Rev. Dr. Carl E. Braaten: Faith Active In Love During This Deadly Pandemic
Rev. Dr. Carl E. Braaten: Faith Active In Love During This Deadly Pandemic

Rev. Dr. Carl E. Braaten shares this letter, Faith Active In Love During This Deadly Pandemic. Braaten also recently published a book, The Christian Faith: Ecumenical Dogmatics.

How should we as believers in Christ and members of his church act during this deadly pandemic? I have heard people say this pandemic is unprecedented; we’ve never encountered anything like this before. It’s true, we haven’t, those of us living here and now. But history tells us that plagues and epidemics have been around since time immemorial.

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LettersBrian Flatgard Comments
Faith Lutheran, Phoenix, celebrates 75 years
Faith Lutheran, Phoenix, celebrates 75 years

Happy 75th Anniversary Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church in Phoenix! July 8th, 1945 - 2020.

The people of Faith pray that over the next year of their Diamond Jubilee Anniversary, they will have the opportunity to celebrate in person, reflect on their journey, and discern their future as Christ’s body in the community. May the Holy Spirit continue to guide them on our mission; called to love and serve their neighbors.

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PrayersBrian FlatgardFaith Phoenix, Capital ConferenceComment
In Memoriam: Rev. Ervin P. Langholz
In Memoriam: Rev. Ervin P. Langholz

Ervin P. Langholz died on July 8, 2020 in Sun City, Arizona. A funeral service—for immediate family only—will be held at American Lutheran Church, where he was a member and had once served as Pastor of Care Ministry. A Celebration of Life for the extended congregation will occur at a later date. He recently celebrated 60 years of ordination.

O God of grace and glory, we remember before you our brother Ervin. We thank you for giving him to us to know and to love as a companion in our pilgrimage on earth. In your boundless compassion, console us who mourn. Give us faith to see that death has been swallowed up in the victory of our Lord, Jesus Christ, so that we may live in confidence and hope until, by your call, we are gathered to our heavenly home in the company of all your saints; through Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord. Amen.

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In Memoriam, PrayersBrian FlatgardAmerican Sun City, Cactus ConferenceComment
7/9/2020 Prayer: The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
7/9/2020 Prayer: The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

Give thanks that “the Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made.” Pray that our joy and thanksgiving will move us to be witnesses to God’s presence, grace and mercy in the world for the sake of all people.

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Prayers, Leader ResourcesBrian FlatgardDaily PrayerComment
7/8/2020 Prayer: Thank God for our special relationship with the Episcopal Church
7/8/2020 Prayer: Thank God for our special relationship with the Episcopal Church

Thank God for our special relationship with the Episcopal Church, a full communion partner with the ELCA since 1999. Pray for the church, its diverse ministries and its members and leaders, and pray that together we will find mutual support, new partnerships and new resources for the work of sharing the gospel and serving our neighbor.

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Prayers, Leader ResourcesBrian FlatgardDaily PrayerComment
GCS Tech Lab 7/8/2020: Chuck Peterson, New Journey Lutheran Church
GCS Tech Lab 7/8/2020: Chuck Peterson, New Journey Lutheran Church

Join us on Wednesday, July 8 at 10 am, as Chuck Peterson, Video Producer for New Journey Lutheran Church, Fountain Hills, shares their process for incrementally improving their worship videos as a small church with a simple setup: camcorder, one light, church audio mixer/system, basic video and audio software.

The Grand Canyon Synod Tech Lab is a weekly online Zoom conversation designed to spark possibilities as our church rapidly changes. Use the link bit.ly/gcstechlab to access the Zoom meeting every Wednesday at 10 am.

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Leader ResourcesBrian FlatgardGCS Tech Lab, New Journey Fountain Hills, Northeast Valley ConferenceComment
Cry for Hope
Cry for Hope

On July 1 Kairos Palestine and Global Kairos for Justice, a worldwide coalition born in response to the Kairos Palestine “Moment of Truth: a word of faith, hope, and love from the heart of Palestinian suffering,” issued an urgent call to Christians, churches and ecumenical institutions: “Cry for Hope”.

We share this with you as an authentic voice of Palestinian Christians and encourage you to read and study it.

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LettersBrian FlatgardSumudComment
4th of July prayer
4th of July prayer

Liberating God, we give you thanks for this country in which we live. We give you thanks that you have guided us to this point in our history. Remind us of our heritage and those who have struggled to help us live up to the ideals of what we should stand for. Deliver us from arrogance. Help us to remember that you are God of all nations and peoples. As stories of freedom and struggles are told this day, make us bold enough to be revolutionary in our faith. May we pursue liberty and justice, not just for ourselves, but for all.

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PrayersBrian FlatgardComment
Kathryn Mary Lohre: Amplifying the Message in Word and Deed, Liberation not Annexation
Kathryn Mary Lohre: Amplifying the Message in Word and Deed, Liberation not Annexation

Kathryn Mary Lohre writes: “500 years ago, Martin Luther wrote the treatise ‘The Freedom of a Christian.’ Our freedom in Christ is not a freedom for ourselves, but for the sake of our neighbors, lived out in love. As an expression of the liberating love we share in Jesus Christ, we join our Palestinian family, and our partner Bishop Azar, in calling for ‘liberation not annexation.’

Please join in ELCA advocacy through Peace Not Walls: June action alert”

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LettersBrian FlatgardEcumenical and Inter-Religious Relations, SumudComment