Prayers for retired Pastor Phil Petrasek, his wife Linda and their family as he suffers with failing health and a move to hospice care.
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We uplift in prayer Peace Lutheran Church in Peoria, Arizona, as they share Christ with the world and grow disciples for Jesus. We pray for Pastor Al Cassel and the admin staff of Peace: Lesley Moosman, Parish Administration; Michelle Stadler, Secretary/Receptionist; Randy Vossler, Facilities Manager; Rita Mae Schaefer, Office Manager; and Sue Behrens, Bookkeeper.
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We pray for the congregation of Desert Hills Lutheran Church in Green Valley, Arizona, and their pastors, Dr. Rev. Martin Overson and Rev. Ken Nyhusmoen, as they celebrate grace, make disciples, and make a difference.
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The Global Engagement team is currently seeking applications for young adults who would like to travel to Senegal this July and create relationships with young adults from our companion church. Application deadline is May 10, 2019. Download a flyer and an application to learn more.
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The Wartburg Choir will tour Arizona from April 25 - April 27, 2019 with stops in Yuma, Paradise Valley and Tucson. View more and purchase tickets here.
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Rick Warren writes about how to break through the 200 – 300 attendance barrier.
“It is a barrier, a real barrier. We had a harder time getting through that barrier — getting above 300 — than going from 1000 to 3000. It’s a definite, distinct barrier.”
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The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) met at the Lutheran Center in Chicago April 4-7. The council, which serves as the ELCA's board of directors, took action on a variety of matters designed to help move the church's mission and ministries forward.
Council members voted to recommend to the 2019 Churchwide Assembly adoption of the proposed social statement "Faith, Sexism, and Justice: A Lutheran Call to Action" and the related implementing resolutions. They expressed appreciation to the task force and churchwide staff for their six years of service in development of the social statement. The ELCA 2019 Churchwide Assembly will meet in Milwaukee Aug. 5-10.
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At La Roca, the shelter I visited last week, children, women and men went to the border and stood in line. Once they received a number they could stay at La Roca while they waited for their number to be called. Cruzando Fronteras (a Lutheran-Episcopal ministry) supports this shelter.
Refugees who have been processed in the U.S. and await their court date are released. In Phoenix last week about 200 were released each day. With ICE lacking the capacity for growing asylee numbers, families have been released to churches in Phoenix for temporary and transitional shelter until they are capable of traveling to their final destination. Currently, there are not enough churches to accommodate the increasing numbers of asylum-seekers, and these families are being released on the street and at bus stations, with no means to continue their journey. Many would label this a humanitarian crisis, and as God’s people we can step in make a difference.
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From the Marana News: “Michael Schultz’s family was surprised he didn’t burst into flames when he walked into church.
As a graffiti artist, Schultz estimates he painted 60 boxcars by the age of 17. Now, as an adult, his days of covert canvassing are behind him. Schultz, along with Pastor Lars Hammar, organizes Open Space Church, a location promoting a crossroads of art and faith for the Tucson community.” Read the full article »
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Lutheran Social Services of Nevada invites YOU to our annual Wine Tasting and Silent Auction Fundraiser on May 8th, 2019! Join us for an evening of wonderful appetizers and wine tastings, exciting silent and live auctions, and, most importantly, fun as we join together to support the empowerment-centered, hunger-fighting mission of LSSN.
Tickets are $75 per person and are available for purchase on our website at www.lssnv.org/shop. Sponsorships may also be purchased on www.lssnv.org/shop, or you may contact Tristan Hightower at tristan@lssnv.org for more information.
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Portico Benefit Services recently received a 2018 Church Benefits Association (CBA) Innovation Award for adding initiatives that have delivered impressive member health improvements, higher member satisfaction scores, and notable health plan savings.
The CBA includes about 50 member organizations, like Portico, that manage retirement and health benefits for a total of 250,000 churchworkers of various denominations. Twenty-one CBA members vied for one of four inaugural Innovation Awards. Read the story.
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We pray for the family of Pastor Lowell Nelson, American Lutheran, Sun City as he grieves the death of his father, Pastor Benard Nelson (on the Nebraska Synod Retired Roster). Pastor Nelson April 11 in Carmel, IN. The funeral will be in Fremont, NE on Friday, April 26.
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Wartburg Theological Seminary invites YOU to join with us for 10 days of learning, recreation, and renewal for ministry at our annual Luther Academy of the Rockies. We are celebrating our 50th Anniversary, June 18 - June 28, 2019. For more information, visit our website at: https://www.wartburgseminary.edu/lar/
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This last Monday, I and a few others—Pastor Christine Stoxen, Pastor Miguel Gomez-Acosta, Pastor Mateo Chavez—visited the border at Nogales. The GCS and Episcopal Church share a ministry, Cruzando Fronteras. Deacon Rodger Babnew is the director. This ministry provides welcome and assistance to those seeking asylum. Here’s some of what I saw, heard, learned and experienced.
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Dear Church: This past weekend the ELCA Church Council met in Chicago. They decided not to consider for adoption a document entitled, “Trustworthy Servants of the People of God,” which had been recommended to them by the Conference of Bishops. Instead, they chose to refer this document back to the Domestic Mission Unit of the Churchwide office for further work and redrafting in alignment with the social teachings of the ELCA. In addition, the Church Council asked that a process be used by Domestic Mission which intentionally includes more diverse voices, especially those who perceive they were most harmed by the misuse of the current document, Vision and Expectations in the past.
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The Lutheran Campus Ministry Board at the University of Arizona is pleased and happy to announce that the Grand Canyon Synod has called the Rev. Rebecca Boardman as the new Campus Pastor at the U of A. Rebecca will be relocating to Tucson in early June and plans to join us at the synod assembly. Please keep Pastor Rebecca and the LCM at U of A in your prayers as we continue the transition into this new era of ministry.
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We pray for Susan Fohs and family as they grieve the death of Rev. Walter Fohs who passed away on March 2, 2019. Pastor and Mrs. Fohs transferred to the Grand Canyon Synod in 2014 after retirement from service at Lamb of God Lutheran Church in the Florida-Bahamas Synod in 2012.
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We pray for Pastor Tim Wright, Community of Grace Lutheran Church, Peoria, as he recovers from a bike accident and begins a journey of rehabilitation.
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