In their August newsletter, Lutheran Social Services of Nevada (LSSN) updates us on the latest state of their COVID-19 Emergency DigiMart Distributions. Since March 16th, 2020 they have gone from serving 350 families a month to 500 families every single week.
Read MoreIn Detroit, Mich., co-pastors at Love Rising Lutheran Church noticed a problem when families were asked to shelter in place. Many people did not have reliable access to internet.
Thanks to Love Rising and your gifts to the COVID-19 Response Fund, internet access is one less thing that families in their neighborhood will have to worry about this year. To learn more and donate, visit ELCA.org/covidresponse.
Read MoreArizona Central shares the story how Trunk Space worked with the arts scene as well as the community of Grace Lutheran and Native American Urban Ministry to help find housing for two boys experiencing homelessness after the death of their mother.
Read MoreWe continue out 50·40·10 celebration with a video from Pastor Connie Mentzer, Advent Lutheran, York, Pennsylvania. She shares her story of Bishop Eaton’s influence on her ministry.
Read MoreIn this video from Lynden, Wash., we see Hope Lutheran Church’s Backpack Buddies ministry increase its work to ensure children and families had enough to eat during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. An ELCA World Hunger Daily Bread Matching Grant supported this work.
Read MoreWe continue out 50·40·10 celebration with a message from Pastor Sarah Anderson-Rajarigam, Grace Lutheran, Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. She shares who helped her get where she is today.
Read MoreWe continue out 50·40·10 celebration with a message from Pastor Elizabeth Ekdale, St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, San Francisco. Her message: Take more risks, be a prophet.
Read MoreIn honor to the Emanuel Nine Martyrs and in light of all that is happening in our country around the issues of racial justice, Our Saviour’s, Phoenix, hosted a Day of Repentence, Reflection and Prayer, with a Service of Confession, Lament and Prayer (watch here), a discussion of the film Just Mercy (available free all of June), and a candlelight vigil in remembrance of George Floyd and other victims of racism.
Read MoreLutheran Disaster Response is supporting ELCA sent it around the United States in response to the pandemic with attention to vulnerable communities, e.g. homeless, senior, health unemployed populations. LDR is helping synods to support , hot meal delivery, and meal distribution. These ministries prioritize ethnic communities, underrepresented groups, and those whose livelihoods by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read MoreIn a segment entitled, “As a heat wave rolls through Phoenix, a church offers resources,” Fox 10 interviews Pastor Sarah Stadler on Grace Lutheran, Phoenix, adapting their heat respite program in time of coronavirus.
Read MorePastor Carol Breimeier with Esperanza Lutheran Church, Ahwatukee, shares a a video about of an assistance effort put together by Dr. Jayne Peterson and her husband, Dr. Todd Peterson, carrying supplies to the Navajo Nation. Jayne and Todd are members of Esperanza in Ahwatukee.
Posted by Arati Pandya, the video provides touching story of a Navajo patient cared for at Banner University Medical Center - Phoenix, an inspiring collaboration amongst U of A College of Medicine medical students, and the Arizona community to support the Navajo Nation during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Read MoreRich Johnson—Master Gardener and member of Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Mesa—got the front cover treatment in the May edition of Living Lutheran. The best quote from his “I’m a Lutheran” article?
Read More“I tell people that if they don’t believe in God’s power, you try making a tomato plant!”
LEAN board member Sheila Freed shares the good news of how a gift through Sierra Pacific Synod made its way throughout Region 2, helping Lutheran Engagement and Advocacy in Nevada (which straddles both Sierra Pacific and Grand Canyon Synods), Lutheran Social Services of Nevada, the Food Bank of Northern Nevada, and Nye Communities Coalition.
Read MoreAuthors Patricia Rusch Duffey, Elizabeth Baldizan, and Pastor Paul Block worked with New Song Lutheran, Henderson, to publish their book, Knock, Knock (Who's there?) I AM.: 40 Real-Life Stories From People Who Experienced God In Their Lives, available on Amazon.
Read MoreHouse of Prayer has become the 'warehouse' location for preparing food boxes for distribution to at-risk Rock Point residents. The Mission staff has made a list of more than 50 elderly and otherwise fragile community members. These boxes are delivered to the door, along with a check-in to ensure all is well in the household. Read more in the NELM newsletter »
Read MoreOur sister synod in Region 2, the Rocky Mountain Synod, recently gathered online for their synod assembly. What was initially to be an assembly spread over five cities became an assembly in 300 homes. Rev. Jason Chesnut provided this well-produced keynote, which we hope you’ll enjoy.
Read MoreUnder the headline “Sun City West church preserves a vital lifeline during a pandemic, one worshipper at a time,” Lord of Life Lutheran, Sun City West, was featured prominently on a front page article of the Arizona Republic (subscription may be required), a well-produced video story on YouTube, and an AZ Central photo gallery.
Read MorePastor David Brandfass, Christ Lutheran, Sedona, shares how during a pandemic, your community connections can come in handy.
Hearing Hózhó Café at the Navajo Evangelical Lutheran Mission needed a new refrigerator, a grapevine of help sprouted to get the job done, involving the Arizona Community Foundation of Sedona, the Sedona Chamber of Commerce, and a Sedona resident with a truck. “God’s Work,” quips Brandfass, “and sometimes ‘our hands’ might be beyond our congregation’s four walls.”
Read MoreJanis Richert with the GCS Stewardship Team writes that Lutheran Church of the Foothills in Tucson has: “carried on as servants in ministry during the pandemic,” with weekly recorded gospel readings, pastor sermons, emailed bulletins and retired pastors sharing messages as well. Help serving the homeless at Primavera Men’s Shelter has continued, and since they began utilizing Vanco several years ago, “online giving in this time of worshiping at home is quite easy and greatly appreciated!”
Read MoreCathy Cermak, with New Spirit Lutheran in Tucson, shares this story of ELCA World Hunger Daily Bread Grants being added to New Spirit’s work to feed 24 students for a year through Blessings in a Backpack.
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