Posts in ELCA
ELCA Conference of Bishops addresses leadership during fall meeting
ELCA Conference of Bishops addresses leadership during fall meeting

The Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) met Sept. 29–Oct. 1 at the Eaglewood Resort in Itasca, Ill. The conference, an advisory body of the ELCA, comprises 65 synod bishops, the presiding bishop and the secretary.

"We come together as the Conference of Bishops to give and receive encouragement as we serve in our respective synods," said the Rev. Tracie Bartholomew, bishop of the ELCA New Jersey Synod and conference chair. "We are at our best when we work collegially and celebrate all that God is doing throughout this church."

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ELCA, NewsBrian FlatgardConference of BishopsComment
Living Lutheran: "We need each other"
Living Lutheran: "We need each other"

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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ELCA, NewsBrian FlatgardLiving LutheranComment
Prompts for Prayers of Intercession: October 9, 2022
Prompts for Prayers of Intercession: October 9, 2022

  • 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…

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ELCA, PrayersBrian FlatgardELCA Worship, For What Shall We PrayComment
Attention to U.S. Hunger at White House Conference
Attention to U.S. Hunger at White House Conference

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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ELCA, NewsBrian FlatgardHunger, ELCA World Hunger, Advocacy, ELCA AdvocacyComment
YAGM update from Mae Helen Jackson
YAGM update from Mae Helen Jackson

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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ELCA, Global Church, NewsBrian FlatgardYoung Adults in Global Mission, Youth and Young AdultComment
Truth and healing: Initiative to research connections to boarding schools
Truth and healing: Initiative to research connections to boarding schools

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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ELCA, NewsBrian FlatgardLiving Lutheran, American Indian and Alaska NativeComment
Faith Lens: Borderlands
Faith Lens: Borderlands

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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ELCA, Leader ResourcesBrian FlatgardYouth and Young Adult, Faith LensComment
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.

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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.

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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.

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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…

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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.

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ELCA, NewsBrian FlatgardMartin Luther, Living LutheranComment