Prayers for Paul Gryniewicz
Prayers for Paul Gryniewicz

We pray for Paul Gryniewicz, synod council vice-president, who is in the hospital for heart issues.

O Lord, your compassions never fail and your mercies are new every morning. We give you thanks for giving our brother Paul 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 he may always think and do those things that please you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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PrayersBrian FlatgardSynod CouncilComment
Prayers for Grand Canyon Synod seminarians
Prayers for Grand Canyon Synod seminarians

Please pray for seminarians from across the Grand Canyon Synod. We give you thanks, O God, for the people you call to the ministries of word, sacrament, and service. Amen.

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PrayersBrian FlatgardPacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, Lutheran Theological Seminary Chicago, United Lutheran Seminary, Luther Seminary, Wartburg Seminary, SeminariesComment
Lilly 3E stewardship program builds momentum
Lilly 3E stewardship program builds momentum

The next session for Beginning a Culture of Generosity, An Effective, Inspiring Stewardship Appeal, is Saturday, 9/5/2020, at 9 am. Need to review the first session? It’s available here for those who missed it or are curious about the program.

Contact Deb Elstad, 3E Associate Director, deb.elstad@gmail.com, if your congregation wants to be with the 25 other congregations who are benefiting from this one-time-only program during these unique times.

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Stewardship, Leader ResourcesBrian FlatgardLilly 3E, 2020 Beginning a Culture of GenerosityComment
9/3/2020 Prayer:  Pray for strength, empathy, compassion and boldness in our faith and daily life
9/3/2020 Prayer:  Pray for strength, empathy, compassion and boldness in our faith and daily life

There is no better time than right now for us to hold on to what is good, treat one another with respect, extend hospitality to strangers and those different from ourselves, seek peace, and care for our neighbors, including our enemies. Pray for strength, empathy, compassion and boldness in our faith and daily life as we follow Jesus.

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Prayers, Leader ResourcesBrian FlatgardDaily PrayerComment
Kathryn Mary Lohre: And Who is My Neighbor?
Kathryn Mary Lohre: And Who is My Neighbor?

The question of exactly who is our neighbor is critically important in a time when the Oikoumene, the whole inhabited earth, is infected and affected by COVID-19, racism, and injustice.

For help, we can look to the recently issued joint document of the WCC)and PCID, “Serving a Wounded World in Interreligious Solidarity: A Christian Call to Reflection and Action During COVID-19 and Beyond.”

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LettersBrian FlatgardEcumenical and Inter-Religious Relations, World Council of Churches (WCC)Comment
9/2/2020 Prayer:  Pray that the Spirit will grant us wisdom, creativity and patience as we seek new ways of being church together
9/2/2020 Prayer:  Pray that the Spirit will grant us wisdom, creativity and patience as we seek new ways of being church together

September often marks a time of beginning, with students starting school, congregations launching programs and creation transitioning into a new season. But due to the pandemic, this year is different, presenting challenges we have not faced before. Pray that the Spirit will grant us wisdom, creativity and patience as we seek new ways of being church together, attend to the needs of children and youth, care for one another and fight the spread of COVID-19.

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Prayers, Leader ResourcesBrian FlatgardDaily PrayerComment
Emergency savings program available for rostered ministers
Emergency savings program available for rostered ministers

Two Savings Matching programs through the ELCA’s Resourceful Servants initiative address financial challenges being experienced by rostered ministers, namely a lack of emergency savings and a lack of retirement savings.

These programs partner with rostered ministers to encourage a habit of saving by providing matching funding to more rapidly grow savings and retirement accounts. The due date to complete the process is October 15, 2020.

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Leader ResourcesBrian FlatgardResourceful Servants, Lilly Endowment, ELCA Mission Investment FundComment
Michaela Shelley: Lighthouse
Michaela Shelley: Lighthouse

Michaela Shelly writes, “Walking off of the Mass Gathering stage after speaking at the 2018 ELCA Youth Gathering, I don’t think I fully understood the magnitude of what I had just done. I stood up on stage to show others how you can take some of your worst moments, such as my terminal diagnosis, and use them to help remind others they do not have to feel alone in all of this.”

In this post, read her letter and watch her heartfelt Youth Gathering talk. Read her blog here.

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Stories of Hope, LettersBrian FlatgardYouth and Young Adult, ELCA Youth GatheringComment
Season of Creation devotion: 9/6/2020
Season of Creation devotion: 9/6/2020

Presiding Bishop Eaton and leaders from The Episcopal Church, the Anglican Church of Canada and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada have prepared a series of devotions to observe the Season of Creation 2020, Sept. 1–Oct. 4.

The season, which begins with the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, is a time to join with the global Christian community in renewing, repairing and restoring commitments to God, to one another and to all of creation.

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Leader ResourcesBrian FlatgardEcumenical and Inter-Religious Relations, Anglican Church of Canada, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, The Episcopal Church, Climate ChangeComment