September is National Suicide Prevention Month, a month where the fight to end suicide is recognized on a national platform.
Here at the Suicide Prevention Ministry, an Independent Lutheran Organization, suicide prevention is the driving force of our daily work and the focus of our call to love our neighbor, care for the sick, and carry each other’s burdens.
Read MoreBishop Eaton invites us to an online benefit for ELCA World Hunger, Thursday, Oct. 14, 5:30 p.m. MST/PDT, via Zoom. Register here.
Join Bishop Eaton and Rick Steves, guidebook author and travel TV host, as they celebrate World Food Day!
Read MorePresiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton encourages us to celebrate and pray for the new bishops being installed in our region and throughout America.
Read MoreThe 2021-2022 Stories of Faith in Action resources are available at ELCA.org/SOFIA. Dive into the latest issue, which is now available in its digital edition or print edition, and includes:
A special message from ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton.
Nine inspiring stories from around the country and the world.
Your 2020 financial report on Mission Support — the portion of your offering your congregation shares with your synod, and your synod shares with the churchwide organization.
A story-based devotional for use at Bible studies or committee meetings.
Stephen Bouman was bishop of the ELCA Metropolitan New York Synod at the time of the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. He shares his faith journey in this article in Living Lutheran.
Read MoreAs we observe the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, tragedies, Bishop Eaton invites us to remember, reflect and pray. Let us never forget the many lives lost or that many still carry the burdens of grief, trauma, and illness. As we remember the trauma of 9/11 and its aftermath, may we reflect on and hold fast to the promise that God has given us a future of hope.
Read MoreIn September, Living Lutheran is looking at some of the topics that may be hard to handle and how we engage with those we disagree with They start with one of our newest synod bishops, Megan Rohrer of the Sierra Pacific Synod, who says regarding the difficult topics they encounter, “All I have to do in the conversation is to be faithful.”
Read MoreAs this time of pandemic carries on, sometimes it’s easy to forget that we’re still living through something major and global. In the midst of anxiety and fear, Bishop Eaton shares the words of Jesus, “Come to me, all you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”
Read MoreIn the August newsletter of the Navajo Lutheran Mission (NELM), Kate Adelson writes, “Blessed with resources and generous donors, the Mission’s potential is enormous…and we have the equally enormous challenge to listen for the true need, consider consequences before we act, serve without dominating, love unconditionally.”
Read MoreIn Madagascar, the current infant and maternal mortality rate is 353 per 100,000 live births. The Malagasy Lutheran Church (MLC) is helping to work toward the country’s goal of reducing that rate to 70 per 100,000.
In this post, Dr. Rivosoa Nasoloniaina shares the Remafi program, which connects traditional birth attendants in rural areas with hospitals and clinics. Remafi offers trainings, facilitates collaboration and encourages traditional birth attendants to prepare mothers for hospital births.
Read MoreGenerosity is not just about our money. It is an attitude. It is a way of viewing the world. I was sitting watching the news and bemoaning the fate of the Afghans who had supported the US and their possible fate. Like for most people it brought me memories of the fall of South Vietnam and the plight of those who had aided the US.
Read MoreFor nearly a century, Lutherans have been helping to resettle those fleeing harm. As we pray for Afghanistan, we are called to support those arriving in the U.S. by becoming a part of the long welcome for these families.
Support LIRS’ Neighbors in Need: Afghan Allies fund, which will provide food, housing assistance, clothing, and other basic needs for our Afghan friends as they await the official services available to them by visiting LIRS.org/HelpNow.
Read MoreIn this season of Labor Day and “God’s work. Our hands.” Sunday, our nation and the ELCA focuses on the nature of work. As the pandemic and natural disasters continue, our call to do God’s work becomes clearer, louder, and more urgent.
Read MoreHey, everyone! My name is Vanessa Young, and I’m excited to serve as the Team Leader for Gathering Synod Coordinators (GSCs) for the 2022 ELCA Youth Gathering in Minneapolis.
Have you met your Gathering Synod Coordinator yet? If you don’t know who they are, you can send them an email on the “Find Your Synod Coordinator” feature on the Gathering website.
Read MoreThis month I chose to write about sabbath-keeping because I thought it could be a therapeutic activity that might even lead to firmer sabbath disciplines in my life.
I considered my sabbath day to be my day off—one that instantly filled with errands, doctor appointments, housework, quality time with family and maybe a true-crime show on TV. My so-called sabbath day was packed with activity. My “day off” from church was actually a “day on” at home.
Read MoreThe Gathering is an integral part of the ecology of faith formation and call narrative in the ELCA. There are those who question the value of specialized ministries such as the Gathering, especially in a time of declining church attendance and difficult budget cuts. But I am not one of them, especially after fresh research has demonstrated the importance of several crucial ministries in the ELCA. I also know the impacts first-hand.
Read MoreDuring this week of devastating news, Bishop Eaton encourages us to take a brief pause in silence, that we may be able to hear the voices of those affected by tragedy, listen for God, and respond to suffering in our world.
Read MoreThe Wisdom Keepers Program is an exciting new way to communicate Jesus, connect people, and create possibilities. It is an amazing opportunity for accompanying the local community as we rediscover the Gospel as interpreted through Navajo culture, traditions, and language.
Read MoreFor many years, I gave little thought to the complexity of my being Osage, Lutheran and gay. Growing up in the Osage nation and learning about my Osage ancestors, history and customs; following my path to self-acceptance as a gay man; embracing the Lutheran Christian faith—these seemed to be three quite different aspects of my story. And though they overlapped chronologically, they didn’t always connect.
Now, after years of reflection and with more experience interpreting my own story, I have begun to understand how all this made me who I am.
Read MoreIn this Living Lutheran profile, we meet Ben Iboshi, who attends Augustana Lutheran Church, Portland, Oregon, is a senior at Grant High School in Portland, and founder/chair of the Youth Leadership Academy to End Gun Violence.
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