Seasonal times of the church year like Lent and Easter are perfect times to raise awareness for issues surrounding hunger and poverty. If your congregation plans to use any of the ELCA 40 Days of Giving materials for the Lenten Season, they need to be ordered now. Follow this link to place your order: https://www.elca.org/Resources/ELCA-World-Hunger
Read MoreCongregations can be vulnerable to legal issues and liabilities related to corporate status, taxes, property, insurance and abuse prevention. Many of these problems can be avoided by using an ELCA-prepared checklist of key issues for congregations to address.
In a free webinar at 11 a.m. (Mountain Time) on Thursday, Feb. 21, the ELCA legal staff will discuss this checklist and best legal practices for congregations. The webinar should be of particular interest to rostered ministers and lay congregational leaders and staff, including congregation council members and officers, church administrators, and pastors and deacons. Register by Feb. 15
Read MoreIn memory of Pastor Roger S. Johnson, February 19, 1931 – January 29, 2019
Pastor Johnson served in the Grand Canyon Synod at Good Samaritan Hospital from 1976 until his retirement in 1996.
Read MoreThis “Perspectives on the Border” webinar series on immigration is a partnership project with Rev. Dr. Jay Alanis, the Lutheran Seminary Program in the Southwest (LSPS), and the following ELCA synods: Grand Canyon, Gulf Coast, Pacifica, Northern Texas-Northern Louisiana, Rocky Mountain, and Southwestern Texas. Register here.
Session I: Living in Third Spaces (March 7, 3pm Central)
Session II: Borderland Perspectives on Diverse Worldviews (March 21, 3pm Central)
Session III: Theological Perspectives from the U.S. – Mexico Borderlands (March 28, 3pm Central)
Back in 1994, before I attended seminary, I was working at a church in the Midwest as the parish life coordinator. In many ways, it was a dream job. I felt called to do this work.
Toward the end of my first year in the position, conflict began to brew. Some church leaders did not agree with how the pastor and staff (of which I was a part) were going about the work of the church and outreach efforts. It was ugly. It felt personal.
Read MoreYou are cordially invited to the dedication of La Sagrada Familia Lutheran Church.
February 10, 2019 at 4:00 pm, 2500 East Campo Bello Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85032.
Fellowship and Refreshments to follow.
Read MoreStories of Joy and Desert Cross, Tempe, went to the movie last weekend, and it was an afternoon of pure JOY! Through a generous grant, SOJ was able to treat families from the Kyrene Resource Center to a private screening of The Grinch. We provided tickets, popcorn, and drinks. The movie provided the laughs, smiles, and joy!
The Kyrene Resource Center is an amazing non-profit that supports families in the Kyrene School District in Tempe, AZ with food, clothing, hygiene products, and schools supplies. You can check them out at Kyrene Resource Center.
Read MoreIf your congregation has a set of hand-chimes that are not being used, perhaps collecting dust in your music closet, we would be happy to discuss purchasing them! Please contact Pastor John Lillie, Lutheran Church of the Foothills, Tucson, AZ (520) 299-5631, or pastor@foothillslutheran.org.
Read MoreSend hogs ‘n’ kisses to your valentine! Give in ELCA Good Gifts honor of your valentine, and help support creative, sustainable solutions to hunger and poverty.
Read MoreSometimes the office of the Bishop looks like this.
View more great photos and follow Bishop Hutterer on Instagram @bishophutterer.
Read MorePastor Kristin Engstrom, the Country Coordinator for the Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM) program in Senegal, shares her latest newsletter. Each year, six to seven young adults from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America join her in Senegal, where they serve for one year with our partners in the Lutheran Church of Senegal and Senegalese Lutheran Development Services.
You can support Pastor Kristin's work by giving through ELCA Global Church Sponsorship. To receive the newsletter, visit the YAGM website and ask to receive it via the contact page.
Read MoreFrom Rob Blezard: “Dear Colleagues, Attached is the monthly “Stewardship Toolkit” I prepare for congregations in my synod. It includes a newsletter article, RCL-based stewardship blurbs for each Sunday bulletin, as well as links to teach, preach, think and do stewardship. The theme of the newsletter article and links is “Holistic stewardship for Lent.” Please use or distribute as you see fit. Also, I’ve launched a blog of current and archival postings on stewardship: www.thestewardshipguy.com.
Blessings, The Rev. Robert C. Blezard, Assistant to the Bishop, Lower Susquehanna Synod”
Read MoreBless the ministry of La Sagrada Familia as they move into their new worship space.
Read MoreUplift the faith community of New Journey, Fountain Hills as they celebrate five years of ministry.
Read MoreRejoice with the congregation of Christ Lutheran, Las Vegas as they celebrate fifty-five years of ministry.
Read MorePrayers for Helen Hoffman (wife of Pastor Les Hoffman) as she recovers from complete shoulder replacement and a fractured kneecap after a fall.
Read MoreIn memory of Pastor Otto Wedul
December 19, 1928 – January 4, 2019
Eternal rest grant unto him , O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon him .
May the soul of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
Pastor Wedul served in the Grand Canyon Synod at American Lutheran Church in Sun City from 1986 until his retirement in 1998.
If you would like to send a condolence card to his wife Audrey, please contact the synod office for the address.
Read MoreWhat is to be done? Our congregations are growing older and smaller. At least 40 percent of our congregations have an average weekly worship attendance of 50 or less. ELCA membership decreases by 70,000 people a year, or roughly the loss of a synod per year. Clergy retirements outnumber new candidates for ministry. Financial pressures and building maintenance create stress. There is a dearth of people in their 20s and 30s in our pews. How do we change this? How do we reverse the trends?
These are anxious questions that come from anxious people across this church. We aren’t the only ones asking them—just about every mainline denomination, including the non-Latino population of the Roman Catholic Church, is in the same boat. Even some megachurches are showing signs of plateau or decline. And this is not exclusive to the Christian community. I once attended a national conference of Muslims where one workshop was titled “Un-Mosqued to Mosqued: How to Get the Young Muslim Back to the Masjid.”
Some now see the decline of the church in general, and the ELCA in particular, as inevitable. The response can be to turn our churches into bunkers with our congregations sheltering within the walls or to try every new program that breathlessly promises to attract people to our congregations. Neither is an effective or faithful long-term strategy.
I think we are asking the wrong questions.
The questions we are asking have to do about us: “What can we do?” They express loss and grief and fear—loss and grief for what we were and fear about what we will become. Not only do these questions not lead to productive answers, they also don’t point to hope. It’s as if the church’s one foundation rests on us and our efforts.
I think we need to ask: “What is God up to?”
Read MoreForm A & C Parochial Reports, which are due February 15, 2019, are available on the ELCA.org Office of the Secretary resource page. These reports as well as many types of other resources can be found the page, which provides a visual way to explore and download resources the ELCA has available. You may also use the ELCA’s powerful search engine to find other resources not listed here.
Read MoreOur Saviour’s Lutheran in Phoenix is looking for a part-time Property Maintenance Coordinator.View this PDF for the position description.To apply, candidates should send a resume to Pastor Karn Carroll at pastorkarn@oslconline.org.
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