“In one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.” Give thanks and praise to God for the diverse gifts, skills and life experiences we have been given, which we share in the body of Christ to build each other up and do God’s work in the world.
Read MoreA beautifully written feature by Helen McDonald declares and asks, “Swifts spend all their time in the sky. What can their journeys tell us about the future?” A few beautiful lines:
Swifts have, of late, become my fable of community, teaching us about how to make right decisions in the face of oncoming bad weather.
I have always thought ‘vesper flights’ the most beautiful phrase, an ever-falling blue.
ELCA Advocacy gives us a U.N. and state edition of updates, featuring: U.N. | California | Colorado | Minnesota | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Texas | Washington | Wisconsin.
We also get an Advocacy Connections update with information on COVID-19 stimulus package | HUD Housing Rules | International Intersections | Environment Conservation Bill Signed | DACA Memorandum.
Read MoreAMMPARO (Accompanying Migrant Minors with Protection, Advocacy, Representation and Opportunities) shares a comprehensive infographic summarizing the history of U.S. immigration from designer Kathleen Kowal.
Read More“We're thinking about Covid-19 the wrong way. It's not a 'wave' – it's a wildfire. Like a fire, the virus relentlessly seeks out its fuel, humans, and will keep spreading as long as it has access to that,” write Michael T Osterholm and Mark Olshaker in a concise letter in The Guardian.
Read MoreOur scriptures —and the liturgies, prayers, and songs informed by the scriptures—offer us abundant images for God. This abundance matters, especially as the church seeks to broaden its use of expansive and inclusive language.
All Creation Sings will include the informational appendix, “Scriptural Images for God.”
Read MoreEven though I am not currently in Senegal, my work continues as an ELCA Global Missionary. Find my August 2020 Newsletter here, or you can also access (and share) the August Newsletter online at the YAGM Senegal blog. You will also find a few posts from myself and the Senegal YAGM about our return to the United States in March.
Read MoreAndrea Arey, our regional representative with Portico Benefit Services, shares five PDF financial and health benefit resources, with specific PDFs on wellness activity, disability benefits, and coverage in times of transition.
Read MoreIn their August newsletter, Lutheran Social Services of Nevada (LSSN) updates us on the latest state of their COVID-19 Emergency DigiMart Distributions. Since March 16th, 2020 they have gone from serving 350 families a month to 500 families every single week.
Read MoreThe Rev. Tessa Moon Leiseth, Moorhead, Minn., was elected Aug. 16 to serve a six-year term as bishop of the Eastern North Dakota Synod. The election took place during an online synod assembly.
Information about the Eastern North Dakota Synod is available at eandsynod.org/.
Read MoreThe Weekly Online Gathering for ELCA Leaders continues every Wednesday, 1 pm Central, 11am MST. Links to the meeting at elcacoaching.org as well as archives.
Join us as Vicar Michelle Knight shares her stories of addiction, recovery, and community, as well as ways our faith leaders and churches can respond.
Read MorePray for students beginning a new academic year, that they will adjust quickly to new ways of learning, being together and interacting safely. Ask the Spirit to inspire our communities of faith to provide support, encouragement and help for children, youth, young adults and parents, especially during these beginning weeks and months of school.
Read MoreIn all its glory, the opening to the TV series, Davey and Goliath, first aired in 1961, complete with horns playing A Mighty Fortress is our God in front of the Luther rose. Episodes are free with Amazon Prime and available on DVD through Amazon.
The show was produced first by the United Lutheran Church in America and later by the Lutheran Church in America. Art Clokey, Ruth Clokey, and Dick Sutcliffe created the series. Fun fact: Art Clokey also created Gumby!
Read MoreIf she needs reassurance that her work on creation care is important, Ruth Ivory-Moore just thinks of her two grandsons, 4-year-old Declan and 9-year-old Zayvier. “I want to make sure that they get to live in a world that I knew,” she said.
Scientists say time is running out for people to act before it’s too late. “We don’t have a choice,” Ivory-Moore said. “Climate change is real.”
Read MoreLutheran Disaster Response is supporting Bodo Evangelical Lutheran Church to provide relief assistance to affected families in Assam, an eastern state of India. They’ll be distributing food, hygiene kits, mosquito nets, and tin sheeting for roof repair.
Read MoreIn her weekly message, Bishop Eaton gives us a history of the Luther rose. And if you’ve been watching her this summer, you’ve noticed the neon Luther Rose always in the background. In this video, things finally get lit.
Read MoreHow do you respond when someone asks you about your faith, your beliefs, the church or who Jesus is? Pray that the Spirit will inspire our boldness and clarity as we, respecting and welcoming people’s questions, talk about our faith, recognize and seek opportunities to bear witness to God’s presence and work in the world, and reveal the Jesus we know and follow through our actions and prayerful conversations.
Read MoreIn a Harper’s article, A Litany for Survival, Naomi Jackson begins with: “When I was a girl, my Bajan grandmother insisted that I recite Psalm 23 every night before bed. I didn’t yet know what death was, but I knew that there was something sinister and brave about repeating the words.
My parents emigrated to the United States from Barbados and Antigua in the late 1970s. They were determined to cloak their children in an armor of education, etiquette, and religion—to protect us from a world that, in the words of Audre Lorde, ‘we were never meant to survive.’ “
Read MoreFrom The Atlantic, Long-Haulers Are Redefining COVID-19 explores the months-long problems that plague some sick with COVID-19. “Without understanding the lingering illness that some patients experience, we can’t understand the pandemic.”
Read MoreGive thanks for how God sustains us and nurtures our hope through interactions with friends, family, siblings in Christ, strangers and communities of faith ― in person and by phone, text, email, online meetings, posted notes and cards, and acts of kindness.
Read More
