The ELCA Fund for Leaders 25th Anniversary Scholarship Awards Celebration took place on Friday, Sept. 30, 2022. Watch a recording of the full event honoring this year’s class of scholarship recipients.
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Monday, October 10, 2022, we observe Indigenous Peoples' Day, an opportunity to honor Indigenous Peoples and celebrate all the vital gifts that they offer to Creation from their cultures, traditions, theology, wisdom, creativity, ingenuity and so much more.
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In 2018, three small congregations within a 10-mile radius of downtown Oklahoma City—Ascension, St. Mark and Redeemer—were struggling financially to maintain their buildings and meet associated expenses. They started with combined services on fifth Sundays and talked about a weekly joint meeting. Discussions about a formal merger had just started when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
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For an end to the continued violence and war in Ukraine…
For those recovering in the aftermath of Hurricanes Ian and Fiona, including our siblings in the Florida-Bahamas Synod and the Caribbean Synod…
For the ministries of American Indian and Alaska Native siblings in our church, and for all relationships of reconciliation with indigenous communities…
For the Supreme Court of the United States as it begins a new term…
For the social and political unrest in Iran and for all who strive for gender equality and human rights…
For the work of scientists, including the recent recipients of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, who help us to learn more about our universe and God’s creation…
Vance Blackfox, the ELCA’s Director of Indigenous Ministries and Tribal Relations, shares this list of resources which includes books, videos, web resources, social media, news outlets, ELA resources, and more.
We were honored to have Vance present at our latest synod council and deans retreat.
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When the ELCA signed a request of President Biden to host a White House Conference on Food, Nutrition, Hunger, and Health, the group of organizations stated: “We can end hunger in America, and a public commitment to a White House Conference, with ending hunger as a key priority, is an essential step in accomplishing this goal.” Recordings of panel sessions and plenary sessions are available online.
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After a two-year pause, the Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM) program is sending volunteers out into the world again. Mae Helen Jackson, Young Adult Outreach and Placement Manager, gives an update about some of the ways the YAGM team is bringing the program up to date and making it more welcoming for everyone. YAGM is ready for you! Submit your application beginning Nov. 1, 2022 at ELCA.org/YAGM.
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As part of the church’s efforts toward reconciliation with Native Americans, an ELCA truth-seeking and truth-telling initiative has been organized around Lutheran involvement in Indian boarding schools in the United States.
In May the U.S. Department of the Interior published the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Investigative Report, detailing more than 400 federal Indian boarding schools that operated between 1819 and 1969.
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On Sept. 11, 2022, ELCA congregations across the country joined together for “God’s work. Our hands.” Sunday. From prairie restoration to fence and bench construction to meal kit assembly, volunteers participated in a variety of service projects this year. View a slideshow of projects in Living Lutheran here.
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ELCA World Hunger's shares their Go & Do News for October, 2022, featuring new resources for Advent and Lent, ELCA World Hunger Education and Networking Grants, World Food Day, partner Fundação Luterana de Diaconia, and Hunger at the Crossroads webinars.
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Many physical places serve as a transition between two other spaces. In locations where outdoor temperatures can be frigid, some homes have a vestibule, which is an enclosed entryway that serves as a buffer between the warm interior and the cold exterior. Architects and other designers will often refer to transitional zones as “liminal spaces,” which means being at the threshold of something new but not quite there yet.
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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.
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As we begin this work of reforming the candidacy process, we invite you to answer a few survey questions. Your input is important, so please take a moment to share your thoughts. The Candidacy Leadership Development Working Group has established a webpage where you will find information about the working group, an anticipated timeline of events, and ongoing updates.
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Karen Thalacker and Andy Newell host the podcast The Homes, which tells the stories of staff and residents of the title community (now the Lutheran Living Senior Campus) in Muscatine, Iowa. From 1921 to 1941 Thalacker’s great-grandfather, Lutheran pastor William Klein, served as superintendent of the Homes. His wife Emma ran the home for the aged.
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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.
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"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.
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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…
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.
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Is your congregation ready to take some steps (even small steps) toward renewal or revitalization? These four fast-paced and creative training sessions jump start the process, starting 10/6/2022 through 11/17/2022.
Register for free here. For more information, please contact Pr. Miguel Gomez-Acosta, miguel.gomez-acosta@elca.org.
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