Posts in ELCA
ELCA Church Council votes to remove “Vision and Expectations”
ELCA Church Council votes to remove “Vision and Expectations”

The ELCA Church Council voted today to remove "Vision and Expectations" from use in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Disciplinary standards for rostered ministers are outlined in "Definitions and Guidelines for Discipline."

The council encourages people to read the document, which states: "As an expression of its life in the gospel of Jesus Christ, this church embraces disciplinary processes of counseling, admonition and correction, with the objective of forgiveness, reconciliation and healing. Simultaneously, out of deep concern for effective extension of the gospel, this church remains alert to the high calling of discipleship in Jesus Christ."

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ELCA, Leader ResourcesBrian FlatgardComment
Glimpses of Clarity, Not 2020 Vision
Glimpses of Clarity, Not 2020 Vision

At every ecumenical and inter-religious meeting or event I attend, the conversation invariably turns to the rapidly changing ecumenical and inter-religious landscape. At times it is raised as a caution: we cannot continue down the same path because it will no longer lead us to where we thought we were going.

At other times, the conversation itself feeds circular thinking: we cannot effectively engage in new ways until we have a clear view of our new context.

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ELCA, Ecumenical and Inter-Religious RelationsBrian FlatgardComment
Bishop Eaton addresses concerns about COVID-19
Bishop Eaton addresses concerns about COVID-19

In 1527 the plague returned to Wittenberg, Germany. Two hundred years earlier the plague had swept across Europe killing up to 40% of the population. Understandably, people were anxious and wondered what a safe and faithful response might be.

In answer to this, Martin Luther wrote "Whether One May Flee From a Deadly Plague." In it, he emphasized the duty to care for the neighbor, the responsibility of government to protect and provide services to its citizens, a caution about recklessness, and the importance of science, medicine and common sense.

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ELCA, Bishop Eaton, Letters, Z Covid-19Brian FlatgardComment
ELCA partners with census for neighbor and ourselves
ELCA partners with census for neighbor and ourselves

Our communities are significantly shaped by census data, and Census 2020 will update these numbers for the first time in 10 years. The ELCA is an official partner of the 2020 Census to encourage the most accurate count possible.

Posters placed in your congregation’s common areas and social ministry locations can raise awareness and encourage all to follow-up when their invitation to complete the census arrives by National Census Day on April 1, 2020. A toolkit with additional tools and bulletin inserts as well as the posters can be downloaded from the “Civic Engagement” tab at ELCA.org/resources/advocacy.

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ELCA, Z AdvocacyBrian FlatgardComment
International Women’s Day, 3/8/2020
International Women’s Day, 3/8/2020

This year, on Sunday, March 8, your congregation has the beautiful opportunity to celebrate and honor women leaders around the globe. It is the perfect time for your congregation to take an offering for IWL, as it will go twice as far. Because of the generosity of IWL supporters, your congregation’s gifts will be matched dollar for dollar until we reach $100,000.

You can download this worship resource with prayers and hymns to use in your service, as well as this new bulletin insert. Thank you so much for celebrating with us and investing in the future of women leaders!

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ELCABrian FlatgardComment
ELCA Youth Gathering: Face of Grace
ELCA Youth Gathering: Face of Grace

At the 2018 ELCA Youth Gathering, I left each Mass Gathering feeling a buzz of energy, passion, and excitement that coursed through every extremity of my body like a wave of adrenaline. This feeling came from the power of experiencing God’s love, grace, and hope in community with tens of thousands of other equally energized worshippers.

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ELCABrian FlatgardComment
Faith Lens: Winds of Change
Faith Lens: Winds of Change

Asayel Slay, a female rap artist from Saudi Arabia, currently faces arrest and punishment by Saudi officials because of her YouTube video/song “Mecca Girl.” The work, which celebrates women in Mecca, has been condemned by conservatives as disrespectful toward the values and traditions that have long prevailed in Meccan society. Asayel’s supporters regard her as a champion of women’s progress in that society, while her detractors view her as a threat to social norms. Religious convictions animate both sides of the controversy.

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ELCABrian FlatgardFaith LensComment
Faith Lens: FakeNews
Faith Lens: FakeNews

Post-truth is an adjective defined as “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” In 2016, “Post-truth” was Oxford Dictionaries’ Word of the Year. In a July 2017 article by Lausanne Global Analysis, the term “post-truth” is closely linked with another popular phrase of our time, “fake news.”

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ELCABrian FlatgardFaith LensComment
ELCA partners with 2020 census
ELCA partners with 2020 census

The ELCA is an official partner of the 2020 Census as we work toward a just world where all are fed and further our commitment to greater justice in public policy and the electoral process. An accurate count determines electoral maps and ensures that $675 billion in federal funds justly go where they are needed most.

Posters are available from ELCA.org/resources/advocacy to help ELCA congregations encourage participation, particularly among hard-to-count populations such as people residing in rural areas, young children, LGBTQIA people, people experiencing homelessness, indigenous people, people who do not speak English, and racial and ethnic minorities. National Census Day is April 1, 2020, at which time all homes should have been invited to complete the census.

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ELCA, Z AdvocacyBrian FlatgardComment
Ashes to Ashes, Earth to Earth : #NoPlasticsforLent
Ashes to Ashes, Earth to Earth : #NoPlasticsforLent

When I was growing up on a small 3 acre farm in Tacoma, Washington with my two parents and three siblings, I HATED going outside and doing yard work. It was the last thing I wanted to do.

I would rather have been inside the house watching movies on our VHS player. On top of the mandatory all-family yard work on the farm, we lived frugally getting everything second-hand, including my school outfits which did not fit my fashion standards. At all.

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ELCA, LettersBrian Flatgard2020 Lent, Youth and Young Adult, Faith LensComment
Register early for the 2020 Rostered Ministers Gathering in Phoenix
Register early for the 2020 Rostered Ministers Gathering in Phoenix

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.

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ELCA, News, Grand Canyon SynodBrian FlatgardComment
‘Tis the Season: #NoPlasticsforLent
‘Tis the Season: #NoPlasticsforLent

This 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.

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ELCA, NewsBrian Flatgard2020 Lent, Climate Change, Youth and Young AdultComment
ELCA Youth Gathering: Meet Claire
ELCA Youth Gathering: Meet Claire

I 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.

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ELCABrian FlatgardComment
Faith Lens: Listen Up
Faith Lens: Listen Up

In 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.

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ELCABrian FlatgardFaith LensComment
Fair Housing and Everyday Jericho Roads- ELCA Advocacy Action Alert
Fair Housing and Everyday Jericho Roads- ELCA Advocacy Action Alert

When 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.

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ELCA, Z AdvocacyBrian FlatgardComment