The ELCA Advocacy blog shares updates from submissions of the Lutheran Office for World Community and state public policy offices (sppos) in the ELCA Advocacy Network this month. Full list and map of sppos available. Read the updates here.
We also share the April Advocacy Connections from the ELCA advocacy office in Washington, D.C.
Read MoreIn his Daily Meditation of February 6 on 1 Corinthians 12, Rev. Richard Rohr writes “Humanity consistently has to face the problem of unity and diversity. We’re not very good at understanding it. We habitually choose our smaller groups, because we don’t know how to belong to a larger group. That demands too much letting go.”
Read MoreJoel McKinnon Miller is an actor. A lifelong Lutheran, he currently isn’t a member of an individual congregation but continues to be affiliated with the ELCA.
Read MoreAll Creation Sings includes a fully bilingual setting of Holy Communion (Setting 11/Liturgia 11). To support use of this liturgy as well as Evangelical Lutheran Worship Setting Seven: Santa Comunión, Sundays and Seasons now provides many more hymns and songs in Spanish.
Most hymns from Libro de Liturgia y Cántico are available for download to Deluxe subscribers. Service music (#181-274) is available to both Standard and Deluxe subscribers.
Read MoreThe ELCA European Descent Lutheran Association for Racial Justice (EDLARJ) hosts a webinar series entitled Building an Anti-Racism Team: Next Faithful Steps on three upcoming Wednesdays: 9/7/2022, 10/5/2022, and 11/2/2022. Register in advance here. More info at edlarj.org/events and Facebook event.
This series is for anybody in the ELCA, specifically interested in connecting with other folks building or working at a synod, campus or congregational anti-racist team.
Read MoreOn March 31st, 2022, the ELCA Church Council adopted “A Declaration of the ELCA to the Muslim Community,” uplifting our commitment to friendship and solidarity with our Muslim neighbors.
The idea that the ELCA should develop “A Declaration to the Muslim Community” has been around for some time, especially since the Reformation commemorations of 2017, when there was renewed focus in a variety of forums on Luther’s attitudes toward the religious Other.
Read MoreFor people facing violence in the Donbas region of Ukraine…
For Orthodox Christians celebrating Easter this week…
For interfaith peace and understanding as people of different faiths observe this holy time of year…
For wisdom and compassion to treasure and preserve our planet, God’s own beloved creation…
For our Jewish neighbors as they observe Yom HaShoah and for people facing genocide throughout the world…
Several years ago I was having an over-the-fence conversation with my neighbor. My garden lay at the edge of my property line, and her children’s play set stood at the edge of hers, so we’d exchange chitchat now and again as neighbors do.
On this afternoon, she peeked over the pickets and said somewhat breathlessly, “Anna, today I had to take my daughter out of our Baptist day care and put her in the Lutheran one.”
Read MoreALCM Webinar Series “TuneUp: A Way to Recruit Singers by Teaching Them to Match Pitch,”
Friday,4/29/2022, 11am MST/PDT, 12pm MDT.
The Association of Lutheran Church Musicians invites you to join its webinar to “help people sing with confidence.” This session offers ways to “recruit people to TuneUp” as well as useful techniques to get them to quickly and easily match pitch.” Register as part of the spring or full-year webinar series.
Read MoreKristen Berthiaume and her family live in Alabama. They wanted to promote racial justice in their community. Seeing that nationwide protests and demands for justice were often met with open racism and ignorance, the family decided to create an Anti-racist Little Library in front of their home.
Read MoreThe April, 2022 newsletter from ELCA worship is available, featuring All Creation Sings, events, and resources in English and Spanish. Read the newsletter here.
Read MoreLast week, history was made when the U.S. Senate confirmed Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court. She will serve as the first Black woman justice in the 232-year history of the Supreme Court. It is not the only, nor likely the last “historic first” for the highest court in the United States.
Read MoreResurrection – new life out of death – is built into the natural world—the interdependent life cycles of plants and animals living together in ecosystems mirror resurrection. How can our faith help us care for creation?
Read the article by LeeAnn Pomrenke in Café, a publication of the Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (WELCA).
Read MoreAs we return to a post-pandemic world, ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton reminds us that we will need the “word of the Lord—the Word that calls us back to our center, which is the steadfast love of God, law and gospel, judgment and promise.” Read her April column for Living Lutheran in English and in Spanish, or download as PDF or Word document.
Read MoreFor the first time in decades we are witnessing a confluence of significant religious holy days and cultural traditions during the month of April. Kristen L. Opalinski shares her thoughts in Perspectives, a new ELCA ecumenical and inter-religious blog. She also shares these links:
This April, Chicago has a rare opportunity for interfaith cooperation
The Confluence of Holy Seasons: An Opportunity to Grow Together
For loved ones of the six million people who have died of Covid-19 around the world…
For our Jewish neighbors, siblings in God’s covenant, observing Passover…
For the people who have been displaced by the war in Ukraine and for refugees seeking safety everywhere…
For victims and loved ones of those affected by the subway shooting in New York…
For people living in poverty and all who are struggling to pay their bills…
For farmers and farmworkers as they plant their fields for the coming season…
For the preservation and renewal of the earth, God’s creation entrusted to us…
April is Arab American Heritage Month! The Association of Lutheran of Arab and Middle Eastern Heritage (ALAMEH) is hosting an online celebration on Thursday, 4/28/2022, 5pm MST/PDT, 6pm MDT. at 7 p.m. Eastern time. Click here to register.
Read MoreThe announcement of the Biden administration of an end date for Title 42 is a welcome step forward towards restoring access to the right to seek asylum. Rather than promote a safe, orderly or humane process, Title 42 wound up increasing risk and vulnerability.
Read MoreWhen it comes to making choices that help the earth, one writer shares what she and her family do to live more sustainably. What actions do you take?
Read the article by LeeAnn Pomrenke in Café, a publication of the Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (WELCA).
Read MoreIn my part of the world, dogwood trees bloom at Easter. My Sunday Church School teachers told an old Christian legend to explain why.
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