The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke all have sections where Jesus makes dramatic predictions about things that will happen in the future. Because these things seem to be hidden from general knowledge and are being revealed as special information to Jesus’ followers, they are called “apocalyptic” sayings. These terms “apocalypse” and “apocalyptic” are Greek words meaning “uncovering” or “revealing.”
Read MoreOne of my favorite Sunday school songs is “Zacchaeus Was a Wee Little Man” (“And a wee little man was he”). I love teaching the actions to kids and watching them light up at the seeming silliness of the story—from pretending to climb the tree to peering down at Jesus as Zacchaeus to looking up at Zacchaeus as Jesus.
Read MoreIn line with standard ELCA protocol, the project to create a new social message on Climate Care is being shepherded by the ELCA Director for Theological Ethics, working with a lead writer in collaboration with a group of reviewers.
The draft social message is now available for public feedback! Read the social message draft here and then use this survey to share your input by Friday, December 2, 2022.
Read MoreRev. Louise Johnson, Executive for Administration with the ELCA, invites rostered ministers to participate in a survey being conducted by Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and the Duke Endowment. The survey, open through November 2022, is part of a major national study on the health and future flourishing of mainline Protestant clergy and churches.
Read MoreWelcome to the first issue of “Where Your Heart Is,” the new stewardship newsletter of the ELCA (subscribe here).
In the coming months and years, I hope we not only dig into some of the things valued in our lives, both personal and collective, but also highlight the important and honest fact that all of life is an act of stewardship, from our first breath to our last. How do we use our days?
Read MoreIn this Living Lutheran article, 1517 Media’s Dawn Rundman recommends three books: The Wit of Martin Luther; Baptized, We Live: Lutheranism As a Way of Life; and Luther the Reformer.
Read MoreThe ELCA’s Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM) program is ready for new volunteers! Applications are now open, and you can invite young adults on this journey abroad for the 2023-2024 program year.
If you know young adults aged 21 to 29, this is the time to reach out. Encourage them to apply for YAGM by the deadline of Feb.1, 2023. (Priority deadline is Jan. 15, 2023.) YAGM volunteers will begin in August 2023. Learn more at ELCA.org/YAGM.
Read MoreAs you vote early or make your plan to vote, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton offers this message in advance of Election Day. Thank you for making informed and faithful decisions for your community, and congratulations to the first-time voters!
Read MoreJoin ELCA Coaching every Wednesday at noon MST, 11am PST, as we practice Courageous Leadership. Log in info is on the ELCA Coaching website.
Join us on Wednesday, November 9, 2922, as we hear from Rev. Adam Stockton regarding his personal experience with PTSD, recommendations for companionship, and how it has changed the way he leads and teaches (and more recently, how he coaches).
Read MoreA worship resource for Veterans Day includes prayers, hymn suggestions, and other ideas. Both PDF and Word versions are available at elca.org/Resources/Worship#Liturgy.
The resources may be used and adapted as needed for Veterans Day observances or in weekly worship on the Sunday closest to November 11. To learn more about caring for returning veterans, resources are available from the ELCA Federal Chaplaincy Ministries.
Read MoreThe ELCA provides this PDF resource, provided to assist congregations in this time surrounding a national election. The readings, prayers, and assembly song suggestions could be used in settings such as prayer vigils, as part of Morning or Evening Prayer, as part of regular weekly worship in the weeks preceding or following an election, or devotions at home or in other settings.
Read MoreFor the global missionaries of our church, including pastors, educators, medical personnel, and Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM)…
For our nation’s veterans, all who have experienced the violence of war, and those who strive for peace…
For an end to the continued war in Ukraine and all places of war and conflict…
For those injured and those grieving loss of life in the aftermath of the tragic Halloween festivities in Seoul, South Korea…
For those grieving loss of life following the bridge collapse in Morbi, Gujarat, India…
For our national and local elections and those who will be elected to public office this week…
Christian Nationalism identifies human-made governments as lockstep with God’s will and seeks to privilege Christians, typically only white Christians. This type of ideology is not only dangerous but distorts the difference between holding government accountable to God as opposed to identified strictly with God’s will. We must stand against Christian Nationalism and as that you join us in signing the petition and sharing your stance by visiting the Christians Against Christian Nationalism site.
Read MoreELCA Global Mission shares their November, 2022 Global Links, featuring: Young Adults in Global Mission Welcomed Around the World; News Around the World; Mission Personnel; and how to get involved.
Read More2022 marks two decades of full communion between the ELCA and The Episcopal Church—a pioneering decision for Christians in the United States that now bears fruit in about two hundred ministry sites including combined church plants, shared facilities, joint camping ministries and governmental advocacy, food pantries, campus ministries, archival work, very regular exchange of pastoral care and preaching, and collaboration in educational initiatives.
Read MoreI’ve lived in both cities and in the country–and in a few different states. There are commonalities among people everywhere I’ve lived. Most people want the best for themselves, their families, and the world. But we disagree on what that looks like and how we can bring it about.
Read MoreOn Reformation Day and in this video from Bishop Eaton, we celebrate the five hundred and fifth anniversary of the Reformation! Over five hundred years later, the Lutheran movement is alive and well, as the good news is proclaimed in languages and places Martin Luther never knew existed.
Read MoreCommitted to womanist theology, Trinity Lutheran Seminary and the ELCA’s Quality of Call Initiative for Women in Ministry have appointed Denise Rector as the seminary’s first joint doctoral scholar-in-residence (DSIR).
Read MoreFounded as Chautauqua Lake Sunday School Assembly, the community was originally an educational experiment in vacation learning for Sunday school teachers. Fifteen denominations are represented at the institution—12 of which have houses on the grounds, including the Lutheran House.
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