Posts in Letters
Bishop Eaton addresses concerns about COVID-19
Bishop Eaton addresses concerns about COVID-19

In 1527 the plague returned to Wittenberg, Germany. Two hundred years earlier the plague had swept across Europe killing up to 40% of the population. Understandably, people were anxious and wondered what a safe and faithful response might be.

In answer to this, Martin Luther wrote "Whether One May Flee From a Deadly Plague." In it, he emphasized the duty to care for the neighbor, the responsibility of government to protect and provide services to its citizens, a caution about recklessness, and the importance of science, medicine and common sense.

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ELCA, Bishop Eaton, Letters, Z Covid-19Brian FlatgardComment
Ashes to Ashes, Earth to Earth : #NoPlasticsforLent
Ashes to Ashes, Earth to Earth : #NoPlasticsforLent

When I was growing up on a small 3 acre farm in Tacoma, Washington with my two parents and three siblings, I HATED going outside and doing yard work. It was the last thing I wanted to do.

I would rather have been inside the house watching movies on our VHS player. On top of the mandatory all-family yard work on the farm, we lived frugally getting everything second-hand, including my school outfits which did not fit my fashion standards. At all.

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ELCA, LettersBrian Flatgard2020 Lent, Youth and Young Adult, Faith LensComment
Bishop Eaton: We are broken
Bishop Eaton: We are broken

In the February issue of Living Lutheran, ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton reminds us of our uniquely Lutheran understanding of the gospel and renews her call for studying Martin Luther’s Small Catechism. “Luther said he needed to study it every day—and he wrote it! Let’s do the same.” Read her column in English at https://bit.ly/2uhqshX and in Spanish athttps://bit.ly/2vXv90F.

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Bishop Eaton, ELCA, LettersBrian FlatgardComment
Bishop Eaton issues statement on new travel ban
Bishop Eaton issues statement on new travel ban

Dear Church: Last week, on the third anniversary of the original executive order, the administration extended the travel ban to the United States from seven majority Muslim countries to thirteen. The ban suspends the issuing of immigrant visas that can lead to permanent residency for those from Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar and Nigeria, as well as visas available through a diversity lottery for applicants from Sudan and Tanzania.

As Lutherans, these actions should concern us. Through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, God has set us free from ourselves to serve our neighbor.

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Bishop Eaton, ELCA, Letters, Z AdvocacyBrian FlatgardComment
Bishop Hutterer: Remembering Dr. King
Bishop Hutterer: Remembering Dr. King

This week, we honor The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who preached a message of love. A message of unity where all of God's people could walk together. Where people of faith stood as a beacon of light to those struggling against injustice.

In my travels throughout the Grand Canyon Synod, I am grateful to see the myriad ways in which our congregations and people shine.

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Bishop Hutterer, LettersBrian FlatgardComment
Bishop Eaton issues pastoral message on Iran conflict
Bishop Eaton issues pastoral message on Iran conflict

The current crisis between the United States and Iran is worrisome for many of us in our church, in our nation and in the world. Our country and Iran need urgently to find ways to resolve our differences through a de-escalation of the current crisis, using diplomacy and other peaceful means. Our social statement, "For Peace in God's World," offers guidance.

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Bishop Eaton, ELCA, Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations, LettersBrian FlatgardComment
Bishop's Eaton letter on the United Methodist Church
Bishop's Eaton letter on the United Methodist Church

Last week, in a flurry of misleading headlines, many of us read that the United Methodist Church had split. This is not, in fact, what happened.

Many of you may be pondering the good Lutheran question: What does this mean? For the UMC? For our full communion partnership? It is simply too soon to have clarity on those questions. I assure you that there are leaders, both ELCA and UMC, who are carefully and faithfully tending to these questions.

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Bishop Eaton, ELCA, Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations, LettersBrian FlatgardComment
Mosaic blog: Finding Peace with Pencil
Mosaic blog: Finding Peace with Pencil

From Mosaic’s Jim Fruehling, Vice President of Behavioral and Spiritual Supports: Looking back over a career inevitably prompts some nostalgia – not necessarily because the “old days” were always that good, but because of colleagues, friends and coworkers who came alongside to cast a light on the path. It’s these relationships that many of us recall the most, the content of which made life meaningful, as they continue to do, even today.

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LettersBrian FlatgardMosaic, Disability MinistriesComment
New Year’s Resolutions
New Year’s Resolutions

From Allie Papke-Larson: Now that Christmas day has come and gone, the presents opened, the second turkey of the season stuffed and eaten, and 25 million tons of packaging and old Christmas trees are in our landfills, it’s time for Americans everywhere to consume the next thing: our New Year’s resolutions, plumped up and stuffed by our self-help culture. 

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High Country Conference, LettersBrian Flatgard Comments
Bishop Hutterer: You are hope and light
Bishop Hutterer: You are hope and light

You are light and hope as you answer God’s call in your life, as you do your quiet work which few may see, as you discover and rediscover Jesus Christ in both the friend and the stranger, as you listen to people share their painful stories and wishing we could fix them, or as you listen when people rejoice at small and large victories. 

You are hope and light. God uses you for good in the world. Here is to 2020: for your good health, fearless courage when you need it, and steadiness in the work you are called to do in the Grand Canyon Synod and in your circles of influence. 

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Bishop Hutterer, LettersBrian FlatgardComment
Sharing our stories in times of trouble
Sharing our stories in times of trouble

From Allie Papke-Larson comes this reflection. Papke-Larson is Program Coordinator for Lutheran Campus Ministries/Canterbury Episcopal Campus Ministries at Northern Arizona University and Youth Director at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church in Flagstaff.

When I was in college I studied abroad in Northern Ireland. I was studying under a Northern Irish professor leading me through a semester of study of what some in his country call The Troubles. One of the first things I learned was that if you thought you had it sorted out, you were wrong.

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High Country Conference, LettersBrian Flatgard Comment
Bishop Hutterer: Counting Blessings
Bishop Hutterer: Counting Blessings

As Thanksgiving approaches, we are reminded to notice God’s abundance and “count our blessings.” You may even practice this at a Thanksgiving table of family, friends and food.

It’s easy to think of Jesus at such a table. The Gospel gives us numerous examples of Jesus and the disciples giving thanks for the bread of that day, and then returning to the dusty road of service with nothing more than simple clothes and sandals for walking.

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Bishop Hutterer, LettersBrian FlatgardComment
The wild freedom to love each other as God first loved us
The wild freedom to love each other as God first loved us

From Allie Papke-Larson comes this reflection. Papke-Larson is Program Coordinator for Lutheran Campus Ministries/Canterbury Episcopal Campus Ministries at Northern Arizona University and Youth Director at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church in Flagstaff.

From September 2015 to September 2017 I lived and worked in an intentional community located in the North Cascades of Washington State called Holden Village. My time in the village deeply shaped me and I would like to share with you a piece of what it felt like to begin to leave that place. 

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High Country Conference, LettersBrian Flatgard Comment
Bishop Hutterer: God is calling
Bishop Hutterer: God is calling

At the Bishop’s Fall Gathering, someone asked me, “Where do you find joy?” And, while I find many places of joy, it got me thinking. When I opened myself to serve in this role as bishop, I wasn’t thinking of joy. My prayer was, and still is, that God would use me to serve. Even though I get to do so many wonderful things, there are days when I struggle. 

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Bishop Hutterer, LettersBrian Flatgard Comment
Bishop Hutterer: Our Public Witness
Bishop Hutterer: Our Public Witness

In September the synod council, staff, and conference deans gathered in Tucson for a weekend of church business, worship, fellowship, and a border immersion experience. The experience comes out of our commitment to live into our strategic plan of communicating Jesus: “We will grow our public witness through advocacy, integrating our ELCA theology and engagement with current issues and contextual realities.”

The workshop included time to examine our perceptions around border issues, to cross the border and visit our Lutheran-Episcopal ministry, Cruzando Fronteras, and worship with the GCS’s oldest Spanish speaking congregation, Iglesia San Juan Bautista.

View reports, resources, and reflections of the participants.

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Bishop Hutterer, Immigration, LettersBrian FlatgardComment