Herbert W. Chilstrom, 88, the first presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), died Jan. 19 at his home in Green Valley, Ariz. He was born in Litchfield, Minn., on Oct. 18, 1931.
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If you have ELCA-Primary health benefits, a suite of new online offerings provides convenient access to care at your fingertips, whether on the go, in your office, or and in the privacy of your own home. Find support to strengthen your emotional resilience, learn new skills, and save on costs.
Being is a holistic, faith-based, educational platform. Learn to Live is a self-directed online mental health support program. Text-Based Primary Care is available through a convenient app.
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The current crisis between the United States and Iran is worrisome for many of us in our church, in our nation and in the world. Our country and Iran need urgently to find ways to resolve our differences through a de-escalation of the current crisis, using diplomacy and other peaceful means. Our social statement, "For Peace in God's World," offers guidance.
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The Lucas family lost their son and gained a cause. When 18 year old Jonah died, his grieving family decided to start a program inspired by his caring relationships with people experiencing homelessness. They now collect coats and other clothing items for distribution to those in need KUTV in Salt Lake City, Utah featured this story under the heading “Pay It Forward.”
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The ELCA Youth Gathering offers a great way for congregations to be a part of the larger church. The Gathering can be quite a financial and faith commitment on the part of the congregation as well as the family, but I strongly believe this event belongs on the timeline of each person’s faith journey. With a solid plan in place, collecting the funding for this experience can be both faith-filled and joyful.
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Last week, in a flurry of misleading headlines, many of us read that the United Methodist Church had split. This is not, in fact, what happened.
Many of you may be pondering the good Lutheran question: What does this mean? For the UMC? For our full communion partnership? It is simply too soon to have clarity on those questions. I assure you that there are leaders, both ELCA and UMC, who are carefully and faithfully tending to these questions.
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Form A & C Parochial Reports, which are due February 15, 2020, are available on the ELCA.org Office of the Secretary resource page. These reports as well as many types of other resources can be found the page.
If your congregation did not receive your password from ELCA Churchwide, or if you have any questions, please contact Theresa Thornburgh in the synod office.
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ELCA Advocacy is very excited to offer “Ready and Real: ELCA Young Leaders in Advocacy” – a pre-event to plus participation in 2020 Ecumenical Advocacy Days.
Turn-around time is quick. We need applications by January 15, 2020 for the April 2020 event which is a great opportunity for skill building, experience and networking.
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In the January 2020 issue of Living Lutheran, ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton reflects on white privilege (reprint of her June 2108 column): “We aren’t free until all of us are free.” Read her column in English at https://bit.ly/36BvljB and in Spanish at https://bit.ly/39UNISW.
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Reformation Lutheran Church in Milwaukee serves its neighbors through youth work programs, a community garden, a store for low-cost children’s and household items, Strong Babies fairs and other ministries. The Strong Babies program is supported in part by your gifts to ELCA World Hunger.
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Do our names determine our destiny? Researcher Steve Levitt has dedicated decades to this question. Different cultures have different naming patterns and trends. Our names sometimes suggest something about us. Every student has had this experience when a teacher calls the roll in a classroom for the first time and and looks up with an expectation.
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December 21 is the winter solstice, the date when the northern hemisphere receives its longest night. The winter solstice has been marked in various ways by countless cultures throughout the ages, yet a more recent observance is Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day.
It is a day for local communities to come together to remember those in their midst who died during the previous year while experiencing homelessness.
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January 12, 2020 marks the ten-year anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti that killed more than 300,000 people. The impact of this disaster reveals layers of trauma. In addition to the earthquake itself, a long history of colonialism, ongoing systemic oppression, poverty, racism, and climate change have all contributed to the death toll and devastation.
This significant anniversary gives us an opportunity to reflect upon our role and our responsibility in cultivating sustainable global partnerships. It also urges us to continue to take seriously the effects of climate change and our faithful response to the urgent need to care for the earth.
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Tragically, several acts of anti-Semitic hatred, bigotry and violence in New York during these days have marred the joyful festivities in Jewish communities across this country and around the world. Within the last year, we have witnessed the broader surge of anti-Semitism from Pittsburgh to Poway in which these most recent incidents have occurred. Our Jewish neighbors are living in pain, grief and fear.
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I founded Seedlings Braille Books for Children 35 years ago because I heard that braille books for children were scarce and expensive (more than $100 for a Hardy Boys book, for example). This tugged at my heart and started me on the path to making free and low-cost braille books for children. We now produce about 35,000 books per year. The best part is that, thanks to generous grants and donations, we’ve been able to keep the cost to an average of just $10 per book.
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I have always loved Mary, the mother of our Lord, and each year she becomes more important to me. But my love for Mary does not come from admiration of her supposed meekness, about which we have often heard. She is wild and powerful, whole and free, confident and intense. She is woman, in its most beautiful and holy sense.
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Members of the Happy Joes, a carpentry ministry of Mount Morris Holden Lutheran Church in Wautoma, Wis., handcraft toys for a community Christmas project that distributes them as presents to children in the area. This year they made 500 toys.
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Now through December 31, 2019, your tax-deductible donation is worth TWICE as much to end suffering among God’s most vulnerable children. Give to ELCA World Hunger, give to Lutheran World Relief, or both!
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Our Bible reading centers on the story of a family having to flee their homes to find safety in another land. This is still a familiar story for many families today. Those of us living in the United States are aware of the crisis at our southern border as migrants travel here seeking safety, but all around the world people are forced to leave their homes hoping to find safety in a foreign land.
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These petitions are offered as guides to prayer for the global, social and outreach ministries of the ELCA, as well as for the needs and circumstances of our neighbors, communities and world. Thank you for your continued prayers for the life and mission of this church. Download a Word doc, or PDF for letter size printout or legal size printout, or view the ELCA resource page.
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