Posts in ELCA
For What Shall We Pray?
For What Shall We Pray?

  • For an end to war, violence, and genocide across the world, especially in Ukraine, Gaza, Iran, Israel, Haiti, Sudan, Myanmar, Yemen, India, and Pakistan…

  • For the victims of the most recent attack on a waterfront cafe in Gaza City, and for a lasting peace in Palestine and Israel…

  • For all victims of gun violence, especially in Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho and Chicago, Illinois…

  • For the victims of a fire at a pharmaceutical factory in Southern India…

  • For those grieving the loss of life after the crash of Air India flight AI171…

  • For the safety of those traveling, gathering with family and friends, and celebrating this holiday weekend…

  • For veterans of war and all who suffer from PTSD…

  • For those with limited or threatened access to healthcare…

  • For an end to racism, poverty, and hatred…

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ELCA, Prayers, SpotlightBrian FlatgardELCA Worship, For What Shall We PrayComment
Apply Now: 2026 ELCA Domestic Hunger Grant Applications Open Through July 7
Apply Now: 2026 ELCA Domestic Hunger Grant Applications Open Through July 7

Letters of inquiry are now open through July 7 for ELCA World Hunger’s 2026 Domestic Hunger Grants. These grants support ministries and organizations in the U.S. and Puerto Rico working toward a just world where all are fed. Learn more about eligibility, grant priorities, and how to apply.

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ELCA, Leadership Resources, NewsBrian FlatgardHunger, dp, ELCA World Hunger Domestic Hunger Grants, GrantsComment
Free ELCA Coaching Events in July: Healing, Equity, and Right Relations
Free ELCA Coaching Events in July: Healing, Equity, and Right Relations

Explore a full month of free leadership support from ELCA Coaching this July. Offerings include Wednesday gatherings focused on healing, diversity, and faith, as well as in-depth training modules on right relations and decolonizing worship (registration required for select sessions). These events are free to all, thanks to ELCA sponsorship. An additional “Coaching for Everyday Life” training begins August 4. Click here for full details and registration: elcacoaching.org/events

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ELCA, Leadership Resources, NewsBrian FlatgardCoaching, ELCA CoachingComment
Celebrate Five Years of All Creation Sings—Share Your Story
Celebrate Five Years of All Creation Sings—Share Your Story

Each month, ELCA Worship highlights new and essential resources from Augsburg Fortress Publishers to support worship leaders, musicians, and planners. This month’s update includes tools like In Sure and Certain Hope: A Funeral Sourcebook, a Year A Lectionary using the NRSVue translation, choir devotions, and a call for stories celebrating All Creation Sings five years after its release. You’ll also find information on upcoming Summer Music Clinics and a renewed focus on ELCA social teaching on faith, sexism, and justice. Click here to read the full July update and explore all resources.

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ELCA, Leadership Resources, NewsBrian FlatgardWorship Resources, ELCA WorshipComment
June 2025 Mission Support Memo: Not Good to Be Alone
June 2025 Mission Support Memo: Not Good to Be Alone

Our June 2025 Mission Support Memo connects us to Peoples Church, one of our Indigenous Ministries of the ELCA. A church that lives out its call to love and serve Creator God by opening its doors year-round as an overnight shelter, providing hot meals for the community every day and joyfully celebrating in a festival worship meal every Sunday. Peoples Church believes everyone deserves shelter, a meal, community and dignity. It is a place where folks need not pretend to be anything other than exactly who they are — with imperfections and quirks, with longings and failures, with all their hopes and their visions of the future.

The memo also provides tips to stay connected with members in the busy summer months and thanks our synods for their partnership during assemblies and in ministry. View the memo in pdf as well.

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ELCA, NewsBrian FlatgardMission Support, ELCA Mission Support Team, StewardshipComment
Innovation Needs a Foundation: Why Infrastructure Must Come First
Innovation Needs a Foundation: Why Infrastructure Must Come First

Innovation is a powerful tool in ministry—but for many congregations, it’s a privilege they can’t afford. In this compelling piece from Rahel Mwitula Williams of the ELCA Innovation Lab, we are challenged to consider how crumbling infrastructure, financial instability, and lack of basic resources prevent many churches—especially in marginalized communities—from engaging in bold new ministry. True innovation, she argues, must be grounded in justice and stability. Click here to read the full article on the ELCA Innovation Lab blog.

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ELCA, NewsBrian FlatgardInnovation, ELCA Innovation LabComment
How Ohio Advocates Treat Budgets as Moral Documents
How Ohio Advocates Treat Budgets as Moral Documents

State budgets shape the everyday lives of our communities—from schools and libraries to food security and elder care. In a powerful reflection, Deacon Nick Bates of the Hunger Network in Ohio highlights how Lutherans and faith leaders across Ohio engaged the budget process as a matter of moral responsibility. Through advocacy meetings, prayer chains made from paper plates, and public witness, they worked to ensure that faith values shaped public policy. Click here to read more about this inspiring and strategic advocacy work.

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ELCA, NewsBrian FlatgardAdvocacy, ELCA AdvocacyComment
Seeds of Hope: How Ibu Dewi’s Organic Farm Changed a Village
Seeds of Hope: How Ibu Dewi’s Organic Farm Changed a Village

What began as a small farm has blossomed into a powerful story of transformation. In a quiet village in Indonesia, Ibu Dewi joined an organic farming program supported by the Lutheran World Federation and grew not only her crops—but also her confidence and community. Now a teacher and leader, she’s helping others thrive with the same sustainable techniques that changed her life. Click here to read the full story from ELCA World Hunger.

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ELCA, NewsBrian FlatgardHunger, ELCA World HungerComment
Immigration, Faith, and the Gospel’s Invitation to Welcome
Immigration, Faith, and the Gospel’s Invitation to Welcome

In light of recent immigration executive orders, Deacon Erin Brown reflects on John 1:14—“The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood”—and what it means to welcome the stranger as a neighbor. Drawing on her border immersion trip with ELCA young adults, she calls the church to live out God’s incarnational love with humility, compassion, and action. Read more about how AMMPARO invites us to accompany our immigrant siblings with dignity and hope. Click here for more at ELCA.org.

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ELCA, NewsBrian FlatgardImmigration and Refugees, AMMPAROComment
Register Now: ELEA Leadership Gathering Unites Lutheran Educators Nationwide
Register Now: ELEA Leadership Gathering Unites Lutheran Educators Nationwide

Lutheran school leaders are invited to the ELEA Leadership Conference 2025, “Inspiring Leaders, Strengthening Faith,” held November 5–7 in Cleveland, Ohio. This national gathering offers three days of professional development, spiritual renewal, and community for educators shaping the future of Lutheran schools. Register now and join the movement to nurture the next generation of faithful leaders.

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ELCA, News, Grand Canyon SynodBrian FlatgardEvangelical Lutheran Education AssociationComment
Call for Dancers: Share Your Gifts at Churchwide Assembly Worship
Call for Dancers: Share Your Gifts at Churchwide Assembly Worship

Do you know a young dancer? The ELCA is seeking Phoenix-area students and young adults to participate in the Opening Worship of Churchwide Assembly on Monday, July 28 at the Phoenix Convention Center. Dancers will rehearse and perform from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.—a rare opportunity to offer movement as worship. Contact Deacon Sarah Bjornebo at sbjornebo@yahoo.com or 303-257-3356 to share names or learn more.

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ELCA, Grand Canyon Synod, NewsBrian Flatgard2025 Churchwide AssemblyComment
Pray Without Ceasing: A Movement Rooted in Hope and Resilience
Pray Without Ceasing: A Movement Rooted in Hope and Resilience

Join the Pray Without Ceasing movement—a Spirit-led call to prayer spreading across the ELCA. Weekly Zoom gatherings on Thursdays at 1:00 p.m. Central connect prayer leaders and participants from around the country. Pray for peace, for renewal, and for your neighbors. Learn more and receive the Zoom link to join in: pray-without-ceasing.org

If you have created a group, or would like more information, please contact the Director for Evangelical Mission, Pr. David Pavesic at david.pavesic@elca.org.

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ELCA, Grand Canyon Synod, Leadership Resources, News, PrayersBrian FlatgardComment
Bishop Eaton: Juneteenth and the Tuskegee Airmen
Bishop Eaton: Juneteenth and the Tuskegee Airmen

On Juneteenth Day, we celebrate the end of slavery and the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. But that freedom granted to all enslaved people in 1865 was short-lived. In her video, Bishop Eaton recalls the stark differences experienced by White American soldiers, like her father, and African American soldiers after World War II.

“Like my father, after the war, the Tuskegee Airmen came home to start families and build a life. However, despite their sacrifices, despite wearing the same uniform and flying the same missions, they were denied the benefits of the GI Bill because they were African American. This is white supremacy.” Watch the video on YouTube here, download at bit.ly/4eapi9h.

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Bishop Eaton, ELCA, Grand Canyon Synod, NewsBrian FlatgardJuneteenth, Racial Justice, Bishop Eaton LettersComment
For What Shall We Pray?
For What Shall We Pray?

  • For an end to war, violence, and genocide across the world, especially in Ukraine, Gaza, Iran, Israel, Haiti, Sudan, Myanmar, Yemen, India, and Pakistan…

  • For de-escalation of violence between Israel and Iran…

  • For those affected by volcanic eruptions in Indonesia…

  • For the close of the G7 summit and the forthcoming NATO summit…

  • For all in the path of Hurricane Erick in the eastern Pacific…

  • For those facing threats of extreme heat…

  • For all victims of gun violence, especially those who mourn following recent attacks on lawmakers and their families in Minnesota…

  • For immigrants, advocates, and legal professionals…

  • For safety, justice, and peace amidst protests and demonstrations…

  • For the health and well-being of LGBTQIA+ youth…

  • For the safety of families and individuals who travel this summer…

  • For Young Adults in Global Mission making preparations this summer for their upcoming year of service…

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ELCA, Prayers, SpotlightBrian FlatgardELCA Worship, For What Shall We PrayComment
A Ministry in Full Color: Technicolor Creates Space for LGBTQIA+ Belonging
A Ministry in Full Color: Technicolor Creates Space for LGBTQIA+ Belonging

Technicolor Ministries is transforming the Southwestern Texas Synod by creating faithful, affirming spaces where LGBTQIA+ people are fully welcomed as God created them. Launched by Keats Miles-Wallace with the support of Bishop Sue Briner, this grassroots effort offers campouts, congregation visits, and community for those too often marginalized in church.

The ministry models the radical inclusivity of Christ, affirming that no one should have to choose between their identity and their faith. Click here to read the full story from Living Lutheran.

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ELCA, NewsBrian FlatgardLiving Lutheran, LGBTQIA+Comment