Caring for creation is not just a boutique issue for the few, but a faith issue for all of us. As COP26, the UN Climate Change Conference, is underway in Glasgow, Bishop Eaton reminds us that we are called to tend God’s garden and be good stewards of creation.
Read MoreThis month, we commemorate two particularly inspirational Catholic saints, Martin de Porres on November 3, and Elizabeth of Hungary on November 17, who each exemplified “faith active in love” in important ways. What might we learn from these important leaders?
Read MoreGreetings! My name is Rev. Lisa Heffernan, and on June 1st I began serving as coordinator for ELCA Disability Ministries. I work remotely out of South Dakota, where I am also serving as a part-time interim pastor with a congregation.
As a person with a disability (spina bifida), this ministry is especially close to my heart and I’m excited for where God is leading us in 2022 and beyond.
Read MoreThe Lutheran movement has a distinctive voice. The world has been saved and redeemed through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and it’s not our effort but God’s. And it’s a gift! Bishop Eaton encourages us to revisit the small catechism this Reformation Day and recall the Lutheran exposition of the gospel.
Read MoreThe best stewardship campaign I ever planned was not done in the fall, but over Lent. I am writing this now in case anyone wants to think about doing it next spring.
About New Year’s I asked people to begin thinking about the most generous person they knew and to write a short story about what they had observed about that person that made them think that way.
Read MoreThe Evangelical Lutheran Church in America joins 14 other Churches and church-based organizations in a letter to Secretary of State Blinken to express concerns about the recent Israeli decision to label key Palestinian human rights and civil society organizations as “terrorist organizations.” Read the letter as PDF or in this post.
Read MorePastor Kristin Engstrom writes to share her new call with ELCA Global Mission as the Facilitator for Leadership Development and Capacity Building with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zambia. She also celebrates four years of the YAGM Senegal program.
Her YAGM Senegal blog will remain online, and she is now posting to her new blog.
Read MoreHow long can you spend in silence? Did you know that God appears as “sheer silence” in the Bible? Learn why Bishop Eaton’s spiritual director recommends 20 minutes of silence each day as a faith practice.
Read MoreLike many of you, I have been praying for the Reformed Church in America (RCA) as it met in General Synod, Oct. 14-19, in Tucson, Ariz. For nearly a quarter century, we have grown in full communion with the RCA, sharing in mutual ministry and mission. We have come to know each other through our common witness to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Read MoreBishop Eaton reminds us that spending time in silence is a spiritual discipline, a way of being in God’s presence. Read her October column for Living Lutheran in English at https://bit.ly/3jfr8dL and in Spanish at https://bit.ly/3n5x8ab.
Read MoreMost of you have heard of the ELCA’s goal to engage 1 million new, young, diverse members by the end of the decade. But what about the rest of us, the ones already engaged? Bishop Eaton has your answer.
Read MoreIt’s harvest season in various parts of the United States. I’m mindful of a parable Jesus shares about a harvest where the crops were infiltrated by weeds. Jesus compares the kindom of God to a farmer who sows good seed in his field. While everyone is sleeping, the enemy creeps in and sows weeds in this farmer’s field.
Read MoreJoin Bishop Eaton in giving thanks for this year’s Fund for Leaders recipients, a scholarship program which supports seminary students. We’re grateful for all future ministers, their confidence and courage to lead the church, and the ways they share the love of God in Christ with God’s people. Are you considering a call to ministry? Visit: elcaseminaries.org/
Read MoreOn Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we celebrate the heritage and contributions of Indigenous members of our church and society. Bishop Eaton also invites us into a time of confession and commitment.
We confess the church’s failure to address the racism that has so damaged Indigenous communities. We commit to working cooperatively to promote justice for Indigenous people, participating in acts of advocacy, practicing land acknowledgements and taking seriously the experiences of our Indigenous neighbors. Together we are all children of God, redeemed by Jesus, sustained by the Spirit.
Read MoreBut when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. —Matthew 6:3
Do you ever feel like neither your left or right hand know what to do about giving? Do you ever feel overwhelmed with all the needs in the world and all the requests for money and help that you get knowing you don’t have the resources to help them all?
Read MoreMy father taught me how to pray the Lord’s Prayer when I was a little girl—much too young to understand what trespasses or forgiveness meant.
Forgiveness is an inescapable aspect of the human condition, touching nearly every facet of our lives. Yet it seems as if the concept of God’s forgiveness has been co-opted by pop culture, which has left it somewhere between a buzzword and a spiritual practice.
Read MoreOur church teaches that, as a matter of dignity for all people, the U.S. has an international and moral responsibility to honor the human rights and dignity of migrants, and to not be silent in the face of racial injustice against people of African descent.
Read MoreMeet Selena Wilkes, Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, Williamsport, Md: Entrepreneur with several businesses, CEO of Elmwood Farm Hospitality Group and Port 44, retired Ladies Professional Golf Association Futures Tour golfer, motivational speaker, former council president of Zion, board member on several community nonprofits including the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
Read MoreReflecting on the early church, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton writes: “They were one body. We are one body. We are the body of Christ.” Despite cultural and political differences, she reminds us that we can’t dissolve this bond. Read her September column for Living Lutheran in English at https://bit.ly/3hMNz9G and in Spanish at https://bit.ly/3tVcAUM.
Read MoreWe share a letter from the directors of ELCA Mission Support about the inspiration to be found in Stories of Faith in Action.
Through your generosity, God is at work across the ELCA.
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