Prompts for Prayers of Intercession: May 29, 2022
Prompts for Prayers of Intercession: May 29, 2022

  • For 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…

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ELCA, PrayersBrian FlatgardELCA Worship, For What Shall We PrayComment
ELCA Worship: Responding to recent acts of violence
ELCA Worship: Responding to recent acts of violence

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)

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ELCA, Worship Resources, ResourcesBrian FlatgardELCA Worship, Gun ViolenceComment
Faith Lens: Unity not Uniformity
Faith Lens: Unity not Uniformity

Jesus 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.

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Worship Resources, ELCA, ResourcesBrian FlatgardFaith Lens, Youth and Young Adult, 2022 Holy WeekComment
May & June 2022 Update: Advocacy Connections
May & June 2022 Update: Advocacy Connections

Read 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.

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ELCA, NewsBrian FlatgardAdvocacy, ELCA Advocacy, Gun ViolenceComment
25 years of Fund for Leaders
25 years of Fund for Leaders

For 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

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ELCA, NewsBrian FlatgardELCA Fund for LeadersComment
ELCA statement on the Buffalo mass murders
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.

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ELCA, News, LettersBrian FlatgardRacial Justice, Gun ViolenceComment
ELCA Bishops Write to Congress about Augusta Victoria Hospital Funding
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).

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Bishop Eaton, Bishop Hutterer, ELCA, LettersBrian FlatgardSumudComment
Join Bishop Eaton in speaking out about Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing
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).

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Bishop Eaton, ELCA, LettersBrian FlatgardSumudComment
Review the proposed 2023-2024 Mission Spending Plan
Review the proposed 2023-2024 Mission Spending Plan

As part of our assembly, we’ll be approving our proposed 2023-2024 Mission Spending Plan. Visit this page to explore the plan in depth as we provide different ways of seeing this data.

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Grand Canyon Synod, NewsBrian Flatgard2022 Synod AssemblyComment
ELCA Churchwide Assembly
ELCA Churchwide Assembly

The 2022 ELCA Churchwide Assembly will take place Aug. 8-12 in Columbus, Ohio. Under the theme “Embody the Word,” the assembly will meet around word and water, wine and bread, to carry on its work on behalf of the entire church.

A key action during the assembly will be electing a vice president. Live video of worship and plenary sessions will be accessible at Churchwide Assembly — Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (elca.org).

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ELCA, Resources, NewsBrian FlatgardAdministration Matters, 2022 Churchwide AssemblyComment
In Memoriam: Heidi Gerrish
In Memoriam: Heidi Gerrish

5/27/2022 update: more info from Heidi’s father, Paul, and links a GoFundMe page and to CaringBridge health updates for Justin and Katherine.

We lift up in prayer the friends and family of Heidi Gerrish. Heidi died at the scene of an automobile accident Saturday morning, May 21, 2022, while traveling to her sister Julie’s graduation from Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary. Also in the car were her partner Justin, and her brother and sister-in-law, Stephen and Katherine.

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Grand Canyon Synod, In Memoriam, NewsBrian FlatgardLutheran Social Services of the Southwest, LCM U of A, Gerrish family Comments
Special assembly guest: Rev. Roberto Trejo Haager of Mexican Lutheran Church (ILM)
Special assembly guest: Rev. Roberto Trejo Haager of Mexican Lutheran Church (ILM)

After numerous Covid-thwarted attempts to arrange a visit, we are blessed that our 2022 Synod Assembly features a visit from Rev. Roberto Trejo Haager, Pastor President of the Mexican Lutheran Church (Iglesia Luterana Mexicana, ILM).

We look forward to worshipping with Pastor Trejo Haager and hearing updates on our companions in Mexico.

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News, Grand Canyon Synod, Global ChurchBrian FlatgardRoberto Trejo Haager, 2022 Synod Assembly, Mexican Lutheran ChurchComment
Ordination celebrations: 5/20-5/26/2022
Ordination celebrations: 5/20-5/26/2022

This week we celebrate the following ordination anniversaries:

  • Rev. Richard Glover, who celebrates 63 years on May 20.

  • Rev. Phillip Hausknecht, who celebrates 59 years on May 20.

  • Rev. Mel Soderberg, who celebrates 55 years on May 21.

  • Rev. Patricia Reed, who celebrates 21 years on May 21.

  • Deacon Laura Book, who celebrates 12 years on May 21.

  • Rev. Daniel Olson, who celebrates 59 years on May 22.

  • Rev. Raymond Stiffler, who celebrates 62 years on May 22.

  • Rev. Carl Zimmermann, who celebrates 45 years on May 22.

  • Rev. Wallace Klandrud, who celebrates 67 years on May 23.

  • Rev. Keith Lingwall, Abounding Grace, Tucson, who celebrates 55 years on May 23.

  • Rev. Richard Jessen, who celebrates 59 years on May 24.

  • Rev. Ronald Koplitz, who celebrates 53 years on May 25.

  • Rev. David Swanson, ,who celebrates 58 years on May 26.

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News, Grand Canyon SynodBrian FlatgardOrdination AnniversariesComment