Bishop Eaton offers a prayer for World AIDS Day, December 1, 2021.
Read More
This Gathering webinar provides information about one of the program days at the Gathering, Synod Day. For more information about the 2022 Gathering, “boundless: God beyond measure,” visit elca.org/Gathering.
Read More
I am thrilled to share with you that at the close of our early-bird registration we crossed over the 10,000-person mark for the 2022 ELCA Youth Gathering. It’s exciting and hopeful to know that even during an unusual and tough couple of years, thousands of you are preparing for the Gathering next summer.
Questions? Our Grand Canyon Synod Gathering Coordinator is Pastor Shari Bernau, with Living Water Lutheran in Scottsdale: pastorshari@lwlcaz.org.
Read More
"Hunger and Poverty by the Numbers: Where Are We at Now?" is a webinar with Ryan Cumming (ELCA World Hunger) on December 9, 2021, at 5pm MST, 4 pm PST. Registration for this webinar is at forms.office.com/r/iN8KcajcJ4.
The webinars are open to anyone passionate about ending hunger and eager to learn more. In each session, we will dive deeply into the topic, with presentations from ELCA World Hunger staff and partners and time for questions and conversation.
Read More
For the victims of the Oxford High School shooting and all victims of gun violence…
For peace between nations…
For equity and justice for all peoples…
For all affected by flooding in the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia…
For human rights activists and organizations…
For judges, lawyers, and all who make far-reaching and life-impacting decisions…
Two years after the original projected date of completion, the Minoru Centre for Active Living in Richmond, VA is open. It’s not every day that a community gets a new center for events with indoor swimming facilities. It’s also not every day that such community centers win international prizes for their accessibility.
Read More
All Creation Sings, the worship and song supplement to Evangelical Lutheran Worship, released in late November 2020.
The ELCA Worship Staff would like to know how you’ve gotten to know All Creation Sings since its release last Advent. What is a newly discovered hymn or song that has worked very well in your assembly? Have you used elements of Settings 11 or 12 over this past year?
Read More
We are thankful to share a perspective from a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.
“Violence and peace are contagious. Maintaining them depends on one’s decision. A family member who has been raised experiencing one of the two is most likely to act the same toward people around them. One act of peace can change a society, and the same of violence.”
Read More
Zechariah’s prophecy in the first chapter of Luke, our reading for this second Sunday in Advent, is sometimes overlooked in favor of the Magnificat of Mary in the same chapter. Mary’s song, which we will read later in Advent, is a theological ode to God, who “lift[s] up the lowly” (Luke 1:52).
Read More
In response to the verdicts in the trial of Travis McMichael, Gregory McMichael and William Bryan in Brunswick, Ga., for the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, we offer a word of prayer and healing.
Read More
Annual report covers are now available online for congregations that are preparing for their annual meetings. The document includes a letter from Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, a hymn and litany and a story about how change and creativity have helped shape congregations this past year. The digital covers are available as pages or as spreads and can be found at ELCA.org/SOFIA#relevantresources.
Read More
This Advent brings several reasons for hope: children can soon receive vaccinations for COVID-19, many congregations are gathering again in person, families look forward to holiday celebrations. Yet humanity grieves losses and experiences great suffering and forms of oppression, as does the planet itself.
Two new hymns in All Creation Sings that address this, see “Can You Feel the Seasons Turning” and “Abba, Abba, Hear Us” among others in the “Lament” and “Creation” sections.
Read More
For all who face adverse weather with inadequate shelter or protections…
For the victims of the Christmas parade tragedy in Wisconsin…
For safe holiday travel…
For all who seek justice in the face of unjust systems
For our Jewish siblings as they begin Hanukkah celebrations…
As both a member of the Cherokee nation and a first-generation Mexican American, news stories from the southern border in 2018 were more than just headlines for me.
These stories tap into the deep, largely unacknowledged, pain that Indigenous peoples in the United States have carried for generations around the governmental and the church practice of forcefully removing Native American children to send them to residential boarding schools. The philosophy of one of these institutions, The Carlisle School in Pennsylvania, was “Kill the Indian, save the man.”
Read More
In Worcester, Mass., the secondhand goods sold at Emanuel’s Closet represent the first step of a reinvigorated congregation looking for new ways to serve.
“Jesus told us we have a responsibility to our neighbors—feed the hungry, clothe the naked and be a place of shelter,” said Tom Houston, the licensed lay minister of Emanuel Lutheran Church, which houses the thrift store. “We want to be more of a factor in our community, and Emanuel’s Closet is a starting point.”
Read More
Is your congregation ready to take some steps (even small steps) toward renewal or revitalization? Then, you are invited to attend the 2022 Spring Session of the ELCA Vital Congregations Re-BOOT Camp, which are four sessions, 1/13–2/27/2022.
Registration closes on 1/7/2022. FREE Registration link: Vital Congregations Spring 2022 Session - Google Forms
Please see the attached PowerPoint for more information regarding the Re-BOOT Camp. You can contact our GCS Director for Evangelical Mission, Miguel Gomez-Acosta, for further information or with questions.
Read More
With all eyes on turkeys this week, let’s not forget about chicken women. Check out this new video from ELCA World Hunger about Manna From Heaven, a ministry meeting the needs of its neighbors in Kentucky with support from ELCA World Hunger.
Read More
In his book, Silence the Power of Quiet in a World Full of Noise, Thich Nhat Hanh talks about two kinds of knots. The first knot is our notions, ideas, concepts, and knowledge. These things are not bad, but when we get stuck on them we miss out on the truth of life.
The second knot is our afflictions, fears, anger, discrimination, despair, and arrogance. Thich Nhat Hanh believes that until these knots are undone we remain bound up and not truly free.
Read More
The housing allowance is an important tax advantage for clergy. However, your congregation must officially designate the amount in writing each year, before compensation is earned, that might be used for housing expenses. As you look ahead to 2022, be sure to take action to document this amount. Learn more on the Portico site when you sign in with your EmployerLink.
Read More
This study guide for the social statement Faith, Sexism, and Justice: A Call to Action has six sessions that guide participants to engage the social statement and discern ways to take action.
In this post we share Bishop Eaton’s invitation to participate. View the study guide here.
Read More