Prayers for the family of Pastor Steve Haggmark
Prayers for the family of Pastor Steve Haggmark

Pastor Steve Haggmark, who had served as the Interim Pastor at Spirit of Grace, Surprise, died April 28, 2020. We pray for his Nancy, his wife, and his family. Please contact the synod office for Nancy’s address if needed.

Eternal God, your love is stronger than death, and your passion more fierce than the grave. We rejoice in the lives of those whom you have drawn into your eternal embrace. Keep us in joyful communion with them until we join the saints of every people and nation gathered before your throne in your ceaseless praise, through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Prayers, In MemoriamBrian FlatgardSpirit of Grace Surprise, CacComment
Faith Lens: “Mat Talk” for the World
Faith Lens: “Mat Talk” for the World

A few months ago, the Netflix docu-series Cheer dropped and instantly the hardworking college cheerleading team it profiles became famous and world-followed. Maybe the breakout star is Jerry Harris, a young man who has had a tough life, but projects incredible positivity. He’s magnetic in the series and has drawn a huge following because of his story and energizing “mat talks.”

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ELCABrian FlatgardFaith LensComment
Youth Gathering: Limitless
Youth Gathering: Limitless

When we live into the limitless, we open ourselves up to taking risks, to trying new things, to see ourselves as important pieces in our world. Limitless is about removing the limits we often put on ourselves and others and to live into a potential that is far more than we dare ask or imagine.

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Brian FlatgardComment
Bishop Eaton's message on COVID-19 racism and white supremacy
Bishop Eaton's message on COVID-19 racism and white supremacy

During the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, I am encouraged by your resilience and creativity in our witness to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I am also inspired by your generosity. This is a trying time for us all.

At the same time, we know that a disproportionate burden of illness, death, discrimination and harassment falls on communities of color. This pandemic has exacerbated racism and racial inequities deeply entrenched in society and across the church. We see this in the growing anti-Asian racism and the disproportionate number of deaths in black, American Indian and Latinx communities.

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Bishop Eaton, LettersBrian Flatgard Comment
Prayers for Pastor Robert Jones
Prayers for Pastor Robert Jones

We pray for Pastor Robert Jones, Santa Cruz Lutheran, who is recovering from surgery following a car-bicycle accident.

O Lord, your compassions never fail and your mercies are new every morning. We give you thanks for giving our brother Robert both relief from pain and hope of health renewed. Continue in him the good work you have begun; that he, daily increasing in bodily strength and rejoicing in your goodness, may so order his life and conduct that she may always think and do those things that please you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

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PrayersBrian FlatgardSanta Cruz Tucson, Kino ConferenceComment
GCS Daily Bread Grants exceeds fundraising challenge
GCS Daily Bread Grants exceeds fundraising challenge

On April 26, 2020, the Grand Canyon Synod was awarded $10,000 from the ELCA’s COVID-19 Response Fund to assist GCS Native American and Latino ministries with food, water and basic hygiene items.

On April 28, Bishop Deborah Hutterer shared this good news and issued a challenge to match this amount for even greater impact. As of this writing, we have exceeded the initial challenge by $3,700, raising $13,700 in one week. We celebrate the generosity of this synod.

Additional gifts from congregations and individuals can still be made to this appeal through online giving or checks with the designation of GCS Daily Bread Grants. Grateful for how God does good through you.

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Stories of HopeBrian FlatgardELCA COVID-19 Response Fund, Christ the Lord Carefree, Sierra Lutheran Sierra Vista, Spirit of Grace Surprise, Navajo Evangelical Lutheran Mission, House of Prayer Rock Point, Reformation Las Vegas, Native American Urban Ministry Phoenix, Pan De Vida El Mirage, La Sagrada Familia Phoenix, San Juan Bautista Tucson, Holy Trinity Chandler, I-HELP, Mount of Olives Phoenix, Latino, American Indian and Alaska Native, Ethnic Specific and Multicultural Ministries, Northeast Valley Conference, Cactus Conference, Capital Conference, Colorado River Conference, GCS Daily Bread Grants, Synod Council, Kino ConferenceComment
Bishop Hutterer: In-person worship in a time of unknowns
Bishop Hutterer: In-person worship in a time of unknowns

We all want to go back to in-person worship. We also want to be safe. We want our neighbors to be safe. Many have asked me when we can gather for in-person worship.

In a time of so many unknowns with so much at risk, I feel it would be ill-advised to project yet another date. As we decide when to proceed, I suggest we wait for the CDC guideline of a “downward trajectory of documented cases within a 14-day period.”

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Bishop Hutterer, Letters, Z Covid-19Brian FlatgardCOVID In-person gatheringComment
Lutheran infection disease expert's advice on coronavirus
Lutheran infection disease expert's advice on coronavirus

In a Zoom meeting with Bishop Ann Svennungsen of the Minneapolis Area Synod, Dr. Michael Osterholm advises us to be ready for months of uncertainty. You may have seen Dr. Osterholm and his rational and accurate pandemic forecasts on many news outlets. Not only is Osterholm an infectious disease epidemiologist and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, he is a plain-spoken ELCA member who cares deeply for the church.

“Sobering” is the most common word used to describe Dr. Osterholm’s advice to be ready for months of uncertainty. View at www.facebook.com/mplssynod/videos/619998971928161/.

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Z Covid-19Brian FlatgardCOVID In-person gathering, COVID scienceComment
WELCA postpones 2020 gathering, initiates weekly prayer
WELCA postpones 2020 gathering, initiates weekly prayer

With no Covid-19 vaccine on the horizon, Women of the ELCA’s executive board voted to postpone the organization’s convention and gathering until August 2021. “We are postponing not canceling,” said Linda Post Bushkofsky, executive director of Women of the ELCA.

In the meantime, WELCA invites us to pray with Lutheran women across the church every Tuesday at noon.

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Prayers, Z Covid-19Brian FlatgardWomen of the ELCA (WELCA)Comment