Deacon Janice Zimbelman will begin her call as Director of Congregation Transition beginning January 15, 2022. She serves in this role in partnership with the Grand Canyon and Rocky Mountain Synods.
We give thanks to Pastor Sarah Moening, who is currently serving as Director of Congregation Transition, and will conclude this ministry on February 1, 2022.
Read More“Attending the most recent annual UN climate change conference in Glasgow, COP26, was great for the ELCA living out its public witness and social teachings. Our ELCA delegation was diverse and included frontline people – folks most impacted by climate change,” said Ruth Ivory-Moore, ELCA program director for environment and Corporate Social Responsibility. Hear also from Lutheran leaders who give us a sense of what it meant to be there.
Read MoreSaturday, December 18, was International Migrants Day, a day set aside by the United Nations to raise awareness and focus attention on the 281 million people around the world where are on the move, in search of peace, stability, security and an opportunity for new life. In 2020, more than 3.6% of people around the world were migrants.
In this podcast, Giovana Oaxaca, the ELCA’s program director for migration policy, joins Ryan Cumming of ELCA World Hunger to talk about the realities of migration and immigration policy.
Read MoreAmending the Christian Story: The Natural Sciences as a Window into Grounded Faith and Sustainable Living, by Ron Rude is now available at wipfandstock.com, bookshop.org, or Amazon. A press kit is newly available here.
After several years of research and writing and teaching, with worldview-altering insights into Nature's natural sciences and life's experience, "Amending the Christian Story" reframes and recasts God's story of life and God's story of Jesus.
Read MoreWe share December’s Advocacy Connections from the ELCA advocacy office in Washington, D.C., which includes: Human Infrastructure, Housing In Federal Budget, Climate Risks, Cuba Policy, and Immigration Policy Provisions.
We also share the December Update: UN and State Edition, and fully excerpt the Arizona update from LAMA in our post.
Read MoreThe Office of the Bishop will be closed Friday through Monday, 12/24/2021–12/27/2021, and Friday through Monday, 12/31/2021–1/3/2022. We pray for a peaceful and safe Christmas and New Year’s for our synod.
Read MoreWe invite you to a presentation on the Anchor Church model on Tuesday 1/11/2022, 7pm MST, 6pm PST, with Pastor Charles Newman of Crossroads in San Tan Valley. Anchor Church is a grassroots movement within the ELCA where leaders accompany leaders toward cultural transformation within congregations. Register for the Zoom meeting here.
Read MoreThe Advent season is also one of installations. We celebrated Pastor Doug Dill’s installation at Central Lutheran in Arizona City this past Sunday. And Bishop Hutterer heads to Las Vegas to preach and preside at St. Andrew for Pastor Mari Larson installation this Sunday. Find out what the staff is doing in our weekly update.
Read MoreThe Arizona Department of Health Services reports 94 percent of beds in the state are full, with Covid-19 patients making up about a third of those hospitalized.
All but two counties in our synod continue to have extremely high levels of risk for unvaccinated people.
Extremely high risk counties for unvaccinated people in our synod include Apache, Cochise, Coconino, Gila, Graham, Greenlee, Maricopa, Mohave, Navajo, Pima, Pinal, Santa Cruz, Washington, Yavapai, and Yuma counties.
The Faith Lutheran Church Office Administrator is a part-time role of approximately 20-25 hours per week. This is an in-office role on our campus located at 801 E. Camelback Rd, Phoenix, AZ.
Read MoreStirred by the need to help resettle Afghan refugees, a team of pastoral and lay leaders from four Northeast Valley Conference churches—Living Water (Scottsdale), New Journey (Fountain Hills), New Covenant (Scottsdale), and Christ the Lord (Carefree), known collectively as the NE Valley Consortium—gathered enough goods to completely furnish two two-bedroom homes and raised $30,000 for an emergency fund.
Read MoreTemple Beth Shalom, a Reform Jewish congregation in the northwest valley is filling a new part time position. The position of Outreach and Communications Assistant is one that requires the incumbent to get to know and informally communicate regularly with our members, in order to effectively work closely with the Rabbi on Outreach and other member efforts. Being Jewish is not a requirement for this position.
Read MoreOur Saviour’s Lutheran in Tucson has sanctuary furniture looking for a new home. All pieces are solid wood and in good condition, and include a communion table, pulpit and lectern, and oil lamp candles. Contact Pastor Amalia at Our Saviour's Lutheran for more information: pastoramalia@lutherantucson.org.
Read MorePastor Dan Valasakos, synod council member and pastor at Mount Zion Lutheran in Tucson, shares a book of Advent daily devotions. Each devotions is accompanied with watercolor illustrations by Valaskos. The book is available on the Mount Zion website through these links: Advent Devotional - Daily Advent Meditations, Advent Devotional Printable Booklet (print two sided -flip at short side).
Read MoreThe Rev. Dr. Mari Larson will be installed as Associate Pastor on Sunday, December 19, 2021, at St. Andrew's Lutheran in Las Vegas at the 8:30 and 10:00 AM worship services. The Rev. Deborah K. Hutterer, Bishop of the Grand Canyon Synod, will preside over the installation and preach.
Read MoreAfter a two-year pause, the ELCA’s Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM) program is preparing to send volunteers out into the world again! Applications are now open, and you can invite young adults on this journey abroad for the 2022-2023 program year.
Encourage them to apply for YAGM by the deadline of Feb.1, 2022. (Priority deadline is Jan. 15, 2022.) Learn more at ELCA.org/YAGM.
Read MoreSince the beginning of November, refugees from Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria have been stuck at the Belarus-Poland border. They are experiencing a lack of food, medical supplies and shelter and are facing winter weather with no place to go.
Read MoreWomen of the ELCA is offering scholarshipsfor Lutheran laywomen and ordained ministry. Scholarship applications are due before 4/5/2022. Learn more about Women of the ELCA Scholarships.
Read MoreWe are very excited to see you next July for the 2022 Multicultural Youth Leadership Event (MYLE) and happy that we get to lead the brand new MYLE team called Cultural Awareness.
We have heard stories about microaggressions and other harms that have happened at past MYLEs. These stories break our hearts, and we are working hard to help people do better and for everyone to have a better experience at MYLE, in their faith communities and in the world.
Read MoreLutheran Disaster Response is collaborating with the Indiana-Kentucky Synod and other partners in the area to assess the damage and develop an immediate and a long-term response plan. Your gifts to support these response efforts will empower our partners to meet survivors’ immediate and long-term needs.
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