When religious leaders stepped up to help the communities of Minneapolis and St. Paul following the murder of George Floyd, I don’t think they knew what they were in for.
As a Native American and an activist, I know first hand the harm that well intentioned people of faith can do when they come in to “help” communities that have been marginalized or minoritized.
Read MoreThe Deaconess Community of the ELCA is using prophetic diakonia to do the work of justice with the Poor Peoples Campaign (PPC). This movement encourages us to be grounded in the thousands of scripture verses that call God’s people to the work of justice.
The Mass Poor People’s Assembly and Moral March on Washington on June 20, 2020 will be a digital gathering, marshalling collective voices to demonstrate the power of our communities, and you can register from this link.
Read MoreI have written a few times about how and when to introduce phases of in-person worship. I continue to encourage no in-person gathering until the deaths or cases of newly infected decrease for a minimum of 14 days in your area. This letter is a follow up about in-person worship and Holy Communion.
Read MorePresiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton gives her weekly message during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read MoreBishop Eaton notes that the “restrictions imposed by the pandemic have made it clear that people are searching for hope and meaning and love.” As those restrictions are eased, she urges us to assess the ways our congregations are witnesses to the transcendent, keeping in mind all those who worshiped with us online but may not walk into our churches.
“The problem comes when people confuse the sacred space with the Sacred,” she writes. “We must take care that our congregations don’t become idols.” Read her column in English at https://bit.ly/3hgd0yo and in Spanish https://bit.ly/2YqYMSy.
Read MoreRev. Kwame Pitts, pastor to Crossroads Lutheran Church in Amherst, New York, reflects on the Emanuel 9, five years later.
Read MoreWe are a nation in distress. We are a church in distress. The coronavirus has killed 103,000 of us. The virus of racism has taken hundreds of thousands more throughout our history. Now these two deadly viruses converge. Under this distress the veneer of equality has cracked and we see the pain, anger and frustration of those who have been denied the rights and dignity so many of us expect and often take for granted.
I have heard it said that slavery ended with the Civil War. Why don't people of color "just get over it." Here is the question we need to ask, "How do you get over something that isn't over?"
Read MoreBishop Eaton’s weekly video: It is so clear that life is not equal in this country. But we believe in and serve a God who brings about good even out of evil, who brings healing out of pain, and brings life out of death. This is a call to repentance, dear church, and also to action based in the hope of the reconciliation we have already experienced in Jesus Christ.
Remember to reserve June 17, 2020 as a day to commemorate the Emanuel 9.
Read MoreThese are daunting moments.
To be honest, I don’t know where to start. I can’t find adequate words to address the deep anger, anxiety, anguish, and grief spreading through our world today, growing from a mix of COVID-19 deaths, political turmoil, and repeated episodes of racial injustice.
Read MoreOn June 17, 2015, a white man named Dylann Roof entered a historic Black church in Charleston during a prayer meeting and opened fire, killing 9 people and wounding 3 more. He overtly and explictly espoused white supremacist beliefs and targeted the people of Mother Emanuel Church because of their race and commitment to civil rights. I felt my stomach sink when I found out that Roof was raised in an ELCA church.
Read MoreWhat does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8).
In a statement signed by many bishops of The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, including Bishop Hutterer, the ELCA reaffirms its commitment to combating racism and white supremacy following the recent murders of Black Americans. Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Dreasjon (Sean) Reed, and George Floyd were our neighbors.
Read MoreToday, we, the Jewish People, have finished counting and fulfilling seven weeks of seven days, forty-nine days since Pesakh and the liberation from slavery in Egypt-Mitzrayim. As the Torah records, we were freed from slavery in the sight of all the world.
Every human being is created in the Tselem Elokhim, the Image of God. And into every human being has God breathed the breath of life. As we remember the last words of George Floyd, “Please, I can’t breathe!”
Read MoreI have been encouraged to respond to what I believe is an ill-advised statement to “open houses of worship,” given all the evidence that the coronavirus is still spreading. This week, the COVID-19 death toll across our country reached 100,000 souls. To date, infections number over 17,000 in Arizona and over 8,000 in both Nevada and Utah. Over 1,300 people have died in the three states.
Such statistics testify this is not the time to gather in-person. I would sum up guidance to churches in one, simple phrase: “Just because you can gather for worship, doesn’t mean you should.”
Read MoreThe ELCA recognizes June, 17 as day of Commemoration of the Emanuel 9 and a Day of Repentance of Racism. This post by Kelly France is featured as part of a series to call the ELCA to address white supremacy and racism. To find additional worship materials for June 17, please visit elca.org/EmanuelNine.
I love living and serving as a pastor in rural communities on the Great Plains. I have spent most of my life in this environment, and my family has been part of this landscape for generations. My identity is tied to this place, and that comes with complex realities and shameful truths.
Read MoreRev. Jacqui Pagel, Bishop’s Associate for Candidacy and Faith Formation with the Grand Canyon Synod, brings greetings, the Gospel, and a sermon for the seventh Sunday of Easter. The Gospel, John 17:1-11, can be found at the beginning of the video. The greetings and sermon start at 2:00.
Read MorePresiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton gives her weekly message during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on the gift of God’s creation.
Read MoreDaudi Msseemmaa, the ELCA’s regional representative in East Africa, writes: “During a severe drought in 2008-2009, I spent time in dusty villages where the carcasses of livestock littered the ground and hungry children fainted in class. There was a lot of suffering. But I did not encounter hopelessness, even among malnourished mothers whose couldn’t provide enough breast milk for their infants. They had a saying – God is far, but he is very near.”
Read MorePastor Ben Bergren with Community, Las Vegas shares his writings: “As I write this one of our church members is dying of COVID-19.”
“Most likely by the time you read this, they will have passed. The thought of this both saddens and exhausts me because it reminds me of the selfishness and brokenness of humanity. This is not a political issue at all. This is a condition of the heart.” Read the full article »
Pastor Bergren also shares an article this week entitled “Rehoboam’s Folly.”
Read MoreA thriving church is one so convinced of the resurrection that we’re free to give our lives in service to others. Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton shares how the ELCA continues to thrive in country churches, cityscapes and places with no walls in this message for 2020 Synod Assemblies. Watch in our blog post, YouTube or Facebook.
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