. For those that missed the live Retirement Readiness Series workshops hosted by Fidelity, access to condensed video presentations is available here on myPortico.
Read MoreWe share a letter from the ELCA Youth Ministry Network, who let us know “ELCA camps and outdoor ministry sites are in deep need right now and are asking for our help.”
The letter provides many great ways you and your ministry can support this vital ministry.
Read MoreDirectors of Lutheran summer camps from around the USA are eager to discuss opportunities for you at their camps. Get more info at lomnetwork.org or this post, and try out their Camp MatchUp app for an easy way for camps to connect with potential summer staff looking for a camp.
Read MoreFor the people of Ukraine, for conscripted Russian soldiers, for war zone reporters, for the leaders of the nations…that all your beloved might live in safety and freedom from fear…
For bold, adaptive leadership in the face of urgent climate change…
For African students in Ukraine seeking refuge, for an end to racism everywhere…
For Chef José Andrés and the World Central Kitchen, for all humanitarian relief efforts…
For trans kids and their parents, for allies, for legislators
For all who despair, for all who dare still to hope…
The prophet Joel doesn’t hold back when sounding the alarm about the coming Day of the Lord in our Ash Wednesday reading. This year Joel’s alert sounds above the horror of the Putin regime’s invasion of Ukraine, a great and powerful army conducting an unprovoked attack against a neighboring state.
Read MoreBecause congregations and clergy have unique reporting requirements, Portico offers complimentary access to two annually updated guides: Federal Reporting Requirements for Churches PDF and Clergy Tax Return Preparation Guide PDF.
Read MoreWe have a curious set of readings for this first Sunday of Lent. Biblical scholars believe that Deuteronomy 26:5-10 is a script for someone making an offering of what was called the “first fruits,” a religious practice for farming communities. These verses fit well with this somber season. Lent is, if nothing else, a time of looking backward and a time of looking forward.
Read MoreOn Feb. 24, 2022, Russian forces invaded Ukraine, launching land, sea and air attacks. Millions of civilians fleeing the violence are heading toward Ukraine’s western districts and neighboring countries.
In this post we share a letter from The Rev. Daniel Rift, Director, ELCA World Hunger and Lutheran Disaster Response Fund. You can support Urkainians and others by giving here.
Read MoreBishop Eaton provides a prayer as we enter Lent, and invites us to explore Now Is the Time: A Study Guide for ELCA Declaration to People of African Descent and ELCA World Hunger’s 40 Days of Giving at ELCA.org/40Days.
Read MoreIt started in Canada. They called it the Freedom Convoy. Truckers driving in a convoy (a line of trucks all traveling in the same direction) began a noisy, horn-honking, but originally peaceful protest against the government’s requirement of COVID vaccinations for workers.
Read MorePastor Kristin Engstrom, ELCA Global Missionary with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zambia, is glad to share with us her arrival in Zambia, “to begin my new call as an ELCA global missionary with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zambia (ELCZa). Thank you for all your prayers and support over these past months of waiting and anticipating my deployment to Zambia. I've written a new blog post about my first week in Zambia. You can find it here.”
Read MoreKrish O’Mara Vignarajah, President and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS), writes: “The humanitarian implications of a full Russian invasion must be a central consideration in the U.S. and international response. Thousands could lose their lives, and millions more could lose the only home they have ever known. The U.S. and its allies must prepare to respond to the very real possibility of a mass exodus of Ukrainian refugees. Protecting the displaced cannot merely be an afterthought.”
Read the full statement in this post or on LIRS.org.
Read MoreAs we prepare to enter the season of Lent, we want to invite you to join ELCA World Hunger’s 40 Days of Giving. At ELCA.org/40Days, you’ll find these downloadable resources to enrich the life of your congregation and family this season.
Read MoreAfter heads of churches in the Holy Land voiced their objections to a proposal to expand Jerusalem Walls National Park to include property owned by several churches in the city, Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority announced on February 21, 2022, that it was freezing the plan.
The text of the Feb 18 letter from Patriarchs about the Mount of Olives can be found here. The Feb 23 World Council of Churches article about the situation can be found here.
Read MoreThough we have been anxious about the recent growing tensions between Ukraine and Russia and between Russia and the NATO countries in recent weeks, we remain deeply concerned, as we have been since 2014, for the impact of this ongoing conflict on innocent civilians throughout Ukraine.
All our religious traditions call us to pray and work for peace. We join our voices and hands together. We must open our eyes to those who are suffering, and we cannot remain indifferent to the injustice this conflict has brought on the people of Ukraine and may bring on people of neighboring countries.
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