This issue of Risk Reporter provides insight on reducing legal liabilities. We cover a variety of topics from ADA implications and sanctuary congregations to attractive nuisances and more to help you navigate potentially litigious situations. Learn more about the new Church Mutual Now™ app and how it can help you stay in front of risks and liabilities. View PDF full issue
Read MoreA familiar Easter hymn calls Jesus the “risen conqu’ring Son.” In Romans 8 Paul says we are “more than conquerors” through Christ. In a world which has much tragedy and suffering, what does Paul mean? Are we really more than conquerors? How? Read more»
Faith Lens features weekly bible studies that engage youth and young adults in connecting world events with the Bible, faith, and everyday life.
Read MoreThese petitions are offered as guides to prayer for the global, social and outreach ministries of the ELCA, as well as for the needs and circumstances of our neighbors, communities and world. Thank you for your continued prayers for the life and mission of this church. Download a Word doc, or PDF for letter size printout or legal size printout, or read on the GCS news blog.
Read MoreToday’s post is by Linda Witte Henke, an artist specializing in liturgically purposed art for congregation, synod, and churchwide settings (See three new collections of print-on-demand banner fabrics at www.lindahenke.com). This is Linda’s third post offering designs and templates for using visuals to enrich worship.
Read MoreThe Rev. Robert C. Blezard continues to provide a “Stewardship Toolkit” for congregations. This month’s theme: Stewardship of community.
It consists of an original newsletter article and RCL-based “stewardship snippets” that they can cut and paste into their publications. It also has resources to explore the theme set out in the newsletter article.
Read MoreAs these words are written, the fire in Notre Dame, the historic cathedral in the heart of Paris, has finally been brought under control. Memorable scenes of the day include the silhouette of the church against the towering flames, the tall spire collapsing, and mourners praying as they watched in horror. Read more»
Faith Lens features weekly bible studies that engage youth and young adults in connecting world events with the Bible, faith, and everyday life.
Read MoreRick Warren writes about how to break through the 200 – 300 attendance barrier.
“It is a barrier, a real barrier. We had a harder time getting through that barrier — getting above 300 — than going from 1000 to 3000. It’s a definite, distinct barrier.”
Read MoreIt is easy to think of malaria prevention as simply providing mosquito nets for prevention and medicine to those who have fallen ill. But there’s much more to it than that.
Burure is in the Gokwe Region of Zimbabwe, bordered by rivers that are notoriously difficult to cross during the rainy season. It is an area that has been plagued by outbreaks of malaria in the past. It is one of the most remote areas served by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe (ELCZ).
Read MoreIn this episode of the Three Sides podcast we focus on the unique partnerships that exist among three distinct congregations in Rockford, Ill.
The three pastors share the motivation behind the creation of these partnerships, the joys of being in ministry together and the challenges they’ve encountered along the way. Each discusses how their congregations have adapted over time to respond to the needs of both their immediate communities and the larger community they share.
Read MoreSt. Matthew Trinity Lutheran Church’s Lunchtime Ministry offers a warm meal, hospitality and community to neighbors in Hoboken, N.J.
The ministry serves about 65 people per day. In addition to meals, they offer free haircuts, music and a sense of community. Stanley Enzweiler, the program manager, said while different things bring people there, the only requirement is respect for the space and the people around them.
Read MoreThe ELCA provides free Easter communication tools you can download and use today.
The ELCA offers a place of welcome for all seeking a congregational home. Your congregations can extend an invitation to neighbors and the surrounding community through the use of these customizable communications tools.
Read MoreLent carries us with the Hebrews in search of the promised land, with Jesus into the wilderness and, ultimately, to the cross at Calvary. It is a somber season in the church year, so somber, in fact, that by the end, Christians will have gone 40 days without hearing “Alleluia” during worship. There is no other time during the church year when language in worship is so circumscribed as this. Many congregations even practice the tradition of “burying the Alleluia” at the start of the season, a ritual with ties going back to the Middle Ages by some estimates.
Read MoreYim Kheng and her husband, Yi Pheng live in Cambodia with four of their children and one granddaughter. They received a plot of land through a social land concession, a government program intended to provide people who don’t own land with space for homes and to generate income through agriculture.
Read MoreAt St. Matthew Trinity Lutheran Church’s Lunchtime Ministry in Hoboken, N.J., about 65 people each day come through the doors for a warm meal, extra clothing, a listening ear and a brief respite from the streets many live on each day. On Mondays, volunteers provide free haircuts. On Wednesdays, Chef Bill makes special “bill-ritos” from scratch. Every day, visitors are welcomed like honored guests, treated with the respect and hospitality that can be hard to find when you are experiencing homelessness.
Hoboken is a long way from Calvary. But for people who face the threats of homelessness, hunger and poverty, the shadow of the cross looms large. The jeers of the crowd that greeted Christ on that lonely hill are echoed in the derision and dismissal so many of us and our neighbors face when living in shelters, in cars or out on the street. The threat of a legal and political system tilted against Christ is felt still today, as laws that criminalize poverty and homelessness make the challenges our neighbors face seem almost insurmountable.
Read MoreIn the remote and mountainous community of Llano de las Piedras, Cochoapa el Grande in Guerrero, Mexico, poverty and lack of opportunity can make healthy food hard to come by. As a result, children can suffer from malnutrition and slowed growth and development. Marcelina and her daughters, Imelda, 12, and Esmeralda, 10, were among the families who had a tough time affording enough healthy food.
Read More“And the book says, ‘We might be through with the past, but the past ain’t through with us.’”
So says the character Jimmy Gator in the 1999 film Magnolia. At its best, the past can evoke nostalgic memories of years gone by. At its worst, the past can seem like a burden, weighing down our prospects for the future. By faith, we look forward to God's promise of “a future with hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). The sin that separates us from trust in the promise of God, though, needles the soul with the stark reminder: “the past ain’t through with us.”
Read MoreIn the village of Chole, Shadrack Tsatautenda has been cultivating trees for two years, and the oldest are nearly ready to sell and transplant. His nursery was made possible by a small business loan from the village savings and loan group established by Evangelical Lutheran Development Services in Malawi (ELDS), supported by your gifts to ELCA World Hunger.
Read MoreIn this bonus episode, Three Sides features Wendy Davidson, president of US Specialty Channels at the Kellogg Co. In her full interview from the “Women Who Lead” episode, Davidson shares insight on the intersection of her faith journey and leadership development through challenges, learnings and utilizing her seat at the table for change.
Read MoreIn the previous session, we learned how Martin Luther wrote that repentance consists in two things: contrition for sins and “taking hold of the promise.”
The “promise” here is the gift of grace through faith in Jesus Christ. It is the promise of new life in the fullness of God’s reign. It is the promise of the gospels and the prophets, the promise our ancestors in the faith clung to, and the promise that carries the people of God today into communities around the world, accompanying neighbors amid staggering challenges of poverty, hunger and injustice.
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