Registration is open for the 2020 Rostered Ministers Gathering, July 20-23 in Phoenix!
Early registration (Feb. 20-May 20) is $245. Booking travel and hotel is your responsibility. Once you register, you will be provided with links to the three gathering hotels, each with a room rate of $139/night plus tax. A limited number of scholarships are available.
Read MoreHello dear sisters and brothers in Christ,
Here in Senegal we have just come through the season of harvest celebrations, weddings, and church festivals. To connect you with my ministry and life and with YAGM Senegal, here is the February 2020 Newsletter.
Read MoreThis year at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly the body gathered – including a huge number of young adult voting members – called on the ELCA to get serious about its commitment to care for creation.
The #NoplasticsforLent initiative, led by young adults across the church, calls us to prayer for creation, to lament the ways we have been complicit in the degradation of the earth, and to action to care for our neighbor in fasting from the things that are hurting our planet.
Read MoreFrom the ELCA Advocacy office in Washington, D.C. – the Rev. Amy E. Reumann, director, comes the February Update of Advocacy Connections: Travel Ban | Girl’s Education | Disaster aid for Puerto Rico | Fair Housing Rule | Census 2020
Read MoreI am thrilled to have the opportunity to serve as one of the Gathering Hosts for the 2021 ELCA Youth Gathering in Minneapolis, MN. This will be my third Gathering and I can’t wait!
Each Gathering has been different and brought something new to my faith. I am so excited to see what God and the Gathering teams have in store for each of us in 2021 and in these next 16 months leading up to it.
Read MoreIn the last couple of months, it seems like there has been even more political news in front of us than usual. A presidential impeachment, Brexit in Europe, a cabinet shakeup in Russia – all of these events stacking on top of one another. Thanks to social media, we see much of these events as they happen. However, as technology improves, brand new problems are cropping up which we have to anticipate and deal with. Boston University professor, Danielle Citron, is tackling one of these problems: the rise of “deepfake” video clips.
Read MoreWhen it comes to responding to homelessness in our congregations, often there is a will but not a way. We would help if we only knew how to do it safely, if we could guarantee that our money was not going to support an addiction, if we had more time to understand best practices and so on. Fear causes us to freeze and walk or drive past the neighbor in need on our everyday Jericho roads.
Read MoreI am an ordained pastor and serve on staff at a Lutheran Church, but I am not an ordained ELCA pastor. My background is Presbyterian. My first Gathering experience was in New Orleans for the 2009 Gathering, Jesus Justice Jazz. I didn’t know what to expect. I’d never been to Louisiana before, I’d never attended such a large youth event before, I was afraid of what it would be like to lead a group of a couple dozen youth and adults around a city that I had never visited. Why did I agree to do this anyway?
Read MoreIn the February issue of Living Lutheran, ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton reminds us of our uniquely Lutheran understanding of the gospel and renews her call for studying Martin Luther’s Small Catechism. “Luther said he needed to study it every day—and he wrote it! Let’s do the same.” Read her column in English at https://bit.ly/2uhqshX and in Spanish athttps://bit.ly/2vXv90F.
Read MoreCurrently, the Wuhan coronavirus is one of the biggest stories in world news. At the time of this writing, the number of confirmed cases in China has surpassed 20,000, with at least 207 other cases being reported in over two dozen countries. Doubtless ,by the time you are reading this, many more people will have been sickened by this potentially deadly disease.
Read MoreThe Minnesota memorial service for Rev. Dr. Herbert W. Chilstrom, held Saturday, February 15, 1:00 pm, at Christ Chapel, Gustavus Adolphus College, will be live-streamed at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jq_RlXyiWew
Full obituary and info on services available at gcsynod.org/news/chilstrom.
Read MoreWe’re excited to share the theme for the 2021 Multicultural Youth Leadership Event (MYLE): “Made Free.” The theme is based on 2 Corinthians 3:17: “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
MYLE is a pre-event to the Gathering and the largest gathering of people of color within the ELCA. MYLE empowers young people of color and those whose primary language is not English to claim their story as a part of God’s story. For more information about MYLE, visit elca.org/MYLE.
Read MoreRetirement takes planning. Whether it feels light years away or just around the corner, Portico’s Plan for Retirement Seminar can help you prepare. And it’s coming to St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Walnut Creek, California on Thursday, July 30, 2020.
Learn more and register by June 30 at http://prs-ca.eventbrite.com/.
Read MoreOur revamped Official Gathering Handbook: Tips & Tricks for Adult Leaders is finished! It’s filled with tips and tricks (including sample budgets and covenants) that will make your Gathering experience an enjoyable one. You can download the book from the Gathering’s website or purchase a copy from Old Lutheran.
Read MoreDelegates from the Grand Canyon Synod attended the ELCA Youth Ministry Network’s Extravaganza 2020, for leaders who work with youth in our congregations. This year’s event was held in Anaheim CA, January 31 to February 3. There were over 625 participants from every synod of the ELCA represented.
Read MoreRemembering Bishop Emeritus Herb Chilstrom, we look back to a short video of a 2013 devotion delivered from his garden, where he compares the messy work of building a church to composting.
Full obituary and info on services available at gcsynod.org/news/chilstrom.
Read MoreDear Church: Last week, on the third anniversary of the original executive order, the administration extended the travel ban to the United States from seven majority Muslim countries to thirteen. The ban suspends the issuing of immigrant visas that can lead to permanent residency for those from Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar and Nigeria, as well as visas available through a diversity lottery for applicants from Sudan and Tanzania.
As Lutherans, these actions should concern us. Through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, God has set us free from ourselves to serve our neighbor.
Read MoreThe Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has announced a new initiative entitled Total Inclusion!: Widening the Welcome at ELCA Outdoor Ministries.
The new program is designed to equip and empower outdoor ministry organizations as they move toward more intentional welcome of people who historically have been marginalized in the church — especially people of color, people with disabilities and people who identify as LGBTQIA+.
Read MoreThese 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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