The Rev. Rachel Eskesen, Area Desk Director for Europe, introduces three people she met on her travels in Eastern Europe. They represent the work of ELCA partners in the region that are accompanying refugees from Ukraine. For more information about Lutheran Disaster Response and the ELCA’s work in Eastern Europe, visit: ELCA.org/Ukraine.
Read MoreThe Rev. David C. Nagler, San Diego, was elected May 20 to serve a six-year term as bishop of the Pacifica Synod of the ELCA.
Read MoreRecent research about Gen Z from the Springtide Research Institute suggests that a combination of three things leads to young people, aged 13-25, feeling like they belong in school: being noticed, named, and known by a community. Paying attention to someone, noticing rather than ignoring them, increases that person’s sense of connectedness. Greeting someone, holding the door for them, blessing them after a sneeze—all are simple ways to notice.
Read MoreNew treasurers or congregation members responsible for paying their church’s monthly Portico bill should check out three new videos available on EmployerLink to illuminate our billing process. Look for these updated videos in the “What to Do” tab on the “How to Work With Us” page.
Read MoreWe share a video highlighting Fund for Leaders scholar Wanda Frenchman, who helps lead the Native American Urban Ministry in Phoenix, Ariz. which was founded by her mother, Mary Louise Frenchman.
Wanda is participating in the TEEM program at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary. This allows her to pursue rostered ministry while she continues to lead her community in Phoenix.
Read MoreAfter listening to the concerns of this church, careful review of the report of the Listening Team and other accompanying documents, consultation with outside legal counsel, and prayerful reflection and discernment, I have decided not to bring disciplinary charges against Bishop Rohrer.
While I am not inaugurating formal disciplinary processes at this time, there remain enough serious concerns that influence Bishop Rohrer's ability to remain impactful in their role that I have asked Bishop Rohrer for their resignation, which I believe to be in the best interest of all parties involved. Leer también en español…
Read MoreIn the wake of mass shootings, Lutheran Disaster Response shares how LDR, the Upstate New York Synod and the Southwest Texas Synods, and other organizations, are responding. Ways to be part of the response are also shared.
Read MoreI grew up a Lutheran, having built a deep connection to God from a young age. However, like many of us I am sure, I have struggled with my faith over the last few years, especially these last two years. It seemed like the life I planned out was turned upside down and twisted without a moment’s notice. “New” things kept appearing everywhere I looked, and I felt incredibly lost, stuck in an uncontrollable void of questions and uncertainty
Read MoreThe Evangelical Lutheran Church in America grieves with the families of the 19 students and two teachers killed in Tuesday's mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas. Mass shootings in this country over the past two weeks have deepened the wounds of grief and sorrow. This follows the racially motivated shooting of 10 people in Buffalo, N.Y.; the shooting in Laguna Woods, Calif.; and the 27 other school shootings that have occurred in 2022. Many of the shooters have targeted children and older adults — some of the most vulnerable in our society.
Read MoreFor a long time, no one in Tulsa’s white or black communities talked about the massacre that destroyed the Greenwood district in May 1921. Those who were there remembered. A few kept the memory alive. But most simply chose to forget. Shrouded in silence for decades, it lay there in the heart of the city, eating away at it like a cancer.
Read MoreOn May 2-5, National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, National VOAD, held its annual conference in Baltimore, MD. Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) is a National VOAD member and has been a strong player in the VOAD movement.
National VOAD is a coalition of community-based, faith-based and nonprofit disaster response organizations throughout the United States.
Read MoreFor victims of the the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas and for their loved ones…
For all people, families, and communities affected by gun violence…
For local, state, and federal lawmakers, that justice, peace, and safety may prevail…
For students and graduates at the end of this school year (especially local institutions)…
For families searching for infant formula to feed their children, and for affordable access to safe, healthy nourishment for all people…
For families and friends remembering loved ones who died while serving in the United States armed forces on this Memorial Day weekend…
For peace between nations and an end to war across the globe…
All Creation Sings includes several for lament including “Lamenting Gun Violence” (Leaders Edition, p. 107) and “Service after a Violent Event” (Pew Edition p. 64-66, Leaders p. 110-113) as well as several collect prayers including the one below. This content is also available on SundaysandSeasons.com in the Library. (All Creation Sings/Prayers, Thanksgivings, and Laments/Resources for Lament)
Lord Jesus Christ, your own mother looked on when your life ended in violence. Our hearts are pierced with grief and anger at the [death of / mass shooting in_________]. We commend the slain to your wounded hands, and their loved ones to your merciful heart, trusting only in the promise that your love is stronger than death, and that even now, you live and reign forever and ever. Amen. (ACS, p.49)
Read MoreJesus repeatedly prays that “they may all be one,” that through the communion of God and Jesus, we all may be one. This oneness is rooted in God’s immense love which goes beyond all time and space.
Even in that upper room, the reality of this oneness rooted in love is hard to conceptualize. The folks who fill that room are far from perfect, they will mess up some in pretty significant ways in the days to come, as they struggled to understand and cope with Jesus’ death and resurrection. Yet, knowing all this, Jesus prays for them and, in that moment, Jesus prays for us too.
Read MoreThis blog post from ELCA Advocacy is an invitation into learning more about the farm bill, farm bill advocacy and ways to get involved. It expands on information in the ELCA World Hunger’s Global Farm Challenge Youth Action Guide’s advocacy page.
Read MoreThe Rev. Paul D. Erickson, Milwaukee, was reelected May 21 to a six-year term as bishop of the Greater Milwaukee Synod of the ELCA.
Read MoreRead the May and June updates from the ELCA advocacy office in Washington, D.C., by The Rev. Amy E. Reumann, Senior Director, ELCA Witness in Society.
The May/June issue of ELCA Advocacy Connections was prepared for distribution on May 25, 2022. While these brief updates on activity in which our ELCA Witness in Society federal staff is engaged are never an expansion of national news or a complete picture, today especially we are aware they don’t touch our corporate reflections, including on the horror of the shooting in Uvalde, Tex. and on observance of the second anniversary of the death of George Floyd.
Read MoreFor over 25 years, Fund for Leaders has supported church leaders of tremendous promise. So far, your gifts to Fund for Leaders have made a difference in the lives of over 1,100 seminary students, allowing them to serve the church where they are needed most. Together, we are working toward our ultimate goal: a future in which every rostered minister can graduate without the burden of financial debt. ELCA.org/FundforLeaders25
Read MoreOur hearts grieve for those who have been killed and our souls cry out against more lives lost to the hatred birthed by racism. As we mourn those lives lost as a result of the racially motivated killings in Buffalo, we ask God to ease the continued suffering and trauma of our Black siblings throughout the nation and in our church. We are one body in Christ, so when one part suffers, we all suffer.
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