John Stewart is an actor, comedian, and talk show host. He is probably most famous for hosting The Daily Show, a comedy news show, for many years. Stewart is also a well known advocate for 9/11 first responders and the military.
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“We love those who others fear to love,” said Nestor Cruz, pastor of Hungry Church in El Salvador. The church serves gang members who have been deported from the United States, providing them with safe places to stay, income, job skills training and other support.
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View the September, 2022 edition of Seeds Monthly, featuring Celebrate World Food Day with Rick Steves.
Join ELCA World Hunger for a celebration of World Food Day with Rick Steves. This event will be streamed online, so you can celebrate with ELCA World Hunger wherever you are! Join the celebration Oct. 16, 2022 at 6pm MST/PDT, 7pm MDT. Registration is not required; simply visit the ELCA's Facebook or YouTube page to attend.
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Lutherans Restoring Creation will host a conversation with eco-theologian H. Paul Santmire regarding his newest book, EcoActivist Testament. September 27th, 2022, 5pm MST/PDT, 5pm MDT. Click here for more info, and click here to register.
In 1993, Paul was a main contributor to the ELCA's initial Social Statement regarding the Care of Creation.
Now we have a Social Message drafted for our review and comment: Earth's Climate Crisis. Please be sure to offer dedicated time in your church community to read and submit comments before 12/2/2022.
Resourceful Servants is launching the Grants for COVID Emergencies program. Through a generous grant from the Lilly Endowment Inc., this program provides up to 200 ELCA leaders with one-time grants of $1,000 and membership in the ELCA Federal Credit Union. The due date to complete the application is Oct. 23, 2022.
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ELCA Advocacy shares their September, 2022 updates, in a U.N. and State Edition as well as Advocacy Connections from the ELCA advocacy office in Washington, D.C.
In this post we highlight the update from Lutheran Advocacy Ministry Arizona (LAMA), where Director Solveig Muus shares info on the Arizona Anti-Hunger Alliance, the Becoming Conference, the LAMA summit, and the LAMA Liaison Roundtable.
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In 2021, Musa Filibus, archbishop of the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria (LCCN), asked Ann Svennungsen, bishop of the Minneapolis Area Synod (the LCCN’s companion synod), to consider raising $500,000 for the establishment of the LCCN-run Lutheran University Nigeria. The synod raised $535,000 and secured a $150,000 ELCA World Hunger grant in just three months.
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Our advocacy takes many forms with long-term and immediate aims, and ELCA Witness in Society staff are active equipping members, building influential relationships with policy makers, networking strategically with other concerned partners, researching policy pieces and their impacts and inviting our ELCA Advocacy Network to action at impactful moments.
One timely way we can act as ELCA is to sign on with others to offer pointed comments to decision makers when developments demand.
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New resources are now available from ELCA World Hunger to enrich the life of your congregation in Advent 2022 and Lent 2023! The theme for the new seasonal materials is "A Journey Through the Psalms With ELCA World Hunger." Download free versions at ELCA.org/hunger/resources.
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For communities In Puerto Rico and the Caribbean dealing with the damage caused by Hurricane Fiona…
For communities in Alaska in the wake of Typhoon Merbok…
For communities In Japan in the wake of Typhoon Nanmadol…
For communities in Papua New Guinea impacted by the September 11 earthquake…
For communities In Pakistan dealing with the effects of summer monsoon flooding…
In thanksgiving for siblings of Hispanic & Latinx heritage…
For Synod Council Members across the church…
ELCA World Hunger announces two more “Hunger at the Crossroads” webinars on conflict and hunger and health and hunger. You are invited to join ELCA World Hunger staff and experts to learn about the intersections of these important topics. Learn more and register here or in this post. Watch the recordings of previous “Hunger at the Crossroads” webinars here.
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Across 18 years in the Negro Leagues, Norman Thomas “Turkey” Stearnes parlayed power and speed into enshrinement in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
But his daughter Rosilyn Stearnes-Brown, the choir director and organist of Amazing Grace Lutheran Church in Warren, Mich., is just as impressed by what her father achieved through force of will as an older-than-average schoolboy.
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In her September, 2022 column for Living Lutheran, Bishop Eaton writes: “In Christ we are individually members one of another. Sometimes we might feel like we are stuck with each other. This is the great mystery and beauty of the wounded body of Christ—we are woven together.” Read in English at https://bit.ly/3RUS2a5 and in Spanish at https://bit.ly/3f1BfDT.
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Right before today’s assigned Gospel reading, Jesus clearly says “you cannot serve God and wealth” (Luke 16:13, NRSV). And in the following verse, the Gospel of Luke tells us that the Pharisees, “who were lovers of money” were upset and “they ridiculed him” (Luke 16:14, NRSV).
And then in this morning’s pericope, Jesus offers this parable about a chasm—the chasm between the rich man and Lazarus. This is the chasm between those who have a hard time seeing past themselves and those who go unseen, the chasm between the lovers of money and those who lose their lives as a result.
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I moved to Minnesota in July 1998 after graduating from Waldorf University, Forest City, Iowa (then the ELCA’s Waldorf College). I’d heard there was a congregation in Minneapolis that had a Swahili service in the afternoon. The day I visited, I knew right away that I’d found my church.
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The updated 2022 Model Constitution for Congregations is now available at ELCA.org.
It is recommended that ELCA congregations and synods review the adopted amendments for their constitutions as soon as possible after each churchwide assembly to incorporate the required changes and to consider the recommended changes.
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This September brings with it a heavy joy. Every year the calendar’s turn to Labor Day and the weather’s switch to rain and chill bring us back from the fun of summer.
But years in the shadow of a global pandemic have called our attention to the same questions that Jesus poses in this month’s Gospel readings.
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ELCA Worship shares their September, 2022 newsletter, including:
Readings for the Assembly (Emended) is available for provisional use
Upcoming ALCM Webinar, “Tried and True—With a Twist!”: Friday, Oct. 7, 2 p.m. Eastern time
Music that Makes Community: Advent Planning workshop and other events and resources
Journey to Baptismal Living: North American Association for the Catechumenate
Sometime in July/August of 2025, the ELCA Churchwide Assembly will be held in Phoenix. Part of the proceedings will be a presentation from the recently established Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church, which will reconsider the denomination’s organizational structure and its statements of purpose.
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ELCA Disability Ministries shares their September, 2022 newsletter featuring:
Worship Designed for All: A Deep-rooted History of Lutheran Accessibility
September is Suicide Prevention Month
Updated ELCA Find a Congregation page with accessibility options