The Rev. Daniel Rift, Director for ELCA World Hunger and Lutheran Disaster Response Fund, talked live with the Rev. Dr. Rafael Malpica-Padilla, Executive Director for Service and Justice, and the Rev. Rachel Eskesen, Area Desk Director for Europe. They discussed the situation in Eastern Europe and Rafael and Rachel shared about the ELCA’s response.
Read MoreRegistration for ELCA World Hunger’s 2023 Domestic Hunger Grants opens March 18, 2022! ELCA World Hunger congratulates those partners in ministry awarded a 2022 Domestic Hunger Grant and all those continuing grants with us this year. Visit the Domestic Hunger Grants page and this FAQ page about applying.
Read MoreDo you tend see right and wrong as black and white or in shades of gray? Has this changed over your lifetime? If it has, how so?
Read MoreVisit the ELCA’s Eastern Europe Crisis Response resource page for a compilation of the situation, the ELCA’s response, and how you can help by praying, giving, worshiping, and connecting.
Read MoreClick here for this PDF resource from the ELCA, which is provided to assist worshiping communities as they respond to the crisis in Eastern Europe. Several prayers are provided that could be used during the prayers of intercession or at other times, in public worship or for devotional use at home or in other settings.
Read MoreIn her March column for Living Lutheran, ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton reminds us that “over and over again humankind has betrayed the hope God has for us.” She suggests that this is a “time for a reset.” Read her column in English at https://bit.ly/361wmXp and in Spanish at https://bit.ly/3wgluj2.
Read MoreFor an end to the Russian government’s attacks on Ukraine, for the security of Kyiv, for the protection of civilians, for solidarity among those who stand for peace…
For an end to pay disparities based on gender, race, or ethnicity…
For China, as COVID-19 surges there again…
For all marking two years of pandemic upheaval, for all whose memories leave them breathless, for all who grieve without hope…
For substantive relief for all experiencing financial stress…
With gratitude for the life of Leon Schwarzbaum, holocaust survivor and justice maker, who died recently at the age of 101…
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 take action to care for our neighbor in fasting from the things that are hurting our planet. For more info, view the ELCA Young Adults Facebook page or the No Plastics for Lent website.
One of the discussion group leaders is Tiana Diaz-Reyes, a student in our synod’s Lutheran campus ministry. She is working toward her PhD in Sustainability at ASU.
Read MoreRight now, far away from some of us but near to others, Russian has invaded Ukraine. Confronting power hungry leadership and complex socio-political tensions, the global community watches and waits. Ground invasion and the startling aftermath of dropped bombs consume our collective conscious. War brings heightened anxieties and unanswered questions; it leaves people displaced and refugees fleeing. The journeys of our refugee siblings are filled with uncertainty.
Read MoreFor all in crisis as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues…
With gratitude for the first combined heart and thymus transplant, for all advances in the field of organ transplantation, for all organ donors…
For all who suffer in the wake of deadly US tornadoes…
For the people of Peshawar, Pakistan as they mourn those killed during the bombing of a Shiite Muslim mosque in their city…
For the United Methodist Church, as it continues to grapple with divisions…
For those wrestling with Long Covid, for Covid researchers, for all those preparing now for the rise of future variants…
For all unsafe in their own homes, for all without a home…
Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton shares some of the ways the ELCA, Lutheran Disaster Response and our partners in ministry are responding to the growing humanitarian crisis in eastern Europe by providing support for refugees and internally displaced people. Please keep our companions in your prayers during these turbulent times. God of life, give us your peace.
Read MoreLutheran Disaster Response is accompanying our companions in Ukraine, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, as well as such ecumenical partners as Lutheran World Federation and Church World Service, in their humanitarian responses to the crisis. These partners provide refugees with immediate support and supplies such as food, blankets, water and hygiene kits. You and your congregation or organization can donate by clicking here.
Read MoreRev. Rachel Eskesen, ELCA Area Desk Director for Europe, and Associate in Ministry Rev. Zach Courter provide updates from Budapest, Hungary. In this post, we share a video update, an expanded letter (read in this post or view as PDF), and a bulletin insert (PDF).
For those of you wishing to financially support our partner churches who are doing the work on the ground to respond to the needs of refugees, you can donate here.
Read MoreIn this sacred season, we turn inward, reflecting on our dependence on God’s grace. Marked by ashes at the start, we enter the 40 days of Lent with penitent hearts and awareness of our need for God’s mercy. Repentance and self-reflection are important practices, but it’s easy to stay here, forgetting that the season is about so much more than our own self-examination.
Martin Luther captured this well. Luther defined repentance in two ways: “contrition…and in taking hold of the promise.” Read more in this post in English and Spanish.
Read More“I am appointing a listening panel of three people to review the interactions of Bishop Megan Rohrer with Misión Latina Luterana, particularly on December 12, the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and to make recommendations to me.” Read more in English and Spanish in this post.
Read MoreWELCA celebrates Women’s History Month by telling the story of bold women of faith. A three-part series starts on Thursday, March 10, by exploring the life of Emmy Carlsson Evald (1857-1946). Advance registration is required for this free webinar.
Emmy's best known as the founder of the Women’s Missionary Society of the Augustana Synod. But did you know she was a suffragette? And a social activist?
Read MoreRuth Ivory-Moore, ELCA Program Director for Environment and Corporate Social Responsibility, writes: “A new – but deemed to be landmark – Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report was finalized on Feb. 27, “Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability” (IPCC Report). Unfortunately, the message is not new.
Yet while the report re-emphasizes the dire situation the global community faces, it also emphasizes hope: The climate we remember is gone, but we can dramatically limit the damage and reduce our risk by adapting to the new climate.
Read MoreRetirement may feel like (or even be) a long way off. Having a plan for retirement can increase confidence and peace of mind about the future. For those that missed the live Retirement Readiness Series workshops hosted by Fidelity, access to condensed video presentations is available here on myPortico.
Read MoreWe share a letter from the ELCA Youth Ministry Network, who let us know “ELCA camps and outdoor ministry sites are in deep need right now and are asking for our help.”
The letter provides many great ways you and your ministry can support this vital ministry.
Read MoreDirectors of Lutheran summer camps from around the USA are eager to discuss opportunities for you at their camps. Get more info at lomnetwork.org or this post, and try out their Camp MatchUp app for an easy way for camps to connect with potential summer staff looking for a camp.
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