On May 15, ELCA members and the Racine (Wis.) Interfaith Coalition called for just immigration reform at an evening prayer vigil held outside the Kenosha County Detention Center. Read the full story in Living Lutheran and see the video on ELCA’s YouTube channel.
Read MoreLet’s create a new song! Review our assembly resources page, where voting members and visitors can quickly find information and tools needed before and during the 2019 Grand Canyon Synod Assembly.
During the week of assembly, this page will temporarily replace our regular home page. From June 9-16, 2019, you’ll be able to quickly access this resource page by visiting gcsynod.org or clicking the logo at the top of any page on the site. (You can find other assembly information on the main assembly page.)
Read MoreWatch the ELCA’s 2018 in Review on their YouTube channel. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a church that shares a living, daring confidence in God's grace. Liberated by our faith, we embrace you as a whole person--questions, complexities and all. Join us as we do God's work in Christ's name for the life of the world.
Read MoreThe Community Lutheran Celebration choir (Las Vegas) sang at Carnegie Hall in New York City on Sunday May 26th, 2019. The 79 singers from the CLC choir joined seven other church choirs from six states and a province of Canada.
“I was thrilled to be part of the choir and it was a great way to end my tenure as Senior Pastor of CLC,” said Dr. Mark Wickstrom, who is retiring on June 16, 2019.
Read MoreChildren coming to our nation for safety and protection are still dying at our southern border while in U.S. detention.
I am deeply dismayed by the deaths of these children, made in the image of God, who came to our southern border as refugees and asylum seekers to ask us for protection. As a nation we denied them that safety, instead placing them in detention facilities, sometimes for months.
Read MoreWe pray for Shepherd of the Desert Lutheran Church, Sun City, AZ as they continue to be an intergenerational congregation that puts the Love of Christ into action from one generation to another, and from their community to the world. We uplift: The Rev. Dr. Daniel Defassio, Senior Pastor; Kristen Wood, Administrative Secretary; Sue Jordan, Administrative Assistant; and Victor Lozano, Custodian.
Read MoreWe pray for the recovery of Richard Andersen, Executive Director of the Spirit in the Desert Retreat Center. As of this writing, Richard is in ICU and in “stable but critical” condition after a health incident Tuesday night.
Read MoreNew resources for observing Migrant and Refugee Sunday are now available. The all-new resources for Migrant and Refugee Sunday include commentaries written by former refugees for preaching on the lessons for Pentecost, a Pentecost/World Refugee Day Litany, Prayer Petitions for June, and other worship and education materials that will be updated each month. Check out the website www.lirs.org/migrant-refugee-sunday
Read MoreOver Memorial Day Weekend, tornadoes continued to rip through the central United States. Lutheran Disaster Response is providing immediate and long-term relief. View a PDF version of the report. Be a part of the response:
Pray: Please pray for the communities who were impacted by these destructive tornadoes. Give: Gifts to “U.S. Tornadoes” will be used to until the response is complete. Connect: Share this bulletin insert with your congregation; sign up to receive alerts; check the LDR blog, Facebook, and Twitter.
Read MoreFrom Pastor Lars Hammar comes Open Space’s newsletter. Click here to view it in PDF. Excerpt: “We had the privilege of doing another joint project with our fellow ELCA congregation, San Juan Bautista.”
Learn more at www.openspacetucson.com.
Read MoreWe pray for the family of Pastor John Cockram who passed away on May 23rd. Pastor John retired to Oregon, but served in the Grand Canyon Synod at Shepherd of the Desert in in Sun City and at Prince of Peace in Phoenix. May he rest in God’s eternal peace.
Read MoreWe uplift in prayer Church of Our Saviour, in Lakeside, AZ, a congregation of the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona in communion with the Grand Canyon Synod. We pray for Rector Kerry Neuhardt, Parish Secretary Marcia Allen, and Senior Warden Dick Hileman.
Read MorePrayers for Pastor Abel Arroyo Traverso, First Evangelical Lutheran Church, Mesa, as he recuperates and recovers from emergency back surgery.
Read MoreAt Grace Lutheran, Phoenix, we are called by God to be in the city for good! Our calling during the summer months is to provide a cool place for those seeking refuge from the heat, as well as a safe space for building community through the sharing of meals, water, activities, community resources and ourselves. To that end, Grace hosts a heat relief station June 10th-August 30th, Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. For more info, visit our website , view a PDF of our volunteer orientation meeting, or contact Clottee Hammons at outreach@graceinthecity.com.
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 view the ELCA resource page.
Read MoreI was officiating at the wedding of two of our Clemson University alumni. Their friends stood up to make remarks – all of which were glowing and emotional. Some of these had gone to Clemson, so they included a “Go Tigers!” in their comments. Then there was the admission from one that she attended a college in the SEC Conference rather than the ACC. (College football rivalries are important in the South.) These exchanges were good natured and humorous; some such exchanges are not. Our country seems to be in a phase were name-calling and belittling have ceased to be taboo.
Read MoreLutheran Engagement And Advocacy in Nevada (LEAN) is providing monthly updates to synod offices. Welcome to their first newsletter, from Sheila Freed, LEAN Board Member & Publicist.
By the time you read this, the 2019 Nevada Legislature may well be over. When it ends, the presiding officer in each chamber adjourns the meeting “sine die.” This is a Latin phrase, universally mispronounced, that translates literally as “without a day.” It makes it sound terribly final, as if no one is ever coming back again. We all know that two years from now many of the same people will be back, often confronting the same issues.
Read MoreMay Update: Advocacy Connections from the ELCA Advocacy office in Washington, D.C. – the Rev. Amy E. Reumann, director. This May wrap-up includes updates on Disaster Aid Bill, Central American Minors Program, Affordable Housing in the Federal Budget, Foreign Assistance to Northern Triangle, Global Conflict Prevention.
Read MorePlease hold the following Bishops and Synods in your prayers as they gather for their synod assemblies on the following dates:
Bishop David Zellmer, South Dakota Synod, May 30-June 1, 2019
Bishop Brian Maas, Nebraska Synod, May 30-June 1, 2019
Bishop John Macholz, Upstate New York Synod, May 30-June 1, 2019
Bishop William Gohl, Delaware-Maryland Synod, May 30-June 1, 2019
Bishop Timothy Smith, North Carolina Synod, May 30-June 1, 2019
Bishop Herman Yoos, South Carolina Synod, May 30-June 1, 2019
Bishop Julian Gordy, Southeastern Synod, May 30-June 1, 2019
Bishop Guy Erwin, Southwest California Synod, May 31-June 1, 2019
Bishop Steve Delzer, Southeastern Minnesota Synod, May 31-June 1, 2019
Bishop Paul Erickson, Greater Milwaukee Synod, May 31-June 1, 2019
Bishop Matthew Riegel, West Virginia-Western Maryland Synod, May 31-June 1, 2019
Bishop Jessica Crist, Montana Synod, May 31-June 2, 2019
Bishop Sue Briner, Southwestern Texas Synod, May 31-June 2, 2019
Bishop William Gafkjen, Indiana-Kentucky Synod, May 31-June 2, 2019
Bishop Sam Zeiser, Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod, June 1, 2019
Please pray for the South Dakota Synod, Southeastern Synod, Southwest California Synod, Southeastern Minnesota Synod, and Montana Synod as they elect a bishop.
Read MoreMost people have heard of Joni Eareckson Tada, the woman who’s arms and legs entered paralysis at 17 after breaking her neck in a diving accident. It is hard to imagine how a young athlete could deal with the fact that she was not going to be healed, but famously, Joni did. Rather than being physically healed, she learned to paint by holding the brush in her mouth. She founded “Joni and Friends,” a ministry that helps persons with disabilities and their families reach independence, physically, financially, and spiritually.
Read More
