ELCA Advocacy shares their November, 2021 updates. The first is from the ELCA Advocacy office in Washington, D.C., and the second is the UN and state edition, updates shared from submissions of the Lutheran Office for World Community and state public policy offices (sppos) in the ELCA Advocacy Network this month.
Read MoreLutherans Restoring Creation share their Good Green Newsletter for October, 2021.
Their upcoming Connections Call is Tuesday, 11/23/2021 at 6pm MST, 5pm PST. The topic is Gratitude. Come to the “table” with what and who you are grateful for as we ready ourselves for the work ahead. Zoom link to use on 11/23.
Read MoreIn her November column for Living Lutheran, ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton reminds us that God has given all of us a mission to invite more people into the way of Jesus. Read her column in English at https://bit.ly/3DrbK6p and in Spanish at https://bit.ly/3os6PeU .
Read MoreOn Halloween night in the UK, three children stopped to trick or treat at the house of Brenda Burdon, 86. Brenda apologized because she did not have any treats ready to give out. The youth replied, “It’s OK, because sometimes making people happy and getting a nice big smile is reward enough.”
They returned the next day with muffins and chocolates, a card which they had decorated with pumpkins and doodles. Brenda Burdon’s grandson later said, “She was just lost in happiness that total strangers could leave such a wonderful impression” and that it was the best Halloween of her life.
Read MoreSince February 2020, the Church has been enduring unprecedented seismic shifts. In response, a new Hybrid version of the grassroots Ignite the Church Conference will gather February 8-10, 2022—in-person in sunny Orlando AND Online—to reflect on the theme: SEISMIC SHIFTS: Where Do We Go From Here?
To register and learn more about the presenters, workshop options, and other details go to IgniteTheChurch.net. Register by November 30, 2021, to access the lowest $99 In-Person rate. Online option is free.
Read MoreIt’s a sunny day in the Wind River Range of Wyoming. A group of Indigenous people and I form a circle to burn tobacco and offer a prayer of thanks to the Creator for the plants we’re gathering today. Once we pray and provide an offering to Mother Earth, we scatter across the wide-open space to dig up roots and collect berries.
For five years I’ve been listening, learning, collecting plants and building relationships with the Restoring Shoshone Ancestral Food Gathering (RSAFG) group from the Wind River Indian Reservation.
Read MoreOver 13 years ago a group of staff at the ELCA churchwide organization got together with an idea. They wanted to offer church leaders a tool that would provide support in facilitating the management and administration of their congregations and ministries. So, Administration Matters was born. Read the November 2021 issue in this post.
Read MoreWhen Kevin T. Jones of Mason City, Iowa, was elected bishop of the Northeastern Iowa Synod on June 12, the thought that everything had just changed hit him with a thud as the results of the fifth ballot were announced.
“It was a relief to know that my sound was muted and my camera off at that moment,” said Jones. “It was stunning and humbling and overwhelming, and my brain didn’t turn off for more than two months. It still is all that, but my brain takes the occasional break now and again.”
Read MoreWorking alongside the United Nations' "16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence" campaign, the four member churches of Churches Beyond Borders have compiled a 16-day devotional focusing on the campaign's theme opposing intersectional violence against women. View/download the devotional in PDF format here.
Read MoreOn November 11, 2021, the nation will observe Veterans Day. It is a day set aside to recognize veterans’ service in the Armed Forces, past and present.
Congregations across the ELCA have chosen to recognize veterans in worship. Others have chosen not to. Both choices are faithful expressions of people’s deepest convictions. I want to offer why all congregations should consider acknowledging veterans in their worship services around Veterans Day this year.
Read MoreFor equitable access to healthcare and medical resources…
For attendees of the Astroworld festival and the families of those who died there…
For those suffering severe flooding in the states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh in India…
For all victims of senseless acts of violence and destruction…
For all in search of warm places of shelter as the weather turns…
For justice-seekers working in healthcare, housing, food and nutrition, and education…
In thanksgiving for the harvest that has been gathered and for the hands that worked the fields…
This month, we commemorate two particularly inspirational Catholic saints, Martin de Porres on November 3, and Elizabeth of Hungary on November 17, who each exemplified “faith active in love” in important ways. What might we learn from these important leaders?
Read MoreMany bishops and rostered ministers have reported an increase in anger in our faith communities. Covid issues over the past two years have made ministry more complicated.
Barbara Keller, with ELCA’s Misconduct Prevention, presents a 1-hour zoom workshop for rostered ministers. It focuses on understanding the origin of anger and ways to help rostered ministers and congregations deal more effectively with anger. Tuesday, 11/30/2021, 9 am MST, 8 am PST. Register here.
Read MoreGreetings! My name is Rev. Lisa Heffernan, and on June 1st I began serving as coordinator for ELCA Disability Ministries. I work remotely out of South Dakota, where I am also serving as a part-time interim pastor with a congregation.
As a person with a disability (spina bifida), this ministry is especially close to my heart and I’m excited for where God is leading us in 2022 and beyond.
Read MoreDo you come home from a trip with a new best friend? Have you ever prayed with someone in line at the grocery store? Do you know the life stories of all of your Lyft drivers? Do you talk to your neighbors about Jesus? If these scenarios ring true for you, you might be a hidden evangelist!
Join ELCA’s Phil Hirsch and Louise Johnson on Zoom Tuesday, 11/9/2021 at 6 pm MST, 7 pm PST, for a lively conversation with people who have a similar passion for sharing Christ’s love. Register today.
Read MoreA worship resource for Veterans Day is available in PDF and Word formats and includes several prayers and hymn suggestions that may be incorporated in worship on the Sunday closest to Veterans Day, Nov. 11.
Congregation resources for Veterans Day and care for veterans can be found on ELCA.org.
Read MoreThe Lutheran movement has a distinctive voice. The world has been saved and redeemed through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and it’s not our effort but God’s. And it’s a gift! Bishop Eaton encourages us to revisit the small catechism this Reformation Day and recall the Lutheran exposition of the gospel.
Read MoreIn this post we share a vide of the online benefit for ELCA World Hunger, where Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton and guidebook author and travel TV host Rick Steves celebrate World Food Day! Steves interviews people on the ground who do the dynamic work of fighting hunger around the world. If you'd like to give a gift, visit ELCA.org/EndHunger.
Read MoreThe Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Foundation today announced the relaunch of its Endowment Fund Pooled Trust — also known as Fund A — under a new name, the Ministry Growth Fund, which better represents the foundation's goals for the future.
Read MoreThe October 2021 issue of Living Lutheran focuses on Intergenerational Ministry, with several articles and perspectives on the topic. The primary article shares many resources, including an interview with Linda Staats of the Generosity Project, as well as photos from the Grand Canyon Synod.
View the article online or in its magazine format, and find the study guide here.
Read More
