Response to the School Shooting in Uvalde, Texas

The 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.

ELCA, Letters, NewsBrian FlatgardMay 26, 2022Gun ViolenceComment

Bishop Michael Girlinghouse: Remembering Tulsa

For 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.

ELCA, LettersBrian FlatgardMay 25, 2022Racial Justice, ELCA Racial Justice MinistriesComment

Bishop Eaton: Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

We celebrate the contributions of Asian and Pacific Islanders in the ELCA and reaffirm our commitment to the Asian and Pacific Islander communities in the United States.

Bishop Eaton, LettersBrian FlatgardMay 25, 2022Asian and Pacific Islander Association of the ELCAComment

ELCA statement on the Buffalo mass murders

Our 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.

ELCA, News, LettersBrian FlatgardMay 25, 2022Racial Justice, Gun ViolenceComment

ELCA Bishops Write to Congress about Augusta Victoria Hospital Funding

On May 18, 2022, ELCA Presiding Bishop Eaton and 44 ELCA synod bishops, including Bishop Hutterer, wrote to Congress about their concerns related to the funding of Augusta Victoria Hospital. Read the full letter here: ELCA Bishops’ letter to Congress concerning US funding for Augusta Victoria Hospital.

Ask your Members of Congress to restore funding for Augusta Victoria Hospital and the other East Jerusalem hospitals (This form will give you a sample letter you can personalize and send).

Bishop Eaton, Bishop Hutterer, ELCA, LettersBrian FlatgardMay 25, 2022SumudComment

Join Bishop Eaton in speaking out about Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing

Presiding Bishop Eaton wrote to Secretary of State Antony Blinken to express her “profound shock and sadness concerning the death of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in Jenin, the West Bank, on May 11 and the deplorable disruption of her funeral procession on May 13.”

Read the letter from Bishop Eaton to Secretary of State Blinken on the killing and funeral of Shireen Abu Akleh and join Bishop Eaton in taking action by writing to Secretary of State Blinken here. (The action alert will give you sample language that you can edit and personalize).

Bishop Eaton, ELCA, LettersBrian FlatgardMay 25, 2022SumudComment

Devotional: Steps Forge the Path

Sometimes it feels like my whole life revolves around the question “what’s next?” There’s this notion that “next” is a jump, one thing to another, and that the next thing must be substantially different from the thing before in order to be “new.” I’m starting to think that’s not the case.

ELCA, LettersBrian FlatgardMay 19, 2022Advocacy, ELCA AdvocacyComment

North/West Lower Michigan Synod Task Force for Disability Ministry

Pastor Clay Bates, chair of the North/West Lower Michigan Synod Task Force for Disability Ministry, shares how his vision of a synodical task force to promote ministry with people with disabilities began with the conviction that people with disabilities belong in worship and the life of a congregation as full participants, and every person with a disability has a right to access the sacraments, Christian learning, and spiritual guidance.

ELCA, News, LettersBrian FlatgardMay 19, 2022Disability Ministries, ELCA Disability MinistriesComment

Meet the Advisory Team of ELCA Disability Ministries

In this post, meet the wonderful group of colleagues who serve on the ELCA Disability Ministries advisory team.

ELCA, News, LettersBrian FlatgardMay 19, 2022Disability Ministries, ELCA Disability MinistriesComment

Bishop Hutterer: Thank you for your support and being Church Together

In this letter, Bishop Hutterer thanks our synod for the all the support and being Church Together after her father, Gerald C. Spiess, fell into the arms of Jesus on April 29, 2022.

Bishop Hutterer, Letters, Grand Canyon SynodBrian FlatgardMay 19, 2022Bishop Deborah K. HuttererComment

2022 Holy Trinity Lutheran assembly report

In this report, Holy Trinity Lutheran in Chandler provides an update about their shower/bathroom renovation for those in the I-HELP program.

2022 Lord of Grace Lutheran assembly report

In this report, Lord of Grace Lutheran in Tucson provides an update about their new live-streaming system, made possible partially with help from a Grand Canyon Synod Support Grant.

2022 Tanque Verde Lutheran assembly report

In this report, Tanque Verde Lutheran in Tucson shares a video about their chapel renovation, made possible partially with help from a Grand Canyon Synod ACTS Grant.

2022 Spirit of Hope Lutheran assembly report

In this report, Spirit of Hope Lutheran in Mesa shares that their upgrades to their PC and audio and video hardware is complete, with help from a Grand Canyon Synod ACTS Grant.

Bishop Eaton: We have a choice

The pandemic has resulted in years of isolation, anxiety, loss and grief. In her May column for Living Lutheran, ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton reminds us that we can “remain isolated and reactive, or we can live as the new creation in Christ and be a witness to the world of the reconciliation we have received from God.” Read her column in English at https://bit.ly/3sHQkOL and in Spanish at https://bit.ly/3PwkzCm.

Bishop Eaton, ELCA, LettersBrian FlatgardMay 17, 2022Living LutheranComment

Rev. Herbert Shao: Being Home

In recognition of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, I share the journey of my achievements and struggles as a person of Asian descent in our church, and in our nation.

ELCA, LettersBrian FlatgardMay 17, 2022Asian and Pacific Islander Association of the ELCAComment

War in Ukraine: Regional Conflict, Global Hunger

Millions of people are suffering the consequences of Russia’s war against Ukraine. As devastation sweeps the region and millions are forced to flee their homes, we are beginning to see the long-term consequences the war will have for food security in Ukraine and around the globe.

In this video, the Rev. Daniel Rift talks with Rev. Rachel Eskesen and Dr. Ryan Cummingabout conflict, hunger and the ELCA’s response in Eastern Europe.

ALAMEH, ELCJHL, and WCC respond to killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh

Peace Not Walls shares responses to the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh from Association of Lutherans of Arab and Middle Eastern Heritage, Bishop Sani Ibrahim Azar, and World Council of Churches. Read and listen to NPR coverage here.

Bishop Eaton: A pastoral message on abortion

Our unity as Christians is through Jesus Christ, the One who embodies God's grace among us. Every day we dive into our baptism, through which God promises grace and mercy and draws us out to love and serve neighbors.

Yet, there are times when, even in our unity, we do not agree. The people of this church and this country have various and perhaps contrasting responses to the Supreme Court's leaked draft opinion on abortion. Regardless of where each of us stands on the issue, the ELCA's 1991 social statement on abortion speaks to all of us.

Bishop Eaton, ELCA, LettersBrian FlatgardMay 16, 2022AbortionComment

2022 Crossroads Lutheran assembly report

In this report, Rev. Charles Newman of Crossroads Lutheran Church in San Tan Valley shares the Crossroads story in this video.

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