The latest version of the The Official Gathering Handbook: Tips & Tricks for Adult Leaders, a resource filled with helpful resources and guidance for having an amazing Gathering experience.
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Read the latest update from the 2022 ELCA Youth Gathering where you’ll find volunteer applications, info on a 6/17/2021 webinar, PASSAGE (a small-group ministry and resource development program for recently graduated high school seniors), and info on the 7/25 kickoff celebration.
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A collection of resources is available at elca.org/emanuelnine to help synods and congregations mark the martyrdom of the Emanuel Nine — the nine people shot and killed on June 17, 2015, during a Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C.
These resources can be adapted for virtual worship, online conversation or individual reflection and devotion. Synods and congregations are encouraged to mark this commemoration locally.
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Bishop Eaton offered the sermon for Lutherans Restoring Creation’s Good Shepherd Sunday service in celebration of Earth Day 2021. She also accepted our request to take some follow-up questions collected by the network.
Here are portions of their time with her that we encourage you to share with your congregation as these are questions we are all meant to wrestle with.
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The filing system for Form A & C Parochial Reports on the ELCA.org Office of the Secretary resource page shuts down for the year on June 11, 2021. Forms should be submitted electronically before that date in order to be included in the 2020 ELCA statistics.
Thank you for your work with these reports. We know 2020 will be an interesting year. 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 shares its two monthly updates: the UN and State Edition and Advocacy Connections from the ELCA advocacy office in Washington, D.C.
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In this new kind of post for the ELCA World Hunger blog, John Johnson, director of domestic policy for the ELCA, joins Ryan Cumming, program director for hunger education with ELCA World Hunger, for a conversation about hunger and policy, including important public policies that could impact people experiencing hunger and poverty in the United States.
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LOM has a new resource to make it easier for interested persons to find a summer camp. The Camp MatchUp app allows users to receive quick and easy access to information about camps.
Visit https://www.lomnetwork.org/summerjobs/ for more information.
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Lutheran Outdoor Ministries is making available a video for a worship experience for use on June 6, the Second Sunday after Pentecost. Find it at www.lomnetwork.org, no later than May 28, 2021.
The video and bulletin are for use in their entirety or pick and choose segments for your own setting.
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You are cordially invited to celebrate the 2021 graduating class of International Women Leaders scholars.
Premieres on the ELCA Facebook Page, Wednesday, June 16, at 8 am MST/PDT. This event will be rebroadcast on the ELCA YouTube channel at 6 pm MST/PDT. RSVP NOW.
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This week we observe Ascension Day – a time to consider Jesus’ transition from earth to heaven. We are living during a time of transition - in the life of our church, in our personal lives and in a rapidly changing world. But as Bishop Eaton emphasizes, what is steady and certain is God’s presence with us always.
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In this video, Bishop Eaton asks for people to write President Biden and members of Congress urging they send a message to Israel to halt the illegal removal of East Jerusalem families from their homes and respect the Status Quo agreement and holy sites in Jerusalem. To show your support, go to: http://bit.ly/ELCASupportPeace
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The Arkansas-Oklahoma Synod invites all ELCA members to join the May 26-29, 2021 John Hope Franklin Annual Symposium: The Future of Tulsa’s Past: The Centennial of the Tulsa Race Massacre and Beyond.
A post-symposium event on May 29 is sponsored by the Synod, the African Descent Lutheran Association and the ELCA Racial Justice Ministries. Bishop Eaton and Vice President Bill Horne will be participating in the May 29th event.
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Your congregation is invited to apply for an Open Doors grant to support your ministries as we resume in-person worship and gatherings.
May 14, 2021: Deadline to register in ELCA GrantMaker in order to fill out an application. May 19, 2021: Grant application closes.
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Dear church, God loves us all. No matter how we are grappling, we are not alone; God is with us. Throughout May and beyond, we must seek ways to erase the stigma surrounding mental illness and continually love everyone compassionately as a child of God.
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As part of the Faiths4Vaccines initiative, prominent faith leaders, including Bishop Eaton, explain how receiving the vaccine is an expression of love for one's neighbors. Learn more at faiths4vaccines.org.
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In her May column for Living Lutheran, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton notes that music, like God’s love, is at the same time deeply personal, sounding deep within an individual’s soul, and universal, ringing out to an entire community. Read her column in English at https://bit.ly/3uBnRJy and in Spanish at https://bit.ly/3ty0oYb.
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ELCA World Hunger and Lutheran Disaster Response are ministries deeply rooted in the identity of the ELCA, and the mission to which God calls this Church.
So, we are happy to share with you that these two ministries are now joined together on a single team within the Service and Justice home area of the ELCA churchwide organization: the Building Resilient Communities Team!
As we introduce this new structure within the churchwide organization of the ELCA, we are excited to introduce, too, the members of Building Resilient Communities Team.
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This week, Bishop Eaton shares an experience of witnessing true hospitality and generosity from her neighbor.
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The Rev. Dr. Megan Rohrer (they/their), San Francisco, Calif., was elected May 8 to serve a six-year term as bishop of the Sierra Pacific Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Rohrer is the first transgender bishop in the ELCA, and noted as such in this New York Times article.
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