A November 2019 article represents a collaboration between The Atlantic and Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting. It tells a handful of different stories of Amazon Warehouse employees being injured, and in one case even killed, on the job. It blames Amazon’s “obsession with speed” for having “turned its warehouses into injury mills.”
Read MoreIn October of 2019, the Multicultural Youth Leadership Event leadership team, including youth, young adults and adults, gathered at Luther Seminary to discern a theme for MYLE 2021. Before we began our conversations as a group, we took the time to learn about and understand the history of the land. This was led by an effort from Healing Minnesota Stories, to bring healing between people of faith and the Native American people who call Minnesota home.
Read MoreFollowing are updates shared from submissions of the Lutheran Office for World Community and state public policy offices. This January 2020 edition particularly emphasizes priorities in the new year.
U.N. | California | Colorado | Delaware | Kansas | Minnesota | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Washington | Wisconsin
Read MoreMembers with ELCA-Primary health benefits can earn up to $200 wellness dollars to help pay for eligible out-of-pocket expenses. Earn $100 wellness dollars each when you complete a physical health assessment or biometric screening, and when you have a conversation with a Portico Financial Planner. If your spouse is covered by ELCA-Primary benefits they can earn $200 as well. Sign in to myPortico to learn more.
Read MoreDear Church,
With sadness I bring you the news that Presiding Bishop Emeritus Herbert W. Chilstrom died at home early this morning. His wife, Pastor Corinne Chilstrom; his son, Chris Holt; and family were with him.
Read MoreHerbert 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.
Read MoreIf 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.
Read MoreThe 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.
Read MoreThe 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.”
Read MoreThe 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.
Read MoreLast 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.
Read MoreForm 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.
Read MoreELCA 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.
Read MoreIn 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.
Read MoreReformation 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.
Read MoreDo 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.
Read MoreDecember 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.
Read MoreJanuary 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.
Read MoreTragically, 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.
Read MoreI 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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