Supported in part by ELCA World Hunger, the Asian Rural Institute (ARI) in Japan is a nine-month service leadership training program that draws people from around the world, allowing them to live and work together as they learn agricultural skills they can take back to their home communities.
Read MoreOregonians are waiting for “The Big One.” Every few hundred years, the Cascadia Subduction Zone causes huge earthquakes. The Cascadia earthquake was the impetus for the Oregon Synod Disaster Response Initiative, launched last year.
Recognizing that many people aren’t prepared for this earthquake or other disasters, a team proposed forming the Oregon Synod Disaster Response Network to guide congregations through preparedness and to raise awareness about different aspects of disasters.
Read MoreHow did 260 goats end up being blessed at St. Paul Lutheran Family in Carson City, Nevada?
“It was a pretty big ordeal,” said Chad Adamik, pastor of St. Paul. “We were in a really bad drought … and the goats were [doing] fire mitigation.” No kid-ding—the goats were working on St. Paul’s 4 acres, which were overrun with cheatgrass this past August.
Read MoreIt’s harvest season in various parts of the United States. I’m mindful of a parable Jesus shares about a harvest where the crops were infiltrated by weeds. Jesus compares the kindom of God to a farmer who sows good seed in his field. While everyone is sleeping, the enemy creeps in and sows weeds in this farmer’s field.
Read MoreThis week’s Story of Faith in Action features Abide, a small-group ministry for ELCA members between 18 and 35. The program started in early 2020, shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic began, with leadership funding from Mission Support.
Read the story in this post, view as a PDF resource, or visit our SOFIA 2021-2022 page for all resources.
Read MoreEach year, ELCA congregations pledge to send a portion of their offerings to fund ELCA ministries in their synods and beyond. We call these funds Mission Support.
Mission Support enables the ELCA’s more than 8,900 congregations and 65 synods to pool resources to love and serve our neighbors in ways that no individual or congregation can do alone.
Read MoreLutheran World Relief has created FREE, easy-to-use resources based on the RCL Advent texts from the Gospel of Luke, all available at lwr.org/advent.
Read MoreIn the past few years there has been a movement within the US American Catholic Church to recognize Dorothy Day as a saint within their tradition. While Lutherans and Catholics have different understandings of saints and sainthood, we too, can look to these people as exemplars of the faith.
Read MoreA worship resource for Veterans Day includes prayers, hymn suggestions, and other ideas. Both PDF and Word versions are available at elca.org/Resources/Worship#Liturgy.
The resources may be used and adapted as needed for Veterans Day observances or in weekly worship on the Sunday closest to November 11. To learn more about caring for returning veterans, resources are available from the ELCA Federal Chaplaincy Ministries.
Read MoreIntercession prompts:
For those who are afraid in their relationships or have suffered abuse or violence…
For Afghan refugees seeking resettlement and the agencies that accompany them…
For ongoing wildfires and risk of wildfires in the western United States…
For those facing hunger and food insecurity and for farmers and all food production workers…
For the work of feeding and food advocacy organizations such as ELCA World Hunger…
For those whose vocations honor St. Luke, the physician: medical personnel, caregivers, clinical support staff, and all who work in healthcare…
For those who live in fear because of homophobia, sexism, and racism…
For congregations in the midst of stewardship campaigns and ministry visioning for the coming year…
This Gathering webinar provides information from the Safety & Security team as they prepare for next summer’s event. Topics include Minneapolis safety, COVID-19, and spiritual wellness. For information about the 2022 Gathering, “boundless: God beyond measure,” visit elca.org/Gathering.
Read MoreJoin Bishop Eaton in giving thanks for this year’s Fund for Leaders recipients, a scholarship program which supports seminary students. We’re grateful for all future ministers, their confidence and courage to lead the church, and the ways they share the love of God in Christ with God’s people. Are you considering a call to ministry? Visit: elcaseminaries.org/
Read MoreWhen the church gathers, we pray for the needs of the world. Like preaching that is both rooted in scripture shared across time and space and attentive to the local assembly at the present moment, the sense of “praying for the world” is expansive but also attentive to a particular context.
Evangelical Lutheran Worship encourages that “The prayers [of intercession] are prepared locally for each occasion” (ELW. p. 105). How can this be done? What practices are useful? What resources can help? Listed in this post are several resources from ELCA Worship or Augsburg Fortress.
Read MoreThe ELCA Fund for Leaders supports students of tremendous promise attending ELCA seminaries to become pastors and deacons in our church. This year, 317 students are receiving over $3.2 million in scholarship support. Many of them would like to express their thanks to you for making their scholarships possible. Learn more at ELCA.org/FundForLeaders.
View a brief thank you message and the full awards celebration in this post. View many of the students’ videos on the ELCA YouTube page.
Read MoreLaura Krueger, of Avondale, Ariz., was re-elected to the churchwide executive board of Women of the ELCA at its August 3-5, 2021, convention. This is Laura’s second term on the board that provides leadership to the churchwide women’s organization. Learn more in this WELCA news story.
Read MoreAs the United States pauses to honor and celebrate the Indigenous people who first settled on the land thousands of years ago, the Evangelical Church in America (ELCA) has released "A Declaration of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to American Indian and Alaska Native People." The declaration is a direct result of the social policy resolution "Repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery," which was passed by the 2016 ELCA Churchwide Assembly. Read the declaration in this post.
Read MoreOn Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we celebrate the heritage and contributions of Indigenous members of our church and society. Bishop Eaton also invites us into a time of confession and commitment.
We confess the church’s failure to address the racism that has so damaged Indigenous communities. We commit to working cooperatively to promote justice for Indigenous people, participating in acts of advocacy, practicing land acknowledgements and taking seriously the experiences of our Indigenous neighbors. Together we are all children of God, redeemed by Jesus, sustained by the Spirit.
Read MoreThe 2022 Gathering theme song was co-written by Sam Noble and Faith Bartelt while serving on summer staff at Rainbow Trail Lutheran Camp in Hillside, CO in 2019.
Read MoreFor faith formation teachers, leaders, and students in this new program year…
For those undergoing treatment or who are in remission for cancer…
For migrants detained in detention facilities and those awaiting asylum hearings…
For wildlife harmed and in danger due to the oil spill off the coast of Huntington Beach, California…
For the work of the Supreme Court of the United States hearing significant cases this term…
In her letter introducing Stories of Faith in Action, Bishop Eaton notes that “the disciples in John’s Gospel approach ministry challenges with a scarcity mindset. Jesus shows us a different way: trusting in God’s awesome abundance.”
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