Posts in ELCA
NC Synod sponsors racial reconciliation partnership
NC Synod sponsors racial reconciliation partnership

It’s often called the National Lynching Memorial. Located at the Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Ala., the National Memorial for Peace and Justice consists of 805 hanging steel rectangles that represent each U.S. county where a lynching has taken place.

One day in May, after two years of study and deep discussion about the role of reconciliation in the church, Lutherans from Duke University in Durham, N.C., stood at the memorial and reflected on its enormity with members of St. Joseph African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, Durham.

Read More
ELCA, NewsBrian FlatgardLiving Lutheran, Racial JusticeComment
Support hurricane survivors through Lutheran Disaster Response
Support hurricane survivors through Lutheran Disaster Response

Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida Wednesday with near Category 5-strength winds, dumping record amounts of rain and causing catastrophic flooding. Ian, as predicted, is one of the worst hurricanes to hit the United States in decades.

Gifts to Lutheran Disaster Response make it possible for the ELCA to act quickly after disasters, whenever and wherever they strike.

Read More
ELCA, NewsBrian FlatgardLutheran Disaster ResponseComment
New ELCA resources to support our ministries in a multi-religious world
New ELCA resources to support our ministries in a multi-religious world

"ELCA Guidelines for Ministry in a Multi-Religious World" provides general guidance for occasions when Christians and people of other religions come together. Included are recommendations for prayer services, crisis and tragedy response, social ministries, pastoral care, weddings and funerals.

"Preaching and Teaching with Love and Respect for the Jewish People" explores challenging topics, lectionary selections, and Bible passages to inform Christian preaching and teaching so that they respect the integrity of the Jewish tradition and avoid anti-Jewish interpretations of New Testament texts.

Read More
Bishop Eaton, ELCA, News, Leader ResourcesBrian FlatgardEcumenical and Inter-Religious RelationsComment
Prompts for Prayers of Intercession: October 2, 2022
Prompts for Prayers of Intercession: October 2, 2022

  • For relief and recovery efforts following Hurricane Ian and Typhoon Noru…

  • For communities grieving and rebuilding after flooding in Pakistan…

  • For all areas of the world who have suffered recent natural disasters…

  • For the health of creation…

  • For peace amidst leadership and regime transitions across the world…

  • For those whose mental and physical health is affected by changing seasons…

  • For blessings upon our Jewish siblings marking Yom Kippur this week…

  • In thanksgiving for LGBTQIA+ siblings…

Read More
ELCA, PrayersBrian FlatgardELCA Worship, For What Shall We PrayComment
500 years of God’s word in common language: The true story of Martin Luther’s “September Testament”
500 years of God’s word in common language: The true story of Martin Luther’s “September Testament”

Five hundred years ago in September, at the Leipzig Fair in the German state of Saxony, the printer Melchior Lotter Jr. offered up for sale his first edition of the New Testament as translated from the ancient Greek into the German vernacular by Martin Luther. By then Luther was notorious across Europe for his attacks on the papacy. He had been denounced as a heretic, excommunicated by Pope Leo X and condemned by Charles V, leader of the Holy Roman Empire. The edition of 3,000 copies sold out rapidly.

Read More
ELCA, NewsBrian FlatgardMartin Luther, Living LutheranComment
Save the Date: Rostered Ministers Gathering in Phoenix, July 17-20, 2023
Save the Date: Rostered Ministers Gathering in Phoenix, July 17-20, 2023

The Planning Team shares a letter of invitation to the Rostered Ministers Gathering in Phoenix next summer, July 17-20, 2023. You’re invited to join colleagues under the theme of "Rekindle the gift within you" (2 Timothy 1:6).

If you like to welcome people, help with registration, or have the gift of hospitality, please connect with Pastor Doug Dill: pastordoug@centrallutheranaz.org or 402-235-6969.

Read More
ELCA, Grand Canyon Synod, NewsBrian Flatgard2023 Rostered Ministers GatheringComment
Situation Report: Hurricane Fiona
Situation Report: Hurricane Fiona

Lutheran Disaster Response is responding to Hurricane Fiona through the Caribbean Synod. The synod is providing gift cards for people impacted by the flooding so they can purchase their immediate needs. As the damage from the hurricane is assessed, Lutheran Disaster Response and the Caribbean Synod will develop a long-term recovery plan. Additionally, Lutheran Disaster Response is funding a disaster response and diaconal ministry team for the synod.

Read More
ELCA, NewsBrian FlatgardLutheran Disaster ResponseComment
AMMPARO response to recent arrivals of migrants by bus
AMMPARO response to recent arrivals of migrants by bus

Accompanying Migrant Minors with Protection, Advocacy, Representation and Opportunities (AMMPARO) responds to recent arrivals of migrants by bus.

“Those who cross through our country to get to a better place to live are human beings with needs who eat, who drink and who need to rest. Let us not allow rejection and xenophobia to be more visible than God’s great acts of justice and love” —Moises Perez Espino, Biblical Studies; Old Testament and Migration

Read More
ELCA, News, LettersBrian FlatgardAMMPARO, Immigration and Refugees, AdvocacyComment
Seeds Monthly: September, 2022
Seeds Monthly: September, 2022

View the September, 2022 edition of Seeds Monthly, featuring Celebrate World Food Day with Rick Steves.

Join ELCA World Hunger for a celebration of World Food Day with Rick Steves. This event will be streamed online, so you can celebrate with ELCA World Hunger wherever you are! Join the celebration Oct. 16, 2022 at 6pm MST/PDT, 7pm MDT. Registration is not required; simply visit the ELCA's Facebook or YouTube page to attend.

Read More
ELCA, NewsBrian FlatgardHunger, ELCA World Hunger, Rick Steves, Seeds MonthlyComment
Lutherans Restoring Creation host conversation with H. Paul Santmire
Lutherans Restoring Creation host conversation with H. Paul Santmire

Lutherans Restoring Creation will host a conversation with eco-theologian H. Paul Santmire regarding his newest book, EcoActivist Testament. September 27th, 2022, 5pm MST/PDT, 5pm MDT. Click here for more info, and click here to register.

In 1993, Paul was a main contributor to the ELCA's initial Social Statement regarding the Care of Creation.
Now we have a Social Message drafted for our review and comment: Earth's Climate Crisis. Please be sure to offer dedicated time in your church community to read and submit comments before 12/2/2022.

Read More
ELCA, NewsBrian FlatgardClimate Change, Lutherans Restoring CreationComment
ELCA Advocacy September, 2022 updates
ELCA Advocacy September, 2022 updates

ELCA Advocacy shares their September, 2022 updates, in a U.N. and State Edition as well as Advocacy Connections from the ELCA advocacy office in Washington, D.C.

In this post we highlight the update from Lutheran Advocacy Ministry Arizona (LAMA), where Director Solveig Muus shares info on the Arizona Anti-Hunger Alliance, the Becoming Conference, the LAMA summit, and the LAMA Liaison Roundtable.

Read More
ELCA, Grand Canyon Synod, NewsBrian FlatgardAdvocacy, ELCA Advocacy, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry Arizona (LAMA)Comment
A “dream” becomes a reality: Synod secures funds for Lutheran University of Nigeria
A “dream” becomes a reality: Synod secures funds for Lutheran University of Nigeria

In 2021, Musa Filibus, archbishop of the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria (LCCN), asked Ann Svennungsen, bishop of the Minneapolis Area Synod (the LCCN’s companion synod), to consider raising $500,000 for the establishment of the LCCN-run Lutheran University Nigeria. The synod raised $535,000 and secured a $150,000 ELCA World Hunger grant in just three months.

Read More
ELCA, News, Global ChurchBrian FlatgardLiving LutheranComment
ELCA Advocacy: Current sign-on letters, September, 2022
ELCA Advocacy: Current sign-on letters, September, 2022

Our advocacy takes many forms with long-term and immediate aims, and ELCA Witness in Society staff are active equipping members, building influential relationships with policy makers, networking strategically with other concerned partners, researching policy pieces and their impacts and inviting our ELCA Advocacy Network to action at impactful moments.

One timely way we can act as ELCA is to sign on with others to offer pointed comments to decision makers when developments demand.

Read More
ELCA, News, Leader ResourcesBrian FlatgardAdvocacy, ELCA AdvocacyComment