Good News Roundup: Generosity, Grace and Hope Across the ELCA

In a season that can feel heavy, Living Lutheran gathers a set of recent stories where hope and generosity are powerfully visible in ELCA ministries. From campus communities cultivating belonging, to congregations giving sacrificially to feed neighbors, to student-led pantries, prison ministry, and “God’s work. Our hands.” service projects, each story reveals ordinary Lutherans sharing Christ’s love in concrete ways.

This “good news roundup” is designed as a reminder that the Holy Spirit is at work in and through our church—on campuses, in rural communities, in correctional centers, and beyond. It’s a quick way to be encouraged and to spark ideas for ministry in your own context. Read the full good news roundup on Living Lutheran ›

Click the quotation to read the article in full.

• “Cultivating love through community on campus, we collect stories of people’s needs, listen for the movement of the Spirit and take that next faithful step, creating something to help people feel that they are noticed, named and known — in short, that they belong.”

• “Today, St. Mark gives roughly $15,000 annually to fight hunger — above and beyond its normal mission outreach. … The Spirit is at work when congregations, farmers and workers together bring their resources to the table to accomplish what cannot be done alone.”

• “‘At Luther, our Little Free Pantry [LFP] is a program of our College Ministries office, but it is entirely run by student leaders,’ said Melissa Bills, college pastor and director of college ministries at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. ‘While the LFP began as a simple “give what you can, take what you need” project, it has grown in its scope and vision.’”

• “David Rebey knows all too well the challenges people face after being released from incarceration. As pastor of Breaking the Chains Church — a new-start congregation inside Felmers O. Chaney Correctional Center in Wisconsin — Rebey has seen his congregants struggle with meeting even the most basic needs once they reenter life after prison.”

• “‘God’s work. Our hands.’ Sunday, held on Sept. 7, continues to be a powerful way for volunteers of all ages and congregations of all sizes to respond to God’s call to serve.”