Posts in Letters
Rev. Amy E. Reumann: Anniversary beckons constructive civic engagement
Rev. Amy E. Reumann: Anniversary beckons constructive civic engagement

A year ago, I watched the storming of the U.S. Capitol with horror – outraged at the violence and assault on our democracy, fearful for the lives of public servants and appalled at the proliferation of Christian language and symbols used by the mob. I turned to the book of Isaiah that day, especially chapter 61 where the prophet promises comfort and restoration to those who mourn.

The prophet unveils a vision for rebuilding out of the rubble of national tragedy. The blog post “Actual Renewal and Repair After Capitol Breach” explored this vision and the work of the church after January 6, 2021.

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ELCA, LettersBrian FlatgardAdvocacy, ELCA AdvocacyComment
The Journal of Lutheran Ethics: 2020-2021, A Retrospective
The Journal of Lutheran Ethics: 2020-2021, A Retrospective

As the secular year draws to a close and the new church year opens into the season of Advent it seems a fitting moment to take a pause and to reflect on the turbulent last two years. This issue of JLE, therefore, is not introducing a new topic but is instead drawing together some of the articles previously published on three issues that loom large this December: Climate Change, COVID 19, and Possibilities for Dialogue. Read more.

In addition, check out their new 2022 Call for Papers here. Read the current issue.

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ELCA, News, LettersBrian FlatgardJournal of Lutheran EthicsComment
Bishop Eaton: The cross on Christmas?
Bishop Eaton: The cross on Christmas?

In her December column for Living Lutheran, ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton reminds us that the cross is the true gift of Christmas: “All of our Christmas glorias are realized in Jesus’ glorification on the cross. We have peace. We have hope. We are loved. And not just at Christmas.” Read her column in English at https://bit.ly/3suio95 and in Spanish at https://bit.ly/32hG0mz.

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Bishop Eaton, LettersBrian FlatgardBishop Elizabeth Eaton, 2021 Advent and Christmas, Advent and ChristmasComment
Allie Papke-Larson: A reflection on a drawing by Sister Grace Remington
Allie Papke-Larson: A reflection on a drawing by Sister Grace Remington

When I first saw this image I felt a wave of release of personal judgement and connection to these two women, a wave full of humanness and grace.

It felt like the meeting of the selves, for me, almost in the way Martin Luther speaks about each person being concurrently Sinner and Saint.

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LettersBrian FlatgardAllie Papke-Larson, High Country Conference, LCM NAU, Shepherd of the Hills Flagstaff, Advent and Christmas, 2021 Advent and Christmas Comments
Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton: Christmas Message 2021
Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton: Christmas Message 2021

This is our second pandemic Christmas and there's so much that's broken in this world, so much that tells us, “Why have hope? Just give up.” But we have a hope that's stronger than any of this, stronger even than death. The hope of God comes in the form of a tiny baby, a helpless child. "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

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Bishop Eaton, LettersBrian FlatgardAdvent and Christmas, 2021 Advent and ChristmasComment
Bishop Eaton: Living in charged times
Bishop Eaton: Living in charged times

Feeling stressed? Stressful times often lead to unkind words and actions toward one another. Bishop Eaton reminds us to consider Luther’s explanation to the 8th commandment: We are to fear and love God so that we don’t tell lies about our neighbors, betray or slander them or destroy their reputation. Instead we are to come to their defense, speak well of them and interpret everything they do in the best possible light.

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Bishop Eaton, ELCA, LettersBrian FlatgardBishop Elizabeth EatonComment
Bishop Eaton issues message on 80th anniversary of Pearl Harbor Day
Bishop Eaton issues message on 80th anniversary of Pearl Harbor Day

Eighty years ago, on a beautiful Sunday morning, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, was tragically transformed from an island paradise into a bloody battlefield. After the Japanese bombed the U.S. Navy, war was declared and tragedy ensued. During times like these, the Lutheran church has always trusted our chaplains to bring a ministry of Word and Sacrament — to remind people that, no matter how difficult the circumstances, there is always a way toward peace.

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Bishop Eaton, ELCA, LettersBrian FlatgardBishop Elizabeth EatonComment
A Cup of Generosity: The tie between thankfulness and generosity
A Cup of Generosity: The tie between thankfulness and generosity

Have you ever seen somebody going through a really tough time during Thanksgiving and wondered how they could feel thankful? Or know people who are really poor and wonder how they could be generous?

What I have learned over the years is that thankfulness and generosity are intrinsically tied together and yet neither has very much to do with one's circumstances or fortunes. Read in this post or view as PDF.

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Letters, Grand Canyon SynodBrian FlatgardStewardship, A Cup of Generosity, GCS Stewardship Team Comment
Regina Fredrick: Facing family violence so peace catches on
Regina Fredrick: Facing family violence so peace catches on

We are thankful to share a perspective from a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.

“Violence and peace are contagious. Maintaining them depends on one’s decision. A family member who has been raised experiencing one of the two is most likely to act the same toward people around them. One act of peace can change a society, and the same of violence.”

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ELCA, LettersBrian FlatgardAdvocacy, ELCA AdvocacyComment
Invest in future by telling Indian boarding school truth now
Invest in future by telling Indian boarding school truth now

As both a member of the Cherokee nation and a first-generation Mexican American, news stories from the southern border in 2018 were more than just headlines for me.

These stories tap into the deep, largely unacknowledged, pain that Indigenous peoples in the United States have carried for generations around the governmental and the church practice of forcefully removing Native American children to send them to residential boarding schools. The philosophy of one of these institutions, The Carlisle School in Pennsylvania, was “Kill the Indian, save the man.”

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ELCA, LettersBrian FlatgardAdvocacy, ELCA AdvocacyComment
Bishop Hutterer: A common table
Bishop Hutterer: A common table

For most of our lives, we’ve been aware that the promise of Thanksgiving—warm and loving reunions of family and friends around a common table heaped with abundance—can set us up for disappointments.

This year, in our first post-vaccination Thanksgiving, our hopes may even be higher as we finally gather in the larger groups we’ve yearned to be in. We’re striving for a “normal” Thanksgiving.

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Bishop Hutterer, Letters, Grand Canyon SynodBrian FlatgardBishop Hutterer LettersComment
Jill Fabricius Keith: Building relationships in Indigenous communities
Jill Fabricius Keith: Building relationships in Indigenous communities

It’s a sunny day in the Wind River Range of Wyoming. A group of Indigenous people and I form a circle to burn tobacco and offer a prayer of thanks to the Creator for the plants we’re gathering today. Once we pray and provide an offering to Mother Earth, we scatter across the wide-open space to dig up roots and collect berries.

For five years I’ve been listening, learning, collecting plants and building relationships with the Restoring Shoshone Ancestral Food Gathering (RSAFG) group from the Wind River Indian Reservation.

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ELCA, LettersBrian FlatgardLiving Lutheran, American Indian and Alaska NativeComment