When I first saw this image I felt a wave of release of personal judgement and connection to these two women, a wave full of humanness and grace.
It felt like the meeting of the selves, for me, almost in the way Martin Luther speaks about each person being concurrently Sinner and Saint.
Read MoreIn July of 2021, the American Indian/Alaska Native Lutheran Association (AIANLA) asked the whole ELCA to remember and lament the children who died in Indian boarding schools in the United States and residential schools in Canada.
As the church observes the Feast of the Holy Innocents*, the Saint Paul Area Synod, the Minneapolis Area Synod, and the Advocates for Racial Equity offer this service of prayer and lament (on Vimeo) for use by individuals and congregations.
Read MoreSaturday, December 18, was International Migrants Day, a day set aside by the United Nations to raise awareness and focus attention on the 281 million people around the world where are on the move, in search of peace, stability, security and an opportunity for new life. In 2020, more than 3.6% of people around the world were migrants.
In this podcast, Giovana Oaxaca, the ELCA’s program director for migration policy, joins Ryan Cumming of ELCA World Hunger to talk about the realities of migration and immigration policy.
Read MoreAmending the Christian Story: The Natural Sciences as a Window into Grounded Faith and Sustainable Living, by Ron Rude is now available at wipfandstock.com, bookshop.org, or Amazon. A press kit is newly available here.
After several years of research and writing and teaching, with worldview-altering insights into Nature's natural sciences and life's experience, "Amending the Christian Story" reframes and recasts God's story of life and God's story of Jesus.
Read MoreWe share December’s Advocacy Connections from the ELCA advocacy office in Washington, D.C., which includes: Human Infrastructure, Housing In Federal Budget, Climate Risks, Cuba Policy, and Immigration Policy Provisions.
We also share the December Update: UN and State Edition, and fully excerpt the Arizona update from LAMA in our post.
Read MoreThe Office of the Bishop will be closed Friday through Monday, 12/24/2021–12/27/2021, and Friday through Monday, 12/31/2021–1/3/2022. We pray for a peaceful and safe Christmas and New Year’s for our synod.
Read MoreWe pray for Rev. Jill Doherty, Rev. Joseph Doherty and the people of New Promise Lutheran Church in St. George, part of the Colorado River Conference. Visit their site at newpromiseelca.org, and their social media pages on Facebook and YouTube.
Read MoreThe New York Times produced “Postcards From a World on Fire” a remarkable report from each of the 193 United Nations member states. Some of these stories may seem small, like an ancient drawing flaking off a cave wall in Indonesia; others are undeniably harrowing, like the stories of hungry people fleeing their homes in Guatemala; others may even seem hopeful, like the move toward building wooden skyscrapers in Norway.
Read the introduction here, experience the full project here.
Read MoreWe invite you to a presentation on the Anchor Church model on Tuesday 1/11/2022, 7pm MST, 6pm PST, with Pastor Charles Newman of Crossroads in San Tan Valley. Anchor Church is a grassroots movement within the ELCA where leaders accompany leaders toward cultural transformation within congregations. Register for the Zoom meeting here.
Read MoreThe Advent season is also one of installations. We celebrated Pastor Doug Dill’s installation at Central Lutheran in Arizona City this past Sunday. And Bishop Hutterer heads to Las Vegas to preach and preside at St. Andrew for Pastor Mari Larson installation this Sunday. Find out what the staff is doing in our weekly update.
Read MoreThe Arizona Department of Health Services reports 94 percent of beds in the state are full, with Covid-19 patients making up about a third of those hospitalized.
All but two counties in our synod continue to have extremely high levels of risk for unvaccinated people.
Extremely high risk counties for unvaccinated people in our synod include Apache, Cochise, Coconino, Gila, Graham, Greenlee, Maricopa, Mohave, Navajo, Pima, Pinal, Santa Cruz, Washington, Yavapai, and Yuma counties.
The Lutheran World Federation’s Hymns of Advent and Christmas continues with offerings from around the world: Evangelical Lutheran Church in Botswana, "Re tsamaya Lesedingla Modimo" ("Walk in the Light of God"); Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana, "Come O Come, Emmanuel"; The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zambia, "How Beautiful"; Evangelical Lutheran Church of Saxony, "Veni, veni Emmanuel"; Evangelical Lutheran Church in Colombia, "Bella María"; Bangladesh Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church, "E Dhorom Isại Hoṛ"; Malagasy Lutheran Church, "Fa zaza no teraka" ("A child is born to us"); Union of Protestant Churches of Alsace and Lorraine, "Il est né le divin enfant" ("A Divine Child is Born").
Read MoreWe are nearing the end of Advent and the start of that special holiday, Christmas. In the United States, stores have been filled with seasonal music for six months now (it feels that way, at least), garlands and lights are draped over homes and lampposts, and pine trees are adorned with baubles of all shapes and sizes. In many countries, Christmas markets have taken over city squares. As the old carol says, “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.”
Read MoreFor relief and recovery efforts after tornadoes and storms, and for all left scared and grieving…
For the work of emergency responders and relief agencies, including Lutheran Disaster Response…
For the peace of Jerusalem, and throughout the Middle East…
For all who are facing a first Christmas without someone they love…
For all celebrating the holidays with a new perspective, new job, new home, or new family…
For musicians, volunteers, and lay leaders who enable and enhance our celebration of the incarnation…
The Faith Lutheran Church Office Administrator is a part-time role of approximately 20-25 hours per week. This is an in-office role on our campus located at 801 E. Camelback Rd, Phoenix, AZ.
Read MoreStirred by the need to help resettle Afghan refugees, a team of pastoral and lay leaders from four Northeast Valley Conference churches—Living Water (Scottsdale), New Journey (Fountain Hills), New Covenant (Scottsdale), and Christ the Lord (Carefree), known collectively as the NE Valley Consortium—gathered enough goods to completely furnish two two-bedroom homes and raised $30,000 for an emergency fund.
Read MoreTemple Beth Shalom, a Reform Jewish congregation in the northwest valley is filling a new part time position. The position of Outreach and Communications Assistant is one that requires the incumbent to get to know and informally communicate regularly with our members, in order to effectively work closely with the Rabbi on Outreach and other member efforts. Being Jewish is not a requirement for this position.
Read MoreOur Saviour’s Lutheran in Tucson has sanctuary furniture looking for a new home. All pieces are solid wood and in good condition, and include a communion table, pulpit and lectern, and oil lamp candles. Contact Pastor Amalia at Our Saviour's Lutheran for more information: pastoramalia@lutherantucson.org.
Read MoreChances are you are looking at these words on a screen or that you looked at them on a screen prior to printing them out. According to a study released by the JAMA Pediatrics in November 2021, screen time for teenagers has increased during the pandemic from 3.8 hours per day to 7.7 hours per day. The 7.7 hours per day is for recreation (gaming and videos) and social interaction (social media and texting). That does not include online schooling, which can represent another 5-7 hours per day.
Read MorePastor Dan Valasakos, synod council member and pastor at Mount Zion Lutheran in Tucson, shares a book of Advent daily devotions. Each devotions is accompanied with watercolor illustrations by Valaskos. The book is available on the Mount Zion website through these links: Advent Devotional - Daily Advent Meditations, Advent Devotional Printable Booklet (print two sided -flip at short side).
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