2022 Arizona Quilt and Kit Ingathering

Grand Canyon Synod Women of the ELCA is participating in a quilt and kit ingathering for Lutheran World Relief on Saturday, 4/30/2022, 9am –2pm MST, at Atonement Lutheran Church, 4001 W. Beardsley Rd, Glendale AZ 85308.

Visit grandcanyonwomen.org/events and lwr.org/quilts/resources for more information. Or, contact our AZ LWR Ingathering Coordinator, Laura Krueger. Plan now for a Quilt & Kit Blessing Sunday to get your items on their way. Thank you!

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Lutheran World Federation newsletter: 3/11/2022
Office of the Bishop Updates: 3/18/2022

Bishop Hutterer and Pastor Jacqui Pagel will attend Faith Formation In A Secular Age, the Luther Seminary event at Living Water with Dr. Andy Root. As usual, staff travels around the synod to preach and visit.

At our in-office staff retreat on Wednesday, we were visited by Rev. Lisa Kipp, who updated us on the latest relief efforts by Lutheran World Relief.

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Prompts for Prayers of Intercession: March 20, 2022
  • For an end to the Russian government’s attacks on Ukraine, for the security of Kyiv, for the protection of civilians, for solidarity among those who stand for peace…

  • For an end to pay disparities based on gender, race, or ethnicity…

  • For China, as COVID-19 surges there again…

  • For all marking two years of pandemic upheaval, for all whose memories leave them breathless, for all who grieve without hope…

  • For substantive relief for all experiencing financial stress…

  • With gratitude for the life of Leon Schwarzbaum, holocaust survivor and justice maker, who died recently at the age of 101…

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Ordination celebrations: 3/11–3/17/2022
  • Rev. Patsy Koeneke, interim pastor with Grace Lutheran in Kingman, celebrates 15 years on March 11.

  • Rev. Bruce Ayers, retired, celebrates 60 years on March 11.

  • Rev. Steven Crittenden, with Epiphany of Christ Lutheran in Apache Junction, celebrates 13 years on March 12.

  • Rev. Beth Gallen, with New Journey Lutheran in Fountain Hills, celebrates her first year on March 13.

  • Rev. Peter Lai, retired, celebrate 37 years on March 16.

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No Plastics for Lent

The #NoPlasticsforLent initiative, led by young adults across the church, calls us to prayer for creation, to lament the ways we have been complicit in the degradation of the earth, and to take action to care for our neighbor in fasting from the things that are hurting our planet. For more info, view the ELCA Young Adults Facebook page or the No Plastics for Lent website.

One of the discussion group leaders is Tiana Diaz-Reyes, a student in our synod’s Lutheran campus ministry. She is working toward her PhD in Sustainability at ASU.

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Faith Lens: On a Journey

Right now, far away from some of us but near to others, Russian has invaded Ukraine. Confronting power hungry leadership and complex socio-political tensions, the global community watches and waits. Ground invasion and the startling aftermath of dropped bombs consume our collective conscious. War brings heightened anxieties and unanswered questions; it leaves people displaced and refugees fleeing. The journeys of our refugee siblings are filled with uncertainty.

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Prompts for Prayers of Intercession: March 13, 2022
  • For all in crisis as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues…

  • With gratitude for the first combined heart and thymus transplant, for all advances in the field of organ transplantation, for all organ donors…

  • For all who suffer in the wake of deadly US tornadoes…

  • For the people of Peshawar, Pakistan as they mourn those killed during the bombing of a Shiite Muslim mosque in their city…

  • For the United Methodist Church, as it continues to grapple with divisions…

  • For those wrestling with Long Covid, for Covid researchers, for all those preparing now for the rise of future variants…

  • For all unsafe in their own homes, for all without a home…

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